Over the weekend Mr. Sundae and I ventured from the city to the suburbs in search of wedding bands and suits on sale. We were hugely successful in both of those tasks (more on that later). So successful, in fact, that I was feeling pretty brave. But before I get into all the details you’ll need some background on the situation…
I don’t normally wear much makeup. I have pretty clear skin and therefore skip foundations in favor of light powder. My daily makeup regimen consists of a little eyeshadow, some mascara, and lipgloss. I’ve had my makeup done a few times in my life, always for special occasions, and I have always wound up hating it. But I realize I must have just had bad luck because now I’ve seen the magic that good makeup artists can create. I know without a doubt that I need some makeup help on my wedding day, but I’ve been avoiding that situation like the plague for fear of aforementioned hideousness (Miss Cupcake’s experience only heightened the fear). But like I said, on Saturday I was feeling brave.
We were at a mall in the burbs and I was wandering around while Mr. Sundae browsed through the suits. I was passing through the makeup counters on my way to the shoes when I saw a sign notifying me that a professional makeup artist was at one of the high-end counters. Today only. I wandered over to ask if I needed an appointment and they said that someone had just missed theirs, if I was ready right now I could sit down and take advantage of the free professional makeup artist goodness. I won’t mention the name of the actual counter to protect the not-so-innocent.
I know that a lot of people who work at makeup counters also cater to brides and wedding parties on the side, so I was thinking that if I happened to like this woman I could ask her if she was interested in doing my makeup for the wedding. After telling her I don’t normally wear much makeup, I used these words to describe my desired look, “natural, light, slightly more than everyday makeup.” Somehow, she heard “lady of the night, red lipstick, spider lashes and dark eyeshadow.”
I couldn’t get pictures to do it justice. I don’t have any before pictures because I wasn’t expecting any of this, and despite numerous efforts we couldn’t get a picture that showed just how much foundation was on my face. You know how when it’s really caked on good, you can see the little hairs on your cheeks? That was me. I really wanted to get a picture that would focus on the eyes, because aside from the caked on foundation and red lipstick, that was the best part. At the beginning there was a lot of mascara on my lower lashes too, making it look like there were small spiders under my eyeballs, but Mr. Sundae and I were laughing so hard in the car that I cried most of it off.

I realize I am making really stupid faces, I just had to do it to accurately capture how much bronze eyeshadow there was:

I had already wiped off the red lipstick by the time I got home to my camera, or I would have taken a full face shot. I also wish I would have had my camera to capture the look on Mr. Sundae’s face when he saw me for the first time. It was a mixture of horror and contained laughter, to which he later said, “I didn’t want to laugh in case you actually liked it, but oh my GAWD that’s a lot of makeup!” A reaction every bride wants on her wedding day, no?
That’s…quite a lot of bronze eyeshadow. It really is possible to get someone who understands what more natural makeup is, so I’d keep looking around.