Adjusted Reality

“Reality can be beaten with enough imagination.” – Mark Twain

I’m Just A Girl…

I feel weird talking about super girly stuff here just because – well, I love my clothes and I know my way around makeup and a curling iron, but I really don’t get my rocks off on it.  Like I do a good run or a bike adventure or a philisophical discussion on the theory of games or a perfectly poured drink on the back patio in the perfect weather around sunset.  However, I’m getting over the last few years where I tried to deny all things girly.  I might trend towards being a tomboy and feel more comfortable surrounded by a group of dudes, but I don’t have to shun the absolute LOVE I have for clothes and putting together a fabulous outfit I feel wonderful in.  And now that I’m trying to refresh my mad makeup/hairdo skillz, I’m feeling rustier than I’d like.  So expect to maybe hear a bit of girly stuff in between my diatribe about how sweat soaked by shirt was after my run.

Usually one puts on makeup to go out, not stay in, but I'm weird like that...

Also – major apologies if this blog becomes all wedding crap all the time, but it’s only for the rest of the month, promise.  First let me talk about running so you all don’t think I got kidnapped by aliens or something…

I did a 5k on the treaddy yesterday for pace.  It had been a while since I ran an “all out” 5k (makes sense, because that’s the race I’m training for *bonks self on the head*).  I hit 26:10.  The good – it’s a PR by about 30 secs and I felt strong during most of it.  The bad – I was aiming for under 26, I got super pooped by the end of mile 2 and had to actually slow to 6.5 – 7.0 for the first part of mile 3.  The more good – I’m impressed 6.5-7.0 is what I slow down to now, and I was able to pick it back up and dash into the finish at 8.5 so I had some kick left.  Going to shoot for a 8:30 pace per mile during the race and see how close I can get to it.  I wanted to do 25 flat but I’m just not seeing magically knocking off 60 seconds off my time, especially when I haven’t been running outside regualrly.

Ok, now that we have that out of the way – lat night I did makeup and hair trial #1 in project: do my own wedding ‘do.  I considered splurging on the stylist, and decided that it wasn’t the money (although that was my first complaint – it was going to be over 200 bucks!!!), and decided it was a matter of pride and trust.  Pride – as in I’ve ALWAYS done my own hair and makeup for every event I’ve gone to.  Trust – as in I don’t want to leave the fate of my pictures to some random stranger I won’t meet before that morning.  So I decided that it’s all up to me.  I’ve got two weeks to practice and learn and get good at what I want to do – so here’s the first chapter.

First of all, I spent a long, long time researching hair and makeup online.  Basically, I’m trying to do beachy tousled waves, partially up but mostly down.  I want to work braids in there somewhere but they seem to be above my level right now.  I can braid and french braid, but for some reason when I try to do it upside down my fingers get a case of the willies.  I decided against dramatic makeup that we tried and going more for the traditional dewey, fresh faced look.  Now, I love me some crazy makeup and I’m not scared of color, but as some of the wedding makeup sites said – you don’t want to look back at this picture and cringe.  Oh – and the flowers in hair are placeholder ones.

Here’s the methodology:

Started with the hair.  Took a shower, washed, conditioned, and put gel in my hair and combed it through with my fingers.  Then, I put the wet hair up in a loose messy bun and ate dinner.  About an hour later I dried it on low heat, scrunching it the whole time.  I made sure to get at my roots for some volume but I was definitely missing the mousse for more volume.  Then, I started playing.  I was going to try to do a variation of the mama mia milkmaid look but I lost my patience with it after a while (my braiding upside down skills suck).  I just did an  asymetrical part and did little french braids and a poofy back.  Not happy with how it turned out but its a starting point.

Used this picture for inspiration and then did trial run 1.5.  I’m much more pleased with it.  I toned down the eyes a little bit, and played up the lips and blush.  I think that’s pretty close to the look I want (just want to get some better quality makeup).  The hair took me less than 1 minute to do.  It would have looked better if I had sprayed it cause it fell a bit by the time we took pictures but all things considered, not bad.  I really like the side shot, and I’m considering ditching the big side flower in favor of little ones throughout the do.  I am not sure I like the actual texture of the hair/curls, so I need to see if some friz control fixes that or it’s something I’ll have to fix with a different means of doing my hair (curling iron, etc).  Hoping it can be this easy though!

Things that need to improve:

-Need to purchase concealer, foundation, and translucent powder in my proper shade.  The rest I will give some more trial runs to see if I want different colors or if what I have will do fine.

-Need to purchase mousse, spray gel, and some sort of friz control and see what product does to the ‘do.

-Need to pluck the brows and see if I’ll need a brow pencil.  Hope not, never used one…

Trial 2 tonight!  Wish me luck!  Be back Friday with more results…

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6 Comments

  1. Divinari

    I SO wish I could see these pictures (stupid work censoring lots of web stuff).

    With the hair, if you can manage it, try working with hair washed the previous day. It tends to hold styles a whole lot better. That being said, you may find mousse a little better than gel for control/ease of manipulation.

    For your waves, I know you already have slightly wavy hair… what if you braid it wet, then go to bed on it? Maybe that’d be a good way to start? Maybe even mousse/gel before braiding, for a little extra oomph.

    I don’t know what color lips you’re going for, but I recently picked up some Confession lipstick from Urban Decay. It looks really dark, but it’s a sheer lipstick that you can put on as light or as dark as you want, like here. Alternately, find a stain (UD has some, so does Nars and Benefit, all good names), which will mean you probably don’t have to reapply but once or twice throughout the night. The only problem I have with stain is that it tends to feather a little. But there’s stuff to help against that.

    For foundation and concealer, I’ve been using Bare Minerals and I like it. It’s a nice combination of sheer and coverage and it’s very versatile. Esp for your dewey look, you’ll want a top powder that has just a smidge of sparkle, enough to reflect a little light, but nothing that’ll catch light like glitter for cameras.

    I’d steer away from a brow pencil. Instead, get a brow brush. If you have any black or dark brown eyeshadow, that’ll work perfectly. Basically, you’re looking for an angled brush… let me find a link. Ah, something like this. Dab it very lightly in your shadow, tap against something to get the excess off, and follow your brow, tapping on at first. Then after you’ve kind of deposited a little color, you’ll kind of use the brush to smooth it out (more like a paintbrush). If this ends up too dark, go a couple colors lighter. Even if you have good brows (which I seem to recall you do), filling them in will complete your face, especially for pictures. Just make sure your lips are dark enough to round out your face.

    I’m a total make up dork, so feel free to ask me any questions. 😀

    My only other advice is to give your self TONS of time. I ended up getting rushed on my day, and didn’t quite go the way I wanted. You will be (okay, I was), nervous, shaking, and you’ll spill shit and your hair won’t turn out the way you want even after you try six times. If you’re stressing, you may even want to bring some pictures with you to stick up on the mirror so you have a visual. Remember to have some breakfast before starting pre-wedding cocktails. And if you’re planning on doing your nails, or having them done, dear gods, do it the day before (speaking from screwed-up nail experience, here).

    Oh, braids. Since I can’t see any of the pictures you’ve posted, I have no idea quite what you’re thinking, but maybe you could do little braids, or you could get some little clip on braids from a beauty store. Underneath an updo, clipped in, they could look nice. 😀

  2. I love all the advice/ideas! My comments:

    I find that with my hair as well (the washed previously thing) and I usually only wash mine every 3 (or more if I’m lazy) days, but yesterday it was just ratty and needed to be washed. Gonna try again today on day old hair. I haven’t done the braiding/go to bed thing for a while, might have to give that a try too. I don’t remember liking it last time but not sure why…

    For makeup, I really really really like my cover girl outlast lipstick. I know it’s not fancy brand stuff, but it stays put all day and it’s comfortable. And it’s only 7 bucks. 🙂 Foundation I have no clue about. I used to use cover girl as well but I think I want something a little nicer. I need new stuff because right now I have what I’m wearing (which actually hurt my face), something too light, and something too dark. I’ve heard good things about bare minerals and I don’t feel like I want a cake on my face so it seems like a good option. What’s a good place to pick it up? Is it a department store brand or sephora or what not?

    I haven’t used concealer in a long long time but considering I’ll be in Vegas a few days before, I think I’ll get some for the odd event I’ve got dark circles or my face decides to break out.

    Brows – I’m usually trying to TAME them more than fill them in, and I have yet to do the final major plucking (plan on doing that this weekend and a touch up right before we get on the plane), and want to be prepared just in case things go awry. Great idea though – because I don’t need much and have plenty of black/dark brown eye shadow, just need a brush.

    If you get to a spot where you can see the pictures, I’d love an honest critique of what I can do better. I can also email them if you’d like. I’m not sure if I have it but you can ping me at pinksparkly at yahoo dot com.

    Oooh, and I plan on starting about 2-3 hours before the ceremony, after having breakfast, and getting MOST of the way through the getting ready before drinks (hair for sure). And absolutely doing nails before (probably doing them before I go to Vegas and then touching up the day before, I do not like the idea of wet nails anywhere next to expensive dress).

    Thanks again for the advice!

  3. Divinari

    I tend to be really weird with colors (and chemicals lately, sadly… I bought some Mabelline/Cover Girl lip gloss, and it was so chemically, I had to throw it away), so sometimes, the stuff at the grocery store won’t cut it for me. Plus, I just love Urban Decay. No doubt about it, though, it’s expensive.

    So, Bare Minerals. You can pick up a .. starter kit for about $60, and it has a bunch of useful things. The other very keen thing about it is that you can also use it as concealer. So, start with a good moisturizer, let it dry, then put on the Bare Minerals (it even comes w a dvd to show you how). It’s basically buffing powder on to your face. The starter kit comes with about three brushes, one of which is a tiny one to do conealer work stuff with.

    When you go to try it on somewhere, be aware that the color you get if you put some on your finger and rub it in to the inside of your wrist is not the color you will get if you apply it like you’re supposed to. Their palest color isn’t _quite_ pale enough for me, but I suspect you won’t have that problem. Since you’re just brushing it on, not rubbing it in, it’s a whole different thing. If your face isn’t dry yet (from the lotion, or you’re a little sweaty), you’ll find it doesn’t go on as easily.

    You should be able to find it at Sephora, probably JC Penney’s, ULTA, etc.
    I can’t see the damned picture, but this could be nice – http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P236802&categoryId=C16510&shouldPaginate=true, but I dont’ think it has the base foundation you need. Their Mineral Veil, which is basically their transulcent, is ever so slightly glimmery, which should be perfect. Any starter kit should work, though.

    If you’re taming your brows more than anything else, use a real light hold gel on them, with a small toothbrush, if you don’t want to get a fancy shmancy brow kit. Alternatly, some kind of matte pomade should do the trick, too. If you do do some fill in, do it before the gel/pomade.

    I usually put on my moisturizer, my foundation/powder, then I do my brows. Then I do translucent over everything, including brows. Softens it down, so it doesn’t look fake.

    If you want to email me pics, I’d be happy to look at them. 😀 I can’t view anything on a hosting site, though.

    As far as how early to start getting ready, I like taking my time, so 2-3 hours was not enough for me. That’s what I ended up with. I would also say, at least half an hour after you finish completely getting ready, before going out to do stuff, just to chill in your head.

    Also, with your dress, since I have no idea which one you went with, can you get it on after doing make up and hair (without messing up hair, make up, or getting make up on dress), or do you have to put it on first? If the latter, bring a nice robe to put over your dress while you do your hair and makeup. 🙂

  4. Divinari

    Oh, and you can email me at my name here at gmail.

  5. Divinari

    Oh, here’s the link for the Get Started Kit – http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?bstore=bareescentuals&bstore=bareescentuals&skuId=2166343&productId=xlsImpprod810152

    It has three brushes, some small size complexion powders, then some full size blushes and maybe a few other things. I got some freebies when I got mine.

    The Glee blush works better for me than the coral colored stuff they include with the kit. Plus I got this other something… I don’t remember if it was shadow or what, but it was pale champagne with sparkles.

    I found that I never use the blush, “all over color” or the champagne stuff. I have plenty of other shadows I prefer.

  6. Don’t know if you know this, but I’m a professional hair stylist specializing in… wedding hair! It’s just a side job I do for fun and a little extra cash. (I don’t cut/dye or do anything with hair except “specialty” styles.) Anyhow, here are my tips: Divinari is totally right about the dirty hair thing. It styles better. DON’T wash it the day of. Also, judging from the pic of what you want and looking at the hair (I think) you have – you’re going to want to blow it out straight (use a shine serum & texture wax – pantene is fine, doesn’t have to be salon stuff) and then curl is with a 1-inch barrel iron, spraying with hairspray while it’s still hot on the barrel. Wait until the curls cool and then gently separate curls with fingers. Also – the pic has a lot of volume on top: if you want to replicate that look I highly recommend buying a “bumpit”. It’s a little piece of plastic that you hide in your hair. Sounds cheesy I know but you really want that hair to hold all day for pics & dancing and stuff, right??

    Anyhow, you’re going to be gorgeous girl!!! I hope you post pics of the wedding! I love weddings:)

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