Jo and Sarah answer real questions from readers: to put your query, go to beautybible.com
Q I’m getting married in October in Scotland and trying to make a list of everything I need to organise beauty-wise. I work full time and I keep remembering – and then forgetting – all the bits and pieces. Do you have a helpful list?
A We really empathise. Weddings can do that to you. Sarah forgot about getting her legs waxed and wandered up and down the King’s Road in London in a daze, five days before her wedding, looking for somewhere to be defuzzed…and wishing she had made just such a list.
Here are our suggestions:
First of all, from Jo: if you have a smartphone, download an App called Wunderlist. This can also link to your laptop, desktop computer – and if you’ve a friend (perhaps maid/matron of honour?) who has Wunderlist on her phone, you can actually share the list with her. Jo absolutely lives her life by Wunderlist and can’t recommend it too highly – and because it’s shared on all your devices, it’s really easy to check in with the list. Then add the following to the list…
Book your hair and make up artist well in advance (immediately, if you haven’t done so already). Remember bridesmaids will likely want hair & make up on the day too, and possibly mothers. Book a rehearsal for a week before The Day.
Two weeks before:
Hair cut and colour: then give yourself a treatment mask twice a week
Eyebrow shaping/tinting
One week before:
Waxing
Rehearsal for hair and make-up: identify the essentials you’ll need on the day to touch up, particularly for photographs.
Gentle facial (no peels or anything that might leave your skin red or blotchy)
Prep dry lips with lip balm daily
Fake tan, if you go that route (though Scotland in autumn probably means not)
Two days before:
Manicure/pedicure – then wear washing up gloves and make sure you have the same nail polish to touch up if necessary
Massage – you’ll need a relaxing treat
On the day:
Hair and make-up
Remember to pack:
Sponge bag with all your skincare
Make-up bag
Don’t forget your scent!
New undies
Small clutch bag with strap for the day (or a reticule-like pouch that will hang on your wrist is fab)
Hankies
Tights
Jewellery
Hair ornaments
Emergency kit: There’s a great Bridal Emergency Kit on hitched.co.uk, which you could use as a basis for packing.
Make sure your mother or matron/maid of honour carries a little touch-up kit for photos: some translucent pressed powder and your chosen lipstick for the day, too.
Beauty Bible loves… Vichy Dermablend SOS Concealer Stick, £15 for 5.6g and Covermatte Compact Powder Foundation, £20 for 9.5g. Anything new from Dermablend is worthy of flagging up. It is, quite simply, the most brilliant range for high coverage – just fantastic for people who want high levels of concealment to cover even serious skin challenges like birthmarks, pigmentation problems, breakouts, post-acne redness and more. It also conceals tattoos! And we’ve been recommending it for longer than we can remember. (L’Oréal bought the brand some time back, and parked it under the Vichy umbrella, where it sits very happily.)
Anything new from Dermablend is worthy of flagging up. It is, quite simply, the most brilliant range for high coverage
Two new products, then, are the Dermablend SOS Concealer Stick – water-, perspiration- and rub-resistant, offering truly exceptional high coverage in a smooth, easy-to-blend stick concealer which looks incredibly ‘skin-like’ (never mask-like), in terms of coverage. There are currently five shades – though we’d like to see some deeper ones.
Secondly, there’s Dermablend Covermatte Compact Powder Foundation SPF25. Basically, this is a high coverage mineral foundation with a sheer, matte finish, which you apply either with the accompanying sponge (or try a mineral powder brush, till you get the density you want). It really is quite matte, though – and actually, we’re rather liking a tiny whisk of this over our regular foundation, to set it and ‘top up’ the coverage. That said, if you prefer slightly more radiance we’d suggest the Dermablend Corrective Foundation or [3D CORRECTION] ranges.
On which note: good news there, too – extra shades have been added to each of those, making for more inclusive shade range.
The only thing this range can’t disguise is our appreciation of it.
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