Christine Heathman

Mrs. Utah Comes to Southern Utah Written By: Jen Watkins

In 1986, Isabella Ilacqua decided to show her respect and admiration for married women. Her creation was the Mrs. United States National Pageant System, which publicly recognizes beautiful, intelligent women who play many roles as a wife, mother, professional, homemaker and volunteer advocate, and who show resilience rarely found anywhere else.

Since that time, the Mrs. Utah United States pageant has seen two of its crowning women take the title of Mrs. United States.

Pageants for married women are plentiful, but there’s a passion behind Mrs. Utah United States that makes it unique. This is not a stereotypical pageant about women who want a crown and sash or a trophy for their mantel, it’s about women who give back to their communities and strive to make Utah a better place for everyone.

Those who have carried the title of Mrs. Utah United States have gone on to accomplish amazing things, like Mrs. Utah 2010 Jenny Bezzant. Formerly Miss Teen of Utah 1995, Bezzant is a public speaker who promotes “Ascend in HOPE! As a victim of Lyme, as a victim of life.” Bezzant, who was just named “Mother of the Year” by Wasatch Women, was inspired by her own 15-year plight with Lyme Disease – a disease that left her paralyzed until she was accurately diagnosed.

Bezzant is not alone in her desire to serve the community and make a difference in the world. She follows in the footsteps of dozens of former Mrs. Utahans who were passionate about their platform and used their title as another way to carry their message across the state, and the nation.

This year, the Mrs. Utah United States pageant is being brought to St. George, Utah, for the first time in nearly a decade and the pageant directors are prepared to see this year’s Mrs. Utah take the national title once again. St. George in May is the perfect opportunity to show the rest of Utah what a wonderful travel destination Southern Utah is, and hope for a large turnout on May 14 for the talented women who are competing for this year’s title.

Interested in More Information?

For more information, visit www.MrsUtahUS.com or e-mail director@mrsutahus.com.

Mrs. Utah United States can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MrsUtah.

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Christine Heathman The Legend of the Skin Diva WRITTEN BY Darci Hansen

Monica Villar, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Christine Heathman

What is a bling maven like Christine Heathman doing in rural Utah? You may expect to find someone like her in New York or Los Angeles. However, this Skin Diva (as she refers to herself) landed her corporate headquarters for GlyMed Plus in Spanish Fork, Utah. Drive five miles down the road and you will discover Christine’s other business, VIP Equine Park. Despite her strong, confident presence in front of the cameras, the truth is Christine is comfortable whether on her ranch or on the Red Carpet.

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hristine’s professional story begins more than 25 years ago in the Northern California city of Concord, where she converted her home into a skin care clinic. Her career, like many aestheticians, began as a result of her own skin condition. In her words: “I had severe grade-four acne for over a decade and out of desperation for clear skin, I sought out remedies from over-the-counter products, facialists, salons, and dermatologists without any success. Then, I began to eagerly study the skin, especially about acne, because I was so desperate to have healthy and clear skin. Once I had mastered clearing up my acne, I was motivated to treat others with similar problems and acquired my license to practice aesthetics in the state of California. My skin elective of choice was to help individuals with severe skin challenges of all ethnic backgrounds. Soon, patients from all over the San

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Francisco Bay area sought out my skin treatments and to this day I still maintain contact with many of these individuals.”

She owned and operated Advanced Aesthetics, a medical skin care clinic, for over 15 years until moving to Utah. As it has always been the case, Christine was ahead of her time as the marriage of medicine and skin care was still yet to become mainstream. As she built her business and her reputation, she began to accept patient referrals from medical institutions. She combined her experience as a makeup artist with her knowledge of traumatized skin and became one of the first camouflage makeup therapists in the country.

top: The SKIN DIVA joins backstage Live to Dance Judges Travis Payne (who was choreographer for Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” tour) and Paula Abdul to provide some skin care instruction. Then has some fun with Peter Llamas, the hair king, for an after show celebration. bottom: Christine Heathman, Monica Villar and Rick Fox

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She never stopped being a student. Christine became more immersed with education and began taking all advanced courses available to her. She would drive down the coast several times a year to attend courses at the American Institute of Esthetics (AIE), established by Robert Diemer. With her new found credentials, she made the decision to open up a training center in her skin care clinic, first as the Color and Fashion Institute and finally as the Advanced Aesthetics Training Institute.

Christine’s aesthetic vision continued as she described in 1989 during an interview with Dermascope: “I want to make it clear to all that my goal is to elevate the prestige of American aesthetics and share our knowledge worldwide, thus crediting our profession.

All of us can only benefit when we work together as a unit on a global basis, sharing, learning, and supporting each other. American aesthetics have come a long way and this is borne out by the very fact of American instructors being invited to Europe to educate. I OUR 5th ANNIVERSARY 2011

am only a contributor in a fast growing profession that is gaining respectability.”

At the time, Christine was writing about her experiences conducting the first five-day intensive paramedical camouflage training program in Zurich, Switzerland. A week later she held a second class in Munich, Germany. She followed later that year in Malaysia. The highlight of her 1989 trip to Germany, however, was receiving her license to practice aesthetics from the Board of Cosmetology in Düsseldorf.

These international courses became only the first of many conducted internationally.

In addition to all of her international training she continued to train nationally, write articles for trade magazines, and author several manuals while building her aesthetic practice in Concord. In 1992, however, her career took on a new, yet obvious course, as a product manufacturer. As she recalls in a short autobiography: “I withdrew my personal savings in 1992 and formulated GlyMed Plus. GlyMed Plus started with only three products.” The three original products were Gentle Facial Wash, Facial Hydrator, and Photo-Age Protection Cream.

A year later, Christine took a not as obvious course and moved her Derma Color and Clinical Formula distribution along with her new product line, GlyMed Plus, to Utah. Although instantly finding herself in a state of “culture shock,” moving the business and closing her aesthetic practice gave her more time to focus on formulating and building the GlyMed Plus skin care brand. It was very difficult to leave her clients, students and home, but always the one to take on new challenges, Christine saw this as another opportunity.

Her intention was to focus on building her brand but she quickly found herself missing the “hands on” connection she had with clients. Her timing was perfect, for in 1993 she met cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Brent Kennedy who had just opened up the Institute of Facial Surgery in Murray, Utah, who was interested in adding an aesthetic room. There she was not only able to get back behind the aesthetic chair but also began teaching some courses at his training facility, enabling her to add more medically based education to her students.

In 1997, Christine became introduced to an individual who would not only add a new chapter to her career, but would also grow to become a very dear lifelong friend. Bonnie Day had previously established the American Aesthetician Education Association, a nonproduct educational organization dedicated to bridging the gap between medicine and aesthetics, a passion she knew she shared with Christine. As Bonnie recalls, “In 1997, Christine Heathman was appointed to the office of Vice President and Director of Education for the American Aestheticians Education Association. With her knowledge, experience, and delightful personality, the association grew and became a tremendous success. Christine’s inner beauty and intelligence are matched by her integrity and love of the skin care profession.”

Despite her successes, there was one issue that continued to haunt Christine: the fact that there still was no aesthetic licensure in the State of Utah. In 1999, Christine joined a group of professionals who had hired a lobbyist and were trying to get aesthetic licensing through the legislature. According to Brenda Scharman, one of the leaders of this group and owner of Cameo College of Beauty in Salt Lake City, “Christine Heathman is not only considered innovative in product creation, but plays an instrumental part in legislation across

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the country. The industry is dependent on Christine for her expertise.

Utah was the first state to adopt a ‘tiered license’ for the aesthetic industry. With Christine’s passion and drive, the implementation of this new concept of licensure was born – now numerous states are following in the footsteps of Utah.”

In January of 2001, after the hard work of many and a large group storming the state capital, Gov. Michael Leavitt signed HB105, the first two-tiered aesthetic license in the country. Gov. Leavitt personally handed over the original to Christine and she still proudly holds it in her personal safe. According to Daniel Jones, Bureau Manager for the Department of Occupational Licensing, “She [Christine] worked hard to create a brand new licensing classification, not just a single state but in the United States. It was the first one of its kind and has started a national trend. Christine was instrumental in the establishment of the first Master Aesthetician license. She did not do it for personal gain but for the betterment of aestheticians everywhere. She has been one that could be counted on to help push her profession forward.”

With licensure well under way and a growing skin care company, Christine found herself looking for a new adventure. When she moved to Utah, she had purchased a 17-acre piece of property bordering the Spanish Fork River. Although Christine has owned horses for decades, her dream was to someday create an equine boarding facility that would meet her strict expectations for horse care. In 2002, she decided that it was the perfect time to make the dream a reality and the facility was completed by 2003. Once the facility was complete, there was one thing left to do, fulfill yet another dream: To own horses. She made that dream come true.

During this same time, Christine was to meet someone else who would end up being a lifelong companion; one with four legs and a tail. In a search to find a perfect canine companion, she stumbled onto a little French Bulldog that no one else seemed to want at a pet store. She was drawn to him immediately and before she knew it she was the proud owner of Pugsley. Since then she has not only added five other bulldogs to her family but has also given one of these lovable companions to her mother, sister, son, and close friend Bonnie Day. In 2005, Christine took the two things she loved best and combined them when she created the Pugsley’s Choice Pet Care products and VIP Horse Care products. As usual, she couldn’t find the products for her pets that met her criteria so she researched and created her own natural ones.

As has been her pattern, Christine’s life continues to move in a variety of directions that have presented new endeavors. In 2010, she filmed a special feature for Lifetime TV’s ‘The Balancing Act.’ “Helping consumers discern between real skin care science and the marketing hype delivered by advertisers is my mission,” she said. Christine also made an appearance on daytime television’s ‘The Doctors’ during a segment called, ‘Happy Hour Facials.’

That same year GlyMed Plus headed in a new direction marketing its brand with the invitation to have a presence at the Emmy Award’s Celebrity Lounge. “Talking with the Emmy Awards Nominees and television celebrities about their skin was very rewarding and validating,” she stated. Since that time, GlyMed Plus has been gracing

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Christine & Lorenzo Lamas

the red carpet at other star-studded events including the Golden Globes, Sundance Film Festival, and Live to Dance. Celebrities like Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Carrie Ann Inaba, Joey Lawrence, Beau Bridges, Seth Green, Adrien Brody, Alex Trebek, Catherine O’Hara, America Ferrara, Rick Fox, Finola Hughes, Chaske Spencer, Kevin Sorboro, Gayle King, and Quincy Jones (only to name a few), have all been added to Christine’s list of those whom she has rubbed shoulders with.

Don’t mistake this ‘bling sista’ for anything other than the real deal.

She is generous with her time and means, participating in numerous charitable endeavors. She also provided inspiration for Élan Woman and Jones Waldo’s Launch Your World program as a guest speaker, after which she headed out for an 8 mile hike in Bryce Canyon. Yes, she really does enjoy it all!

What lies ahead for Christine Heathman is continuous opportunity.

OUR 5th ANNIVERSARY 2011