Erika Katz

Author of the book Bonding Over Beauty, A Mother-Daughter Guide to Self-Esteem, Confidence and Trust (Greenleaf Press, March 2011), Erika Katz uses her beauty expertise to help moms bond with their tween daughters. A former child model and actress, Erika appeared in over 100 commercials, print ads, and films. As the mother of a tween girl, she now writes a popular beauty blog for mothers tackling the drama of the tween years. Before college, Erika interned in the beauty department at Seventeen magazine. Using her experience at Seventeen, cosmetology classes, and lessons learned through her extensive work in television and modeling, she created a beauty guide that served as the foundation for Bonding Over Beauty. Though the guide initially targeted young women, after joining several parenting groups Erika soon realized many mothers were unsure of how to bridge the generation gap when dealing with the beauty and hygiene issues their daughters faced. Believing that a parent's job is to nurture their children's self-esteem and happiness, she turned her beauty guide into a valued resource for moms that contains advice and numerous bonding rituals that can ease the difficulties faced by young girls growing to physical and emotional maturity. Bonding Over Beauty focuses on encouraging and strengthening the mother-daughter relationship through simple, fun, and intimate activities such as teaching your tween basic beauty rituals like painting her nails or making an organic face scrub from scratch. The book also helps mothers navigate sensitive topics that often arise with tween girls, from dealing with unwanted body hair to menstruation, and everything in between. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Erika lives in New York City with her husband and two children.