Bride-to-be Stephanie: My Hair & Makeup Trial!

Hemera

More than a half hour late to my appointment due to the absurd amount of people bustling around the Convention Center for the Flower Show and the resulting traffic jam, I arrived at Architeqt Salon for my hair and makeup trial flustered and winded.

Alexey, the salon’s owner and my stylist, had me take a second to breathe before we started discussing ideas. Through some extensive Pinterest searching, I had printed out a handful of styles I liked that all had a common theme of loose curls—just styled in so many different ways.

Alexey took a look at the pictures and immediately began curling and experimenting. Not having a super specific vision in mind, I loved that he just got to work.

He tried two styles first that fell a little flat, but the third was a wow that made us both stop and stare. It totally encapsulated the romantic feel I was going for, and I think will really complement the dress. No more thinking or experimenting necessary. This was it.

Next up: makeup. Similarly, I had combed through Pinterest for some inspiration and had printed out a dozen or so photos. Tiffany asked me which I liked best, and I narrowed it down to three.

Very rarely have I gotten my makeup done, so this was a bit of a new experience for me—a long one. I can’t get over how long it took—a little more than an hour! With my eyes closed for a good part of it, I was worried I was going to fall asleep right there in the chair after such an exhausting week at work. Once the eye lashes were applied, however, I was wide awake and blinking like crazy. I’ve never worn them before, so it was definitely a strange, heavy feeling. But at seeing the end result: totally worth it.

The other interesting part of the process was opening my eyes to see just a small portion of my face all done up and another portion nearly totally bare—a somewhat disconcerting view. But when I opened my eyes for the final look: wow! And it was my eyes that were popping.

Most of the photos I had printed were more of smoky eye look. With my pale skin tone (I have my Dad’s dark hair but somehow his beautiful, tanned Sicilian skin evaded me), browns don’t look particularly good on me. And I felt like really subdued makeup wouldn’t accentuate anything. When doing my own make up, it’s my eyes that I tend to focus on, and Tiffany followed suit.

She made them really pop and left my cheeks and lips neutral. I walked out of the salon thrilled. I loved both my hair and my makeup. My only slight fear was that maybe my eyes were too dark and too bold.

I was very anxious to see what Pat thought. At Alexey’s smart suggestion, we had taken out my hair, leaving just soft waves of curls (which looked quite pretty on their own), so that Pat wouldn’t be able to see the final look yet. I want it to be a surprise.

But we kept the makeup in-tact. I wanted to get his opinion. Pat’s not a huge fan of makeup. He always suggests I don’t put any on, which I think is combination of the really sweet you don’t need any and the annoyed that means 20 more minutes added to your getting-ready time. So I was definitely wondering how he would feel about this bold look.

The remarkable thing: he loved it, which made me feel pretty amazing. Later that night, we attended the Red Ball—a very smart recommendation of my mom’s, to schedule the trial on a day when I was getting dressed up later that evening. We took a few photos that night, and though I know they were merely grainy ones our iPhones, my makeup didn’t necessarily look as great. My eyes looked very dark, and the rest of my face looked bare. Confusing.

Ultimately, I think I’m very happy with both my hair and makeup. I think the makeup might just need a little tweaking. But with the way Pat looked at me when I got home, I know I’m headed in the right direction.

Did you find the right hair and makeup style for you on your first trial, or did you have to play around a few times to find the right look?

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