Yes, it's still Valentine's week. And although a straight-up beauty item is usually the order of the day, I did want to mention that natural flush that comes from shared excitement as one of the best "organic" beauty treatments.
What is that spine that supports certain couples, sustains their connection and transcends the fragility of romantic love alone? So many of the couples profiled yesterday note regular sex as the secret to their long-term unions, such as Sting & Trudie Styler and Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgwick.
The science bears out that keeping sex alive in a relationship helps keep the love alive too. Plus it makes you younger!
Which probably accounts for the popularity of Viagra, and the growing popularity of Zestra.
A friend sent me this quote yesterday which was more than sobering:
Romance only comes into existence where love is fatal, frowned upon, and doomed—not the fruitful contentment of the settled love, not the satisfaction of love, but its passion. And passion means suffering.
Passion whips us into a frenzy of feeling so intense we crave it, even though it pains us. Passionate love elevates, but it also afflicts us, and for that carnal thrill—feeling all of our senses on red alert . . . each hour a small forever—we would gladly suffer." —from Denis de Rougemont, Love in the Western World, via Diane Ackerman in A Natural History of Love
She cited this as a reason for so much infidelity. So, it makes sense that all aspects of a relationship need attention to keep love alive. This week, a focus on the love/life balance should trump the work/life balance – or maybe it's all of a piece – balance, balance, balance.
A little practical help perhaps? Sprayology's homeopathic WomanPower ($32) and ManPower ($32), both formulated to address the specific hormonal needs of each sex, in addition to addressing exhaustion, irritability and the "blues".
Just a thought. Among many.
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