While estheticians focus mainly on improving the physical appearance of women and men, the profession cultivates an inner beauty in people as well. Monique Raymond of Santa Clarita, California, has spent her forty-year career not only helping others accentuate their outer looks, but taking care of the inner worlds of clients who especially need courage and self-esteem. She believes taking time to pamper the body benefits mental, emotional, and spiritual health, as well as the physical body.

Q: I had a client ask me whether tattoos and permanent cosmetics can interfere with MRIs. What’s the story?

A: This is definitely a topic that needs some hard facts. Kathleen Ciampi, CEO and executive director of The Society for Permanent Cosmetic Professionals (SPCP), gets regular reports of clients being alarmed by nonsense warnings that their “eyelids will explode” under an MRI. That’s just plain wrong.

I’m what’s known in consumer advertising as a home enthusiast. It may be a nesting instinct in overdrive, but I never stop trying to improve my living space. Recently, I went a step beyond my usual fussing about and brought in a feng shui consultant to check out my house chi (natural energy). What I learned is there are simple rules anyone can use.

When I was swimming at the YMCA recently, I was approached by a teenaged lifeguard who knows I write books. She asked me for an inspirational quote to write on the blackboard for the people exercising there. This old proverb came to mind: “By standing still we overtake those who are running.” Dismayed, the teen walked to the blackboard and instead wrote, “Go, go, go!”