Sewn Together: Magical Makeup Power!

I woke up, alone in a huge suite, on the morning of our wedding day. It was really, really early. And since I obviously could not fall back asleep, I first spent some time in prayer. I watched the still-slumbering streets of Waikiki from the lanai, taking in the perfectly warm morning weather with a relaxed, calm mind.

I booted up the laptop and waited for the internet to behave itself - and read all the beautiful comments and emails of encouragement and support that everyone sent. It was the perfect start to our wedding day, and I cannot fathom a better one. Thank you.

But eventually I got hungry.

After showering, I went downstairs to my parent's suite and consumed half a loaf of sugar-glazed Hawaiian bread with some fresh-brewed hotel coffee. I awkwardly dodged my parents attempts at getting me to share how I was feeling. I've never been good at sharing my emotions, especially if they are of the mushy variety. In fact, I forbade Sak from even holding my hand when we were around people I knew for the first five years of our relationship. I guess I couldn't turn on the sappy, even on my wedding day.

Anyway, upon the arrival of our hair and makeup artist, Dorys, it was time to get ready.

The whole process went by quickly as the Maleana team worked magic on two mothers, one sister and one bride. It was very similar to the trial session I had, and she had all the shades we used last time written down. Apparently I got one shade darker on my face! How's that for a couple days on an island!

Sak showed up at some point, and someone forced a camera into his hands since he was just standing around.

He took some pictures of us ladies, at least until he got hungry.

There would be no grand, emotional "first look" for us - and I'm okay with that. We are the type to embrace the process just as much as the end result, so I think it is fitting he was around to watch me get made-up.

Dorys started with my hair. Like a good bride, I remembered the no-wash rule that morning!

An assistant did my mom's makeup in the meantime.

Yay, I've got pretty curls!

Next, Sak's mom took a spin in the magical chair.

And after a huge wad of concealer, I headed to the bathroom for some airbrushing!

Dorys also airbrushed my shoulders in an attempt to even out the nasty sunburn I had accumulated at the zoo and beach. Yeowch.

Now what about my sweet little sister?

Well, she had quite the experience during her makeover.

But does she approve?

That's a yes, believe it or not.

With the fine spray of foundation applied, it was back to the chair for finishing touches.

Who is this person?!

Dorys added my homemade hair flower and some lip color, and we were finished! Bravo, Dorys - a true makeup artist.

And lastly, to celebrate our new fancy selves - my mom and I snacked on some poke and sushi. So, so good.

I look entirely too excited. Let's get this day started!

(Photos courtesy various family members)

Our wedding week in review:

• We took care of some last minute DIY details, and officialized everything.
• We vacationed with our out-of-towners, and threw a yummy welcome beach brunch.
• Sak saluted an angry dragon during our wedding rehearsal, and we sniffed at our dinner.
• Wal-Mart crashed my bachelorette.

Putting the Best Face Forward

After the hair was good to go, Dorys moved me to her makeup chair. And I think that chair was magical, because I looked completely different when I left it!


Maleana Cosmetics is a bit unique in that it's Hawaii's first boutique makeup line. Not pleased with the way existing products worked in the island's environment, Dorys created the line to work best in the high heat and humidity. And work it did, that makeup stayed on, bright and vivid, all day and night!

I don't know exactly what kind of magic Dorys worked, but I'll try and interpret from Mom-penga's pictures:

First, 10 pounds of concealer for those baggy eyes of mine!

It's spray-time!

For anyone considering airbrushing, I *highly* recommend it. I could not even feel it on my face, and you can see that it completely evened my skin out.

Next, she applied eyeshadow and eyeliner.

This was probably the coolest part - a curling iron for your eyelashes! It was warm, and curled them up better and more natural than with the normal lash crimper. I need one of these!

For false lashes, she used individual pieces, which look much more natural than the full strip kind.

A final dose of eyeliner...

And finally, she worked on my lips!

Though the color stayed on my lips the whole day (even through eating a pile of kimchee when we had Korean BBQ for dinner!), my lips were very dry. I'll have to remember to extra moisturize beforehand!

Yay! All done!

What do you think?

I was a little worried that the darkness of my eyes was too dramatic, but in the pictures it didn't come out as bold as I thought it might.

However, when I went outside for pictures, I was squinting like crazy because of the sun.

Somehow it doesn't look as good as indoors...

Is this reason to lighten up on the smoky-eye? Should I avoid being photographed outside? How do I avoid the squint?

Did you test your trial makeup out in various lights and environments? How did it hold up through sweat, food and fiance kisses?

*Pictures by Mom-Penga

Ten-Toes-A-Tinting

It's Christmas Eve, and how am I spending the day in the freezing coastal town of Salinas, California?

Getting my toes done, of course!

Unbeknown to me, Mom-Penga had arranged pedicure appointments for us girls (herself, sister and myself) in preparation for our impending Hawaii trip. (Not pictured is Dad-Penga's spray tanning appointment...just kidding!)


Can I say this is important for a bride to worry about? Of course not. But when you plan on taking plenty of beach pictures with sandals and bare feet, it certainly doesn't hurt.

Especially when you have the nastiest toes on the face of the earth. I apologize for the image, but I have this horrible bad habit of chopping my toenails off too short - every, single time. Most recently, this over-zealous clipping resulted in half of my big toenail accidentally tearing off (sigh).

Before

After

Luckily, the salon artists restored my poor toe to normalcy! The filled-in nail not only looks better, but will keep sand from rubbing against the weak, thin parts of the torn area.

I think I'll need another pedi before the wedding, since the chances of me messing up my toes again is just too high. I do really like the pinkish color I picked today, but for the wedding I'll probably match "our colors" and go with a red shade.(And if you're ever in Salinas, Hollywood Nails is the go-to spot for cuticle care!)

Anyone else splurging on a mani/pedi before the "big day"? What will your wedding-toes look like?

Make'n it Up as I Go

Notice: DIY posts and drawings will be a little sparse in the weeks to come, since I've got now only 15 days in which to finish my labor of both love and hate - 120 bags of mass destruction.

On the other hand, since my hair and make-up trial is quickly approaching, I guess I could talk about some girly frou-frou now. Which should be interesting, considering that I live with a man, work with (mostly) men, make friends with (mostly) men, and act like a man.

Ohh, manly gaming-stance.

Okay, so maybe I don't really act like a man. But I must admit that most of the more feminine aspects of wedding planning (hair, dresses, jewelry, makeup, etc) scare me a little since it's all relatively new territory.

However, onward soldier, to the point of this particular post! - Makeup!

Typically, I use only a little foundation/concealer/whatever pale colored powder is lying around for my seriously dark under eye-circles, some carmex on my lips, and a line of liquid brown eyeliner on my upper lids. That's it!

So how do I step that up for the wedding day? Hopefully a little better than that trip to the Macy's makeup counter the hour before senior prom.

Yeah...*shudder*

That time around, I made the mistake of not knowing what I wanted (as well as being a teenager who didn't plan on buying anything from the overworked rep).

So this time, I'm going in prepared with ideas and wads of cash. The following is a barrage of looks that I like (after which I'll try and analyze any noticeable trends):

(All images taken from Project Wedding)

What do all these have in common? Well, I see a few trends -
1) None of them have under eye circles whatsoever.
2) None went overboard on the eye make-up.
3) Plump, red, lips!

So from this information, here's what I'm going to tell my hair and makeup artist -

-I don't want to see my under eye circles. In fact, can we make my face as shadow-free as possible? One smooooth, matte surface, please.
-Please make my eyes bright and big (like an anime character?). But please hold the purple and blue eye shadows, none for me!
-I love my lips (sung like Larry the Cucumber of course). They are small and plump and cute, so please emphasis that with a warm, glossy color.

Here's my un-made mug for reference -


What do you think, can I make this look work? Should I go for something else? How did you find your makeup style? Through photos of gorgeous people that look nothing like you, or from the supreme knowledge of already understanding what works best for you?