Spring

into Your Most Beautiful Self

by Luciene Salomone

As the warmer weather approaches, we want to begin to prep ourselves to feel our most beautiful. Working out to shed a few winter pounds or buying some updated wardrobe pieces are usually at the top of the list, but don’t forget about upgrading your beauty routine to look and feel your springtime best.

The first thing I recommend is spring cleaning your beauty arsenal. Go through your medicine cabinet and makeup drawer to rid yourself of old, outdated products, or products you no long use. Just like a clothing wardrobe, our beauty wardrobe begins to accumulate, and we often have more than we need or keep things we just don’t use. Make a wish list of the products that will be right for your springtime skin. Remember you don’t need a lot, just the most efficacious products that will help you look and feel your best.

Skin: It’s not just about your face but your whole body. As we age, we begin to lose hydration and moisture. That trusted one-step moisturizer isn’t enough. Your skincare ritual for both your body and face should include exfoliating dead skin and using both an anti-aging serum and moisturizers rich in vitamin E and essential fatty acids. My facial ritual is all Josie Maran, starting with the Exfoliating Powder Cleanser, Milk Serum, Argan Oil Face Butter, and Argan Oil Light. My body gets the classic Sugar Scrub, Milk Body Serum and Body Butter.

Hair: Nothing feels better than a fresh cut and color. Have fun and ask your stylist what they think might be a nice change. Go shorter, get bangs, or reshape your current style. For color, try going lighter with highlights that compliment your skin tone. Don’t forget to care for your hair at home with sulfate free shampoos and conditioners, and a weekly hair mask or oil treatments. I treat my dull split ends with a hair mask of Josie Maran Body Butter. It leaves my hair as silky as my body.

Make Up: This season is all about dewy skin and minimal makeup. The easiest way to freshen up your look is to change your lipstick. Lighter, brighter, or glossier all work. Even though we are still wearing our masks and our eyes are the focus, use less of the darker smokey shades and more goddess glow of gold and shimmer. I use all Josie Maran starting with Protect and Perfect Radiance SPF 47 to not only protect my skin, but to also give overall light even coverage. I follow with light color for my cheeks and eyelids using color sticks and finish it off with couple of swipes of Black Oil Mascara for long lashes.

Nails: My first move at the change of season is to change nail lacquer. Spring means the dark reds and deep burgundies are done. Bring in the soft pastels and pops of bright candy apple reds and poppy orange. It also means giving extra care to feet and hands. Even if you get regular manicures and pedicures, don’t forget to regularly exfoliate and moisturize your feet and hands. I love our new Josie Maran Milk for Hands which is specially formulated to leave even the roughest skin soft and smooth. It’s great for cuticles too.

Senior Education Advisor, QVC On-Air Guest Josie Maran Cosmetics

Luciene is the senior education advisor and QVC on-air guest for

Josie Maran Cosmetics. She is a wellknown beauty and lifestyle expert, and has been seen on FOX, WeTV, as well as in print outlets from The New

York Times, Daily News, Glam¬our, and many more. In addition to being an expert in the beauty industry, her taste encapsulates the true essence of any celebrated life event with her impeccably detailed eye for style. 18 | P.O.W.E.R. Magazine

LOIS ROBBINS

Actress, Playwright

Actress and Playwright Lois Robbins recently launched her own Instagram live show titled The Lo Down. With a collective reach of over 100K viewers per episode, The Lo Down is attracting the most incredible and influential talent including Kristin Chenoweth, Penelope Ann Miller, Kelly Rutherford, Elisabeth Rohm, Medium John Edward, and more. Lois has an amazing list of credits in TV and film. In 2019, she completed her one-woman off-Broadway play L.O.V.E.R, at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre in New York City. Lois Robbins is a native New Yorker and an accomplished actress. She was in the independent film “The Aspern Papers,” alongside Vanessa Redgrave, Jolie Richardson, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Best known for her roles on daytime television including “One Life to Live,” “Loving,” “Ryan’s Hope,” and “All My Children,” she recently played the recurring role of art collector Penelope in the fifth season of the hit TV Land series “Younger.”

Notable television credits include guest roles in “Sex and the City,” “Law & Order,” “Kingpin,” “Once and Again,” “Law & Order SVU” and “Blue Bloods.” Lois places a high importance on philanthropic work. She is actively involved with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) founded by the late Evelyn Lauder, the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Alzheimer’s Drug Foundation, and the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.

What inspired you to go into acting?

I was inspired by a school play at the age of five. As the youngest of four girls, I learned quickly that the best way to get any attention was to be on stage. I heard the applause, and I was hooked.

What promoted you to write and star in your one-woman off-Broadway play L.O.V.E.R?

I was inspired by a psychic who told me a book I had started writing wasn’t a book, it was a play. And, if I wrote it as such, it was a game changer. After that reading, the play poured out of me. Crazy but true!

Being involved in multiple charitable organizations, why is philanthropy important to you?

Philanthropy is in my DNA. My

Photo: Anna Gunselmam

parents were very charitable people who emphasized all through my childhood the importance of giving back.

Is there something you haven’t accomplished yet that you still want to do?

I’d like to have a regular role on a series.

What is the best $100 you recently spent and why?

Due to COVID-19 and being unable to go to the dentist for regular cleanings, my Oral B electric toothbrush has been a life saver.

What does the word power mean to you?

Power means knowing yourself, having the courage of your convictions and not apologizing for either of those things.

P.O.W.E.R. Magazine | 19

Cheryl Lee CEO and Founder RocaBella Brands

Cheryl Lee is the CEO and founder of RocaBella Brands, which is dedicated to fallen first responders’ widows and children. She is the widow of Jersey City Fire Department 911 first responder, Captain Mark V. Lee Sr., who passed away on May 9th, 2014, as a result of a 9/11 related illness. Cheryl founded the company in honor of his 30-year legacy, dedication to helping his community, and giving back to those less fortunate. She made it her mission to create a brand that symbolizes the love of family, and the value and importance of selflessness. RocaBella Brands represents both the emotional and physical strength of first responders and the limitless hours of time volunteered on a daily basis. Raised in Jersey City, Cheryl is a devoted mother of three and a proud grandmother. She has dedicated her entire life to volunteering, especially when children were involved. After the death of her husband, she and her son Mark Lee Jr. took over the Jersey City Fire Department’s Children’s Christmas Drive that Mark Sr. ran for 29 years. To date, they are proud to say that the drive has supported over 8,000 children. Cheryl has made it a point to raise her family with compassion in their hearts and selflessness with their time. RocaBella Vodka represents what Cheryl has instilled in her family. Portions of the proceeds go to her foundation, RocaBella Gives. This charitable organization is dedicated to building a better tomorrow for women and children. Cheryl is currently in the process of scheduling a charity events campaign. She is working with her team to develop projects for special needs and terminally ill children as well. She is generous in her donations and makes sure they reach the proper donor. RocaBella Vodka is the brand’s signature and original vodka that is made in the USA. The vodka is made with three natural flavors in one bottle: coconut, mango, and pineapple. Served simply chilled or in your favorite drink, it will entice your palate and transport you to a tropical paradise. Their vodka is six times distilled and gluten free. RocaBella Vodka is one of a kind.

What made you choose vodka as the product to represent the legacy of your husband?

Prior to Mark’s death, when we would socialize and entertain company, I would make my own vodka concoctions. Mark and I were known for having the most happening summer BBQ parties in Jersey City. It became our family tradition to bring the flavored party drinks everywhere we went. When looking for a product to share in honor of Mark’s selflessness as a first responder as well as his legacy of giving to children, and likewise to generate funds to support widows and families of first responders, it just seemed natural to build upon the vodka we already created and shared for decades.

How is Rocabella different form other vodkas on the market?

It is smooth tasking vodka, and the only triple flavored vodka on the market in the world today. It is a vodka with all-natural flavors, gluten free, made with 100% corn and distilled six times, which can be described as pure taste of elegance. It is produced at Citrus Distillers in Jacksonville, Florida. The bottle itself is a dedication to the lives of both my husband, Captain Mark V Lee, and Captain James Woods, who both gave their lives in the line of duty for the Jersey City Fire Department. The bottle won two Communicator Awards for Design Features and for bottle design, and product launch with a Latin-to-Latin marketing company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The vodka is currently up for several tasting awards for 2020-2021.

What is Rocabella’s mission?

RocaBella Brand’s mission is to create a unique brand that is dedicated to providing funds to support women and children of fallen first responders and to expand the product line offerings that will help fund the RocaBella Gives Foundation. This foundation is a national nonprofit dedicated to building a better foundation for children via activities that support those with special needs, children with cancer, and educational institutions to inspire confidence building, and positive growth. The volunteer work and financial support will also assist communities’ activities such as toy drives, after-school educational programs, and more.

What other products are on the horizon for RocaBella Brands?

Currently, our pipeline of alcohol products includes a non-flavored vodka, a flavored bourbon, and flavored seltzer drinks. Other products sold on our online store will include organic teas, a clothing line, and accessories.

As a lifelong volunteer, why have you focused on charities involving young children?

Growing up in an inner city, I saw firsthand that not all children had a loving, caring, and financially supportive family like me. Both of my parents set an example for me, as they would donate to families in need, especially around the holidays. When Mark and I met, we shared the same sense of duty to help those less fortunate than us. For example, in our neighborhood, Mark would buy all the children ice cream on payday. Growing up less fortunate gave him a sense of charity. When he became a firefighter in 1985, he took over the fire department’s toy drive after the retirement of Chief Burns. Donations were accepted from each fire house and distributed throughout the city. Over the years, the toy drive grew bigger and bigger. Mark’s motto was “no child should wake up on Christmas morning without a present under their tree.” When Mark passed in 2014, over 1,200 children in Jersey City received toys, food, and/or gift cards.

Each year, more and more firefighters, corporate organizations, community leaders, and others increased donations to the toy drive, which my son and I have continued in honor of Mark Sr.’s legacy. The event took on a new form. Firefighters and their families come together each year for a wrapping event where pure love and support for the children of Jersey City is provided. I am proud to say that in December of 2019, the newly named Captain Mark V. Lee Fund provided toys to over 8,000 children in Jersey City, and in hospitals and organizations in New Jersey. In order to further Mark’s legacy as a 911 first responder, I am honored to expand upon his legacy, and did so in creating the RocaBella Gives Foundation. This will empower me to support more children worldwide.

What does the word power mean to you?

The word power means a force turned on with the ability of strength and ambition. Power is productive; it helps one to be confident, optimistic, and mentally strong. The successful, positive, fearless women that make a difference are powerful!

Rocabellabrands.com RocaBellagives.org