Make-up instead

I know I promised a bombshell, but I have a little less time today than I thought I would at work because I'll be gone all next week. I have loose ends to tie up here, and my bombshell post is going to take awhile...

Sowwy


Meanwhile, I do still have some cool news. I may have found my make-up artist!! Actually, I saw "may" but I have no interest in looking further, she'd have to really be a nasty you-know-what and not listen to me and call me stupid for wanting something different than she has to offer for me to not book her. But I have to say "may" because I haven't actually given her any money yet :)

Make sense?

Anyway, I spent a significant amount of tedious and unproductive time looking for "salons" in both Philadelphia and Lancaster that would come to the location to do my bridal party's hair and make-up. This is no huge deal to me, but it means a lot to me to make life convenient for my girls, including my mom and FMIL (if they'll even take the offer, my FMIL has already said she's doing her own hair and make-up... we'll see)

The point is, I almost passed out a few times looking over people's prices, but first, let me just reiterate that I spent a lot of time looking and my search was mostly fruitless. Almost everyone in Lancaster did NOT travel to your location and EVERYONE in Philadelphia was way too expensive... Don't believe me??

Lemme break it down-
One salon in Philadelphia charges:

• $55 and $100 for make-up and hair trials respectively,
• then $65 and $125 on the day of.
• Add to this that this particular salon charges $100 per stylist (one for hair, one for make-up, equals $200 right off the bat) just for the travel.
• Right there, just for me, you're looking at $545 JUST FOR ME!

Each bridesmaid/mother is relatively the same, maybe $10 off on make-up (and unless they really wanted it, they don't need a trial) and maybe (the website is ambiguous) $40 less for hair, the total bill would work out to about... $1,245... approximately.

I thought maybe this was an isolated incident, so I looked into one other salon... and then gave up... here's why:

• $75 and $100 for make-up and hair trials respectively,
• then $250 for hair and make-up together on the day of, at location.
• Not nearly as bad, but still $425 just for me.
• Bridesmaids/mothers would be $150 each for hair and make-up together, at location, so the grand total here is... $1,175...

I could be wrong, but those are both big numbers... is make-up just that expensive???

Enter Rikki Smith to the rescue:

She's sassy, she's super sweet, she lives a mile and a half from our venue, and she's not associated with a salon; she's her own brand, and as such is just all around more reasonable!

I found her on theknot, thanks knot! And seeing as how I also found Shea Roggio on theknot, it makes me usually confident that I can trust theknot :)

At first, we kept missing each other, my phone dropped her call and then when I called back, it was all scratchy on her end, then my phone was dead one day... it was ridiculous, and for the tiniest second, I started to think maybe there was a reason, but that's stupid.

Besides, I finally did talk to her, and she was awesome, and she answered all my questions, set me up with an appointment for the consultation AND the trial all in one so I didn't have to make two trips to her salon (I kind of lied, I think her day job is just at a regular salon, but her wedding make-up work is, like, independent or something).

Anywho, right off the bat, I was relieved to find out that she doesn't charge for travel because she lives 1.5 miles from Riverdale... helpful. Her trial is only $30, and wedding day is only $75. Each family member is only $45 each. Now, the only possible issue (and she'd still be much much cheaper) is that the website is a tab ambiguous about hair; there are times when the website refers to "the whole bridal look, make-up, hair, etc..." and there are other times when it just talks about make-up. When I talked to her, she also talked with me about hair, and she reiterated the prices on the website... so if we talked about hair and I said yes, I need hair done too, and then I asked about the prices, and she told me the same prices listed above... ?? Well, I've e-mailed her about it, so the answer will be with us shortly.

As is, we're looking at... a grand total of $330... Pretty ridiculous! Ridiculously awesome that is!

So what did we talk about?? What do I want??? Well, as I showed in my first make-up trial, I want to look as natural as possible, not Barbie doll-ish, but with pretty dramatic eyes.

But I wasn't happy with the way I did my eyes, I wanted them to be a bit sparkly-er but smokier in the corners, and even though the picture came out really well, I found, looking in the mirror, that it looked a bit cakey to me up close and personal.

I told her this and that my face does not take make-up well, I have what appears to be dry skin and then a few hours after I put make-up on, it looks and feels ridiculously oily. This is most likely just due to the fact that I don't know how to do make-up :)

Anywho, I've never really talked about my celebrity inspiration, but I do have one! (I've shown a lot of mixed girls, and non-famous people, and this is important for showing what I want it to look like on my skin, but I can still have celebrity aspirations!)

 

Idn't she pretty??!!??!! I've always loved Sandy. I've always ALWAYS admired her clean, simple, polished look, mostly the lips, cheeks, and eyes... well, that pretty much covers everything. She also looks real, and not airbrushed (maybe she is, but whoever's doing it is doing a great job). I did find one more picture of some great mixed make-up though (unfortunately, she does look airbrushed, but... whatever):

Great blending, clean, simple, great lips and cheeks. I sent this image to Rikki, though with the disclaimer that I would definitely want a little bit more around the eyes.

I've already shown a few other pictures of this young lady, but just for fun:

I love this girl's whole look, the eyes, the lips, and of course the hair, but the resolution (because of the artistry of the shoot) is not too good.

Anyway, that's the major stuff I showed her, she was very sweet and receptive and helpful. She said we wouldn't be done with the trial until I was completely satisfied.

I have a trial with her next month. I can't wait to render the verdict, although her prices, even if they double with hair styling, are hard to beat, and as I mentioned, I really want to do this for my girls' convenience and as a gift, a pampering.

Did anyone else have trouble finding a make-up/hair person? Were you not amazed at how expensive it was???

And also... BUBBLES!!!