Wedding Make Up: The First Steps of DIY

So after I was deliberating on the Professional vs. DIY aspect of my wedding make up, I've come to the conclusion that I'm going the DIY route for now. Oh God, what have I done?!
And if my practice runs all go terribly wrong then I can revert back and pay someone to do it for me!

I decided to look round the make up counters in Boots one Saturday with T, I promptly got terrified and overwhelmed by the choice - what do I need? Where do I start? What shade will suit me? The most pale, obviously.
After my minor panic/breakdown (it put me in a foul mood), we went into Debenhams to try and look around the Bare Minerals counter...typically, the woman had just gone to lunch! The lady at Clinique came over and seemed so friendly that I ended up going to speak to her.
Turns out they do a free 'make up lesson', aka make over. But for free, why turn it down?!
So after a quick colour match and a nice little sample pot of the Superbalanced Foundation in Alabaster (yes, only the palest for me!) I pencilled in an appointment for two weeks time to have my Bridal Make Up Lesson.

I trialled the Superbalanced Foundation over the next couple of weeks, I really like how light feels and looks on my face and the colour is perfect.
I also got my hands on a sample of some Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation (I'm not sure which shade, as the lady at the counter wasn't really that helpful), I tried that one a few days ago and it was so much heavier than the Clinique Superbalanced.

Two weeks later, back I went to the Clinique counter, with one of my bridesmaids (Clara) for moral support and to observe.
An hour later, a lot of wedding chat and me not really learning too much, my face looked like this.

Not too shabby eh?

My feelings were...I like the overall look, I quite liked the peachy shade of blusher and the gold/bronze eye shadow was lovely!
I really didn't like the way she did my eye liner and eye lashes, I have super long eye lashes and so they just got tangled and clumpy - I think she a little overwhelmed with how long they are!
I also didn't like the lipstick; the colour was ok, but it had a bit of sparkle in it, which left me feeling like a 15 year old. It also dried my lips out like crazy and by the time I got home they had gone all crusty, as if I had spent several days in the arctic.

Still, I think it was a fantastic starting point for me. I walked away with the Superbalanced Foundation in Alabaster and the Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel.

AWOL

Yes, I know I've been AWOL for a little bit now. Sorry!
We've just hit our mega busy time of year at work...the dreaded exam period. Hours and hours spent wading through exam scripts, inputting marks etc. It's all fun.

I usually have a ton of free time at work, which is when I do work related tasks wedding planning, blogging etc. But I haven't even had a change to keep my poor diary up to date recently, he's so bare! No meal plan put in, I've only updated my bills and exercise!

I'm hoping to be back on it soon enough, with a massive catch up. I'll try and make more effort to at least post a Photo Friday every so often.

I also need a little time for me at the moment, next week is the anniversary of my Dad's death (I can't even believe I'm writing that). I can hardly believe it's nearly been a whole year and it's been a rough few weeks for me again. I've actually tried to write a couple of posts about it, but I've stopped them all because they've made me too upset.

Enough of that for now. I better be getting back for work. No time for sneaky breaks!!

Uphill Cycling, Scones and Jam and some Camping Equiptment

I'd say that's how I would sum up last weekend (it's another weekend already!!).

We started Saturday off by getting the train from Romford to Kelvedon, bikes in tow. We were planning what I thought would be a easy little nip out on the bikes from Kelvedon to Tiptree to go to the Tiptree Jam Factory, Museum and Tea Rooms. Yeah, it wasn't such a great ride.
Firstly it was on the road the whole way, which I am not a fan of, and the whole way there was uphill...4 miles of just uphill! My poor little legs cannot take that after nearly a year of not cycling!

We finally got there, somehow, and joined the queue for the tea rooms...and then spotted a sign to say that the museum would be shut from 1pm for a private event. Checked the time, it'd just hit 1pm! We were at least able to get some food (a VERY tasty Ploughmans with a pork pie followed by the scones I posted a picture of yesterday) and have a look around the shop...and we didn't buy everything they had! Which is a miracle, considering they had two walls full of different jars of jams and preserves!!
Then it was back on the bikes for a 4 mile downhill ride (so much better than the way there!) and arrived at the station just as the train pulled away! We only had to wait 30 minutes for the next train, which was a nice break as my thighs were burning!

On the train again and out futher into Essex to Colchester. We had a bit of time to walk around the town and pop into a few shops before everything closed. We came away with some camping gear, tea towels and a sausage dog door stop (we have named him Porky).
Colchester was lovely, it's Britain's oldest recorded town (in case you didn't know) and it had a lovely castle and gardens. We eventually got back on the train, which was now full of drunk people on their way out, which made for a wonderfully quite and relaxing journey home, ha!


Then Sunday ended up being completed camping gear related, we put in a big Amazon order and went into Central London to buy some stuff too.
Only to later decide that we would not be going camping this weekend...it's a Bank Holiday so all the trains are crazy and it's going to rain. There goes that 30 Before 30 plan, but I'm pretty sure putting me in a rainy field for two days on my first camping trip would not make me want to go again!

This weekend, instead of camping, we're off into Essex again to the Braintree Outlet Mall...shopping, yay! We might also look at beds. Yup, beds.

Not don't you tell me I don't live a thrilling life ;)

Enjoy the long weekend!

Photo Friday #19

The yummy scones we had last week at the Tiptree Jam Museum!

My 100th Post!

I'm not really sure how much the first few posts counted seeing as I hadn't really got into the swing of this blogging thing, but hey...this is my 100th post!!

Isn't that exciting! I wish I had something momentous to put, but I really don't at the moment.

I just want to say thanks to anyone that actually bothered to read this. And encourage you to say hello, it'd be nice to know if there's anyone out there or whether I'm just yammering away to myself (most likely).

But that's all for now, Happy Thursday folks!

Wedding Make Up: Professional vs. DIY

Recently I've been thinking about my wedding make up, umming and ahhing about what to do.
I had originally thought that I would hire a make up artists to do it. I'm not really the most make up savvy person and I don't really wear very much, so it seemed like the sensible way to go.

But then I started researching and it became apparent that to get someone who's good I'd be paying around £150-200 for just my make up trial and on the day make up - no extra people included in that. Yes, there are cheaper options, but looking at their portfolios, you can see why they're cheaper. There's also a huge risk that whoever I pick, expensive or not, will make me look like a clown and then I'll have paid loads of money for me to just have to take it off and do it myself. I've definitely read some horror stories.

The other option is for me to do my make up myself. It would definitely an element of pressure on the day, but it would allow me to buy some really good quality products that I can use after the wedding.

It my true style I've made a list...or several lists and maybe a spreadsheet, to compare the options.
Here are the lists of pros for each:

DIY Pros

• I get to spend a reasonable amount of money on good quality make up, which I can keep and use after the wedding
• Cheaper than hiring a make up artist
• I have control over the products that I use
• I have control over my look
• Less likely to go horribly wrong (oh the horror stories)
• I don't wear much make up, so why pay someone to put more on me
• Gives me the chance to learn a useful skill
• I have pretty good skin anyway
• I can do my own trial runs, which I don't have to pay for
• I can involve my bridesmaids
• I don't have to worry about choosing the right make up artist

Make Up Artist Pros

• Less pressure on me on the day
• I don't have to choose my own products (I'm pretty terrible with making decisions)
• I don't have to worry about lack of knowledge
• Likely to be much better than I am with make up
• Make up would stay on better/longer

I would say that at the moment there are more pros to me doing it myself, but I do need to think about my lack of knowledge, the extra pressure and making sure that my look isn't too underwhelming and that the make up actually stays put on my face! But I can definitely research and learn and go to make up counters and have make overs where they talk me through what they're doing, which I think would be a big help.

At the moment I am leaning towards DIY, but I have time to research and practice and if it all goes horribly wrong I can try and hire someone last minute - let's hope that doesn't happen!

What do you think? Is this a good idea or totally mad?