Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Make Up

Oh, Makeup. I think I've worn it maybe twice in the last year. I think my complexion has definitely improved for it, and Opie's not particularly fond of the stuff. Even when I did wear it on a regular basis, it was generally just a little bit of concealer, eyeshadow, mascara, and occasionally lipstick and/or lipgloss.

That being said, although my acne wasn't and isn't as bad as many suffer from, I do have some mild insecurities about my acne and acne scars. That was actually a very small reason I considered waiting to get married (but obviously it wasn't enough impetus to actually do so). I figured my complexion would clear even more a few years out than at the 20.5 I'll be when I get married.

So am I going to spend a gazillion dollars on the services of a makeup artist? Heck naw. I'm spending a smallish amount (or, hey "figurehead".. wedding present? eh? eh? I'm a subtle one, I know.) for the services of my dear buddio who happens to be going to school for costume design, wherein she takes makeup classes. Woot. While I don't feel the need to be turned into a character from Xmen or Pirates of the Caribbean for my wedding, I know this little foxy lady is sure to make me look a little more polished on my big day.

The Foxy Lady herself, in one of her bridal portraits I shot last year

So, wonderful makeup lady of wonderfulness. I've been browsing shots of folks all glammed up. What I want is pretty simple, methinks. I want something really clean and simple. Nothing with much color particularly.. just enough to play up my features and conceal some of my blemishes, but otherwise, remain moderately unnoticeable. Like so:


I'd say lip color is one of the things I'm most unsure about. This is maybe a little too far toward brown or something, but I find that many of these are too far toward pink. It's something I need to play with.

Lip gloss seems to be a reappearing theme in these photos. Also, I don't have crazy beautiful big blue eyes, but I really like my green eyes and would like to play them up some.

Maybe a little heavy on the eyeshadow here but otherwise nice.

Again, I don't have bright blue eyes, but the idea here is still in sync with mine.

With this look, I probably wouldn't want the eyeliner to extend past my lid, but I otherwise really like it. Also, Natalie Portman, why are you so flawlessly beautiful?

The eyeshadow's maybe a little dark for me here, but on the other hand, the contrast it lends her eyes behind a veil similar to my own is nice.

Can't see a lot of detail here, but I love it.

Too heavy on the blush, but otherwise perfect.

This is pretty much perfect in a lot of ways. My only complaint would maybe be that the shade of pink on the lips is a bit too.. pink. Otherwise, I love that her freckles are still visible and the otherwise subtle makeup.

source for all of the makeup shots

I know a large percentage of brides go for a -lot- more makeup than I'm hoping to wear, but then I'm sure they'd be appalled by my going out in public without any makeup 99% of the time.

Also, on a pretty well completely unrelated note, I was watching that "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" show on MyStyle, and felt a distinct urge to track down and kill one of the wedding planners. Her clients were this really cool, moderately quirky couple with a quick witty (and sarcastic) sense of humor who were looking to buck a few of the traditions in lieu of things that better represented themselves and their relationship. The wedding planner, hired by the mother of the bride, could not even begin to comprehend why someone would want to do anything remotely different from every established tradition. She was downright rude, scoffed at all of their ideas and suggestions, ignored and disregarded every request of the bride and groom, and then got incredibly indignant and stormed off like a child when they finally expressed their frustrations with her manner of doing business. The show even tried to paint the planner as the one in the right. Ugh. I'm normally amused by the ridiculous nature of the wedding shows on TV, but this time I was just disgusted.



Whee. Here I am today, after a few medically difficult days. Here's about as blank a slate as you'll see. Hopefully I'll be far less tired, stressed, and under the weather on our wedding day. I'm not used to posting pictures without retouching my complexion. Oh well. I love you guys, you 4 or so readers out there.

6 comments:

Allie said...

:)

I think that's all i have to say right now :)

Anonymous said...

i think that the natural way is to go. i mean, not, "im 14 years old and never worn make up before" natural, but something to make you look fresh and bright.

im a hairstylist and i did a bride the other day and she had dramatic makeup done. it looked amazing on her, but a tiny pale girl like me? nah.



fyi, found you on off beat bride. :) in a total non stalker sort of way.

Anonymous said...

You can do soft fingerwaves with the curling iron. You just have to place the curls in right. Have the stylist give you and old school curl set and if she puts them in with thinking of how a fingerwave lays, she'll be able to brush it out with a boar bristle brush and shape it into a wave.

:D

Anonymous said...

Make up is definitely one of the things I've been struggling with a bit. I fall into the "I don't leave the house without it unless I'm deathly ill" camp, but I certainly don't go overboard with it (i.e. it's more to cover up the blemishes/dark circles). Since I *do* have a bit of a routine, I am certainly capable of doing my own the day of but I'm leaning towards calling in the pros. I'm totally with you on the whole fresh/natural approach though so I'm not sure if it's really worth it.

You're definitely lucky that you have a friend that can do it for you - I think it's a perfect solution! I guess I need to go make some new friends... :)

Jess said...

I, personally, think whatever you decide to do will make you look gorgeous, sister-person.

Except for maybe Tammy Faye eyes. Don't do those.

~Jess

Unknown said...

Hey, look at that - you have more than 4 readers.

I agree with your sister person; you will look beautiful :}