I'm a Bride and I DIY'ed

During the d-day preps, part of it was horrid pressure on me to look good, not just on the whole enchilada of the gown and shoes and all but also how I really look, as in my face. The norm of usual brides is to search high and low for a makeup artist and plunk a huge amount of money for a mua. But for me? I braved my Old Hollywood bridal look, DIY style.

I got like mixed reactions for my choice to go DIY. The first reaction I got was "Are you sure?" For me it was no biggie. I've known a few who went DIY on their wedding and they really turned out awesome. I had already a face chart and did test runs of it as well with Wacks so we got the look down to pat - save though for the last. As long as I know what I wanted, I'm good to go. Also, I'm cheap so I wanted to go DIY.

Days before, I was going makeup-free to let my skin breathe, only wearing makeup occasionally for the face to avoid shock come D-Day when I'll be piled on with makeup. It also pays to keep hydrated. And speaking of being hydrated, I used a sheet mask from The Face Shop with pearl essence to brighten (not whiten) the face so I got fresh cells up here minus facial since I didn't have time to visit the doctor already. Prior to this day, I was working since I got a few weddings and events booked that week too.

Anyway, I was lucky that it wasn't such a hot or humid day that's prone to makeup meltdown. Just the same I made sure that my face was clean and prepped well. MAC fast response eye cream was used to fill in fine lines and hammer down bags. Shu Uemura Red Juvenus took care of the moisturizing department while I used favorite UV Underbase to keep my skin velvety.

Since I don't like being stark white, I self-tanned weeks before since I'll be wearing a light-colored dress. I used Paul and Joe Creamy Compact foundation #30 then airbrushed my skin in a shade half-step darker than my face color for a bit of bronzey effect. Since there's going to be lots of pictures that day, Flash photography could make my skin look ghostly so I skipped foundation and products with high SPF. Contour of course for dimension, in three different powders buffed to perfection with a kabuki brush after hammering all with MAC Studiofix NC35.

To keep the warm tone, I used peach on my cheeks and a mixture of golds on my eyes. I probably used around five colors on my eyes that day, blending them to achieve a Jolie-esque subtle smoky eye in the theme of gold. My main colors though were MAC Amber Lights, Espresso, and ricepaper with a tad of Kryolan Black for a bit of smokyness. Of course I had Blacktrack on my upper eyes to make my peepers look bigger and I used MAC's Loudlash, which I discovered was waterproof beyond reasonable doubt. I forgot where I put my Maybelline Cat Eyes at that time so I grabbed the first waterproof mascara I had. Since a mascara'd to death lashline wasn't enough for pictorial purposes, I vavoomed with Glambox Mink Lashes, which I really saved for this day. I swear these babies were so light I didn't feel them come reception time.

Eyebrows were tricky too. I had them threaded a week before to they're in shape already. My eyebrows were also the main reason why I wanted to go DIY - since there's a shade and shape that I want for them. I used my super waterproof MUFE eyebrow correction in 0 and Beguile brow set to frame my face with eyebrows just for me.

Although I'm a fan of matte, I didn't want it all too matte and dry so I used my MSF in Redhead to dew things up at the tops of my cheeks. I used very little shimmer because too much shimmer reflects in photographs which could make the skin look oily.

I had five of my favorite red lippies to choose from that day.

Russian Red tops my list as the main color. Main color since I had two reds below it and another on top. I lined my lips with a bold red lipliner and filled in, so my lips are already red on its own. A layer of Ruby Woo followed, blotted, and reapplied again. Ruby Woo, being a retro matte finish lasts longer than Russian Red. The only downside with Ruby Woo was that it was too drying, so I slapped on two coats of Russian Red to keep the color true, blotting in between coats and setting it with translucent powder. Finally, so the lips are moist, I used the amplified finish of MAC Heartless (from Venomous Villains) as gloss on top, like cherry on top of a sundae. To totally seal the deal, I used a lipstick sealer so it stays from pictorial up to reception.

For hair, I left it at the hands of my trusty hairstylist/makeup artist friend, Wacks, I wanted the old Hollywood 1920's style fingerwaves with my hair in an updo, since a handcombed look would just accent my broad five-head and I've always found sideswept parts flattering for me. Wacks first set my hair in hot rollers and let me lose first for the waves to set before shaping my waist-long hair into a weaved ensaymada-big bun. With my hair being long and thick, it takes a great deal of patience to handle. As per his advice, I was advised not to use conditioner on my hair and if I should shampoo, I should just use only a little amount.

Dollops of mousse, hairspray, volumizer, an hour or so of heat styling and 50++ bobby pins later, I was summoning Katherine Heigl and Angelina Jolie, which were my Hollywood pegs too. :)

When my bridal march played, it was the time to rock the pinnacle of my bridal portfolio. Ready when you are guys!

So how was my bridal DIY makeup? It was a lot of fun actually. Yes, there was a lot of pressure and tension but nothing that a little breathing exercise and concentration could rid of. For me, I didn't see going DIY as added stress, I just had fun painting my own face as I always have for fun. This time, it was for a very long photoshoot.