The Essence of Beauty

 Caution.

An occassional "deep" rambling ahead :)

We've been asked why it took us so long to delve into the event decorating busines eversince we started Mariah & Sham few years ago. We've turned down fat offers for home makeovers, and we've passed on too many requests for service and product quotations too. Close friends think we are crazy for doing that. After all, who wouldn't want business and profit, especially when it's sought?

Well, yes businesses need to profit to sustain and evolve. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called a business now would it? But we believe the heart of a good business lies in the love, fervour, sincerity and belief in the product or service one is delivering.

We got into this biz out of our love and passion for beauty. And the essence of beauty, mum and dad taught us, should come from deep within, only emanating into physical existence, after one has learned its value as being honest and unforced.

Outward beauty without inner kindness and humility is fakeness. Inner beauty without outward discipline is laziness. And yet, for all the consciousness one has to partake in living beautifully, it shouldnt be forced and pursued without regard for objectivity and affordability.

Sis and I are not artists or designers by training. Sis being a counsellor, and myself being a pharmacist, we were trained in psychology and medicinal science respectively, with a next-to-zilch training in anything 'arty' for that matter. We pursued those careers, despite having in-born artistic inclinations, because we believe by helping others, we will learn to appreciate beauty in its true essence, and should we delve into an artistic business like Mariah & Sham someday, we will remain grounded with what's important and truly beautiful in life, instead of just producing beautiful things and materials, devoid of purposes and meanings. Hopefully, with that realization, we will produce works which are beautiful and honest not just in appearance, but in principle as well. This is something an official training or apprenticeship cannot offer. That is not to say that they are not necessary either. We acknowledge the importance of acquiring those skills, and we're learning more definitely, but at least we know we must keep to the true essence of beauty to produce products like such.

Our works should evoke warmth and kindness....not superficial beauty and snobbish extravagance. They should look and feel good not just in photos. They should taste as nice as they look. They should be of honest and uncompromised quality. They should be delicately thought of and not rushed through. They should look natural and unforced. They shouldn't just be 'placed' without regard for purpose and balance. They should elicit not just visual, but emotional harmony too. They should not just be themed, but conceptualized. They should be given attention to details. It's an all-or-nothing rule for us....we either do it well inside and out, or not do it at all.

Honestly speaking, this has been a tall order for us. Keeping up with our own expectations have cost us many potential clients. Because we just refuse to commit unless we know we can give the best, 

and unless we know for sure, our clients can appreciate the best. We've turned down projects which entail reproducing or replicating somebody else's design, or those which entail producing something utterly substandard in appearance, probably only looking good in photos, just to fit a fixed budget.

Because we believe such works, even if they can generate faster income for us, do not sit well with our conscience and style.

Our event decorating service is hence a long time coming. Because we do not want it to be just that - an event decorating service. We're doing it couture style. It's a highly exclusive and personaslised couture styling service we're offering for serious Mariah & Sham-seeking customers. We're calling it Mariah & Sham Couture Event Styling and we're only committing a few slots every year as sis and I are still very much involved in and contributing to our professions. We're still biting only what we can chew, but we're biting a little bit more variety now... ;)