Beauty

No matter how much the world changes, our need for beauty and great fashions will never change. Humans need beauty in every shape and form, which is what makes following the latest trends so much fun.

What are the exciting new trends we should be watching for in 2013? Let's take a look.

Dresses: The Boxy Dress Style

One of the trends we're seeing this year is a change in the overall female silhouette, as expressed in dress styles. We're moving beyond the tight, figure-hugging cuts we've seen in recent years to choices in prêt a porter dresses that have a larger, looser feel. This look can be seen in designs coming from haute couture houses as well as in street style.

This type of loose, easy to wear style is the kind of design innovation the fashion industry loves. The boxy, ready to wear look moves differently and works well with accessories, like sparkling, chunky jewelry and sleek leggings that show off every angle of her feminine curves. Wow! Look for this trend in the best fashion magazines and fashion photography.

Dresses: The Cinched Look

Another take on the female silhouette is the cinched waist dress style. This cut plays up the waist in a figure flattering way, so it's a great look on every kind of woman. Fashion designers are all over this cut, so it's a style that can be seen on the catwalk in New York and in Paris!

Dresses: Dressed up in Velvet

Another highly attractive trend in dresses is the velvet dress. Velvet is a woman's fabric; it's elegant, warm and can really be dazzling, especially when it's accessorized.

A mid-calf length velvet dress with a plunging neckline is a can't miss look for evening, especially if the neckline reveals a hint of lacy lingerie. Velvet can also be a great vintage fashion, as a dress in this fabric blends beautifully with vintage touches like ankle strap shoes and vintage jewelry. Vintage watches look great with velvet as well.

Dresses: Big Buttons and Plaids

Clothing for women takes another fascinating turn in the trends we're seeing towards textures and patterns. The mode industry may take a measure of where fashion is headed by studying the way details like large buttons are showing up in sleek dresses.

Plaids are showing up in interesting ways too, in professional looks and casual ensembles. Some shows have highlighted plaids in asymmetrical combinations, with layers of patterns creating an intriguing effect that's as attractive as it is impressive. Some plaids are even showing up in sports wear, in jackets that offer solids on one side and plaid trim around the neck and edges. No matter where it turns up, plaid remains a wow look for 2013.

Teens Fashion

New looks for teens are turning up for 2013, and the news is all great for the younger set. Today's fashion conscious girls are combining some of the best clothing choices, like military style jackets in organic materials, with more feminine pieces like ankle length dresses in bold black and white stripes. Pleated skirts and leggings are back, and they look great paired with tees and cotton tanks tops in wild patterns or even in leather.

Jeans of course remain a fashion constant in active wear for teens, and these always-in pants blend beautifully with her favorite choices in tees or dressier tops.

When that teen wants to dress up by modeling a look that has major impact, she may want to embrace the trend toward sweet dress up dresses in ultra hot pink, combined with shoes and clutches in bold black and white. These are can't miss choices for the teens of today!

Spas & Salons

As trends in clothing evolve, so do the trends we're seeing in the spa and salon industry. As always, salons serve the feminine instinct towards beauty, and women who want to experiment with some of the newer looks in cosmetics should head to their favorite salon for a makeover. A once a year makeover by a talented make-up artist is a great way to really play with the new beauty trends and see what works.

This year's runway looks include more natural colors, with foundations in subtle earth or neutral tones, with very natural/neutral lip colors. Make-up in these natural looks, however, is going side by side with more flamboyant choices, like sequined, shiny eyelids and dark, earthy eye shadow. What's the right beauty choice? The right choice is what truly flatters the woman in question. A fun makeover session may be just the right way to find her perfect look for 2013.

Trends in Hair

Salons are also the place for discovering new trends in hair design, and this year we're seeing some real changes in styles. The pixie cut is back, and we're seeing this look worn beautifully by some of Hollywood's hottest stars. The pixie look is a great wash and wear, easy care style that works well with an oval, round or angular shaped face. Women who go with a pixie cut should experiment with bolder eye shadows and liners, to draw attention to this key beauty asset.

The Evolution of the Spa Treatment

Finally, trends in fashion and culture affect the way we relax and find relief from stress, and the spa industry has responded to these changes with new ways of serving clients. As our world has become more fast-paced, hectic and driven by electronics, spa treatments are gearing ever more towards healing massages, and even using more "earth" geared treatments, like mudpacks. These soothing, treatments bring stressed clients relief by getting them more in touch with the healing power of touch, and of nature.

Every magazine directed towards women does a great job of putting the issues front and center. Magazines sell because they focus on issues that women struggle with. EVERY WOMAN. I won't lie. I am drawn to every article I see on beauty products, tips, losing weight, eating healthy, and fashion. I watch YouTube videos on how to apply make-up, what products to buy, and how to do my hair. I find them interesting and I also enjoy them. I enjoy fashion (I love shopping), I enjoy make-up and getting my hair done, I work out on a regular basis, I watch what I eat, and I feel guilty when I make bad health decisions. I would be a hypocrite if I said I didn't care about all those things. I am a girl and I enjoy girly things! I love to get dressed up and feel beautiful!

Here is the problem. No matter how many hours I spend in front of the mirror, regardless of the videos I watch or the products I buy, I don' feel any more beautiful. What the magazines are selling isn't helping! But I keep buying and keep reading because it's the only source out there focusing on those issues... even if it is in a subtly detrimental way. There is a void in my heart that I just can't seem to fill.

And there it is. It's my heart. The hole, the pain, the desperation, the need to feel beautiful, I feel it in my heart. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again expecting to get different results. Up till now I have been insane, and there is a good chance you have been too. We keep doing to the same thing over and over again hoping to feel beautiful. Only we are tricked into thinking it's going to work because there is a new bottle, a new formula, a new cutting edge technology, a new magic wand that is going to transform us into Cinderella with a flick of the wrist and a few magic words. But even Cinderella only had until midnight... So I am ready to try something new. I am ready to work on my beauty from the inside out. This time I am not throwing all the things I love out the window. I am not going to stop wearing make-up or having my hair done, or pretend I don't like shopping. I am not going to shun beauty, I am going to Rethink it.

Let's change the way we think about beauty. Let's change the way we think about losing weight, doing our hair, wearing our make-up, and buying our clothes. Let's start incorporating God into beauty instead of trying to separate the two, after all, He did CREATE it.

Beauty on the inside is not just for good hearts and amazing personalities. Virtually all the major leaders and celebrity personalities in the health industry are, in one way or another, showing us all how much our inner beauty impacts how we look and feel and act on the outside. Whether it's Dr. Oz, Jillian Michael, Dr. Dean Ornish, or Lisa Lillien, the common theme is moving towards having the right lifestyle for your overall health.

There is no beauty like the beauty that comes from inside of you. Because of society and because of huge influences of things like advertising (which many studies say is more influential than the things in America that we learn in school by the time we are older) and other forms of media, many of us feel as though what really makes us beautiful by radiating inside of us, isn't what true beauty really is, when in fact the only real and lasting beauty is the beauty that comes from within.