Gracefully Aging, Day 23: A Makeup Tutorial for Mature Women

Nicola and Samantha Chapman, "Pixiwoo"

Two of my favorite YouTube makeup artists are British sisters Sam and Nicola Chapman, who go by "Pixiwoo."

These lovely girls have an equally lovely mother, Judy Chapman, who occasionally does videos herself as "Modern and Mature." More about her in another post.

Here, though, I wanted to share with you a video in which Nicola does her mother's makeup.

It's well worth a look, especially is you're wondering how you may need to adjust your technique as you get older.

I'm participating in "31 Days: A Writing Challenge,"  in which I 'll be blogging on the subject of Gracefully Aging every day during the month of October.  Click the button below for more information and links to each post as they become available!

Monday Melange: What's Going On in My Corner of the Blogosphere

Actress Lea Michelle at the Emmys

So, yeah, I'm bringing back (at least for today!) an old feature called Monday Melange, in which I give you some cool/interesting links to check out at your leisure.

--No, I didn't watch the Emmys last night, but I always like to check out the fashions the next day. Above, actress Lea Michelle, whose look I thought was really pretty. (Oh, and Christina Hendricks of "Mad Men"? We know you have cleavage. We get that. Dial it back a notch, please.)

Anyway, here's a link where you can browse all the looks, "best, worst and wackiest."

--Biggest Loser winner Olivia Ward is asking the question on her blog, "Is Big Really Sexy?" Prompting her question is the TLC show, "Big Sexy." Says Olivia:

"I have to admit, I watched all 3 episodes and I could not for the life of me figure out how I felt about them. My initial reaction was “You GO girls…flaunt those curves”….I was so moved by how brave these women are to really encourage people to be comfortable in their own skin...

Another part of this is how do I justify supporting people who want to continue to stay in an unhealthy state? It’s one thing to be overweight and working on it…it’s quite another to say that it is healthy to stay overweight and being proud of that."

--The Ink Slinger, my favorite brilliant teen-age blogger, has a list of Books Every Guy Should Read. (And this is just Part One.)

--As you know, I'm a big fan of YouTube beauty gurus, but I've noticed there are not many who represent women of "a certain age" (don't you love that French expression!). It seems most of the beauty gurus are very young.

However, Judy Chapman of Modern and Mature is not only my age, but she's gorgeous. She doesn't talk about make-up much--she leaves that to her daughters, make-up artist Samantha and Nicola of Pixiwoo. But she gives marvelous fashion advice, and she looks AMAZING. Always appropriate for her age, but fashionable and attractive.

With scarf-wearing weather on the way, check out her tutorial on many ways to tie scarves.

(Not the least of my favorite things about the Chapman ladies: their lovely British accents.)

Monday Melange

mé·lange noun \mā-ˈläⁿzh, -ˈlänj\
Definition of MÉLANGE
: a mixture often of incongruous elements

--Farewell to Oprah? Not so much. Although the final season of her talk show kicks off today, she's starting her own network.

How do you feel about Oprah? Well, I certainly don't care for the hodge-podge of New Age teachings and anti-Biblical religion that she actively promotes.

However, as a media person myself, I can't help but admire a lot of things about her. I usually only watch her show if it's on while I'm getting a pedicure or waiting in some office that has a TV on. But I have to admit, her shows are always engaging, and she's a terrific interviewer.

I'll never forget how she was the first person to interview Michael Jackson in depth and get to the bottom of some of his weirdness. She did a fantastic job with that.

I actually got to go to a live taping of Oprah's show, ages ago, before it really got huge. It was a nice experience (unfortunately it was before she started the practice of giving away freebies to her audience!). During commercials, she would chat with the audience in a very friendly and down-to-earth way, and afterwards we got to meet her and shake her hand (while she stood between two enormous and imposing bodyguards.)

In any case, we haven't seen the last of the empire that is Oprah.

Stuff around the blogosphere...

Getting excited about blogging again means I'm getting excited about other blogs again. Here's what's going on with a few today:

==Semicolon is talking about Book Blogger Appreciation Week.

--At The Diabetic Snob, the joys of lightly frozen Evian water.

--If you enjoy vintage clothes, World War 2 memorabilia, and generally the beauty and grace of a previous era, you'll love Diary of a Vintage Girl. The author is a vintage clothing model and collector, and visiting her blog is really like stepping back in time.

--And this isn't actually a blog, but a YouTube video. Two of my favorite beauty gurus--British sisters and professional make-up artists Samantha and Nicola Chapman, AKA Pixiwoo--literally had me laughing out loud as they went to great lengths to test out the claims of various waterproof mascaras. Check it out here. Funny and cute!