THE 9-EMOTIONS
Navarasa Study: Expressing His Emotional Range
Artist-Creator, Natalie Schmidt; Photographer & Copy Editor, Anita Hodges; Model, Alec Van Bibber
We feel deep commitment to our emotions. Even if that commitment means to keep them masked.
Navarasa is a term of the Tamil language for the nine basic emotions that humans use to respond to surroundings and circumstances: love, laughter, compassion, anger, courage, fear, disgust, surprise and tranquility.
In this photo series, the charcoal black and white tonality represents a metaphoric veil that is the dissociation of a fragile man and his feelings. The model displays feminine and masculine characteristics in order to visually expose what it is to not just be classified as a gender but as a human with a full range of feelings to be freely expressed in society. As Jacques Offenbach proves in the opéra fantastique Les Contes d'Hoffmann, “On est grand par l’amour et plus grand par les pleurs,” (“While love makes us great, tears make us greater,”) emotions are layered, complicated and far from basic.
The expectations put upon male and female leave each of the species with only half of our necessary range as emotionally operable humans, forcing men to range in only anger, disgust, fear, or courage; while women are subject to ridicule for showing anything but love, laughter, compassion, surprise, or tranquility.
Each of the nine frames embody a certain level of discomfort, any paradigm shift of stereotype will require some sort of awkward notion, but it’s through this discomfort that we find our full being, our full capacity, our full range. To be free to flex all of our navarasa is to be truly whole.
You did it! You made it through the first full work week back after one cluster-fuck of a holiday season! Now that Timmy has his battery-operated toy car, dad has his new nine iron, it’s time for your present. From you to you, and maybe you’re looking for a battery-operated toy that isn’t a car ;) Read on for some great deals on the must-have fashion blogger’s favorite fashion pieces to really unique gifts to inspire you to stay up on that New Year’s resolution or say, "fuck it," my life is awesome as is. – Natalie Schmidt, Editor
*all photos used in this article are from each brand’s Instagram & website
Serious Baggage Luggage
Introducing a new way to travel, Serious Baggage. They make vintage framed suitcases handmade-to-order available to purchase on Instagram @seriousbaggage. With a handful of options, you can choose to have a fully custom made piece by speaking directly with the creators and artists. Perfect for a truly personalized gift for yourself. These are extremely affordable ($100-180) and a great alternative for the ever so sleek and desirable Rimowa luggage ($1000-2000). Look out for more info about this showstopper retro brand of luggage here on AS IS, and just how purchasing one will support a growing movement of motivated females helping each other turn their lives around.
Oribe Hair Products
RIP to the hair God: Oribe Canales, your voice and hairstyling videos are still our favorite ASMR to make us sleep like baby and of course buy your products. Oribe is the best of the best, so it can be a bit pricey. Here are some of our favorite Oribe products that won’t break the bank. Click on the picture to shop the product.
STAUD Post-Holiday Sale
This is why we love shopping after New Years, sales galore! This sale is up to 70% off and a brand that is an insta fave: STAUD. Check out some of our favorite’s below, and shop the full sale on the STAUD website.
SiO Beauty
The newest craze in beauty for men and women have been anti-aging silicone patches. We have been your genuine pigs, and can say that SiO Beauty products takes the cake on cornering this market. Instead of investing in injectable procedures right away, try this wrinkle reducing and preventative measure. All you do is wash your face, pat dry, apply patches, and go to bed! Then wake up with a smoother face then what you started with. The best seller we tried was the SiO Facelift (pictured). If you are a first-time buyer with SiO you can enter your email for a 10% coupon code off your first purchase!
Usual Wines
A new way to get tipsy in 2020. Sometimes you can’t have enough wine, lying around, in case you need it. Not all of us finish the bottle in one sitting…Usual wines have curated the perfect shopping experience to always have a red, rose, or brut on hand, and the best part no additives! Usual’s website offers a seamless wine-shopping experience telling you in depth about each of their brand’s wine. Typically, you would have buy one bottle at a time, but Usual sells 6 to 24 bottles per purchase at a rate of about $8/bottle. They even offer a mixed pack if you're feeling like switching it up. Visit them here to find your perfect pairing.
Lube, oil, vibrators, and so much more!
One of our favorite Instagram shops to check out is, @wilderflowersex. Along with a unique platform of body positivity, they sell fun and diverse sex products! Wild Flower provides an education tab for its shoppers and followers, some categories include, How to Pick Your Sex Toy, Anal Sex 101, and Sex During Pregnancy so you can make sure you are buying the right product and using them properly. To learn more about Wild Flower explore their site today!
VENA VENA Mini Square Bag
We can’t go without mentioning our OG #ASISBABE, Lavena Lewis’s handbag line. Since her profile article published, she has designed more pretty cute must-have handmade styles! Our latest obsession, the Mini Square Bag! Shop more VENA VENA styles on her website.