December 2014 Issue

MAGAZINE

BRONZE Winter/Holiday Issue

5 Budget-Minded Marketing Ideas for the Holidays

Cool Holiday Gifts for Her

“FALLING SKIES” ACTOR TREVA ETIENNE: THE MAN HIMSELF REVEALED

How to Winterize Your Natural Hair

Get the Look: Holiday Beauty DECEMBER 2014

VISIT BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM

C O N T E N T S

FEATURES

16 Cover Feature Interview featuring “Falling Skies” actor Treva Etienne 14 Holiday Gift Suggestions BEAUTY

20 Get the Look: Holiday

Beauty

26 Protecting your Hair in

the Upcoming Winter Months

BUSINESS

07 5 Budget Minded

Marketing Ideas for the Holidays

FASHION

08 Amina Touray Presents: Winter Gypsy

21 Rustom Camera Bags

Photographer: Amina Touray Model: Jihane Sy All clothes and accessories from www.wardrobegypsy.com Styling: Imani Akbar Make up by: Irma Vasquez

bronze magazine Founder and Editor In Chief

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Ameliaismore Sylvia Browder Jane Orafu

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5 Budget Minded Marketing Ideas for the Holidays

our Y n o ’s What ing Plan et ?

Mark ay Season olid H s i h t

by Sylvia Browderr

The holiday season is fast approaching, and many people are set for the fun and celebration. However, for small businesses, it has a different meaning. It means that they have an opportunity to close out the year (Q4 or Quarter 4) with strong numbers. So, to avoid being stagnant at the end of the year, it is imperative to strategize on how to best capitalize on the holiday rush… now!

mend to others. These services can be used effectively, free. So, just imagine the many satisfied customers who convert to premium versions.

According to a recent study, an estimated $72.5 billion of sales are expected during this incoming holiday season. To help you get your fair share of the pie, here are 5 budget-minded marketing ideas:

Offer a downloadable holiday guide to your customers and viewers.

Your customers know and respect you as an expert.

As such, they’ll be quick to download something you recommend or offer. All you have to do is prepare a downloadable holiday guide with simple tips that will make their lives during the holiday season. For example you can offer a guidebook on how to avoid overspending during the season or how to prepare for family and friends visiting during the holiday.

Leverage your community.

There are a number of ways to influence your community into buying your products. One of them is through your social networks. You can embed the social buttons within your website or marketing communications. Also, if you have a blog, try to encourage your readers to use the social sharing buttons on the blog to share your articles, resources and offers to their contacts within their social networks.

Add banner ads to your website or blog.

This is a strategy that you should be implementing every holiday season. With increased visits to your site, why not capitalize on the traffic. With an ad banner, you can promote your product or services, thus, potentially converting frequent visitors into buyers.

Offer a free trial.

Want to get potential customers interested in your product or service? Try offering a free trial! This can be a lucrative way to move leads into your customer development cycle. Look at the success of popular services such as Evernote, Dropbox and Mailchamp.

These are all services that I personally use and recom-

A note of caution, make sure that customers don’t have to commit by putting in their credit card information to get started, as this can be a deterrent.

Make it easy for them to sign up for your free offer.

Use a video card to promote your business on YouTube or your website.

Video marketing has turned out to be one of the most effective ways to market your business online. A simple trick would be to upload a simple Christmas song or a special greeting on YouTube. This doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive, as that high-end phone you have is enough to create a quality video that can help you attract a good number of customers during this season.

There you have them, 5 easy to implement shortterm strategies to boost your sales for the holiday.

Now apart from what we’ve listed, what personal strategy do you use to attract a sizeable number of customers during holidays?

BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

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Amina Touray Presents: Winter Gypsy Photographer: Amina Touray Model: Jihane Sy All clothes and accessories from: www.wardrobegypsy.com Styling: Imani Akbar Make up by: Irma Vasquez

8 | BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

Photographer: Amina Touray Model: Jihane Sy All clothes and accessories from: www.wardrobegypsy.com Styling: Imani Akbar Make up by: Irma Vasquez

BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

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Photographer: Amina Touray Model: Jihane Sy All clothes and accessories from: www.wardrobegypsy.com Styling: Imani Akbar Make up by: Irma Vasquez

10 | BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

Photographer: Amina Touray Model: Jihane Sy All clothes and accessories from: www.wardrobegypsy.com Styling: Imani Akbar Make up by: Irma Vasquez

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Photographer: Amina Touray Model: Jihane Sy All clothes and accessories from: www.wardrobegypsy.com Styling: Imani Akbar Make up by: Irma Vasquez

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Photographer: Amina Touray Model: Jihane Sy All clothes and accessories from: www.wardrobegypsy.com Styling: Imani Akbar Make up by: Irma Vasquez

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Holiday Gifts for Her from

the Bronze Mag team

Ashley Cottrell Inspiration/Health & Fitness Contributor

DXG Mini Digital Camcorder Available at www.Kohls.com

Elizabeth Tawose Entertainment Blogger Intern

Samsung Galaxy 8.4-inch Tablet S (Dazzling White) Available at www.Amazon.com

Karina Cruz Social Media Intern

Birchbox Available at www.birchox.com

Tyshane Franisco Fashion Contributor Essence of Luxury Vanilla Spa Bath and Body Gift Set Available at www.amazon.com

Rosalyn Robinson Beauty Contributor

QVC Beauty Christmas Advent Calendar Available at www.qvc.com

Treva Etienne The Actor and the Man Revealed

by Ameliaismore Born a British gentleman, talented actor Treva Etienne has learned to transfer his talents to the American marketplace on the big and small screens. Bronze Magazine got an opportunity to get a little more insight on Treva the man, whose conversation also provides insight on the idea that celebrities are people too; they just happen to be in the public's eye more than the average person. This is one of the main reasons why Bronze Magazine has chosen Treva as our first male cover star. As you read the article you will be pleasantly surprised, that although very humble, Mr. Etienne is far beyond ordinary. I would say extraordinary but read on and judge it for yourself.

Photos courtesy of: Blinkit Photography http://galleries.blinkitphotography.com/

BM: Bronze Bombers know you from both the big and the small screen, but want to know you as a person. So tell us, who is Treva and why have you chosen acting as your career?

TE: Long story, I was born in London and didn’t have any acting experience.

I had a strong stutter. I had a lot of problems in school trying to fit in with the other students. One day, I was about 7 or 8 years old and I saw a James Cagney movie. Somehow I got attracted to James Cagney’s speech pattern. I started to speak like James Cagney.When I started speaking like him things changed for me. He has a somewhat fast speech pattern.When you stutter you try to get the words out as fast as possible because you don’t want to get caught in the stutter. I know that Robin Williams, James Earl Jones, Marilyn Monroe all had a stutter.That’s when I found out that lots of actors had stutters.The more I began to speak like him [James Cagney], unbeknownst to me, I started to download some kind of art form that became part of my personality.When I started to ask what does James Cagney do? I was told he was an actor. I asked, “Well what is an actor?” I was told it is someone who goes on stage and creates characters. I said; “Okay.” I think from that moment onward I played with the idea unconsciously, that this would be a way for me to communicate with people and express myself. As I began to put more time and energy into it, I evolved and eventually became an actor.

BM: Most actors evolve to writing and directing, however, your career has been somewhat the opposite; you were a writer and director first, then blossomed into the actor you are today.

Is this accurate?

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TE: Well not really. It was happening all at the same time really.Where I was living in London, there really weren’t a lot of opportunities for kids to get involved with the theatre. So you had to join theatre groups.There was always an opportunity to express yourself while in the theatre groups.

Either you would write a play and put your friends in it, or you would direct a play and put your friends in it. So, I was always in a situation with a group where I had the opportunity to write something and then put my friends in it. Honestly, it was all kind of coincidental because I was writing stories that I thought would resonate with my experience and the experience of the people I lived with; then I would tell the story on the page. Sometimes I would be in the play as well. If I wasn’t acting in the play, I’d take a back seat, or do a little lighting, or do the sound. It was all kind of organic. I was learning everything all at the same time, while making mistakes along the way. I was doing all of this at like 16 and 17 years old. I ended up liking it all, so I was doing it all. It was all creative and enjoyable, so I just ended up doing as much as I could.

BM:The TNT series Falling Skies is a hit TV show.They say that art imitates life. How much do you feel your show is imitating life?

TE: You mean the whole alien thing? I think it’s very true to life. If you imagine the bacteria that we live amongst that we don’t know, the bed bugs that we don’t know.When you go to other countries and we see different kinds of insects that we don’t know.There is so much that we don’t know. So, if you start with the premise that we don’t know, then how do we know that there isn’t? So I believe that if we don’t know

there is also a possibility that it’s out there. I totally believe that we are living amongst different types of energies and molecules, etc. It only makes sense that if those things could be around us in that form, then other things could be around us as well.

BM: Do you think people in real life have some of the same struggles as the characters in Falling Skies?

TE: Yes, I think the clever thing about the show is that they do try to make it relevant and as topical to what is going on around us, even though it’s an alien invasion, and we are having to create a resistance against aliens, I feel the show really expresses what it means to be family and what it is to work as a united team- a united front to share the same values and the same goals to want to create better humankind. I think right now we are fighting to define what a better human kind is. Human kind right now is in a very challenging state and has been for a long time. It’s being challenged based on what humankind wants, how it wants it, and how it goes out and gets it. I think it needs a new definition because if you understood we are all together in this and if there were an alien invasion we would be all together in it. If that were true, I don’t think we would have all the fighting and all the selfishness and greed we have right now. Falling Skies in a very subliminal way is trying to express that point; to work together as a family for a common good that will unite and bring people together. Not because of differences or cultural, or because you are on one side of the fence and I’m on the other side of the fence, or you believe in this and I believe in that; it’s just for the fact that we all want the same thing- oxygen, water and food. If we all could just be on that level we wouldn’t be fighting.We don’t start on that level, we start on I want this and I want it now.That’s where the conflict starts. I think Falling Skies in its own way is trying to contribute to that kind of understanding.That idea along with all its action and all the other things you need for a hit show, but with every episode it tries to give a moral message about trying to work as a united human family.

BM:Tell us the back story about your character Dinga.

TE: He’s a guy from South Africa who’s been floating through life as a loner.

He meets up with Tom and the rest of the group and becomes part of the family. He becomes united in that human family for a common good and becomes part of their second mass journey.

BM: Is it different acting in sci-fi because the scenes are not real to life? How do you pull from your reality to express the emotions necessary for the scene?

TE: Yes it’s a little of both. Obviously we are not living among aliens with lizard faces and using these special effect ray guns, so you have to suspend belief in some sense. It’s not in your everyday reality, but in terms of the emotion, yes, it’s all applicable to everyday life.We get sad, we grieve, we’re afraid, we’re apprehensive, we’re nervous, we’re anxious. All these emotions are what we go through in everyday life which is them able to be downloaded into the emotions of the character.

BM: With the origins of your craft being so organic, have you ever studied one specific method or technique as you began developing you acting, or is it still coming from that organic place?

TE: It’s really still growing from that same organic place. I’ve studied various methods, but for me it’s always about just telling the truth. However you get to that point, whatever method you use works for me. It’s about finding the truth and sharing that with the audience.

BM:You have done so many roles. I have three questions: What character(s) is your favorite? What is the easiest? What character is the closest to Treva the man?

TE: Wow. I think Pirates of the Caribbean was probably the most challenging in terms of makeup, special effects and swords fighting and all that kind of stuff. It was an interesting character to play.That was all created organically.

The look and the vibe and everything we did in that movie were all organic. As for the easiest, none of them are easy. Even if you don’t have a big role they are all challenging in their own way. I played a character on stage once that slept a lot.That was an easy role because he was always asleep. I didn’t have much to do. I just had to pretend to be sleeping. One of my favorite characters was a priest. I played a priest in a very big TV comedy show in the UK called “Only Fools and Horses.”That was a lot of fun. It’s a huge show back home.

BM: Working in two countries with two different cultures, do you find a transition between British comedy and American comedy difficult or smooth?

TE: Yes, there is a definite line where you can see the transition between British culture and American culture, but at the same time it’s the same, because they both speak English.When you are speaking a different language, basically what you do with your hands, your face and your muscles, a lot of it is animated (or not).With the English language, which Americans speak, or Americana, as the British call it, there’s not much animation in how we communicate because we are both speaking the same language. Americans are younger Europeans in a way. Most of your ancestry is European. Although you find the gestures and cultural things in many ways different, a lot of them are the same as well. It’s kind of interesting.There is a line, but a very fine line because America and England have been holding hands for almost 400 years.

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show is appealing to varying demographics; all sorts of ages watch the show.Yet, I do find there is a maturity within it that grows outward. People join the dots if they watch the episodes they all somehow connect to the next story.

BM: If it’s not too personal, our readers would love to know if you are single and if so, what “your type?” is?

TE: Right now I’m single. I’ve just been so busy. It’s hard to really settle in and connect with someone.Yet, I’m always open. I don’t really look for anything in particular. I just look for someone with a great sense of humor and certain openness in life. If I find that, then I’m always open to connect with a woman who has that energy.

BM:Today’s woman is not inhibited and at times tends to be forward, which is becoming a lifestyle discussion. Do you like women who are forward or do you appreciate someone who is more reserved?

TE: No, I like it all. If a woman is forward and knows what she wants, I love that. I’d rather that than all of the game playing and all the pretending that people do. I’m from the nature that you should always be yourself all the time. If someone likes you, they will like who you are. But all the pretending to be something that you’re not to have a person like you and then when a person discovers who you truly are, you got to go backwards and show them your true self. I just really

Even if there has been conflict and wars and independence and all of that, there is still a very visible joining between our countries.

BM: Many of the projects you have done have catered to a younger audience like millennials, yet Falling Skies caters to an older demographic. Did you find the cadence and wording different with Falling Skies because it caters to an older audience? Or was there a difference?

TE: I didn’t find it had any real difference in terms of while it was pitching its audience. I feel in most of the episodes there is an adult feel, a kind of maturity in the writing. I always felt that it was all believable for anyone understanding the process. For me, it’s all the same really.The story line and dialogue they have for the younger characters are still quite mature and challenge their development as young adults. Really, the

18 | BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

think that seems to be a waste of time. Just trust and be open and someone will trust and be open with you. I think you get back what you put out. If you are not being trusting and open with yourself, you are not going to find someone to be trusting and open with you. If you are hiding your true self from others, then others will hide themselves from you. Life is too short. Just be your best self. I don’t believe in judgment. No judgment, no plans, no expectations. If you do that you are already limiting your opportunities. If you just stay open, what the universe delivers it will be; whatever it does and if it works for you, then roll with it; and if it doesn’t, another flower will show up, because the world is full of flowers.

BM: What is the one aspect of you that you would love your public to know about you?

TE: I do a lot of charity work with kids and the elderly. I work with organizations like Penny Lane and the Usual Suspects.They do a lot of work for abused kids, kids who are homeless and kids with drug problems. I also loved this year’s World Cup. Lastly, I watch tons of classic movies.

BM: As we end this interview, what is the lasting impression you would want our readers to have about you? And how can they continue to support you in all of your endeavors?

TE: Just to know that I like people, and I like to see people smile. I don’t think people smile enough in a world that is so troubled with all the crazy stuff we see every day. I do believe that there is a lot of good news that surrounds us. If we could have access to that good news, people would smile more. Seeing people smile is really a great joy to me. One more thing. If I had a food that I would want everyone to eat everyday it would be ice-cream. (Laughter) BM: We started the interview by asking the question, who is Treva? so finish this statement...Treva is?

TE: I would have to say Treva is a man who loves sunshine.

BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

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Get the Look: Holiday Beauty

Naked 2 Basics Urban Decay

Fashion Fair Beauty Blush Plum Rich

Burberry Curve Mascara Photographer: Amina Touray Model: Jihane Sy All clothes and accessories from: www.wardrobegypsy.com Styling: Imani Akbar Make up by: Irma Vasquez

Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Foundation

NARS Deadly Catch Hardwired Lipstick Crimson Red

Clarins Crayon Kohl Eyeliner Pencil

The BrowGal Skinny Eyebrow Pencil

by Tonya Crooke Medium Brown

R U S T O M

B a

r e m

a C

s g a

Camera Bags: Rustom Photographer: Rania Rustom Make up artist: Hannah Lisa Female Model: Amanda Pfingston Male Model: Zain Tarik

BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

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Camera Bags: Rustom Photographer: Rania Rustom Make up artist: Hannah Lisa Female Model: Amanda Pfingston Male Model: Zain Tarik

22 | BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

Camera Bags: Rustom Photographer: Rania Rustom Make up artist: Hannah Lisa Female Model: Amanda Pfingston Male Model: Zain Tarik

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Camera Bags: Rustom Photographer: Rania Rustom Make up artist: Hannah Lisa Female Model: Amanda Pfingston Male Model: Zain Tarik

Camera Bags: Rustom Photographer: Rania Rustom Make up artist: Hannah Lisa Female Model: Amanda Pfingston Male Model: Zain Tarik

24 | BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBERR 2014

Camera Bags: Rustom Photographer: Rania Rustom Make up artist: Hannah Lisa Female Model: Amanda Pfingston Male Model: Zain Tarik

BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

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Protecting Your Hair In The Upcoming Winter Months

by Jane Orafu

Women with curly, coily, wavy, kinky hair love their hair textures and now that we are in the 21st century, the world is loving our natural hair textures too! But how can we protect our natural hair from the DRY COLD Winter months? Protective hairstyles keep your hair and especially your ends well moisturized, tucked away, and protected from damage. We want to minimize the damage to our natural locks with a little extra care - and look great in the process! While these tips are perfect for winter season protection.

Eye for Design, the human hair extension company interviewed their new brand ambassador, Donna aka “MrsHairToday, a natural hair blogger that shares her journey with many women across the world. Her hair tutorials, sound advice, and protective styles has 26 | BRONZEMAGONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2014

earned her the title of Carols Daughter, Aunt Jackies, and FROS AND BEAUS Brand Ambassador.

MrsHairToday says that hair extensions and wigs are great ways to protect your natural hair during the winter months, helping your natural hair keep moisturized. They allow you the versatility to go from curly to straight, from and everyday look to the glam look of your favorite celebrities. There is no shrinkage to contend with, less detangling, and protection from the weather.

First, make sure you always have your ends cut and protect your natural hair from root to tip. By using great co-wash products such as “As I Am Coconut Co-Wash and Conditioner,” or a great moisturizing

shampoo and conditioner (Crème of Nature, Organix or Essation’s Naked Collection). Next, you should deep condition your hair 1-2 times a month using products that have deep moisturizing conditioners that are free of paraphens, mineral oils, and petroleum. Leave-in conditioners are a must (Aunt Jackie’s Quench , Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk Collection, Cantu Shea Leave-in). Daily moisturizers are a must, depending on your hair texture (As I am and Design Essentials have great daily moisturizers).

Hair extensions are the next step to protecting your natural hair. From sew-ins to wigs, Eye for Design (www.eyefordesignhair.com) has you covered with beautiful minimally shedding and tangling human hair extensions that can be colored and look just like your own natural hair. Their natural hair line includes closures, wefts and clip-ins. By using quality 100% Remy virgin human hair extensions, you can mimic your own natural hair, protecting your hair from the harsh winter months.

But you must take care of your hair, natural hair and extensions/wigs with proper care and maintenance.

Use the same products that you would normally use on your own hair on the hair extensions as well (but go light on the oils). Make sure that you maintain your natural hair under the extensions/wigs. Use an applicator bottle with the narrow nozzle. Fill it up with your favorite liquid daily moisturizer, then lift

up each track and apply your moisturizer on your braids. This is necessary that you keep your natural hair moisturized. Make sure that you cover your hair at night with a silk or satin scarf or bonnet for bed. Cleansing, washing and moisturizing your hair properly is imperative to maintaining optimal hair health and growth.

curly coily wavy kinky

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