Real Simpleaddressed the hourglass figure, the slim or straight figure, full thighs and hips, or a tummy.  Keep the folowing ideas in mind when shopping for a skirt:

*For an hourglass, chose a skirt that skims your figure, but is not tight. Pick a skirt that hits below the belly button. A higher waist makes the torso and bust appear unbalanced.

*Add curves to a slim figure by choosing a patterned skirt in a heavier fabric, that is cut tapered or close to the body. A high waistline is a good choice for this type of figure.

*To camouflage fuller thighs and hips, chose a skirt that is gently tapered. Too straight and Real Simple says you run the risk of looking like a “square,” too tapered and you are a “light bulb.” (Light bulb. Funny, but a great visual example.) Chose a lightweight material in a dark, solid color.

*A wide, simple, un-embellished waistband works best with a tummy.

Organic Merino Wool Skirt  available at Gaia Conceptions.

Image credit: Gaia Conceptions at Etsy.com

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*Don’t over-highlight blond hair. The golden tones are what you want. Jennifer Aniston is the perfect example. Only Gwen Stefani call truly pull off platinum.

*When choosing jeans, look for a pair with at least 2 percent Lycra. The stretch will help to support your figure and it makes your butt look better.

*See a fitting expert to help you find the correct bra size. Two things that really help your figure instantly – good posture and a good-fitting bra.

*Dark,  matte lipsticks ages a face. Pick something pink and with a bit of gloss. Another thing, that I do myself , is to apply lip balm and then layer  lipstick lightly over it. It gives a little color, but it’s translucent.

*Aging skin benefits from creamier forms of makeup – cream blush, cream concealer, cream bronzer, and cream foundation. Use a tinted moisturizer if you can get by with a smaller amount of coverage. You don’t have to purchase a special already tinted moisturizer. I mix a few drops of liquid foundation into my everyday moisturizer. Sometimes I add a little shimmery highlighter into the mix as well. It helps to brighten your face and blur the lines.

Image credit: Zuma Press.com

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One of my favorite magazines is Women’s Health. I love the articles, the workouts, the recipes, but I wish they’d use more realistic women in some of their photos. It’s a magazine aimed at active women, but the women inside the covers are frequently very thin and with no visible muscles. Arms that thin would have a hard time lifting a dumbbell.

Body image is a huge issue with women. This is not an original thought – we all know this. I want my daughters growing up feeling beautiful and smart and strong. I want to feel beautiful, smart, and strong, myself.

Glamour magazine has recently offered an alternative view of a beautiful woman. In September, a photo of model Lizzie Miller appeared in the magazine. She was nude and had a little belly. She looked healthy and happy and beautiful. Women loved the photo and the magazine recieved a flood of positive comments.

The November issue goes a bit further with a photo shoot that features seven beautiful fuller figured ladies. I’m hopeful that this is the beginning of a trend in the magazine industry, not just some sort of publicity stunt. Reading about Mark Fast’s London Fashion Week runway show that included a number of plus size models helps that hope to grow a bit brighter.

Image credit: Zuma Press

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No doubt you’ve noticed that many fashion magazines and celebrity weeklies are trumpeting a certain beauty trend for fall—green nails…it’s a pale green iteration of this look that’s taking celebrity hands by storm. We’ll go so far as to say that jade tips were the it accessory at New York Fashion Week, as everyone from the sunnily stylish (like Rachel Bilson) to the quirkily cool (Alexa Chung) sought out this particular shade.

Below, see Drew Barrymore wearing the trend .

If you’d like to wear the trend in a 3 Free polish – that would be free from Formaldehyde, Toluene, or DBP – here are a few choices:

The color that started the trend, Chanel Jade is shown here with the Jade Rose…

Jade
$25
butter London has a slightly darker shade called Thames. It’s a “blue-green stunner,” that’s dramatic, but also classy and current.

You can recreate Drew Barrymore’s look at the Toronto Film Festival with FACE Stolkholm’s Nail Polish  in color #69.

Drew Barrymore image credit: Zuma Press
Chanel polish image credit: Chanel.com

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Here are few easy tips….

Keep It Simple
When going with something new and bold, keep it simple. Chose one feature to highlight. For example, when wearing a red lip color, keep the rest of your makeup neutral – warm and natural. If you are going to wear a heavily lined eye, keep the rest of your makeup soft and subdued.

Use Brow Powder
Strong, defined brows are in. The trick is to keep your brows looking as natural as possible. Start with the correct shape and fill in with a slightly lighter color brow powder if you are brunette and slightly darker if you are blonde or a red head.  Even if you’ve got dark hair, don’t go with a dark brow color. I’m a medium brunette and I use a blond/light brown brow powder. You want to enhance what you’ve got, not draw on brand-new brows.

Experiment with Metallics
Glamour magazine likes a Metallic Lid for Fall – a metallic bronze, metallic green, a bit of gold. They suggest lining the lids with shadow  in an exaggerated “V” formation.  Try a fuller line than usual, heavier on top, closer to lash line at the bottom,  just beyond the eye corner a bit, with a slight up-tilt at the far outward edge.

Do Your Eyes First
An eye makeup look like this has a tendency to travel down the face a bit, specks of powder can get everywhere. I suggest switching up your usual application order up. Do your eyes first. Apply base, then line with shadow, fill in your “V” shape, clean up the edges, then go back and apply foundation, powder, blush, and so on. Putting the makeup on in this order helps to keep the rest of your face neutral and fresh. This order also works well when you are doing a smokey eye.

Get a Colorful Yet Smokey Eye
Speaking of a smokey eye, the September 2009 Issue of InStyle featured actress Amanda Seyfried with a twist on the classic black smokey eye look. They show the green-eyed Seyfriend (she really has lovely eyes) with 3 different looks – teal, metallic, and brown. Mariel Barrera, the makeup artist who created the looks says that the most important thing is to blend, blend, blend, thus the colors “melt together.” Another tip, when using the metallics, keep the brow bone clear, because using metallic shadow “too high, can look harsh.”

Image credit: Sephora.com

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Flu season is right around the corner and I, for one, am not going to let it kick my butt this year. In addition to making a person feel horrible, the flu can really do a number on your looks. Pale, life-less looking skin, dark circles, dehydration – none of it good.

Here’s my how-to guide for surviving the flu.

Step 1: I will take a regular supplement, to further support my already healthy diet. (Or the healthier diet I’m planning on practicing). Hopefully, this will help me to avoid the flu in the first place.

Step 2: During Flu season, when I feel the first sign of Flu symptoms, I down a smoothie. Smoothies are simple to make in the blender. Start with orange juice, frozen strawberries and frozen peaches. Blend until smooth. Smoothies are infinitely adaptable. Change the frozen fruit, add yogurt or honey. Simple, yummy, and effective. I will also find a good Chicken Soup recipe.

Step 3: Drink plenty of water. Fluids, fluids, fluids – just like the doctor ordered.

Step 4: I love to take a soothing bath with homemade bath salts. Use a Eucalyptus scented essential oil to scent your salts and close the bathroom to hold the scent close. It does wonderful things to your aching sinuses, trust me.

Step 5: I know you feel horrible, but do not neglect your skin during this time. If you are spending a lot of time on your pillow, avoid your serious anti-aging products, as they can really do a number on colored sheets (as in they bleach the color out).  Use an eye cream that helps to cut down on puffiness or apply cool compresses to soothe eyes. Also, use a clean pillow case each day. This is better for health and clear skin.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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Kyra is new to the glass and has only been operating her shop for a couple of months. She wrote a piece about working with the glass, called The Art and Meditation of Drilling Sea Glassthat you can read at Etsy.  Please look at a few examples of her work below and then read Part One of her interview. I’ll share Part Two, along with agorgeous commissioned piece of Kyra’s work with you tomorrow.

Fisherman’s Treasure
$27.00

Lobster Trap
$27.00

Ice Caps
$18.00

PBN: How did you get started with the sea glass?

Kyra: At work one day a few months ago, a colleague showed me a beautiful sea glass bracelet she had made for herself. I had never seen sea glass before, and I immediately fell in love with the frosty gems. Shortly thereafter, I had some kind of epiphany of wanting to start my own jewelry line, and GhostShip was immediately born.

I started to collect sea glass from my local beach, and was amazed that I had never noticed these found treasures before. Before I knew it, I had beach combed some really rare pieces – pieces from vintage blue coke bottles, beautiful opaque vintage milk glass and even those that came from Depression glass in the 1930’s.

I loved the history behind each piece, and the romance and mystery of wondering where they came from and who used it and for what purpose – an old apothecary jar, a filigree perfume bottle stopper, an ornate vase that may have sat in someones dining room table in the last century.

I was so inspired that literally within a month’s time, I designed the entire GhostShip line and opened up my shop on Etsy.
*****
Thank you, Kyra! Check back tomorrow for Part Two of Kyra’s interview.

Image credit: GhostShipshop at Etsy.com

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Looking ahead, although I have much faith in Obama and what he has planned, that doesn’t mean that green-lovers will get their hopes and dreams fulfilled this coming year. We still have to make choices and make it obvious what the American public wants.

Vote for green with your dollar and we can all slowly strive toward the earth (and economy) that we want.

Resolution-wise, I’m going to hope that my worm compost bin actually works (it smells a little right now) and that I can continue to make informed choices about what I’m buying. I’m close to being totally green on the beauty front, but fashion is hard. Good thing I have this blog.

See you next year.

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The global Make Cars Green campaign is an ambitious 10-point plan to steer drivers towards more environmentally-friendly habits, including checking tyre pressure regularly and reduce loads. The campaign builds on the principles by the FIA Make Cars Green declaration, together with Bridgestone, and outlines how policy makers, industry and consumers can all play a constructive role in the future.

But with the current economic downturn, isn’t it too little too late? Many of the concepts are obvious to anyone reading Treehugger, but hopefully, they will use clever PR strategies to quickly get everyone else onboard as well.

Here’s the deal. Automakers aren’t doing so well. They’re doing pretty terribly in fact. But as far as I can tell, the green movement is almost strengthened by the economy. Green is also a way to save money.

And like I said last week, any effort is somewhat worthwhile, I think the burden on big companies is heavier than the everyday person.

On one hand, anyone that has seen Who Killed the Electric Car knows about the failure of automakers in being green, but on the other hand, I’m happy they try at all.

My question is: Can green save carmakers? With the New Green Deal from President-elect Obama, do we all believe that eco-friendly can save the economy?

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I caught Supper Club on Planet Green for the first time tonight. It’s a pretty interesting show. You have some celebs and green gurus show up and some chef. Have the chef make dinner and talk about green topics in between.

During the episode I saw, the conversation turned to something interesting. They were talking about being perfectly green and how that is impossible. Al Gore was given as an example. He preaches green, yet flies on a private jet. Not so green. Is it fair for him to preach sacrifice?

On top of that, they argued about what really makes a difference. Yes, it’s great to buy an organic sweater or a reusable grocery bag, but our bigger problem is energy and figuring out how to switch to green power. The larger sacrifice must be made in order for the smaller things — CFLs and organic clothing — to make a difference. Essentially, changing one small thing in your lifestyle isn’t going to cut it.

Do you agree? Are small changes not enough to get us out of this mess?

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