In person … I’ll start with someone we are all familiar with:

Catherine Deneuve. It was 1986. It was the launch of her perfume, Deneuve. It was a chypre scent - earthy, green, sensual. Really nice. Anyway, I just happened to be at Nordstrom in South Coast Plaza. All of a sudden there was a "buzz" in the air. I turned, and there was Catherine Deneuve, walking down the aisle (in my direction), male escorts on either side. She was dressed in a black ensemble, wearing pumps with a stacked heel, and carrying a very smart looking handbag. She was beautifully "done" - hair, makeup, the works. She looked so elegant. I was just stunned.

Now on a personal note - it would be my mother. Especially when she is painting. I love to watch her as she mixes her lush palette of oils, then as she works on the canvas. She is so passionate in her painting; I find her especially beautiful at those moments. She gets so involved in her painting that she forgets to eat until hours later. (She is Spanish and Apache. She has the personality of Sally Field, Shirley Maclaine, Ann Bancroft, and the dark flashing eyes of Natalie Wood.) I’ll call her and ask her, "Mom, have you eaten?" And she says, "No, I’ve been painting for hours. I’ll take a break and eat now." And I know she’s very happy.                  

Here are my beauty choices. Some of the women I know personally. Others I’ve experienced through their work, literature and television interviews.  Some are deceased. My mother is my first choice. She died at 86 yrs of age but could still turn heads. Her smile was dazzling! Dr. Leah Gaskin Fitchue, First Woman President of Payne Theological Seminary, in Wilberforce OH. First Lady Michele Obama, Actresses Cicely Tyson, Anne Bancroft, Jane Fonda, Helen Mirren and Dorothy Dandridge, Jazz and Blues Singers Billie Holiday, Betty Carter and Bessie Smith.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  I personally think Elizabeth Taylor, in her prime, was the most beautiful woman ever.  Part of it is her fairly uncommon coloring, the dark hair contrasting with the fair skin and, yes, those violet eyes.  Mind you, there are many very close seconds.  I’ve never seen her person, though, so I’m probably not sticking with the program.