Wedding Talk: Hair and Beauty (including scents & nails)
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I originally had sandwiched this in my main suppliers post but realised I had A LOT to say on the subject. I realise talking about hair and make-up in such detail might seem trivial, but the combination of everything I’ve mentioned below made me feel like the best version of me on the day. Every person is different, and again Jack bought a new face wash, moisturised more (from weekly to daily) and I think his biggest commitment was actually going to the barbers and letting someone else trim his beard…
Hair
Some of you might be more than happy to do your own hair and make up on your wedding day. I know friends that have done this, and they’ve been thrilled with that as well as saving money. They pretty much all got a make-up lesson before hand and whilst they’ve spent money on product they feel they’ve gained knowledge for the future. I’ve had my hair done professionally before but never my make-up, but decided hiring the professionals in this situation was going to be the least stressful for me. My hair is unpredictable. I describe the texture as spongy, it literally senses a damp atmosphere and I’ve got a halo of frizz around me. Also when I do curl my hair, it’s a 50/50 chance on whether it goes ok or not. I didn’t want to take the risk, and knew that one person could certainly keep it looking natural, but also tame that frizz of mine. Alice Lindsay is someone I’ve worked with in a professional setting, and knew I liked her laid back vibes. I described my dream wedding hair as stuck together waves, not separated waves...she nailed that brief. We had a hair trial, but those waves were a bit different to what I had on the day as I’d slightly changed my mind. But the trial was more to get together to try different things, especially if you’ve got something wildly different in mind from your usual style.
My hair colour was the thing I was most ‘concerned’ about, I got my hair coloured 6 months before the wedding and whilst I liked it, I just didn’t love it. I nearly got it done with a new hairdresser right before the wedding, and in hindsight this would’ve been a disaster (in context). If you’re thinking of going with a new hairdresser or dying it a new colour do it a few months before the wedding to make sure it’s what you want. A couple of weeks before the wedding I decided to go back to a hairdresser I love at Jo Hansford. My mum always says they’ve always done the best dye job on my hair, and she’s not wrong. It was the perfect balayage, and have no regrets looking back on the wedding photos. It’s my best hair, if I could wake up with my hair styled like that everyday, I’d be one happy woman. My mum has been cutting my hair and fringe for years, so there were no surprises there!
Skin
Before I can start to talk about my make-up, I want to mention my skin. I decided a good 6 months before the wedding to start having regular facials. It doesn’t matter what I do, I get a hormonal break out almost every time my period comes to town, and didn’t want to take the risk at the wedding.
Through my friend, I was recommended Rebecca who works for herself at High Maintenance, Lincoln. What a find. I still go to Rebecca now, and will continue to do so until the end of time, I love her. Also at least three of my friends and my mum have started going too, and they all feel the same. I think one of the most important things, asides the results I got on my skin, was that this was dedicated me time. Wedding planning can get a bit frantic, for various reasons you can feel overwhelmed and just taking some time out and getting some perspective on it can do wonders.
Rebecca uses Environ, which, and I hope I am explaining this right uses an electro-sonic waves, to penetrate ingredients such as Vitamin A down to the layers of your skin where it will actually benefit. Each treatment is bespoke to what she feels your skin needs, and at every session I had a non-evasive cool peel, plus twenty minutes under the Dermalux light. This is a bright light which in their own words uses ‘LED Phototherapy combining clinically proven wavelengths of light delivered at safe, therapeutic doses. Instantly energising skin cells to revitalise a dull and tired complexion.’ I had appointments every month, and in the last six weeks I switched up my visits to once every two weeks. As it got closer to the wedding, we didn’t try anything new, incase it flared my skin up. I didn’t try any new products in my regime at home either and Rebecca continued to use what was working. If anyone suggests trying anything drastically new close to your big day, I would proceed with caution.
Getting my skin the best it could be, really gave me a lot of confidence, and it carried through to the honeymoon too. Different people have different priorities, but hopefully this gives you an insight to working with someone on your skin in the run up to your wedding, I think the most important thing is getting to know one another allowing enough time to try and see what works.
Make-Up
Amy George was recommended to me through Alice, and knowing how much I liked Alice and her style, I knew we’d get along just fine. Meeting Amy was better than fine, I absolutely adore her, the definition of an absolute gem. Just like it is with your outfit, hair and a whole host of other things, it’s important to know what you like. A wedding is a great experience in getting to know a bit more about yourself, and asserting yourself I found. Again some inspiration of make up looks you like will really help communicate what you have in mind, if you don’t have the make up vocabulary. For example I thought I liked heavy coverage, it’s safe to say I do not, I just didn’t really stop to think about how I liked my make up before. For future reference, I like things dewy! I didn’t retouch my make up once through the day, it didn’t budge. That’s why I went with a professional, for as good as I think I am in applying my own make up, it’s normally slid off my face before sundown. I think my favourite thing about Amy, and everyone mentioned in this post, is they really listened. I featured this image of KJH on my inspiration board. Amy took the time to test the Stila eyeshadow and it’s longevity on a research trip, when she wasn’t satisfied with the wearability of it for 12+ hours, she found one that did (this Tom Ford eyeshadow is pricey, but my god it’s incredible). When I told her I didn’t really like wearing lipstick and loved lip balm, she spent time hunting down a hybrid between the two. The coverage satisfied Amy, and the texture satisfied me, and is now my favourite lipstick and liner combination which I use all the time. It’s Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk lipliner with Chanel’s Rouge Coco Flash in 84, Immédiat , incase you’re curious.
Scent
I have been lucky enough to attend a couple tea parties at the Jo Malone Townhouse, I know what a sentence! When I have attended there has always been a very insightful talk from their lovely fragrance expert Emma South, and I remember one time in particular where Emma discussed how scent is the quickest way to evoke memories. Which is why scenting your wedding is such a wonderful way to be transported back to a special moment in time. I had a scenting appointment booked in the Nottingham Boutique, you can book a complimentary one in any Jo Malone store here (it doesn’t have to be for a wedding, check out their services, may I direct you in the way of the hand massage for a special treat). It was so much fun smelling a whole host of perfumes, without knowing what they were. We positively gagged at Pomegranate Noir, which is very clove based, and I thought one of my favourites. Eventually we decided on Oud & Bergamot with Honeysuckle and Davina, the ladies in the store were so helpful, and explained how to use moisturiser as a base scent, and how to combine scents. I love love love the combination and now whenever I smell am transported back to a really happy time. After I left I decided to buy four candles in the same scents, and place them as a duo in two different areas of our wedding venue, combined with the flowers it was one good smelling day. Let me tell you, those candles burned all day and I still have well over half left which I burn at home.
My perfume and body lotion was gifted, the candles I purchased.
Nails
Lastly, nails. Not a lot to say apart from they were the best nails I have ever had ever. I went to my usual girl Laura Wade. I do flit around but always go back to Laura when I know I need them to last, she’s the queen of longevity, her gel (she uses The Gel Bottle) never ever ever chips or lifts. I got them done close enough to the wedding to make sure they’d last for the honeymoon too. Don’t be afraid of adding an element of fun into your outfit if that’s what you like, I nearly went for a plain nail….weddings do wild things to a person.
