Zoie's puppet is from a set found at Restoration Hardware.

This one makes me laugh. Zoie is so serious about her ballet ensembles. She has about seven and wears them everywhere but insists that she doesn't want anyone to look at her... um... ok... good luck with that.

Photographer, Kyra Ann sure knows how to butter up her talent via Twelve Cupcakes.

But her talent isn't limited to children...

Playtime with Faz / TheDramaDiaries (I used a Tom Ford palette here)

Kyra brought Twelve Cupcakes to this shoot too.

Here's the lovely Kyra and I at the Desti Saint Handbags Maddie collection event.

Watch this space - we are working on a little project to be announced in a few weeks.

Having some photos taken? Some things Kyra suggests to consider before you smize with your eyes:

Know what you want!

Whether you are taking family portraits for the Christmas card or sexy photos for your Lavalife profile, spend some time looking through Google images and magazines to find the ones you love. Share them with your photographer so you both have a place to start. Practicing some poses in the mirror doesn't hurt either!

Choose your clothing wisely.

Choose clothing that you feel confident in. What to avoid: crazy patterns, big logos/written text, turtlenecks, and saggy bra straps...saggy anything for that matter. If your clothing distracts from YOU, that's no good. Interesting necklines and fabric textures on tops also look great if you are doing headshots. Kids look cute in anything! For group shots, make sure that there is a theme - denims and tees or all black or various pastels etc - if everyone is beating to their own drum the photos will look messy.

Tweeze & Trim

Help your photographer out by tweezing, brushing, flossing, bathing, etc. before your shoot. It sounds trivial but why have your photographer do with Photoshop what you can do with floss? Also, perhaps the day before your big shoot is not the best time to get a brand new dye job or try the tanning booth for the first time. Just sayin'.

Things to Bring

If it’s appropriate to bring a few wardrobe changes, do so! Also bring a comb or brush, light powder for shine (especially if you are doing an outdoor shoot in Singapore!), makeup for touch-ups, and if you are doing family portraits, bring your child’s favorite toy!

**You can hire a hair & makeup artist if your budget allows but if cost is a factor then it's better to keep it simple. Don't throw on fake lashes, glitter, highlighter, lip liner etc all at once, better to pick a feature to play it up versus trying to channel a professional makeup artist.

Sleep. Breathe. Relax. Smile.

But don't say 'cheese' otherwise that's what you'll get.

Go like Kyra!

[Another great read on how to take a good picture here.]

One complaint I hear from new clients that come to me to get their hair done is that they say their previous hairstylist would never do anything different. Sometimes this is just an excuse to move on but this is also a sign of a stale relationship with your stylist. Hey! It happens. You just need to spice things up a little!

If you adore your stylist and therefore reluctant to make a switch just come in with a few tearsheets from magazines of your favourite hairdos expressing that you are wanting a change and you were thinking of these ideas... this may give your stylist that little creative boost for fresh ideas.

Communication breakdowns happen to everyone. The horror: even me. I had a client who's friend is a friend of mine. In the game of telephone... my friend told me that her friend switched to a new stylist because she wanted her hair cut short and I 'refused' to give her short hair... Refused is a strong word. I'm not that Diva. The only hairstyle I refused to give in my 22 year career was a woman who had literally asked for a mullet in Kitchener-Waterloo about 15 years ago. A mullet. C'mon. I had to refuse. She begged me. Said she wouldn't even tell people I did it... Sister, I was saving you from yourself and the biggest hair mistake one could make! It wasn't even the rock chic 80s anymore... other than that, my ego isn't that big to refuse to do a cut. My tres petite salon atmosphere isn't overly posh and some people prefer a posh environment over quaint and relaxed. I am ok with that.

I love change. I love to change up hair. Being in the fashion world and my 7 seasons of on-air makeover tv experience influences my love for change. [Which btw- I love to play on occasion so, if you are interested in a free makeover by me with the exchange that I use it on my blog - dm me as I am aiming to start one makeover a month. Makeover means: minimal restriction from you cuz if you just want a trim it doesn't make for an exciting post. In Singapore only - sorry. I live in Asia]

OK....

So I think you may be familiar with Faz aka thedramadiaries.

When I met Faz she had luscious locks and was a fashion stylist. She had never coloured her hair...sometimes you just need a change. I said one day: Let's put in some eggplant highlights!! She said: Sure!

As our friendship grew and many highlight and hair trimming sessions later I said: Let's chop it off!

To my surprise...

Faz said: Sure! This was two years ago. Images lifted from thedramadiaries

Now Faz has shorter hair and does PR, fashion and travel writing, my editor for inSing.com... she hates lugging bags as all fashion stylists do. Prada, LV, Miu Miu, Bottega - all sound glam until you are pulling for a job toting around eight bags with a client telling you get high-end luxury brands and oh yeah: don't go over budget.

Here's a little playtime I had with Faz's hair during her last visit to mon petit salon. In the vein of baliage but a little more controlled, I applied two colours into each foil. At the roots I put an eggplant hue and the ends I applied a slightly lighter and brighter mahogany hue.

Here is one of Faz's back of the taxi photos. See how the sun just picks up the colour? I love this type of colouring - you wear the colour not the colour wearing you. Sun-kissed.

The current Faz. [This is her taxi photo, coiffed and made up by herself. Pretty.]

Looking for new ways to communicate with your hairstylist? Look here for some keywords.

Looking for odd tips and tricks to keep your colour fresh like beetroot juice rinses? Look here. No seriously, click there even if you are a seasoned hairstylist. I knew most of these but a couple new tips that are FAB!

As seen in the pages of February's Motherhood in Singapore;still available at newsstands or click to read.

This Valentine's Day sport a sexy red lip, some fabulous red nails or try some MINX nails with cool mixes of patterns. Tired of the smoky eye? A bold blast of colour.

Other V Day reads:

Beauty Geek You CAN do Red Lips for Valentine's Day

The Kit Best Makeout-Friendly Red Lips

Beauty Fool Fun & Flirty Makeup

The Drama Diaries Valentine's Schmalentines

Andrea Claire OnSugar [that's me] Vacuums and Funerals for V-Day

Happy Valentine's Day!! XO

Come rain or come shine Luxola delivers to your door wherever you are in Singapore and yesterday we had both! Thankfully we had a driver so we never got stuck in the rain... or the heat...

If you had seen my blog, Twitter, Facebook this week or Luxola's Twitter or Facebook, you would have seen that CEO, Alexis and I were delivering your ordered goodies ourselves! A little 'tip & treat' the Friday before Hallowe'en.

Faz ordered Kajal liner and FACEatelier FACADE blush. Tip: The blush can double as a lippy too!

Tips galore with Shefali who had ordered the Dare to Scare package that came with lashes, Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance nail polish, DuWop The Ambers eye palette, a lip venom and Mario Badescu Oil-Free Moisturizer - all this for $97 SGD!

This is the DuWop The Ambers palette; a great eye palette for everyone.

TIP: Dampen your brush slightly for more pow to your pigment. [Andrea speak for: richer shadow application]

Need some eye shadow palette tips? Click here.

Aside from Zoie Jean, this is the other cutest 3 year old in the world. Adorbs. Love her hair! [She needs to be in the next Bazaar Junior!]

Her mommy ordered the Sleek Storm i-Divine Eye Shadow Palette. I did an on-the-spot smokey eye for her which you will be able to watch soon because we also shot the ambushes to use as webisodes! [This was my first time using this palette - very risky because I may not have liked it! BUT OMG What a steal! $20 SGD!?! They carry an eye primer palette that I want for my kit, same price]

The Luxola Beauty Ambush with Andrea Claire was so much fun that we decided to do it again! Check the above social media links for future ambush dates as well as when you can watch the webisodes of these ambushed lovely ladies and get some tips for yourselves too!

A huge thanks to the women who ordered and let us into their homes for a little trick & tips tete-a-tete!

PS: Our initial meeting point for our ambush day was outside of a Subway... I kinda look like I should be in their ad, non?

Zoie Jean may have just found her calling. Hopefully it's not paparazzi. [Move over Tavi, there's a new rookie in town]

Zoie and I attended the Massimo Dutti Singapore FW '11 show where they were launching the children's collection too. As I was 'entourage Mommy' carrying all of her things I could not take any photos but you can see more event photos at thedramadiaries and SuperAdrianMe.

Above photo was taken by Faz / thedramadiaries where you can also click to see some of Zoie's photos from the event - she had the best eyeline for the mini models.

Zoie was having her picture taken a lot; as were all the children in attendance. Zoie was very pleased "They are taking pictures of me because they like my dress." [Dress by Carters purchased at Bonnie Togs, Canada]

This was my first time in the Massimo Dutti store, not sure why as I am a shopaholic, I think I was deterred by the location as it's beside Hermes that made me think it's not my desired price point. [Maybe I had visited the chain in Spain but that was in 2006 and memory fails me...]

Note: Being a redhead the FW collection has a perfect colour palette for us pagens! I bought two tops that were $60 SGD each.

"Massimo Dutti was founded in 1985 and acquired by Inditex in 1991. Today it has more than 525 stores in over 50 countries.
The brand originally focused on men’s fashions, yet 1992 saw the launch of its collections for women, ranging from über-urban to casual lines, enabling Massimo Dutti to consolidate its position as a rapidly expanding name on both the Spanish and international markets with a staff that currently exceeds 4,000. In 2003 Massimo Dutti launched its kids fashion range under the name Massimo Dutti Boys & Girls. This line is gradually being introduced into those stores that are large enough for this specific space in various countries."

**This was certainly a more successful event for Zoie vs the Tod's event we went to where Zoie got a little overwhelmed.

Link updated: Clean & Clear Asia voting has commenced!!

 In no specific order...

Cheery Philippines!

Inspiring India!

Sunny Indonesia!

 Sparkling Singapore!

Check out the Facebook voting pages here.

I had so much fun working on this campaign. All the girls were so lovely! This was from their Fashion Challenge day where Faz took them through some trends in Forever 21 at ION. Watch for the upcoming webisode here.

Here I was giving the girls some sisterly advice on how to 'drop your chin' for the camera. [ok. maybe auntie advice; I'm a little older...] I have some more beauty tips for our BFFs and you on an upcoming webisode here.

A quick touch up on the girls.

"You want to be a star but you don't want to shine!" [That is an Andrea Claire original quote BTW] Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Film have been a long-standing kit must-have of mine.

Indonesia in the beauty hotseat.

[I don't seem to have one with the BFFs from Philippines!]

Check out these bad boys here to find out what they are! Another fab fave of mine brought to you by Clean & Clear!

Now go vote! ;)

[Little shout out to the crew for a job well done! For example: Bhavna, producer who was always smiling and cheery despite the lack of sleep.]

In case you missed the blasts, our Beauty For Japan event is this Tuesday April 19th!

We are asking for a minimum $50 donation.

[Proceeds will be going to Red Cross Japan]

Location: Seb's Bistro 7 Rochester Place, Singapore

Doors open at 10am! We will be beautifying until Noon!

Schedule Of Events:

10:00 am: Grab a cuppa from Seb's waitstaff browse around the beauty pros or find a comfy seat!

10:30 Andrea Claire (me) will be conducting a demo on how to get your morning makeup done in under 15 minutes! [Any volunteer want to be my demo model?]

10:45 A hairstylist from Purity will do a little chit-chat about hair

*Think of this as a 'Beauty Bazaar'. From 10 -12 feel free to sit and listen to the workshops or wander and see any of our beauty pros for a light touchup before seeing Maryann for a portrait, try a facial massage by Joanna Koh, an express mani by Yani, a little shopping

We are thrilled at the response and have a great crew of beauty pros and gurus for you to get tips, touch ups and treats! Yes, we have goody bags!!!

[Please check out this link on Her World.com. It is an article explaining any risks with using cosmetics made in Japan that may or may not be affected with the Tsunami after effects.]

Here are some of our event sponsors and beauty pros:

Dewi Mahoney, celebrity makeup artist [girl's got mad skills]

Joanna Koh, editorial makeup artist who will be relaxing all with her lymph facial massage techniques

Sarah Chaudhry, youtube makeup guru

Komachi Hair Cult

 **If you are missed by me in the list PLEASE do contact me so I may add you in with apologies!**

Thank you to all who are giving their time, expertise and money!

Beauty For Japan is organized by:

thedramadiaries and 

 **Any media enquiries please contact Faz@thedramadiaries.com

Get excited guys – for the first time ever, thedramadiaries creatives [Faz's new creatives company!] is organising an event, and it’s a fundraiser for Japan!

APRIL 19th from 10am - 12pm at Seb's, 7 Rochester Place [on facebook]

For a minimum donation of $50, get yourself prettied up with your morning coffee by Singapore’s most talented makeup artists including, the internationally renowned Andrea Claire, who has worked on Lady Antebellum, Alanis Morisette, and locally, MTV VJ Holly Graberek [to name a few... PS I've also worked on Mini Me] Andrea will also be doing a how-to makeup talk! [OK - Faz wrote 90% of this - I will interject in square bracketts. At about 10:20am I will conduct a how-to get glam in 10 minutes in the a.m. TRUE STORY! You can do this!]

You can bring makeup palettes you’re not sure how to use, or anything else you’ve had on your dresser that you can’t quite figure out for a one-on-one makeup consultation and makeover [think camera ready tricks, tips and touchups]. Post-makeover, there’ll be a photobooth ran by pro photographer, MaryAnn from Studio Loft who’ll be snapping photos for keepsake. [Please don't think full on makeover as seen here, I wish we had the time and artist power for this but if we get the turnout that match our RSVPS, I'm sorry but you won't get a major over-haul. BUT I promise loads of fun, tips and just a great morning o' beauty! We are talking to many beauty peeps for things like express manicures, hairstylists, massage people...]

Mums with kids should take note that there’s a little play area within Rochester House so kids will be taken care of while you’re getting prettied up! Child-minding services are free for the first hour.

Coffee, tea & soft drinks are also complimentary!

FEATURING THE FOLLOWING MAKEUP ARTISTS: ANDREA CLAIRE, JOANNA KOH, SARAH CHAUDHRY, DEWI MAHONEY [Sarah and Dewi - gimme your links]

Kindly contact Faz at faz@thedramadiaries.com or me andrea.claire@hotmail.com  if you’d like to lend any services to this event. [We need volunteers too, not just beauty people !]

This event is jointly organised by thedramadiaries creatives & aclairebeauty.com

Last week I was on location for Simply Her magazine at the store, Wonderwool on Haji Lane. Watch the video to see just how cool the location is.

A huge benefit to shooting on location, you get to see your surroundings!

Haji Lane is a very hip street that is certainly NYC Fashionista-worthy. With cool shops and cafes, there are many great finds to be had!

I bought a dress... and a top.

I need help.

How does one go from this:

To this:

Recently I had the honour of being shot for Simply Her for their Luxe For Less page. (Thanks to Faz, my partner in crime for suggesting me.) It will be out in November! I was thrilled to be asked!! And, apparently, I'm told a little ground-breaking for the Singapore magazine to feature a Western (ang moh)  woman! (above photo and guest appearance on the video below courtesy of Alisa.)

Where do I shop to find my Luxe For Less?

Well, I do travel so that is an added perk to great finds but here's a list of my go-to stores, including online:

JCrew Quite frankly, I only hit the sale link. I love their dresses! (I fit the JCrew U.S size 8 perfectly, makes online shopping a little too easy) 

JoeFresh is a MUST when I visit Canada.

 Target is my U.S must. When I was living in Texas I went to Target more often than I changed underwear. However, my thoughts on their designer collaborations, although cool in photos, the fabrics and wearability tend to be a little disappointing with the odd exception.

AllSaints I discovered ALLSaints while working with Lady Antebellum. Hint: check out Hillary's dress! I double-checked my measurements with their size chart; according to that I would be a UK 12 - I could actually have a UK 10 in everything I bought. I believe they would exchange it but what I bought does not require a tailored fit.

BCBG is another line that takes up a huge collection in my wardrobe. I think I own 10+ of their pieces! My plea to BCBG "Dear BCBG, please sponsor me a dress a day for a year - I will wear it wherever I go. Even to get groceries." Click their sale link too!

Winners, a brands for less store. Seriously. For. Way. Less. I got a Kate Spade bag for $98! Everytime I travel back to Canada, I shop, [to my husband's dismay] and one main stop on the shopping trail is Winners. You should go!

Nordstorm Rack , Saks Off Fifth, DSW.... oh my list could go on and on!

It's the thrill of the find! At Saks Off Fifth I found, sitting lonely on a shoe rack, calling my name.... python leather knee high boots. They were my size. It was a sign. Regular price $1500. What I paid.... $100.

To sum up:

1. Yes, I realize that I may have a problem and retail therapy may not be the answer.
2. If I am an example of LUXE For Less then one of many reasons to subscribe to Simply Her to get the inside scoop on where to shop and get stretch your dollar!

 International Sizes