The Beauty Rx

Why are human beings consumed by physical beauty? What does the many-thousand-year history of body adornment tell us about ourselves? It turns out that the recognition and appreciation of physical attractiveness is hard-wired into our genetic heritage. For hundreds of generations, men have relied on it to locate fertile young women who could bear children. Women have relied on it to find healthy husbands who could protect them. We love the sight of babies in part because their survival is essential.

In our modern world, research shows that beautiful people earn more money, get a better break in the legal system, get more help from strangers, advance farther in their careers and are generally happier. In The Beauty Prescription, Dr. Eva Ritvo, a board-certified psychiatrist and Dr. Debra Luftman, a board-certified dermatologist, pull back the curtains from what is truly the source of lasting beauty: the brain. In this groundbreaking book, these two physicians and best friends share a message of hope for all women: how you feel about yourself and act toward the world around you has as much to do with your beauty as your weight or the quality of your skin. This is the best time in history to bring out qualities the authors call "inner beauty" as well as outer beauty, and the authors will guide their readers along the path.

In The Beauty Prescription, Luftman and Ritvo reveal paradigm-shifting ideas:

• The Beauty-Brain Loop, a four-stage cycle of Inner Beauty, Health, Outer Beauty and Environment. Changes in any area of the loop can positively impact the other areas. Improve your self-esteem (Inner Beauty) and you start taking better care of yourself (Health) and the next thing you know you are glowing (Outer Beauty). Then your (Environment) will act in kind.
• Beauty, Attractiveness and Magnetism are not the same thing. Beauty is physical. Attractiveness comes from personality, self-love, energy, passion, wit, humor and confidence. Combine both and you get Magnetism, the quality that makes you irresistible.
• The "Faith Lift," a holistic alternative to the face lift in which women examine their strengths and weaknesses and come to understand that they are doing many things right. They only need to make a few changes to become more beautiful.
• There's nothing wrong with cosmetic surgery—for the right reasons. In this book, the authors discuss when it's appropriate to go under the knife and when it's simply a cry for help. They also provide women guidance with non surgical techniques and diet and exercise programs to help them attain maximum beauty.
• You can also create more beauty in the world by improving your environment. This entails making the most of your relationships, work life and hobbies. Making more beauty in the world, painting, cooking, enhancing your home, giving back and seeing more beauty in the world, travel, appreciating the clouds and the beauty around you...

The Beauty Prescription gives women from age 20 and beyond a lifetime plan for becoming more beautiful and staying more beautiful—in their mind, emotions, relationships, passions and their love for themselves as well as offering tips to improve outer beauty. Along the way, the two physicians interview numerous "Beauty Buddies", pairs of women, both famous and unknown, who share beauty and together time to make themselves feel more attractive and more alive. This also offers "beauty pearls" tips from experts at beauty fills including hair styles, makeup artists, and beauty editors from fashion and beauty magazine. In the end, that's the message of this book: you have what you need to be the most beautiful you've ever been. Right now.