A Fresh Start from Starting Over TV

From LoveToKnow Makeup

Welcome Andy Paige, an amazing woman who discovered a fresh start to life on NBC’s Starting Over TV. With her first appearance on the show as a woman struggling with her own life issues, she evolved to become the beautician and stylist for future shows and stars. This turnaround, brought on by the help and advice from the Starting Over TV’s life coaches, has lead her down a path of well-earned success. Her background as a Wilhemina Model, makeup artist for Lancome Cosmetics, and experiences on NBC emerged into a flourishing fashion beauty business known as Cents of Style.

Andy was a delight to chat with as she shined with positive energy. Although life had brought her pain in the past, she was able to move forward and find her true calling. A natural stylist with a random launch into makeup and modeling, she knew she could help others find style without spending a fortune. Enjoy these words of wisdom from a beauty and style expert who has hit bottom and found the strength to lift back up again.

Interview with Andy Paige

Tell me about your experience at NBC’s Starting Over TV.

Andy Paige

It was actually a pretty astonishing ride. The reason I decided to audition was to try and get over some emotional hardship I had over losing my twin sister. I found I was very stagnant in my life and couldn’t seem to move forward. So, I went to the audition with real intent on changing my life emotionally and with hope I could build a better existence for myself, never thinking for one second that it would turn into a career move. While I was on the show, I did what I do with all of my friends and everyone in my life, I started making them over and teaching them my makeup tricks. Naturally doing what I do and incorporating the skills I have gathered in my 20 years of being in the business of modeling, makeup, and fashion.

That year the Starting Over TV show was sponsored by Clairol Nice & Easy. It was really them who took a huge interest in me and liked what I was doing, and it was their idea to do a big contest. The success of the Clairol Nice & Easy sweepstakes is really what jumpstarted my career. There were thousands of people who wrote in and wanted to have a personal makeover with me, just like I had done with the women on the show. That was what made NBC stand up and say, “Well, we got her right here… and the audience obviously loves her, she does a great job, and she is teaching great skills, so let’s keep her.”

Basically I learned… when you think and care enough about yourself to put yourself emotionally in a better place, then you open yourself up to all kinds of opportunities.

How do people break into modeling?

The most important way people get taken when breaking into modeling is with the photography. The truth is, once you sign with a reputable agent, they will want you to work with their photographers who will not cost you tons of money. You do not have to have a full portfolio to attract a modeling agency. How you attract an agent is with a few snapshots most anyone can take with a simple digital camera. You want shots that evoke emotion and movement. That is really what sells anything – something with a lot of energy and that tells a story. On a flat canvas that can be hard, so it must be conveyed with motion of the body and intensity of the emotion. That is what will give you a great picture. But, the key to capturing that is taking lots of pictures. It can take people thirty or forty photographs to get into the mood and to find their comfort zone on film. So, I think the biggest mistake people make is not taking enough pictures and not doing enough on an amateur level.

I always recommend you find a friend who has some interest in photography, put on your favorite outfit, and find an area with decent lighting (usually outside between 3pm and 5pm). Then really start to move in that outfit in front of the camera. And don’t stop, even if it feels uncomfortable – because it is not going to feel comfortable right off the bat. It is a skill that takes lots of practice, so do it over and over.

What makeup advice do you have for photography?

What an agent will look for when it comes to cosmetics is clean skin and enhanced features. So, overdone makeup is never going to attract an agent. Because what a client looks for is a clean canvas. They want to see someone with beautiful striking features that they can then recreate into what they want. Makeup that is overdone is just never going to be attractive. Instead, you want to lightly enhance the cheekbones and work with contour more than color when it comes to taking photographs for modeling. Contour the cheekbones, the eyelid, the jaw line, as that enhances your features.

Explain Cents of Style.

Basically you don’t have to spend a fortune to look beautiful. As a society we are so over invested in having to spend, spend, and spend. The truth is you do not have to overspend to look your best. I believe thrifty is a beautiful word. You don’t have to spend lots of money to find high end products that are going to make you look great.

So how good are the less expensive cosmetics really?

The advances in skincare are at a level where there is no reason you should have to overspend at a department store. It is important to understand your skin is going to respond best to a consistent routine of steady products just as much as it will on a $50 cream you use only once a week. Therefore, you are better off to invest in one line of product, no matter what the price. Investing in the products you can afford and then using them consistently will offer you a much better result than overspending on a product you don’t use consistently.

What can you offer through Cents of Style for women?

My business has five different income streams. The first is my development of my own cosmetic brush set. I firmly believe it is never the product, only the tool. You can use less expensive products if you have better tools. A great natural brush is going to work with your skin, it is going to deposit the color correctly, giving you great blendability, and then you can use a $3 eye shadow to create the perfect look. Therefore, better tools allow you to be thriftier when it comes to products.

The next things are the accessories. Many women love accessories, but they don’t know how to accessorize. Therefore, every three months I bundle three or four accessories together that all coordinate and sell them together as an instant style.

Next, I speak to women’s groups. I do Cents of Style workshops and wardrobe building strategies on a budget. I do these all over the country and teach how to look like a million without spending a whole lot of money.

I also have personalized services. One of my most successful programs is the Beauty Boot Camp. Where I come and live with you for two or three days. We redo your closet, we go through your cosmetics, I take you to get your hair done, and we do some strategic shopping and design a complete wardrobe for you to wear. I help to rebuild those style muscles and completely give you an atheistic overall.

I am also writing a new book called Cents of Style to be released January 2008. And then a second book to follow in the series called Cents of Beauty.