The Time I Tried Botox

I think of all the women I admire most in my life, the ones who smile to expose years of laughter at the corners of their eyes or the sides of their mouths and I find so much beauty in that. So much grace in the lines of their foreheads, or the way a strong neck can still look so ready to shoulder so many burdens, even as the skin has begun to thin and sag just the slightest. There is something exquisite in the thin wisps of silver in my mother’s hair. The strands are so clearly defined, I can almost count them individually, as though I know how she earned every one.

Stephanie Harper

Stephanie Harper received her Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Fairfield University with an emphasis in fiction. Her work can be found in The Huffington Post, HelloGiggles, HerStories, The Montreal Review, Poetry Quarterly, Midwest Literary Magazine, Haiku Journal, and Spry Literary Journal. She lives in Denver, CO.

Sports Illustrated, Pubic Hair and Botox: My Full Frontal Battle With Aging

Sports Illustrated’s latest porn edition finds it’s way from the coffee table, to the bathroom, under the bed, stuffed in a backpack and back again. Yet again, it initiated an in-depth, conversation about women, body parts and age with my young son. “Mom, are her boobs real?” “I dunno.” “Her’s?” Read more

Julie Anderson

Julie Anderson is the Creator and Publisher of Feminine Collective. Julie was inspired to create this safe place for women to share their secrets, desires, triumphs and pain as the antithesis of what mainstream media offers women today. In her column Pursuit of Perfection, she explores the importance of rectifying the balance of inner and outer beauty through essays, poems and articles on self-esteem, shame, family, and self- acceptance.

I will never, ever, ever do Botox! Or will I?

For years now I have been saying that I will never, ever do Botox. I will gracefully pass through the hallowed halls of aging: the crows feet, the laugh lines, the sagging chin, those little droopy folds at the corners of your mouth. This is a vow I made years Read more

Erin Righetti

Erin Righetti is a professional writer across multiple media channels. She has over 20 years experience as a freelance writer/reporter, and has been a contributor to newspapers and online magazines and blogs. Erin works as a public relations and social media strategist in Carlsbad, California.