Wedding makeup and hair tips... plus other stuff!
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The wedding morning and bridal preparation is all part of the wedding day and there are lots of important things to consider!
With our 18 or so years of experience in the industry we have visited numerous wedding venues across Dorset and Hampshire applying bridal makeup and styling the hair for the whole of the wedding party and sometimes some of their guests too! So here’s a quick run down of some of our top 5 favourite venues in Dorset and Hampshire to get the bridal preparation done! Best for calmness and space!Sopley Mill, Christchurch. A beautiful tranquil venue for the bride and her bridal party. Sopley Mill is surrounded by meadows with not another house in sight. The Avon suite is not just fab for getting brides ready - grooms can always choose to get ready here too! It has plenty of natural day light with 3 dressing tables for getting ready at, 5 mirrors, as well as ample power points for our GHD’s, hairdryers and a fan! Interesting fact: When The Mill was renovated they ensured that the toilet was big enough for the bride plus one to help her put on her wedding dress!  The Avon Suite, Sopley Mill. Photo: Virtualoom Best for nature lovers!Marshwood Manor, Bridport. This magical woodland venue has a seperate private lodge exclusively for the bride and her bridal party to get ready in. It has lots of good natural lighting (even on a grey day) in the conservatory where we prefer to get the bridal party ready. Too many people in one room can make a brides wedding morning feel hectic, hurried and exhausting. With plenty of space indoor and out there’s no chance of feeling like you’re getting on top of each other. Brides generally feel calm getting ready here as it’s in the forest so it feels serene being so close to nature. Plus there's no chance of feeling like you're missing out on any of the action of the day. There is a fan, a full length mirror, as well as comfy sofas for the rest of the bridal party to kick back on whilst sipping on a glass of bubbly and the added bonus of keeping half an eye on what the boys are up to!  The Lodge, Marshwood Manor Best for Sea Views and back drop for that Wedding Dress pic!The Cumberland Hotel, Bournemouth. This 4 start seaside meets town centre venue with its fab art deco feel is a great location to get ready at. The bridal suite has a lovely light and airy feel to the room with a stunning 4 poster bed and gorgeous wallpaper - the perfect background for that hanging wedding dress shot. Tea and coffee is also provided and breakfast can be brought to the room for a small supplement too so there’s no need to see any other guests until you’re ready. There is also a balcony with table and chairs fantastic view across Bournemouth seafront right through to The Purbecks and the Isle of Wight perfect for if you need a moment to gather your thoughts and breathe in some fresh Bournemouth sea air.  Bridal Suite at The Cumberland Hotel, Bournemouth Best for privacy for big Wedding Parties!Seaside Sizzle, Sandbanks This privately rented luxury accommodation is nestled right in the heart of Sandbanks perfectly situated for weddings at The Italian Villa in Canford Cliffs. With space to sleep 14 you won’t ever have to worry about having your nearest and dearest far from you. There is a specially dedicated area with fantastic lighting as well as dressing tables and you can even bring in outside caterers to cook up a slap up meal for you the night before or even on the wedding morning for you and your bridesmaids to feast on before getting your hair and makeup done.  Seaside Sizzle, Sandbanks Holiday Home Best for luxury open plan living space!Hotel Du Vin, Poole. When you walk into the impressive Thierry Lombard suite you are wowed with it's large open plan living space. It has a luxury King Size bed, 2 large TV screens as well as roll top baths for the perfect romantic evening if you're not traditional about spending the night before apart from your fiancé! Not only does it have air conditioning it has a large balcony too with table and chairs which is where we recently got one of our brides ready to make the best use of the natural daylight.  Thierry Lombard Suite, Hotel Du Vin So if you're still looking for your perfect venue to get ready at on the morning of your wedding, that's our top 5 for 2022 in Dorset and Hampshire.
Can you recommend another perfect venue for the bride and her bridal party to get ready at? www.barnetandboatrace.com
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So you're going to be getting ready at your wedding venue or perhaps you’re getting ready at home or a relatives house? Whether it’s a hotel bridal suite or another venue here’s our 4 essential things needed to help with bridal preparation so that the wedding morning runs as smoothly as possible. A WindowAs large as possible as makeup is best applied in natural lighting. If you have a conservatory, even better! What about bringing a ring light I hear you ask? I’m personally not so keen on these. Although they provide a great light for taking photos in or for styled shoots in reality you want to look good in natural lighting as well as in your wedding pics, right? Plus I'd rather bring more of my lovely skincare and makeup products with me than lighting. However if I know your wedding venue is particularly dark or if the weather is predicted to be a bit of the gloomy side I will always bring additional lighting with me.  Image : Oleksander Pidvalnyi Plug sockets - which are availableAn available plug socket (sorry we might have to ask you to unplug your phone charger for the morning) or two if its a larger wedding and we have more than 1 hair stylist on the job. Essential for plugging in our hairdryers, GHD’s, curling tongs and sometimes those good old fashioned heated rollers. We try to remember to bring an extension lead too but this is probably our second from top most forgotten item left at our last wedding location (number one spot, goes to our mirror!) So if you have a spare extension lead - even better!  Image: Giuseppe Messina A FanBridal preparation rooms can get very hot with a room full of bridesmaids, mums and excited flower girls, especially in the midst of a heatwave! We don’t want the makeup sweating off upon application (or more importantly the bride fainting!)  Image: @Athena Seating!Bar stools or chairs with a back for the bride to sit in are ideal. You’ll be amazed at how many wedding hotel rooms and bridal suites are lacking in chairs. When I was first starting out I used to bring one of those directors chairs with me. Yep it looked professional, however it was a blimmin’ pain to carry alongside my already two heavy makeup kit bags! I also quickly realised this wasn’t ideal for everyone to climb into (especially nana) and could cause embarrassment for bridesmaids larger than a size 10! With fashion changing to a bigger booty too, my skinny directors chair had to unfortunately get the boot too!  Image: Pavel Danilyuk So that’s our top 4 requirements from a Makeup Artist and Hair Stylists' view! Have you experienced a fab bridal suite or wedding venue to get ready in? If so, we want to know! Next time we’ll be bringing to you our favourite Dorset and Hampshire wedding venues to get the bride and her wedding party ready in! For more wedding days tips click here. Lash inserts/fake lashes/lash extensions whatever you want to call them DO look amazing I’m not going to lie! However, I do feel like it’s something you definitely need to trial well in advance of your wedding day and here’s our top 3 reasons why! Reason 1If you’re not normally a makeup or big lash kinda person you may not feel comfortable with what might feel like 2 foreign object stuck to your eyelids! They can take some getting used to and there’s lots of different types to choose from such as Russian volume, hybrid, cashmere to name just a few!  Russian Lashes by HB Lounge, Wallisdown Reason 2Allergies! I personally used to get my lashes done for months but annoyingly developed a reaction to the glue. As with all allergies they can develop at any stage in life as can be triggered by a variety of things which can be difficult to pin down such as medication, hormones or an illness such as coronavirus. Therefore I’d advise getting a trial done around 3 months before your wedding day which is around the same time we recommend you book your hair and makeup trial which works out perfectly. Reason 3The cost. Lash extensions aren’t cheap and can really vary in price depending on who your lash tech is. Someone well established using high quality lashes can cost up to 3 times the amount as someone newly trained and using budget lashes so it's recommended you do some research and check out the beauticians reviews. Salon prices are usually more, so if you’re on a budget you may wish to go to an independent lash tech who works from home. There's also the maintenance of attending appointments to get your lash "infills" every 3 or so weeks.  Hybrid Lashes by HB Lounge, Wallisdown ConclusionIf you want that extra wow factor for your wedding day pictures and have the time and budget to try them out before your wedding day (remembering not get them wet for the first 24 hours) then yes - go for it! It is your wedding day after all. You won’t have to worry about your mascara running if you shed a tear when you say I do, plus they’ll look fab in all of your honeymoon pictures too.
If you're still on the fence, you may prefer to have a lash lift and tint plus plenty of mascara or maybe just go for good old strip lashes instead. We recommend Ardell Demi Wispies for a fluttery natural look which we provide free of charge when you book your wedding makeup with our Head Makeup Artist Olga. If you'd like further advice about what to do about your lashes to go with your wedding day makeup then don't hesitate to get in touch. We can also recommend local salons and individual artists who can help you achieve the look you want. The Hot Radio Wedding of the Year Competition Rebecca and Charlie Two of my team had the pleasure in taking part in the Hot Radio wedding of the year competition which was streamed live from the Marsham Court Hotel on Saturday 12th March. I gave talented stylist and makeup artist Rebecca Ross and Charlie Forshaw (who are also friends that graduated from Bournemouth University in 2021 with a BA (Hons) in Hair and Makeup for Media and Performance) the task in styling the winning bride Leah’s barnet and her boatrace (that’s cockney rhyming slang for hair and face!) I organised the three of them to meet a few weeks beforehand to have a trial run at Leah’s home where they discussed what sort of wedding makeup look and hair style she wanted. Leah opted for a bouncy curly half up/half down style with plaits created by Rebecca and a bold lip and smoky eyes for the makeup created by Charlie. The competition was organised by local radio station Hot Radio during the Covid-19 lockdown to give couples the opportunity to look forward to winning the prize of a lifetime - a FREE wedding worth £25,000 when lockdown measures were lifted. This is the first time Hot Radio has ran such a unique competition with the biggest ever value prize. The competition also included other local wedding related businesses who united in offering their services. The radio advertising helped kick start the wedding industry again after so many local businesses in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch were affected by several months throughout 2020 and 2021 with little or no trade. More than 500 couples entered the local radio competition. Couples could enter themselves or be nominated by family and friends. A panel of judges then shortlisted the entries and the public were invited to vote for their favourite couple to win on a poll on Facebook - congratulations to Leah and Andrew who won!   With less than 4 days to go until “close contact services”, clothes shopping and al fresco dining we are excited to be finally meeting our 2021 brides for their much anticipated bridal makeup and hair trials.
We’ve Spring cleaned our premises as well as every single makeup product and brush owned making sure it’s been sanitised as well as still in date to avoid our clients getting skin rashes/breakouts/eye infections and styes! If your boatrace hasn’t seen a cosmetic product since the first lockdown then your makeup bag might be calling out for a spring clean, that includes the bag itself! Once emptied, pop it in the wash to get rid of all bacteria or hand wash with fairy liquid and sanitise with antibacterial wipes and spray. If it’s still looking a bit worse for wear then it’s time to hit the shops for a new one! 1. Liquid Foundations and Liquid Highlighters - Bin after 12 - 18 months Firstly how does it smell? Not all foundations have a fragrance but if yours is starting to smell a bit rank, chances are it is! Has the formula separated or the colour changed? Oils tend to rise to the top of foundation after time and with continued use, pores can clog and potentially acne can form. You might find foundation won’t blend like it used to or can oxidise and start to look the wrong shade once applied. 2. Powder Blushers, Foundations and bronzers - Bin after 36 months Good news powder formulas tend to last the longest. In fact it’s one of the hardest products to determine whether it’s still in date or not. If you discover a hard film or a funny looking shine on the surface or the texture looks cracked you’ll probably find it’s not performing as well as it once did with the pigment being less noticeable once applied. We use a lot of loose powders in our kit which can easily be decanted. If using a compact we use a quick drying sanitising spray between in between clients. 3. Brushes - Bin as soon as the bristles fall out! These should feel soft and look fluffy. If some of the bristles are stuck together a good rinse over the sink with a shampoo or washing up liquid should do the trick, laid flat to dry naturally. If the bristles are sparse or feel spiky when you touch them on your skin then it’s time to ditch and replace! We wash and sanitise our brushes after each wedding or prom. A new set of brushes is always used for each client. So if you have 6 people in your wedding party, we will use up to 6 clean brushes on each and every person so that’s up to 36 brushes a wedding! Each client has their own labelled pot of brushes so if touch ups are needed later on we know which brushes are theirs for the morning. 4. Lipsticks and Lipglosses - Bin after 18 - 24 months Good news most lippies contain preservatives so it’s harder to grow bacteria. However, if you discover a coldsore you should always scrape a very thin top layer off the top of the lipstick before you use it next. You’ll never see us use lipstick from the bullet. We always use a spatula to scrape off the top layer and apply with a lipstick brush followed by a quick spritz of sanitiser before the next client. For lipgloss we always use a disposable applicator and there’s no double dipping either! 5. Mascara - Bin after 3 - 6 months Mascara has one of the shortest shelf lives unfortunately. You can easily tell once maraca has gone off as it won’t smell right anymore. Mascara contains water, any cosmetic product containing water can breed bacteria. Bacteria near your eye can equal a nasty stye. We use a new disposable mascara wand for each time we dip - and that means we go through a a shed load of mascara wands (as well as mascara!) each wedding season. So there you have it! If you need to refresh your makeup bag we can offer 1 to 1 advice and help you to restock your makeup bag with the fabulous Mii Cosmetics from Gerrard International. Today I read an interesting blog about sleeping with your makeup on, something we are prone to doing after a good night out (or lazy night in!)
https://www.wellandgood.com/good-looks/sleeping-with-makeup-on/amp/ Magic Mike Diana Saxby Celebrant looking camera ready Yesterday I was excited to reunite with two of my former colleagues (and friends) Michael Batten
and Diana Saxby who I first had the pleasure of working with in a local legal firm 20 years ago now. Although I'd not seen Mike in years I'd been following him in the virtual world for some time and was really impressed by the professional head shot photos he'd been showcasing on his social media pages. When Diana mentioned to me over coffee that she'd like to update her picture for her own website I was quick to recommend Mike and arranged an appointment for the three of us to meet (I'd been booked as the professional makeup artist, however reluctantly ended up agreeing to have my head shot done at the same time). Diana absolutely hates having her photo taken and I'm definitely not a natural in front of the camera and am always critical of any photos of myself and am always quick to de-tag! Little did Mike know he really had his work cut out for him that morning. A quick re-read of Mike's LinkedIn profile reassured me that he'd be able to put us both at ease and achieve that perfect picture. I was completely intrigued on what Mike's magic would be. Was he going to rock up with aromatherapy oils and a massage table? Did he have some sort of hypnotherapy trick hidden up his sleeve? Was he going to bring with him a cute puppy to distract us from our nerves? Well, what I can tell you is, he arrived on time, smiley and professionally equipped with his mobile studio. After professionally applying Diana's makeup using products with little or no SPF (as this is picked up by the camera flash and can cause what's called "flash back" meaning that the model looks as if their face is 10 times whiter than the rest of their body), I also made sure I used mostly matte products to avoid shine. As Diana has mature skin, much like many of the mother of the brides I makeover, it's always nice to add a little shimmer in the right places to give a more youthful glow. A quick change of outfits (as we learned that solid colour works best and to avoid busy patterns) we were now nearly ready to shoot! We had a short coaching session on how to stand tall (believe me this sounds a lot easier said than done unless you've ever practiced pilates or ballet, then this will come in handy). We were taught how to hold our necks, our arms and some other really useful tricks including how to pull our faces. There is definitely an art to all of this. I had no idea that one of my eyes squints more than the other when I smile so I was given some useful tips on how to balance this out. So within an hour and a half we were both done! I'd definitely highly recommend Mike to anyone that needs a new profile picture for their business, company website or even a professional picture for an engagement announcement. I would be more than happy to assist as the professional makeup artist and stylist too. I'm looking forward to seeing our images soon where we will be able to pick out the best one to be edited and use as our corporate head shot. |
AuthorOlga Taylor - Archives
February 2023
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