Seeking: The Perfect Lip Stain

Yo,

Can we get a thread going on lip stains? My fiance told me if he has hot pink lips at the wedding he will be fucking pissed. 

My dream list:

>Lasts like 6 hrs
>Lasts through a good amount of kissing
>Lasts through sipping on bourbon 

I will take anything minus that creepy makeup tattoo stuff. 

I want like juicy as shit fuchsia lips, but I also don't want my fiance to look like he just went to town on a pink popsicle (i tried really hard to come up with a sexual reference for this one, but i got nuttin.)


That is all.

*****

Ladies?

Elise Crombez by Marcelo Gomes for Dossier Journal via Fashion Gone Rogue

Why do I need an effing MAKEUP ARTIST? (Sponsored by Joy Does Weddings)

So……

Joy Fennell of Joy Does Weddings wrote a long post for you guys about why it's a bad idea to let your 16-year-old cousin do your wedding makeup (DUH), and why makeup for photos is different from everyday makeup, and why it is so worth it to hire a professional (who shows up with her own bucket of products) and not have to worry about that shit on the day…..

And there was a good bit about the Makeup Artist's Wedding Oath, which Joy takes very seriously: "Thou shalt not allow the bride to walk around looking like a hot mess."

But I think we should just let her work speak for itself.

I mean. Right??

I flew a hair/makeup artist across the country for my wedding, and it was -- I'm not kidding you -- some of the best money I've ever spent.

Joy is based in NYC, and she comes personally recommended by that rad lady who did my wedding makeup. Joy Does Weddings provides makeup services for brides, bridal parties, engagement parties and destination weddings. She will make you look AH-MAZING!

Last Night's Makeup?

I always wish I had the nerve to do this, but I'm sort of anal about washing my face before bed.

Photo: Steve Hiett/Trunk Archive courtesy of The NY Times

Makeup advice pleez

Hi ESB,

I am getting married in Oct. of this year and I pretty well have everything taken care of venue, dress etc., my only problem seems to be make-up. 

I grew up as a tomboy I am still a tomboy, luckily for me my FH does not mind; however, it is my wedding day and I would like to rock it, go all out, so he can say 'damn, she is all mine'. I do wear make-up occasionally but it only consists of mascara and lip gloss (not very glam), I have tried eyeliner but no matter what kind I use it rubs off or runs away or disappears, I'm not quite sure what it does, but I will put it on and within an hour that shit is gone, totally irritating.

So my question is do any of your readers have any suggestions as which brands to buy and best techniques to apply for eyeliner, mascara, blush, eyeshadow… everything? I guess I should say there will be no bridal salon or make-up pro for me, it will be me doing it myself or my sister.

Thanks for any and all advice you guys throw my way.

*****

I did just buy this $12 jumbo liner from Sephora, which I'm quite pleased with. It's supposed to be smudgy, so it's pretty much impossible to mess up.

But who's got more helpful hints about WEDDING MAKEUP?

Photo by Marcel van der Vlugt via Vejde Gustafsson

bridezilla wants to make me pay for makeup

My dear ESB,

I am slightly disgruntled because I don't quite want to be a part of this bridal party, but there really was no way for me to say no. For various reasons that I won't delve into.

To add on top of the irritation (and slight guilt), the bride wants to "require" us to do our hair and makeup but is not offering to pay for it.

What are your thoughts on this sitch?? I've only been part of weddings where the bride has either paid for it or just let us do our own styling, and these were very close friends of mine. I really don't want to be expected to throw down an extra few hundred dollars for hair and makeup for a wedding that I'm already not keen on being a part of.

I swear I'm trying hard not to be a total bitch...

*****

My thoughts on this sitch are: WHAT. THE. FUCK.

If the bride is that concerned about you being camera ready, SHE GETS TO PAY FOR THE STYLING.

Period. End of story.

Photo by Richard Burbridge for I-D via Fashion Gone Rogue

A Wedding in Polaroids

And the most thorough, thoughtful, helpful write-up I have yet had the pleasure of publishing.

Take it away April:

Sitting down to write about our wedding seems an awful lot like an Academy Award acceptance speech -- there were so many incredible people and friends involved. I'm about to start blurting out a list of names before the orchestra starts playing the STOP TALKING music.

About our wedding: it happened over labor day weekend in a small town 2 hours north of San Francisco. Monte Rio is beautiful, remote and very California without having the expense of nearby wine country. The ceremony was on a meadow by the Russian River with the reception at the community center. We treated it like it like a destination wedding.

Besides our own marriage, here's what we wanted for our guests:

- to have a relaxing long weekend on the river.
- to enjoy themselves so much that they were really sad when the weekend was over.
- to leave feeling like they really got to know other people and made new friends.
(To that end we created a Facebook group to organize lodging, communicated on our save the dates that guests needed to book lodging pronto and gave people the resources to find rental houses together. We also created a custom google map with important location and people's rentals.) As far as we know, success!

Long term, WE owe the photographers, big time. We didn't have a pile of cash to burn, so we decided early on to spend on what was important to us. Pictures last forever, right? We wanted the photographs to represent the time we had that weekend and Chloe Aftel did just that. Bonus: she is hilarious and a joy to work with (she did our engagement shots too). She does magical things with Polaroids and captured the romantic, ephemeral parts of marrying someone you love. Waking up the day after the weddings and flipping through the prints was immediate gratification! We had another photographer manning the photo booth during cocktails -- Meg Messina took fantastic wedding guest portraits.

Finally, a shot of gratitude to Jennifer Tipton. She came on as the wedding day coordinator but she was indispensable long before that. She was wonderful to work with and  was on top of everything during the weekend.

The dress: it was St. Lucia sample by Jenny Packham, purchased at San Francisco's Glamour Closet. This is the place to go if you want an expensive dress for half-price. Ideal for people who a) are motived bargain shoppers or b) don't mind if their dress has a few fix-it blemishes.
The headpiece: bought a couple but settled on the Mignonne Handmade - Nature Girl Halo in ivory.
The bridesmaids: almost all wore long, pale pink Rachel Pally. She designs with modal jersey, aka feels like pajamas.

The cake(s): we didn't want a wedding cake per se. We bought basically one of every cake from Miette. Beautiful/delicious/not $1000.

And finally, here's the rest of the Rad people/places/things near California's Sonoma valley....

Artistry by Alan: Oh my, those lashes! He comes from a Hollywood background and sat me down, did his magic and I looked like myself but flawless. What cinched it for me is he did make-up on the movie Clueless. HELLO 90's girl fantasy!
Brian Ho of Dreams in Audio: the best damn unwedding DJ we could've found (sf-based)
Fork Catering: food truck extraordinaire, tasty, local, fresh food.
Pinterest: I had an Inspiration and Final Wedding board to manage the look since our wedding decor didn't really have a strong theme besides what we liked.
Virb: hosted our wedding website! Easy and (more importantly) stylish.

The last note: we ended up with 12 kids/babies on the attending guest list(!). Besides reserving the playground adjacent to the reception site we also introduced the parents beforehand via email. We had a kid activities, made programs with a colorable illustration. One of my favorite parts of the reception was the kids smashing a Confetti System-style piñata we filled with toys and candy. It was joyful having them around!

OH, I cannot believe I almost forgot to mention my favorite wedding stress coping mechanism. No, not stress eating (close second!) — my favorite way to let of irrational impulses and wedding industry wackness out was by creating the Twitter account @BRIDEHULK. In the same vein as internet meme @DrunkHulk, you tweet the rage away. I did not man @BRIDEHULK myself, I enlisted the help of about 10 other brides who were also wedding planning last year. Most of us graduated out but there are still a couple friends who are getting married in 2012. I hope the tradition will live on and would be happy to share login information with others who find themselves fed-up with one too many staged wedding blog posts, difficult potential vendors and crazy-pants family drama.

Cheers!
April

(Chloe Aftel also took super gorg digital photos. A few of em are up over here.)

if i were to get married now...................

from elizabeth of the littlest

ever wonder what the wife of one of the coolest wedding people around -- a pretty fucking cool lady herself -- has to say about weddings?

ME TOO.

michael and i were engaged way back in 2005 (married 2006) when the knot and martha stewart were the stewards of all things wedding. the new york mag wedding issue was the only thing close to decent at the time and even that was a bit posh and removed from what i envisioned for my big day. i remember buying a couple of those magazines and literally getting tight in the chest at the thought of chocolate fountains and proper etiquette. somehow i am the girl who has NEVER been a bridesmaid (my closest friends are either not married and the ones who are just happened to get married in jordan, greece, india, australia and new zealand) and since i grew up LDS everyone around me married in the temple. so no frame of reference. zip. zero. i never dreamt of my wedding day and didn't see the point of bridesmaids or bridal showers which leads me to how over the top crazy this whole wedding thing has become! shots of cute feet and all.

that's not to say i didn't have the mason jars full of wild flowers on the vintage tablecloths or the tin buckets overflowing with icy drinks. i did. i had a pretty white dress, something old, something new. i poured over our invitations and had them printed at the legendary soho letterpress. i spent months tearing up on the subway listening to the songs i was going to walk down the aisle to and have for my first dance. i obsessed over finding the right shoes (i didn't!) i dreamt of our first night married and where we would have our honeymoon (costa rica.) i also had my closest family and friends there and not a person more. i seem to remember thinking that was all that really mattered. i still do.

so what would i change?

now that i see the possibilities, i can't help but think i could fit a couple things into my perfect memory of that day (the good thing about memory is that you can erase all of the things that seemed annoying at the time!)

i would probably have taken a chance and worn my hair up in a cute messy bun instead of down like i always have it. i love joanna's tutorials for simpletons such as myself. although it did look a bit like the elfin princess anne hathaway as a matter of fact.

i would have asked for fewer favors and just coughed up the dough - case in point:

i don't have the best photos from that day which i really regret. my gay fashion photographer friend from nyc shoot was supposed to shoot the family portraits and reception while he was busy trying to chase down a drink. we literally have never spoken since but i blame myself as i should have known he wasn't cut out for it. oh well. what i have learned from this is shooting weddings is hard work. hats off to wedding photographers. such an emotion laden day and you have the responsibility of capturing it, even if the bride accidentally took too much xanax or it's raining sideways. so long story short, i would have hired my photographers and given them a shot list of images i absolutely wanted (cake cutting, family portraits, more shots with michael, etc.)

i had a very well known, celebrity makeup artist (best friends with the gay fashion photographer so i no longer talk to her either - ha!) do my makeup as a favor but since she was doing me a favor, we didn't do a makeup test. i never wear makeup so didn't feel super comfortable and as great as she is, if you aren't comfortable in your own skin, it doesn't matter who is doing your makeup. so have a test. i had a tear of michelle williams hair and makeup at the oscars 2006 and kick myself for not doing it.

i would also have definitely hired a videographer to shoot the ceremony, my sweet stepmom bought a video camera and shoved it in the hands of my unwitting stepbrother. poor thing. sharkpig wasn't available then - but i look at almost every single thing he does and it makes me just so happy for the couples who have videos by him (and a little bit jealous.)

now that i have my daughter, i would have spent more time picking items that i could hand down to her. my dress closed the spring 2007 Nicole Miller runway show and is pretty beautiful but i think i could have done better (is that awful?) i chose wedges so that i could walk up the hill (we married at a beautiful, remote location that you had to hike to get to) if i could do it again, i'd say balance be damned and picked the coolest shoes.

and pie in the sky, i would have taken this old farmhouse that was shipped from appalachia to california and plunked it down where we had the ceremony (san juan islands) for the reception. i went to a wedding there recently and it was a truly magical venue.

last but not least, everyone told me and somehow i still didn't listen - i would have spent more time with michael instead of worrying about making everyone else happy. that day was for us. it's easy to lose sight of that.

1. jamie beck for cup of jo, 2. miu miu, 3. michelle williams courtesy of fairchild archive via brides, 4. miu miu by jak & jil for style.com via the cherry blossom girl, 5. figueroa farmhouse by kevin charlie

(catch up with the rest of the "if i were to get married now..................." series here.)

Pleez help me with my wedding makeup

Dear ESB,

Help! I am pretty pale, with long red hair and blue eyes. No idea how to do makeup. Looking for photo inspiration to share with the friend who will be doing me up the day of, and whose first go at it was a bit more theatrical than I'd feel comfortable with (plus fake eyelashes make me feel like my eyeballs have shades on). I want the photos to look good, sure, but I also want to be recognizable in person. Hair will be up (hot summer wedding), dress is super plain, probably will rock huge earrings.

-Not wanting to look like a clown

*****

Not only am I not a redhead, I am soooooo not a makeup expert. (Come on, does this really surprise anyone?)

But the day I got your email, I also got an email introduction to a team of beauty experts. So I figured I'd ask them to handle this one.

Beware. The following post is a little more polished, a little more, shall we say, magazine-y? than the off-the-cuff rants you have come to expect from me and some of my guest bloggers. But I think it might actually help you.

Hannah Kuhary is a writer and resident redhead at Beauty Bets. Here she shares easy tips and no-fail makeup suggestions for keeping your bridal look naturally chic, not freakishly clownish.

Primer

Prepping the skin with a primer will ensure that your makeup lasts all day. I love Korres Face Primer ($28), which is silicone-free, 99% natural and creates a perfect canvas for makeup application.

Foundation

Most redheads have pink undertones, which can make imperfections hard to cover. Use a light, yellow-tinted foundation to even out skin tone and minimize any redness. I like Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation ($45) or Chanel Pro Lumiere ($54). Both are long-wearing and have a natural, semi-matte finish.

Blush

Bronzer is a great tool for contouring the face, but many are too orange for fair-skinned redhead. Instead, try a sheer, luminous blush. Two favorites for a gorgeous glow are Bare Escentuals All-Over Face Color in True ($18) and Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzing Powder in Antigua ($33).

Powder

BECCA Fine Loose Finishing Powder ($35) is perfect for setting makeup because it creates a touch-proof, sweat-proof finish, which is ideal for any wedding day. And, because it's finely milled, skin looks natural.

Eye Shadow

Warm, earth-tone eye shadows will make your eyes stand out without competing with your striking hair color. I wore Orb, Charcoal Brown and Satin Taupe from MAC ($14.50 each) on my wedding day.

Eyeliner

In addition to shadow, eyeliner really makes eyes pop—especially in photos. I recommend a waterproof or smudge-proof liner on the top only, so eyes look big and bright. Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes in Pearly Brown ($17) or Smashbox Limitless Eye Liner in Java ($19) are great choices.

Mascara

Even though most redheads have fair lashes, it's still important to wear dark mascara to define the eyes. For weddings, wear a waterproof formula so lashes stay full and lush, even after happy tears. Try DiorShow Waterproof Mascara in black ($24).

Lipstick

Your face can look washed out in wedding photos unless you have some color on your lips. To bring out their natural shade, try Midimauve by MAC ($14.50) or Josie Maran Argan Oil Lipstick in Rumi Joon ($20). If you want to try a bolder look, Chanel Rouge Coco in Cambon ($32) or MAC Sophisto ($14.50) are sure bets for redheads.

Photo #1 by Craig McDean for Interview Magazine via dirty_fashion; Photo #2 by Tec Petaja via Style Me Pretty

can I tell you something dorky?

This beautiful shot by Karen Wise reminds me.... I wore an assy-looking tank top for my hair/makeup test the day before the wedding and people took a thousand pictures.

My advice to you is, plan great outfits for the entire wedding week. You will be amazed by the number of cameras pointed at you.

Via snippet & ink