23 November 2011

Wedding #3 - Beauty

Happy Wedding Wednesday! This week it is all about 'Beauty', covering hair and make-up, the veil / tiara / hair accessory situation, and details of what worked for me with my own beauty regime, leading up to our big day.

If you missed my first post on 'The Venue', you can catch it here, and if you missed my last post on 'Attire', you can also catch up on that, here.

I am sorry to bore most of you with this again, but I must do my bit for the people who brought us the visuals that you are about to see: The following mood boards were created as a personal project during the planning of our wedding, and therefore, I was predominantly screen grabbing any images that I found inspiring. I have done my absolute best to go back through and locate their sources, but where sources, designers, stylists, artists or photographers are unknown to me (and if you find your work on here) please contact me and I will add a credit immediately.

Hairstyle Board


I am having real trouble remembering where I found these pictures. I think a lot of them must have been from Style Me Pretty, but I can't be sure so I have put 'unknown' for the most part. From top to bottom, left to right:

1  Image source - unknown (stylist / photographer unknown)
2  Image source - unknown (stylist / photographer unknown)
3  Image source - unknown (stylist / photographer unknown)
4  Image source - unknown (stylist / photographer unknown)
5  Image source - unknown (stylist / photographer unknown
6  Agnes Obel - 'Just So' music video still (stylist unknown)
7  Image source - unknown (stylist / photographer unknown)









When researching what hairstyle I wanted, 90% of my focus went on curls - the right kind of curls. I didn't want tight, 'sausage shaped curls' as one hair dresser put it, but big, natural curls, that were soft and feminine. I hoarded picture after picture of curls that had that look and that volume, some of which I have shared above. The other 10% of my search was on style. I knew that I wanted something simple, and above all, 'me'.

My search for a hairstylist that I could both afford and that I thought could give me what I wanted, was extremely difficult. Towards the end of my seemingly hopeless search, I headed out and got some heated rollers to try out, to create the look myself. After numerous watches of You Tube's 'How to..' videos, I was all set, and me and my maids tried them out at my hen celebration...it didn't exactly go to plan, seeing as our hair was poker straight within an hour. So, the search was back on and I finally, finally found someone two weeks before my wedding, who so kindly agreed to save the day! Her name was Laura, and you can find her salon here.

Yes it was tight, no I didn't have time for a trial, and yes I was nervous. However, at that stage, I was utterly exhausted from worrying about every single little detail, that I think I just threw in the towel and decided to not worry. Fate would determine what I would turn out like on the day, and all that mattered to me was that I was marrying Jay.

Make-up Board


Again, I am having real trouble remembering where I found these pictures. I think a lot of them must have been from Style Me Pretty as well, but again I can't be sure so I have put 'unknown' for the most part. From top to bottom, left to right:

1  Image source - unknown (make-up artist / photographer unknown)
2  Image source - unknown (make-up artist / photographer unknown)
3  Image source - Wedding Dream (make-up artist / photographer unknown)
4  Image source - unknown (make-up artist / photographer unknown)









My make-up was a lot more straight forward, as I found a brilliant make-up artist pretty much immediately, who I was really happy with. She was local, a professional, trained by MAC, and was very reasonably priced - she ticked every box. Her name was Vanessa, and you can find her here - she comes highly recommended, and you will hopefully see why in week 6 of these posts.

I wanted a very natural look, as I don't usually wear too much make-up, so I was looking to enhance my features only. I had a vision of pale, luminous foundation that left my skin dewy; delicate pink blusher adding a flush of feminine colour; framed soft eyes that were subtle and smokey; and supple shimmery lips with a whisper of colour.

I had a colour palette in mind to match both mine and the maids dresses, which you can see above. The dark brown is representative of the mascara that I wanted used - I never wear black as it is really too harsh on my fair complexion.

The Veil / Tiara / Hair Accessory Situation


I think that I have done a little better on these picture sources, though the first two and last but one are an issue - possibly Style Me Pretty again. From top to bottom, left to right:

1  Image source - unknown (stylist / photographer unknown)
2  Image source - unknown (stylist / photographer unknown)
3  Image source - Wedding Splendor (stylist / photographer unknown)
4  Image source - WedImpression (stylist / photographer unknown)
5  Image source -  unknown (stylist / photographer unknown)
6  Image source - Wedding Hairstyles (stylist / photographer unknown)



Sweeping full length veils that pooled on the floor; glittering crown tiaras that oozed that royal feel; staggeringly beautiful flowers, that intertwined in the hair... how could I choose?

In actual fact, all I had to do was just look at my dress. It told me everything that I needed to know, and I immediately set to work on researching how I could incorporate my flowers into my hair. Having said that, how beautiful the veil and tiara are above.

My Beauty Regime

Firstly, I want to start with something that I really wanted to cover here, because I feel really strongly about it - and that is skin colour. With a family of olive skinned sun-lovers, I have always felt like I have had to fight my fair skin tone. However, when I met Jay 5 years ago, who loved my skin tone just the way it was, I soon realised that what I had been feeling was pretty silly.

When it came to my wedding, with my skin not having seen a sun holiday in 4 years, I was probably at my fairest. Therefore, a lot of people presumed that I would be getting a spray tan or hitting the sun beds - not because they were being rude, but because that seems to be the done thing. I think I actually shocked a few people when I stated that I would be embracing my colour, and going for a full on 'english rose' look. I was having an english-country-garden themed wedding after all!

I wanted to share my thoughts on this, because I am betting I am not the only one with fair skin, who faced the pressure to change it. I hope that my photos, when revealed in week 6, will prove that it does not look wrong or unattractive to embrace your pale skin, as our culture seems to think... at least I don't think so.

So, it was full steam ahead with the tlc when it came to my beauty regime. Being as busy as I have become with owning Leaff, I didn't actually have a huge amount of time to do this, so it was a case of fitting it in where I could....

Exercise
Through the summer months, Jay and I skipped in our back garden 3 times a week to keep fit - no I'm not talking about girl skipping, I am talking about boxer skipping. It took some time to learn but I got there and it was such a great work out.

As the cooler months drew in, I switched to my pilates/yoga routine indoors, which I still do now. This is such a great form of exercise for toning and strengthening your body, and simultaneously calming your mind. I have always done yoga on and off, but I invested in a really good DVD some years ago, which mixes pilates and yoga with dance, and I love it. It means that I can fit it into my day, and it saves me money on classes too. Find the DVD here.

Food / Drink
Obviously, the key is lots of water and a balanced diet - as we all know. However, we have always eaten a lot of fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, so there was no change in diet needed, we just carried on as we were. I must confess however, that towards the end of the planning, I began to crave cake in a really bad way, but we won't say any more about that.

Drink-wise, aside from wonderful water, I found green tea to be great at cleansing the system and helping to keep my skin clear - as is good old fashioned lemon in hot water if you can't bear the taste. It was recommended to me by a friend who had gotten married just a few months before, along with A Moment of Calm (camomile & spearmint infusion), which I found extremely good at doing what it says on the box. I drank it before bed, and sometimes during the day if I felt my stress levels rising. You can pick a box up from most supermarkets.

Body Care
I have always looked after my body well, but being as busy as I am nowadays, there has been some neglect in recent years. So, for the duration of the year planning the wedding, I had allowed myself a set routine of a pamper night on a Wednesday and Sunday. Regular body brushing, exfoliation and soaking in essential oils; full facials & pedicures, and a lot of moisturisation, ensured that I felt healthy and glowing on my big day.

Top recommended products:

• Anything by Liz Earle
  (I used a lot of the face care products)

• Essential oils range from Neals Yard 
  (I used Clary Sage oil, mixed with Lavender oil and a base oil, 
  see one of my previous posts on recipes for relaxation, here)

Well I think I will stop there, but if there is anything that I have just touched on that you want further information about, just let me know and I will endeavour to help.

Next week, it is all about 'Flowers & Decor', which I have to say, took a lot of my attention and I really enjoyed, so be prepared for some seriously beautiful mood boards. The post will cover bouquets, buttonholes, arrangements and room dress. Furthermore, because next week will be week 4 of Wedding Wednesday, we are just two posts away from the big reveal in week 6. Eeek!

2 comments:

  1. Stunning, love those gentle curls and the make is perfect, I wear little make up and have a pale complexion too so this really inspired me, thank you xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Catherine, I am so pleased that you enjoyed it and felt inspired xx

    ReplyDelete

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