Getting down to beauty basics

Okay, so the next topic I promised myself I'd blog about is bridal hair and make-up...

Hairy moments

With the whole Mad Men theme in mind, I'd been Pinning any 1960s-esque hairstyles that caught my eye (okay, not those actual styles!), but I hadn't quite managed to find the exact picture of what I wanted.

Problem, it seemed to me, is that I don't have perfectly sleek hair (cards on the table: it's basically frizz central), and I don't have a fringe, which seem to be a feature in many of the 1960s-esque styles I liked, such as most of these:

The only style I liked that I thought my hair could be encouraged to do – after some hours with the straightening irons, coupled with tons of hairspray and hairgrips – was a tight chignon such as this one:

It's a bit less complex than some of the other styles I liked, plus no fringe required. Sorted!

The only niggle I had was whether it would look any good in real life...

Well, I had my hair trial two weekends ago, with the lovely Lynsey at The Vintage Salon in Birmingham, and within 45 minutes she had my long, frizzy, flyaway red hair teased, twisted, gripped and hairsprayed into... not exactly the style above, but an even better one!

The main change was at the front. I had asked for a swept over parting, with my hair covering part of my forehead, as I figured that was the closest I could get to a fringe. I'm probably not explaining that very well, but I mean something like this:

Well, she gave it a try and, to be frank, I looked like my uncle. Yep, apparently the whole sideswept look gives me a square face and an uncanny resemblance to a 60-year-old Irish builder. Cue moment of pure white terror. I had no hair plan B!

Not to worry, as it turned out. I hesitantly voiced my concerns to the hairdresser, mumbling "maybe once it's all finished...", as I thought she might somehow talk me into liking it. But in a flash she whipped that section of hair up into a fabulous Joan Holloway-style twist, lifting it off my face and instantly making me look 100 times better! It was that moment that I realised that forking out for my bridesmaids and me to have professional hairstylists on the day is worth every penny. Phew!

So that's the hair sorted: a beehive chignon with a twist! So what about make-up then?

Face off

Lovin' my Lily Lolo

First things first, I'm a mineral make-up convert. And I'm very loyal to the Lily Lolo brand, mainly because since using it my skin is almost always clear of the spots that I used to be plagued by when using liquid foundation.

Secondly, I'm pretty darn excellent at applying make-up. Other friends often ask if I'll do their eye make-up before we go out. I've even done friends' make-up for their wedding day. So I didn't see the point of booking a make-up artist for the day, especially as our budget is so tight.

That said, I know doing wedding make-up isn't as simple as slapping on a bit of foundation and mascara. This make-up has to last all day, and withstand countless squeezey hugs and kisses from family and friends. It also has to look good in daylight outside, as well as during flash photography inside.

So I did a bit of research. I actually struggled to find a definitive guide to bridal make-up perfection, but I did manage to pick up a bunch of helpful hints along the way. One tip that was said by many was: don't use mineral make-up. Doh!

Apparently, minerals often contain a large proportion of mica, which is highly reflective. That helps give an airbrush finish in real life, but in flash photography it can make you look very washed out. Once I read that, I realised that there had been a good few pics on nights out where I looked a little, dare I say, corpse-like and I hadn't understood why!

Okay, I didn't look as bad as this, but you get the idea!

Thing is, I'm pale anyway (my skin is a shade too fair for many 'high street' make-up brands) so I guess that plus the mica has been making me look super ghost-like when the flash hits me just right. And I really don't want to risk looking like that on the big day!

So I've been trying out some posh liquid make-up. (Posh because I'm trying to avoid anything that will aggravate my skin and turn me into a spotty teenager for the day.) Here's what I've found so far:

Estée Lauder's Double Wear foundation is, as the name suggests, long-lasting. But its lightest shade, no matter how much I blend it, is a shade too orange-y for me. So the search continues. I've been recommended Laura Mercier, but I'm not sure the pursestrings can stretch to that! I might try to get a consultation at a department store. Maybe they'll give me a free sample?

I also tried Estée Lauder's Disappear concealer, which is pretty good actually, though maybe a smidge too dark for me.

One bit of success though: Dior Skinflash is, in a word, magical.

I used to use YSL's Touche Eclat but found that it sat a bit pinky on my skin, if that makes any sense. Skinflash, though, melts in seamlessly and does a pretty great job of blending away dark shadows and wrinkles. Again, I'll need to be careful about flash photography because it's reflective, but I figure it will do nicely during the daytime and I can touch up with the Estée Lauder Disappear in the evening.

So make-up brands are almost sorted. Next task is to actually decide what kind of make-up I want on the day. I'm planning to do some practice when I'm with my girls at the hen do (in two weekends' time, hooray!) but for now here's some make-up styles that I have my eye on. I'll let you know how I get on!

PS As it's now past midnight, I can officially say... ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!