The Look

I don't consider myself a makeup novice and I need to save some dough here so I plan to do my own wedding makeup.

I scoured the web seeking bridal makeup tips. There is tons of information out there. I've included my favorites- the ones I deem most useful- below.

The first is a  step by step guide by Kim Brown, a makeup artist and hair stylist. 

I learned some cool new things from her tutorial and the great thing was I got to watch her actually do the techniques instead of reading them. Check out her great video series for diy makeup Here.

Before I found her series though, I did do a trial with Neutral tones with my basic makeup skill....

 

Yeah...I'm so freakin happy to be in front of the camera. Big Cheese...

 

 This trial was very revealing. The biggest thing I learned (aside from the fact that I needed to get my eyebrows waxed) was even though i had on a full face of makeup, it barely shows up on camera. Barely. You read this point  in article after article, but this was a great way of driving that point home. In larger pictures (click if you dare) you can see the sublte sheen of the copper shadow I used as my base, but other than that, its pretty non-descript. I believe this is the look many brides are going for. The "Me, but Better" look.

Not what I'm after.......

Then I found an expert video series from Amanda Backensto that focused on bridal makeup for black women....Check it out here. She covers many of the same tips but gives product suggestions and color tips that pertain to a deeper complexion....

Amy B, another makeup artist, does a fantastic eye in the Youtube video found at the bottom of this page. I will definitely be practicing this technique as the shading is just what I envisioned for myself previously.

Armed with pro tips and techniques, I am excited about practicing my makeup application. Hopefully, this will be one area that will not be stressful for this budget bride.

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ABOYWEARINGMAKEUP is surprisingly full of great tips and he's kinda funny. yeah...he is a guy wearing makeup, but if you aren't stuck on that, he's great to watch for driving home the skills of more advanced eye makeup.

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I am not sure how much money I will actually be saving in this category.......bc I plan to invest in a foundation without SPF (probably MAC) and I have hit several  sales to cop more high pigment eye shadows....so in the end, I just might approach the cost of an actual makeup artist (a cheap one) BUT, I get to keep my products....so this is a fair tradeoff for me instead of paying the money to have someone else do it and all i get out of the deal is a lipstick.

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A few more trials:

The Right side was an attempt using more silver and grey. I put it up with the copper and gold look to compare. My thought process was that since my dress had silver embellishments, maybe i should go with the silver tones instead of the golden ones.

 

Another 'trial' where I did a smokey eye. the comparison is with a neutral lip vs a bolder red lip. I think the smokey look is the winner. I'll be getting lashes put on to give my eyes more pop. In the above pic, I am  using black liquid liner, so the 2 together should be pretty good and waterproof too! I just need to find the right combo of shadows to give me a 'daytime glam' look.

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HAIR

I wanted "loose", "romantic"...nothing hard or stiff. I wanted curls.....

 

My inspiration board that i showed my stylist:

 

Along with Knottie Gap907:

 

 

What we tried:

 

 

My stylist and I agree that if we went with something like this, we'd like the curls to be a bit more defined. So we'd going with a smaller sized roller.

I plan to try a more structured look as well to make sure thats not the direction I want to go in....

                                       

 

VEIL...

For a while, i was in love with the birdcage veil. I loved the vintage flair. Loved that it was different.

                                             

Above images courtesy of Unveiled Bridal Designs

But....i'm a broke bride to be....and none of the cage veils that i found and loved were within my budget.

I did find a site, http://somethingbold.com/ that offers the cage veil without the fascinator. This may be a good option for the bride who loves the russian net look and or plans to make their own embellishment to go with it.

 

 

But as I've looked at my dress.....I'm not thinking that the birdcage compliments it as much. My gown is fairly traditional. Not really vintage (My body didnt seem to look as good in those silhouettes)

 

(me in too little sample)

I considered being a 2 veil bride...doing the traditional veil and then switching to the birdcage as my "party" veil.......this will depend on if i can find something within a price range that works for me. I'm all for diy, but i really don't feel confident in my novice skill with veils. So I need to find one ready made.

The feathery hair flower I drooled over for a few weeks:

 

If I didnt do the cage veil, I wanted some kind of hair accessory....But i'm not sure yet if i should draw the line. I dont want to be over accessorized.

 

Regarding the traditional veil, which i'm sucking up as being my best option, I've been considering www.veilshop.com. They have many, many options that are pretty affordable in comparison to the veils in bridal shops.

For a second I was not sure what length i wanted to go with....the cathedral veils had a certain romanticism to them and I am definitely a romantic person. But after trying on a few at David's Bridal and showing those pics to my bridesmaids and mom, it was determined that it wasn't quite the look that i wanted. But www.veilshop.com offers those for a pretty good price too.

My original first choice was an elbow length veil, edged in crystals for $52:

Then i learned, that bc of the embelishments on my dress end at my waist, it would be better if my veil didn't cut me off at the waist. Luckily they had a fingertip option for $59:

                          

 

then...after i discovered ebay, i began looking for veils there. I'd seen a few bios that mentioend Veilsbylana before, so i checked her out.....and here are the basic veil I am considering....sorry for the too tiny pic.

                                                                        

This veil comes in a 2 tiered and 1 tiered option. Since I have a lace up back, I am leaning toward the 1 tier to show off that detailing. Before I got my dress, i was thinking about getting the 2 tiered veil simply for coverage.

After seeing how my actual back looks in my actual dress:

                                          

I've decided to go with the 1 tier. Yes, my back is fat, but there is no serious bubblage out of the dress. (The dress is too big so the lacings are pulled too tight, thats whats causing that wierd pulling effect)

 I've decided not to get a veil trimmed in crystals. My bodice, and jewelry are all quite sparkly and with it being a morning wedding, I think its best to stop right there. If I were having the evening wedding of my dreams.......that would be a different story!