5 Juicy Tips For Buying Lipgloss ~ Bridal Beauty Tip #30

5 Tips For Buying Lip Gloss For Your Wedding

image via designsnext.com

Are you planning on wearing a colored lip gloss on your wedding day? A shimmery, juicy lip always looks fresh and inviting.

The problem is not all lip glosses are created equal - even major brand, expensive lip glosses can be troublesome, so I recommend test driving your lip gloss for a day before committing to it for your wedding. You will find that almost all lip glosses look great for the first few minutes, but after a while plenty of them can look or feel awful.

So in the interest of keeping your lips looking luscious all day and night, here are 5 things to look for when choosing a lip gloss for your wedding:

1. Does It Turn Tacky?

Most lipglosses will glide on super smooth and look gorgeous. In the beginning. But after they've worn in for a while many often get sticky and tacky and ball up on the lip. This is not a winning look for your wedding!

2. Is It Too Slippery?

Is your lip gloss slip sliding around the outsides of your lips? A lip gloss that has migrated outside the lip line can make you look like you just finished eating a plate of chicken wings. Light reflects off the shiny surface making it look even worse in pictures!

3.  Is It Super Drying?

Some lip glosses really dry the lips out, leading to painful cracking and chapping.  As your lips start to feel dry you add more gloss thinking it will soothe them, which ends up making the problem worse and keeping it in a perpetual cycle of dry, sore lips.

4. Is It Too Glossy?

image via designsnext.com

If your lip gloss has too high of a shine you can wind up looking like a porn star, especially in your photos. 

Your groom is not going to want to smooch a super glossy lip either - he doesn't want that slippery slime all over him.

5. How Is The Color Pay Off?

Most glosses look somewhat even as they go on, but the color often gets patchy after a while. Look for a gloss that has a good color pay off - true color that applies and holds evenly

3 Makeup Tips For A Blusher Veil ~ Bridal Beauty Tip #25

I have a wedding coming up where the bride is wearing a floor length blusher veil. That is, a veil that will cover her face and drape down to the floor as she walks down the aisle.
Doesn't that just sound fabulous??

I love the idea of that frisson of mystery that everyone will feel the moment the cathedral doors open and she is standing there, all back-lit and enigmatic. I love that she will float down the aisle in a diaphanous mist of glamour, and no one will know quite how she looks until the veil is lifted.

Bridal perfection at Oscar de la Renta

Ah - the drama!

Blusher veils and especially floor length blusher veils require a little extra thought and planning on the part of your beauty team.
Your hairstylist has to factor in the weight of the veil and how it will pull or weigh down the front of your hairstyle. He also has to think about the products he is using. They can't be even slightly sticky in case they grab or adhere to the veil, and shine products can't be too oily or have any residue that can attach to it.

image via DHGate.com

For makeup (my department) there are several considerations to keep in mind as well. Here are 3 of them:

1. Accentuate The Positive.

A blusher veil puts a soft focus diffusion on the face, so the facial features need to be a little more accentuated to make sure they don't completely disappear. This doesn't mean makeup overkill, or even big, dark makeup, instead have your makeup artist gently bring out your eyebrows, shape your cheekbones, and fill out your mouth.

image via veiltrends.blogspot.com

2. Set The Shine.

You want you skin to look luminous and glowing, but you have to stay on top of any excess sheen on your forehead and nose that can come in contact with the veil, leaving a foundation colored smudge to precede you down the aisle. Be sure to use a mattifying primer underneath your foundation through your T Zone, and apply an extra layer of translucent setting powder to your forehead and nose before heading to the church.
If you tend to get oily/shiny across your forehead and nose, use blotting papers before you get out of the car.
I give my brides Tatcha Aburatorigami blotting papers. They are beautiful and luxurious and work brilliantly.

3. Be Aware Of The Lip.

You can glossy-up your lip after the ceremony, but for the time the veil will be over your face stay away from a high sheen lip. Opt instead for something in a matte or soft satin finish that won't grab onto the veil and make a mess both on the veil, and as a consequence, on your mouth. If you've ever dealt with wind whipping strands of your hair onto your lip and then onto your face you will know what I'm talking about! 
As you walk your veil will move and flutter a little, so you need to make sure you wont have a problem if it does touch your mouth as you move.
One lip trick that I love when my bride is wearing a blusher veil is to use a deeper toned stain on the lip. It makes a beautiful statement and looks looks stunning though the veil, and it's safe for him to kiss without worrying that he will end up wearing it.

11 Celebrity Bridesmaids

It's an honor to be asked to be a bridesmaid. 
And it's kind of fun to think about celebrities stepping out of the spotlight and taking a secondary position to be a bridesmaid for someone they hold dear.
This is a repost of an article from RomanceBeat.com about 11 celebrities who gorgeously walked down the aisle as bridesmaids for their close personal friends and family in the most recent years, without missing a step.

1- Our favorite heiresses, Paris and Nicky Hilton, were dressed pretty in pink for their cousin Brooke’ s wedding in Cabo San Lucas.

2- Eva Langoria attended the wedding of her personal friends’ Alina Peralta and Manuel Gutierrez in Spain. She also served as a bridesmaid for her friend Bonnie Rodezno’s wedding. I guess it was to return the favor for when Bonnie served as a bridesmaid for Eva’s wedding with basketball player Tony Parker, who she divorced years later. Girls always stick together!

3- Lady Gaga becomes closely familiar to weddings as she plans her own (which we can’t wait for!) and still has time to serve at a New Orleanais wedding for one of her closest friends. She also served at a Cabo wedding for her best friend and former schoolmate, Bo O’Connor.

4- Our favorite former Disney star and newly Broadway star, Vanessa Hudgens, served at her “High School Musical” costar and close friend’s wedding, Ashley Tisdale.

5- We had a “The Hills” reunion at the wedding of Maura McManus where Lauren Conrad and Lo Bosworth attended, in which Conrad served as a lovely bridesmaid.

6- Sarah Jessica Parker served as a bridesmaid of her friend and former assistant, Melinda Relyea and James Kearns.

7- “Hunger Games” star, Jennifer Lawrence, served as a bridesmaid for her brother Blaine and her new sister-in-law, Carson Massler. It was a wedding that even Martha Stewart approved of.

8- Mila Kunis served as a bridesmaid for her brother’s wedding in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her date was her fiancé and former costar, Ashton Kutcher (another wedding we are so excited to see!)

9- Lena Dunham looked awesome in a grey bridesmaid dress for her best friend.

10- Rihanna was also a lovely bridesmaid for her own person assistant, Jennifer Rosales, who is like a big sister to the singer.

10 Fantastic Lipsticks For Fall Weddings ~ Bridal beauty Tip #24

Is your fall wedding fast approaching, and you haven't figured out your lip game yet?

original image via bridalmakeovers.com

Check out these gorgeous options for luscious looking lips on your big day:

10 Fantastic Lipsticks For Fall Weddings

The Corals

Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick in Coachella Coral.
Charlotte's K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipsticks come in 10 modern and chic shades, and make your lips look absolutely luscious. This shade is perfect when your wedding has autumnal orange accents, but you don't want a full orangey mouth. Corals are also wonderful against pinks when you don't want a blue based shade, giving you a little color pop without being overwhelming.

Another great coral lip choice for your wedding day is 
MAC Cremesheen Coral Bliss

The Nudes

One of the easiest lips to wear on your wedding day is a nude lip.

The rules are: don't go paler than your own lip color, and balance the nude lip with a bolder eye so that you don't look washed out.

My favorite nude lips for fall are

Christian Dior 'Nude Rouge' in Charnelle 459

Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Lip Color in Pensive

Winter Pinks

Pink lips are lovely, but for a fall wedding you need to step away from the perky, summery pinks and choose instead a pink with more depth and resonance.

Try Lipstick Queen Sinner lipstick in Pink

Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Yu or in Hyde Park

The Reds

A red mouth can be incredibly alluring. Winter reds have extra depth and magic. They can make your complexion look like it is glowing, can make your eye color spark, and are incredibly beautiful and sexy.

For your wedding day avoid glossy reds, opting instead for matte reds and longwear reds that your groom isn't scared to kiss!

My favorite red lipstick at the moment is Charlotte Tilbury's

Matte Revolution in Red Carpet Red. 

Charlotte's matte lips aren't that heavy, flat, dull finish that you find in so many red lipsticks, instead they have a luminous vibrancy that makes the lip look alive and exciting.

Lipstick Queen Sinner Lipstick in Scarlet Red

MAC Matte Lipstick in Chili

Giorgio Armani Rouge Ecstasy Lipstick in 404 Spice

What are your favorite lipsticks for fall? Tell me about them in the comment section below.

xo

5 Hair Mistakes That Make You Look Older

Tuesday is Bridal Beauty day on the Corinna B's World blog, and today I am pairing a hair story that is relevant to brides, mothers of brides - any one in the bridal party, and is equally relevant to those of us who are not in the wedding game too.
It's all about hair mistakes that age us unnecessarily.

1. Color Is The Ultimate Ager.
This applies any which way you look at it, whether you have made a color error, or whether you are not coloring your hair when you should be.
Un-colored hair can look flat and make your complexion look dull. Simply adding some warm highlights to frame the face can soften your features, warm up your skin and make you look younger.

Hot. Mess.
Lindsay Lohan's platinum hair is just awful

The two worst color offenders when it comes to adding years to your look are 
1) blondes that are too pale, which washes out your skin tone, and 2) coloring your hair too dark. 
Black hair color and super dark hair color can sap the life out of your skin and make you look harsh.

Catherine Zeta Jones' black hair is too harsh, and ages her lovely face

Blondes that are too pale are super aging, especially on anyone who is out of her 20's. (in your 20's it just looks like you don't know any better). Too pale blonde also makes you look hard.
A friend of mine's too pale blonde wife recently celebrated her birthday, and I was stunned to find out that she's not in her 60's, but is actually in her mid 50's. The combination of too much sun and borderline platinum blonde hair has her looking far older than she is.

2. An Out Of Date Cut.
Your cut shouldn't be identical to the one you wore 5 years ago.
As your face ages your haircut needs to move with it, to bring out the best in your features. Adding a little balayage color around your face to maximize the shape of your new cut, and to compliment your skin tone can keep you looking youthful.

3. Not Trimming Regularly.
Crunchy, split ends detract from your lovely face and can be really aging. A small trim every 6 to 8 weeks keeps your cut looking fresh, keeps the movement in your hairstyle, and keeps you looking youthful.

4. The Fringe And The Part.

Sophis Bush's blunt bangs are too heavy for her face, accentuating the hollow under eye area

Two super quick fixes to update your 'do are changing your fringe and/or moving your part.
Again watch how the aging process is affecting your features, and use your bangs and your part to either soften your look, or to divert attention. For example if your eyes look heavy or tired, blunt bangs will accentuate the bags and the crows feet, whereas soft, side-swept bangs will minimize them. Regardless of your age

5. Wearing Your Hair Too Tight.
Pulling your hair back too tightly accentuates every fine line and every flaw in your skin. It also accentuates any aging that is showing around the eye area.
Instead try either not pulling all of your hair up, or soften the look by letting some soft wispy pieces fall around your face.

8 Bridal Beauty Blunders

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life.
It is also one of the most photographed days of your life. Make sure that you can enjoy those pictures forever by avoiding the following 8 Bridal Beauty Blunders.

1. Getting Caught Up In Trends.
Trends and fads come and go. The biggest look of the moment will be out of fashion in 3 months. Your wedding look should be timeless and beautiful, and not look dated next year, or in 10 years time.

2. Contouring And Highlighting Like A You Tuber.
Following on from avoiding trends, understand that the excessive highlight and contour you see on you tube is perfect for drag queens, but can be an absolute nightmare for brides.
Most wedding photography happens outdoors in natural light, which is the absolute worst light possible for an over-contoured face. Rather than making you look beautiful, heavy contour and highlight can make you look like a caricature of yourself.
Save your big contour for nightclubs, where it's perpetually dark, and everyone is drunk anyway!

3. Trying Something New.
Your wedding day isn't the day to try something new. Don't break out a big red lip for the first time ever, or suddenly convert to an intense smokey eye or giant strip lash.
Your groom needs to recognize you as you walk down the aisle. You need to look like your very best version of you, not like a stranger to him. 

4. Skipping The Makeup Trial.
The trial is not only important for setting up the look for the day, but it gives you a chance to observe the makeup artist, their skills, products, hygiene. It also gives you a chance to see if their energy matches yours. Some artists are technically brilliant but their energy is just toxic. You need to make sure the vendors who will be around you on your big day bring good energy and a pleasant vibe.

Bring pictures to your trial, both of makeup you love and makeup you hate. It's the best way to make sure you are both on the same page.

5. Shimmer And Shine In The Wrong Places.
I always advise scaling way back on the shimmer, or even skipping it altogether. Shimmer can translate to sparkle in sunlight, and look terribly wrong, especially high on the cheeks and under the brows.
Glowing, dewy skin is lovely, but can make you look oily/sweaty in the wrong light, so don't go overboard on the shine. Adding shine to the center forehead and along the bridge of the nose can be fabulous on a fashion shoot, where everything is controlled, but on a bride can often look like greasy skin.
Avoid glitter completely.

6. Too Much Dark Drama On The Eyes.
Black liner and black shadow are a no-no for brides. Black liner grabs the light and makes you look like you are squinting in all your pictures. If it doesn't shut your eye down in the outdoor light it becomes the main focus on your face, and you see the liner before you see the girl. Opt for dark expresso browns and deep moody purples instead. They will give you the accent you are looking for without closing your eye down.
Even if you can make black shadow look fabulous in the makeup chair, wedding makeup has to last 10 to 12 hours at least, and black shadow as it wears in can make you look heavy and tired under the eye, and can make your eyes look like they have sucked in to the back of your skull.

7. Lashes That Are Too Big.
Back to the outdoor light - lashes can act like awnings hanging over your under eye, creating big shadows that make you look tired and haunted. They can also be too dense at the lash line, making you look squinty in your pictures. Be careful with strip lashes if you are not used to wearing them. Tears can weaken the glue in the inner corners of the lash, making them lift away and look crazy.

8. Foundation Mis-match.
Your foundation needs to match your skin, not only in depth of color, but also in undertone. Your makeup artist needs to know if you are a cool tone or a warm tone, and needs to have a solid grasp on color theory, so that they can build you a perfect color. Once your perfect shade is created it needs to be applied in a sheer and even veil. Thick, chunky foundation looks awful, especially in the daylight. It should look like perfect flawless skin, not thick, opaque makeup.
I just read on a Facebook pro makeup artist community page a post from someone bragging that they do 10 faces in 4 hours for weddings. That is only 24 minutes per person, which tells me some major steps are being missed, and my guess is the first missed step is going to be the creation of the perfect complexion.

6 Summer Bridal Beauty Tips To Avoid A Makeup Meltdown

Gorgeous sunny summer weather makes for the perfect backdrop for your wedding. But the hot and sometimes humid weather can set you up for a makeup meltdown, so here are 6 tips to keep your summer wedding makeup looking flawless and staying in place until the night is over.

Use A Light Moisturizer.
Unless you have dry skin use a lightweight, gel formula moisturizer. Apply it as soon as you get out of the shower and give it plenty of time to soak in before you move on to makeup.
Blot away any residue on the surface of the skin with tissue before starting makeup.
A fabulous alternative is to use a gel sheet mask to revitalize your skin. Try Glacier Water Gel Mask from Memebox

Invest In A Mattifying Primer
Give your complexion all the help you can by using a high quality mattifying primer to keep foundation in place and too aid in fighting shine. Mattifiers have light diffusing properties that will stop light from bouncing off the smooth planes on your face.
Try Hyaluronic Hydra Primer by Terry

Check Your Foundation Formulation.
If you are being airbrushed on your wedding day ask for a water based formula rather than a silicone base. Water based is much more sheer and weightless.
If you are using traditional foundation keep your application as sheer as possible. The thicker the application the more gooey it will look as it heats up. Try Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk SPF 20 Foundation at Nordstrom.com

Be Aware Of Lash Length.
If you will be outdoors or are having outdoor photography be cautious with strip lashes and with the length of your false lashes.
A lash that is too dense will collapse your eye and make you look like you are squinting in all your pictures. (The dense black line of the lash will grab light and suck it in).
Lashes that are too long will act like an awning over your eyes in the sunlight, creating  a shadow below which leaves you looking tired and haggard.
The same applies with lash extensions - they may look good indoors but if they are too long or too dense they can destroy your look when you step  outside.

Seal It with A Kiss.
A matte lip can be a lifesaver on a hot or humid day.
Matte lips can tone down the extra glow or shine you are sporting when it's hot outside and act as a neutralizing balance.
A glossy lip can make your whole face appear extra shiny.
Matte lips don't slip, and with a good color payoff last longer too.
Try Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Miss Kensington

Finishing Spray.
A light misting of finishing spray can help hold everything in place on a humid, steamy day. Try Face Atelier Face Finish from FaceAtelier.com

How To Be A Good Bridesmaid

How To Be A Good Bridesmaid.

At this point in my career I don't even know how many hundred weddings I have done.

Hundreds and hundreds of them.

In the midst of all the fun I always see what's going on, and I've learned a lot about what makes a good bridesmaid.
Here are 10 tips for how to be a good bridesmaid

1. It's not your show.

A really good bridesmaid knows that today she is absolutely NOT the star of the show!

You need to defer to the bride, don't be an attention vampire, don't be the loudest girl in the room.

No matter what goes down, be chill.

2. Say Yes To The Dress.

Who cares what it looks like on you? Tomorrow you can wear something different. As for today, don't complain, don't make snippy comments about how it's not your style. Just roll with it. 

3. Be Makeup Cool.

Hopefully a good makeup artist has been hired for the big day, and is keeping all the bridesmaids looking beautiful. If you change out your lip color, draw on some big contour, or do something wacky with your eyebrows (ahem - Instagram) you will draw attention to yourself and take it away from the bride (and the other bridesmaids) and no doubt ruin every picture that you are in. Most of the time you will look stupid and vain.

Do your big makeup look tomorrow, but today just be chill.

4. Help Where You Can.

A good bridesmaid will be unobtrusively helpful. You can easily fix things, take care of potential problems, do simple things like get the bride a drink, make sure she has something to eat - essentially help her day flow smoothly. Just don't do it in a way that makes you look like you're seeking a pat on the back, or trying to outdo another bridesmaid.

5. Keep The Mood Light And Fun.

A really great bridesmaid will keep the mood in the room light and fun, diffusing any girl-drama that is threatening to break through. The bride needs to remember this as her best day ever, and feel the love and support of her closest friends rather than remember the getting ready portion of her wedding day as being a mean gossip-fest.

6. Bring An Emergency Kit.                               

If there is no wedding planner onsite then bring a few bits and pieces in case something goes wrong. Tampax, safety pins, bobby pins, bandaids, Excedrin, Fashion Tape, Altoids - little things that can make a huge difference.

7. Only Be Positive.

Don't tell her her hair looks wrong or that her dress doesn't fit quite right. Even if they do.
She is probably already feeling vulnerable and this is not the time for some passive aggressive "I'm only telling you because I love you" nonsense.

Tell her she looks beautiful, draw attention away from anything that isn't quite right.

The biggest component of looking beautiful is feeling beautiful. If she feels gorgeous she will radiate gorgeous. No matter how amazing she looks, if she feels like she's not looking her best, then that is what she will project.

8. Don't Get Drunk.

You know your limit. Don't go past it.

The drunk bridesmaid lowers the tone of the event. And she gets immortalized in the wedding album with her half falling down up-do, bleary runny eyes and smeared lips.

No matter how much fun you think you are when you're drunk, to everyone else you look stupid

9. Accept That The Maid Of Honor Is The Leader

Even if you can't stand her.

Don't get your nose out of joint, don't get into any passive aggressive power games, just smile and roll with it. 

10. Have Fun.

And if you're not having fun, act as if you are.

Weddings In Venice

Last year when I was in Italy leading the Corinna B's World Glam Italia Tour we spent a day in Venice.

Venice never, ever disappoints

I always think you need at least a week in Venice, but there was only time for one day. I would like to stay there for a month but I can never find a spare month to run away in.

While we were there we spotted two weddings happening.
Venice would be a very romantic place to get married, don't you think?

 We loved the bride's dress.

The guests were very chic. I loved this lady's white dress. Perfect with the beige jacket and nude heels

We were wondering if the veil was old or new?
It was just beautiful.

I also loved the short celery trench coat on the guest/family member in the background. and those legs!

The most fun was watching these two little boys who could care less about the pomp and circumstance surrounding them.
They were doing some good running and jumping instead.

A few minutes later we sat on the steps of another church eating lunch, when along came another wedding. They just swung by for photos though.
They looked so sweet and lovely, just the two of them on their destination wedding in Venice.

I would love to go out there and do some weddings...

I loved these two. They escaped the rain, taking shelter under the walkway along the Doges palace. All glamorous in a long dress and a suit, and made use of their free time with a little canoodling.
Perfect.