The Bridal Stories

benyla-brides: Perfection doesn’t always come in exact sizes...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 04:14:31 -0500

benyla-brides:

Perfection doesn’t always come in exact sizes and precision.

benyla-brides: Dewey hair and skin to bring in the up and...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 04:13:16 -0500

benyla-brides:

Dewey hair and skin to bring in the up and coming spring season.

In love with this boho style wedding hair!

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 04:12:21 -0500

In love with this boho style wedding hair!

Classy Liner

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 04:10:40 -0500

Pastel Shoot

Photography : Nadia King

Model : Katie Duggan

Hair : KT

Styling : Rachel Cooper

Look at this gorgeous set up! Shared from Vintage Scoops!...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:24:32 -0500

Look at this gorgeous set up! Shared from Vintage Scoops! Dreamy!

Beautiful Images from Bridal Photographer Kirsten Mavrick

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:12:00 -0400

Last week Carl and I lent our studio aparment out to our photographer & friend Kirsten Mavrick for a collaberation with wedding dress designer Dana Bolton! Makeup and Hair was done by gorgeous makeup artist Lucy Jayne and the pictures were published today! I just had to share this gorgeous shoot! For the original blog by Love My Dress follow the link below!

So beautiful to see our studio space being used to its maximum potential and seeing how different photographer friends use it is always interesting! Here is their gorgeous shoot! :

Wedding Designer : Dana Bolton

Photography: Kirsten Mavrick

Hair & Makeup : Lucy Jayne

Original Blog Post : Love My Dress

The Cool Kids

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:27:36 -0400

Just got a couple of shots from one of Rosie Hardy’s events taken by the lovely Sofia Plana :) Quite a cool couple no?!

Vintage Wedding Fair!!

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:53:01 -0400

SAVE THE DATE

THE LONDON VINTAGE WEDDING FAIR

SUNDAY 4TH NOVEMBER 2012

11.00am-5pm

The Old Finsbury Town Hall, Rosebery Avenue,

London EC1R 4RP

From antique frocks to 1940’s teacups, vintage inspired weddings are the big story. Starring gorgeous vintage dresses plus designers working with the prettiest antique textiles, The London Vintage Wedding Fair is perfect for contemporary brides looking for a unique stylish touch.

Check out the most this beautiful vintage wedding fair on

www.londonvintageweddingfair.co.uk

La Belle Angele - Norwich Bridal Wear

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 06:48:00 -0400

When I was in Norwich this weekend I went past this lovely little Bridal Boutique located in one of the norwich lanes La BelleAngele. I love this little asian inspired sun umbrella in the window! Looking into their website they also have some gorgeous dresses. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a Norwich/Norfolk Bride to be!

Bridal Musings Feature : Eyes Lips and Cheeks

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 15:07:18 -0400

Hello followers! The lovely Bridal Musings Blog have featured some of my bridal makeup tips again this time focusing on how to wear colour on your special day! Please have a look to get some ideas and inspiration :)

http://bridalmusings.com/2012/09/bridal-make-up-tips-tabby-casto-make-up-artist/

A couple of behind the scenes

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:09:42 -0400

Kristyn just sent me these colour shots she ordered from her wedding! So beautiful! Thankyou Kristyn! :)

The Lavender Fields

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 06:01:03 -0400

Hi Guys! Just got a couple more photos from the beautiful Wedding Workshop I worked on with Rosie Hardy. These two photos were taken by the lovely Franziska Ambach! So pleased with how they turned out :)

Top Tips To Longer Lasting Bridal Makeup

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 07:49:00 -0400

Hello all you gorgeous people! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted as I’ve been busy moving house but I have a new feature up on Bridal Musings blog that I’m excited to share with you!

Have a look at my 5 top tips on how to apply longer lasting makeup for your special day (and generally!) Every makeup artist is different but I have found in my years of experience these are tried and tested ways to keep your makeup on! Check it out :)

Top Tips To Longer Lasting Bridal Makeup

My Top 5 Bridal Makeup Do's and Dont's

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 05:57:00 -0400

Hello Followers! I hope you are all well and enjoying this beautiful summer weather! :) For some inspiration have a look at my top 5 bridal makeup dos and dont’s as featured on the lovely Bridal Musings blog :) I love this blog anyway as it’s a constant source of inspiration and such lovely posts and photos! I am so happy that I was invited to share my tips and tricks! I hope you enjoy…

Top 5 Bridal Makeup Do’s And Don’ts

Wow! Bridal Photographer - Amazing!

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:14:00 -0400

Just saw this photographers work on Bridal Musings blog. Wow! I’m blown away! She’s amazing!! Shame she’s not in London! Check out her website! It’s beautiful!!

http://www.alixannlooslephotography.com/

More photos from this shoot here! What a cute couple! :

http://m-funk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/little-sneak-peak.html

Blog Lovin - Follow me if you're a fan :)

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:50:46 -0400

Hi guys and dolls. I’m now on blog lovin. This a great website for blog lovers to keep in touch with their favourite blogs and have all different blogs in one place *tumblr, wordpress, blogspot act* Please follow me if you’re a fan :

http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3892703/my-makeup-my-medium

http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3892707/the-bridal-stories

Wedding Websites Worth Checking Out

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 04:58:00 -0400

Wedding Websites for Inspiration/Accessories & People in the Know

http://www.iheartbuttons.co.uk/

http://www.vintageheaddresses.com/

http://www.rosiewillettdesigns.co.uk/

Wedding Blogs I Love

http://www.rocknrollbride.com/

http://www.lovemydress.net/

http://www.johanna-hehir.com/blog/

http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2011/06/something-old-something-new.html

http://www.bohobride.co.uk/

http://bridalmusings.com/

Wedding Photographers I Love

http://kirstenmavric.co.uk/

http://www.jamesgiffordmead.co.uk/portfolio/

http://www.rosiehardy.com/

http://www.rosewarnecoxphotography.co.uk/

http://www.emilanos.co.uk/

http://www.alixannlooslephotography.com

Boho Bridal Makeup Inspiration

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 04:51:30 -0400

Looking through some old files from a few years ago I came across an “inspiration” folder for bridal makeup. These two makeup looks were created by MAC (sorry I can’t remember the artist names) but they would be great for a boho wedding look :

Bridal Makeup : Things In my Kit I wouldn't Be Without

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 09:19:28 -0400

I thought it would be good to just add a few of my favourite products for Bridal Makeup to this new blog! These are things that I almost always use when doing a bridal makeup. I would recommend that if you are a bride investing in some new makeup for the special day, try and hunt these down! They will make your wedding makeup last longer and look fresher!

Mac Paint Pots

These are cream eyeshadows that also act as an eyeshadow primer. They are quick drying and come in both matte and metallic textures. They will literally keep your eyeshadow on all day and stop it from creasing. I almost ALWAYS use these on a bridal job. The colours also work great as a base colour. My Favourites are Groundwork, Painterly and Bare Study.

Mac Coffee & Teddy Eye Khol

Both gorgeous browns for doing bridal makeup. Teddy is rich and warm with a hint of reddyness - perfect for brides with green and blue eyes as the red undertones will enhance the brightness of the eye colour. Coffee is a lovely matte chocolate brown which is great for both fair and dark skin tones.

Primer

I use a range of different types of primers in my kit from Mac to Estee Lauder to Laura Mercier. It’s so important to prep the skin on the wedding day. It just makes the foundation last and last and smooths out the skin. If you are a bride doing your own makeup on the day or you are investing in products to buy to give to your mua on the day I would definitely invest in some form of primer!

Mac Fix + Spray

This spray is great for refreshing tired makeup or spraying onto a finished makeup to make it last longer. It has green tea, chamomile and cucumber to sooth the skin. But the main ingrediant is glycerin. This acts as a holding agent. It will create a very polished looking finish to the skin once it’s dry and help your makeup last.

Pastel & Bridal Colours

I stole this idea from a good friend and fellow makeup artist Carli Lamotte! She had the most gorgeous pallette of “Bridal” colours all together and it inspired me to create one too. More for the mua out there! Favourites bridal & pastel colours of mine include :

Brule, Blanc Type, Vanilla, Naked Lunch, All That Glitters, Beautiful Iris, Retrospeck, Salmo Silk, Wedge, Cork, Arena & Idol Eyes.

(paint pot photo source : jomakemeblushdot.com, teddy khol photo source: makeupandbeautyblog.com, mac prep and prime photo source: maccosmetics.co.uk)

Asian Bridal Makeup Masterclass with Patti Panue

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 08:37:00 -0400

I posted this blog not long ago on my normal blog but thought for those of you who are new followers, potential brides, or makeup artist that are intrigued to learn more tips from the pros, this would be worth reposting. I had the pleasure of being invited to attend a Masterclass with renowned Asian Bridal MUA Patti Panue. We arrived at the beautiful and quirky Soho Hotel for breakfast and swaraying in the lobby at around 1030. Before the class started I had the opportunity to meet some other mua in the industry and chat with some colleagues. After some lovely pastries and coffee we went into the main room where Debbie and Patti were set up and ready to go!

The masterclass was broken down into two parts. Part 1 with Patti talking us through a typical Asian Bridal makeup and Part 2 focusing on Red Carpet Asian makeup with Debbie Finnegan (please see my normal blog for part 2.)

Part 1

Patti

Patti introduced herself to the group and told us a little bit about her experience with Asian Bridal Makeup. If you haven’t heard of her before she is a real player in the Asian Bridal community. With 25 years of experience in the industry she really does have a lot to share. She’s already booked up for the next 2 years and gets most of her work by word of mouth (she is that good!) Her other work includes London Fashion Week, International Asian Film Awards, MOBO Awards, British Soap Awards, Asian TV Network & Zee TV Commercials, Britain’s Next Top Model, Project Catwalk Asianna & Asian Woman Magazines & Asian Dreams. Music Videos include Manic Street Preachers & Bollywood Choreographer - Honey Kalaria by Ivory Circus…just to name a few. Aka, this mua knows her stuff! Despite all this she came across as a really sweet person, yet firm and in control! She told us about what her normal routine would be in preparing for a bride. She books a trial 3 months in advance to the wedding once the bride has her outfit, jewelry and dates planned. She said “ I usually have a 3am wakeup call to be with the bride at 4!I like to put on some music to relax the bride as I’m possibly the first person she see’s on the big day. I often carry a floodlight from B&Q with me especially if I’m doing makeup in hotels as often the lighting can be really bad or at 4am there isn’t natural daylight. It typically takes me about 2 hours to do the makeup and I prefer to do makeup before hair. I also have four brush kits with me as it’s not atypical for me to go from one bridal job to another and it became an unnecessary stress for me to worry about quickly washing all the brushes for the next job. It’s just so much easier that way.” Patti explained that in a weekend it’s not unlikely for her to do between 4 to 8 brides! She also discussed trends in Asian Bridal makeup with us explaining that it really is going away from the typical gold all over the lid and red lip. She said really the trend is now to go for a slightly lighter and fresher lip. She said “I don’t really like a huge amount of colour. I like more beautiful softer makeup. It’s up to you as the makeup artist to make this person look amazing on the day, of course you will ask what the bride wants and piece together and idea of what she is after, but at the end of the day this person is paying you because you are the expert. You know what is best and what products are going to last and how they will look on film and in daylight.”

Patti started her demo by prepping model Val’s skin with Oil Control moisturizer. She then went straight into the eye makeup as to avoid drop out and save time. She prepped Val’s eyelids with Select Cover Up Concealor. As a Mac girl born and bread I tend to use paint pots all the time so it was nice to see a different product being used. She explained that the Select Cover Up works great as it gives a lovely matte finish but also grabs eyeshadow colour really well. She applied the product with a 217 blending brush and blended this all the way across lids and under brow bone. She then used Pro Longwear eyeshadow in Sweet Satisfaction as a base colour across the bottom lid. She then added Pro Longwear shadow in Lie Low across the top of this. She explained she likes to create a more natural lid and then go in with liners to make eyes really pop. Under the brow she added some Mac Pro Sculpt Powder in shade Accentuate “not to glittery but to just highlight the brow very softly”. She then added soba eyeshadow with the 224 soft blending brush in the crease of the eye. She said of course go with the eyeshape - see what it needs but try and sculpt it so you are making the eyes look much bigger. She then used eyeshadow Femme Noir in the crease of Val’s eyes with a 222 blending brush and softly sculpted out the brow bone shape. To complete the top lid she added Blacktrack Gel Eyeliner with an angled brush to the top lash line.

She then explained she wanted to get a more stylized look. Not heavy unless they want more for a wedding reception so she curled the lashes twice and added Splashproof (waterproof) mascara. With the top eyes complete she then went on to add colour. She wiped under Val’s eyes with a makeup removing wipe and explained to sweep it upwards around the corner of the eye and also go through the bottom lashline with a clean blending brush to really tidy up the area. She then added a pop of colour using Hey Sailor Eyeshadow “Feeling Fresh” on the waterline of the eye. Yes, powder eyeshadow applied on the waterline. Gorgeous! It looked really good! I was inspired! She said sometimes she uses a fluid-line gel liner first to give more impact but it depends on how dramatic the bride wants the look. She explained “Outfits tend to be red based in colour and then with borders of either green, blue, purple so you just have to try things in the trial and see what works. I also don’t like to do a trial with one side in this look and one in that look. I like the bride to see a whole complete look. I take my camera with me and show her before and after shots of untouched photos so she really trusts my ability - it’s better to finish the look and judge it this way. Sometimes, less is more. Soft and subtle but enough to carry the look through the day. I also really like to use the Mac Pro green liners for a pop and effect on the waterline!”

She finished the eyes with a pop of green using a green Superlick Liquid Liner applied directly onto the lash line and then added no 2 lashes to the top lash line. She also mentioned she typically loves to use no 7 lashes.

Pattie then moved onto skin using the Skin Smoothing Primer all around cheeks/forhead/chin nose after warming it onto the back of her hand. She said she always uses primer - it’s so important in keeping the makeup in place on the day. She used a 190 foundation brush and applied Pro Longwear foundation which she said she loves to use. Depending on a brides skin, she said if a bride has reasonably good skin she’ll use Studio Fix Fluid Foundation, but for a bit more coverage she finds the Pro Longwear works really well and holds for the right amount of time. Debbie added that this foundation has been tested and shown to last for 8 hours. A makeup artist asked about what about Asian Bridal Makeups and how many like to have a lighter appearance to the skin. She said she will go maybe 1 shade lighter than the natural skin colour because the aim is to make the bride look stunning and too much lighter than this will look very contrasting against the skin on the rest of the body. She said in these cases she likes to use a large 187 stippling brush to work the product down the neck and really buff it in so it doesn’ t look like it’s an obvious stark contrast.

Patti explained that alot of times Asian Brides can have quite dark circles. She says colour correction is the best way to combat this using a mix of Pro Longwear Concealors. She said she likes to use the Pro Colour Correctors too in Burn Coral & Light Peach but the two mixed together as it creates a perfect shade. She used NC40 Pro Longwaear on the forehead nose and chin and explained sometimes she’ll use one colour on the inside areas of the face and another for the more ashy tones around the edge of the face. She applied NC42 Mac Pro concealor with a 191 brush to knock out the grey areas in the skin and then pushed concealor under the eyes using a blending brush and also fingers. She then set the concealor with Prep and Prime Translucent Powder taking it from the lid.

Moving onto Brows Patti explained she isn’t a fan of pencils as they can look harsh. She said most of the time she uses Cork or Expresso Eyeshadows with a 208 angled brush and ocassionally on really dark skin tones, Brun shadow. She then added Nylon Eyeshadow with a 212 sharp square brush directly against the lower brow line to add more shimmer in the highlight. This was applied almost in a soft thin line - not all over the actual bone. It was really effective. Normally I would use perhaps one brow highlight like Brule Eyeshadow or a lighter shade concealor so it was interesting to see all the layers of makeup Patti created. The select moisture cover, the accentuate powder and then as a finishing touch the nylon shadow. It was stunning!

She then went back to cheeks and skin and added Mineralize Powder to the face using the compact 109 brush to target areas as opposed to applying powder willy nilly, then Bone Beige Sculpt under cheekbones for contour usuing the 168 angled powder brush. She finished the cheek with Tenderling blush and Dainty on top of that.

To complete Val’s Asian Bridal Look, Patti prepped her lips with Prep & Prime lip, added Staunchingly Stylish Lip Liner, working into the lip and diffusing it, Absolutely It Liner also added into the middle and then topped this off with Fanfare lipstick. She finished the lip using Instant Gold Lipglass and then going back with a small brush to correct the lip line with concealor. Once the class finished I had a chance to catch up with Patti and I asked her what her favorite Asian Bridal Lipglosses were. She said she loves Instant Gold, Love Nectar, Lusterwhite, Pink Karat & the Pro Longwear Double Ended lipstick and gloss sets.

All in all it was really beautiful! It was interesting to see how many layers Patti applied - obviously to help create a longer staying makeup, yet the makeup didn’t look heavy. It looked modern and fresh and really wearable.