I always like a good beauty quote, and Andrea Claire had a few good ones in her interview with Makeup Junkie. You can read the full interview and learn more about Claire's makeup, hair and style career here at MJ's blog. You can also see some of Claire's print work. I'm glad MJ is back online posting again.

Here are some highlights:

Fall 2009 Beauty Trends
Claire feels smokey eyes, matte red lips, and 80s revival will be the top trends this fall. This was confirmed in the MAC videos I posted earlier.

Advice to women of a certain age
Avoid trends such as 80s revival, if you already lived it once. Makes sense to me.

...if you had been there done that and bought the lime green shadow you cannot do that again! Besides, it is very much a 'must have young skin' to pull it off. Bold colour blocking with eye shadows can age you and have you looking like you are stuck in a time warp. This look is only carried off if you are an adolescent so if you are 21 and under I say rock it, over 21 opt for another trend of the season.

Claire gives the following makeup tricks:
Smokey Eyes

*layer carbon/charcoal shadows with metallic colour. [You notice that I have done this, as it works better for my eyes.]
*If you find shadows are difficult to blend with your dark base then layer MAC's Smolder pencil with a Lise Watier's Metallic Eye shine pencil, smudge together with a Q-Tip. [Or use the MAC smudger brush as I have done. And use a lighter base. MAC's Smolder moved on me and made a mess. Blackgraph stays put. They are two different formulas. Smolder would likely smudge better.]

Matte Red lips

*apply the lip liner after the lipstick so it doesn't appear to[o] geometric.
*dot a smidge of vitamin e on top - not to add gloss but just a little moisture -- if matte is too drying for you.

What I really loved is her beauty mantra:

Be realistic. Be real... Beauty is not serious - beauty is a moment in your day that can convey confidence, flirtiness, calm. What I mean is, all women 'take 5' in their day by touching up here and there ... Beauty is a moment in time that is forever changing. Embrace those little moments but don't be those moments just live in them.... HA! Life is short - enjoy it - have fun with it. That's what beauty and fashion is all about; ... A form of expression that can change day to day, season to season - enjoy the trends but remember to enjoy life too. Andrea Claire at Makeup Junkie

Be sure to look at Makeup Junkie's blog.

Karin --I do wear the lime shadow, just judiciously.
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts -- you know who you are!

Originally posted 2009-08-27 19:21:47.

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As I said in my earlier post today, I wanted to try the NYX colors I had not tried before. Once in a while a color combo blows you out of the water. This color combo is gorgeous and one of my faves!

Eyes:
Base: Nude Frost on lids, not under brows; then BE Queen Phyllis
Lids: NYX Luxor, square individual shadow with a clear lid, an exact match to my T
Drylined: NYX Red, square loose shadow with micro shimmer
Lined: Chanel blue duo pencil, lightest color
Tightlined: NYX Jet Black Felt Tip liner
Inner corners: Arbonne Illume (white matte)
Mascara: Clinique
Concealer: Guerlain
Brows: La Prairie pencil

Primer: Avon Magix
Foundation: Revlon Age Defying cream
Rouge under my sparkly powder mix: Chanel stick
Blush: Arbonne Promise
Highlight: Arbonne Bashful

Lips: AL Balm + MAC pencil -- see my LOTD for more.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts -- you know who you are

Originally posted 2009-09-04 15:29:17.

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This was my look today, trying the other color in the second print ad, but placing the colors more like the print ad for Emerald.

After yesterday, it seemed too neutral, but looking at the pictures and how I felt about my look today, it is definitely a keeper.

Eyes:
Base: MAC Luna, then BE Queen Phyllis
Lids, crease and drylined: in the order on the quad
Mascara: Maybelline Pulse Perfection

Lips: all Arbonne
Tickled + Gleam, edged with Nice pencil

These quads are really quite nice, especially for the money. I like that they are good sized but small enough to be easy to travel with.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts, you know who you are

Originally posted 2009-09-12 23:01:57.

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What with school starting next week and two registrations this week plus reading the new Jim Butcher book, I'm behind in posting, so I figured I'd better catch up! If I get too far behind, I can't remember what I did. What's fun about doing two days is that it is easy to compare colors.

Tuesday
Eyes:
Base: Nude Frost, then BE Queen Phyllis
Lids: Milani 06 Royalty This is a gorgeous color, with sort of a turquoise micro glitter on top of it -- the bad thing is that the glitter is only on top, so once you get past the top, it is gone. I work from only one area so I can see what the glitter looked like. This really does seem like bait and switch.
Lids: topped with AL Bluespark Rocks, a nearly identical micro glitter color, whoo hooo!
Lined: Mary Kay Bahama Blue pencil
Brows: La Prairie pencil
Mascara: Guerlain, not Le2

Primer: Revlon
Foundation: Chanel
Blush: Arbonne Promise, after Chanel stick rouge under Guerlain meteorites powder

Lips
Mary Kay Pink Shimmer + gloss

Wednesday
Eyes:
NYX trio #3 pink, white, baby blue -- really gorgeous colors and I've wanted to get back to them.
Lined: Chanel Noctournes, Mercury and Sapphire double ended pencil, sadly discontinued
Brows: La Prairie pencil
Mascara: Arbonne, double ended

Primer: Guerlain meteorites
Foundation: Chanel
Blush: Arbonne Promise, after Chanel stick rouge under Guerlain meteorites powder

Lips:
Too Faced Caspian pencil topped with Mermaid gloss -- I chose Mermaid because it is the browner of the glosses in the 4 that came out at the same time.

That gives you a two day round up!

What have you been wearing?

To buy Arbonne from Bookgirl, just ask.
Karin

Originally posted 2009-08-06 15:49:10.

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I have way too many lipsticks and lipstick samples to ever use them up in a lifetime, even though I have three daughters and others with whom I share lipsticks. Why! I try as much as possible to buy department store products always with a gwp, and generally that includes a lippie or two, and often I'd buy a lippie as part of my qualifying purchase. So given a number of lipsticks and a number of pencils, it is possible to come up with almost an unlimited number of colors.

How or why did I come up with this one?
Applied in this order
I wanted to try or re-try the Avon sample I had. It is a fuchsia, but when I started to apply it, I could tell it wasn't vibrant enough. It is more of a spring color than a winter.

Then, my new gwp Clinique lippie, more of a plummed brown pink, was next to it on the counter. I looked at it and thought, this might work.

I didn't feel like the edges were strong enough, so I did the edges with the MAC pencil. I too almost prefer to do my pencils this way as I have some control over how much pencil shows or shows through vs. doing the pencil first. Plus I can get the edge sharper without looking made up. See my earlier post on Andrea Claire.

How long does it take?
It's a really fast technique. The longest time is just to determine the colors.

Colors
Balm: AL -- this was left from earlier today, but I like the balm as a base
Lipstick
Top: Avon Royal Fuchsia
Lower: Clinique Rose Aglow smooshed
Lined edges: MAC Soar pencil

Here's how it looks full face:

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts -- you know who you are

Originally posted 2009-09-04 14:58:37.

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Lips:

Lip balm: AL
Lip color: AL Smitten
Rimmed with Beaute Allure
Gloss up the center: Lancome Starlight -- white with silver micro sparkles
Lip Pencils:
Then I decided to try out pencils, since I have them. I just kept adding a bit more (lightly) until I liked the look. I used the following along the outer edge and on the outer corners, applied over lip color.
MAC Subculture, Spice pencils and also Clarins

I figure I have the pencils, might as well use them! Each has a little different nuance.

Do you use lip pencils?
It's still a softer, newer look using them in combination with rimming with a gloss. Maybe that's the secret now!

Karin

Originally posted 2009-07-21 13:34:50.

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I haven't worn many blues lately, but today I wanted to wear blues, and Aromaleigh has some beautiful blues.

Eyes: all Aromaleigh, unless noted
Base:Nude Frost , then BE Queen Phyllis
Mystery on lid; Swank drylined; Blue Haze in inner corners...
Inner corner (additional): Arbonne Illume (matte white)
Tightlined: Chanel pencil duo -- light blue and deeper blue
Brows: La Prairie pencil
Mascara: Clinique

Primer: Avon Magix
Foundation: Estee Lauder, stick
Rouge, under powder: Chanel, stick
Lips: Guerlain Liplift, then 624 Candy Shine
Cheeks: MAC Moon River
Powder: my sparkly mix
Bronzer: Arbonne

What do you think?
I was happy with this. I have to think blues again, happy blues!

Fragrance today: YSL Elle
What are you wearing? It's still going strong, but softer, after only one squirt distributed to both arms. I do like this one for fall. How about you? Do you wear this one? You can see my almost-review here, my tale of a compliment received.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts -- you know who you are!

Originally posted 2009-09-02 13:57:41.

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I've been captivated by the current ads for Maybelline Smokey Eyes. The Emerald Smokey Eye ad was simply gorgeous, so I thought I would use some colors I already have to get a similar look.

Green is always a good color with my eyes, whether teals, avocado, or khaki. And I hadn't tried these samples from Meow yet.

Eyes:
Base: MAC Luna, then Meow
Lids: Meow Leona H ScandalEyes, sage green --brighter avocado
Crease and drylined top and bottom: Sourpuss Purrl IdealEyes, olive green with bronze shimmer -- looks like deeper avocado
Tightlined: MAC blackgraph with earthline on the bottom

Lips: All Arbonne
Illusion Lipstick + Gleam Prep and Plump -- then lined with Nice to give it definition

What do you think?
I thought this turned out well. It's a lovely neutral, not as vibrant as the Maybelline quad which I decided to buy.

Here's what it looks like:

Target's prices are better than Walgreen's, but Target did not have the Emerald quad.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts -- you know who you are!

Originally posted 2009-09-12 22:18:37.

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Eyes:
Base: MAC Luna, then BE Queen Phyllis In addition to the quad colors, I tightlined with Arbonne Eclipse pencil, smudged.
Mascara: Maybelline Pulse Perfection Blackest Black

Foundation: Light ALMAY® smart shade smart balance™ skin balancing makeup
Rouge under my sparkly powder mix and blush over it: Pink Almay smart shadeTM blush
Lips: MAC Rags to Riches gloss, lightly edged with Arbonne Nice pencil to give it more definition

I love these Smokey Eye quads! I was given a compliment on my eyes this morning.

What do you think?
Have you tried these? Which are your favorite color combinations?

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts -- you know who you are

Originally posted 2009-09-13 14:45:07.

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Here's where I began:
Arbonne lip balm + Legend + On Point (just the gloss)
Legend is quite dark; the On Point brought it lighter and pinker.

Here's where I ended up:
Lined: MAC Soar, then
Rimmed and up the center with Beauté Alluregloss

Here's what it looks like full face:

Which do you prefer?

To buy Arbonne from Bookgirl, if you don't have a representative, just ask.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-07-24 12:59:12.

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