Getting ready

After the hair and makeup, we were slightly behind schedule upon return to the hotel. My fabulous youngest brother had gotten myself and the other ladies sandwiches, and my mom and a dear friend (from Germany!) were waiting for us in the bridal suite. My original thought had been to eat lunch together, but people grabbed their lunch to go, and my mom went to make sure that my she and my dad would also have something to eat.

So I got a chance to eat, and Ken took some pictures.

Yes, that is me, eating a sandwich.

Tip: Hanging your dress in the window is often the only place in the room that will enable you to keep the train from dragging. It's why everyone has the dress in the window shot.

The goods: my purse, the shoes, jewelry and the perfume Calvin gave me at Christmas.

And then it was time to get dressed:

The hardest part was trying to figure out how to get the dress off the hanger.

Tip: Spanx rock. Hard. And if you are planning on having this part of the day documented on film, I recommend being totally comfortable walking around in your undergarments.

Ken had told me that sometimes it takes brides all of 2 minutes to get dress, and other times it takes an hour.

Me? I was of the 2 minute variety.

Step...

Pull up...

Zip...

Tape... (yes, I did use fashion tape to make sure my dress wouldn't fall down)

And I'm dressed

My mom helped with my great-great-aunt's necklace. (Note the hair beginning to fall out. This is MY fault, in that I couldn't wait until after the wedding to chop my hair, and was insistent that I get a french twist.)

Putting in the matching earrings that we got converted to work for pierced ears.

Putting on the shoes. My mom helped me get in and out of my shoes for every dress fitting.

All set and ready to go, with a little bit of time to chat.

Saying good-bye to my mom

Checking myself out one last time before meeting Calvin...

All pictures are copyright of Ken Blaze.

The beginning...

The night before the wedding, I stayed in the bridal suite (which the fabulous hotel coordinator, Marisa Gindi, upgraded me to.) Not wanting to spend the night totally by myself, I asked my youngest brother if he wanted to crash on the pullout sofa.

Tip: if you are looking for a place to get ready in downtown Cleveland, I highly recommend the bridal suites at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. The suite was easily bigger than our 750 sq. ft. apartment, and the bathroom? Let's just say that you could very easily have a dance party for 20 in it. It was amazing.

The day began at the very pleasant hour of around 7:30am. Hair and makeup wasn't scheduled until 10:45, so I took my time getting ready and enjoyed a bit of room service breakfast.

Tip: If you are staying at a hotel the night before the wedding, order room service for breakfast.

My brother headed out around 9 or so to meet the guys for breakfast and I just relished in the fact that I was getting married. Being someone who needs her space, it was really good to have the morning to myself.

At 10:15, I called my bridesmaids, and asked if they could join my in the bridal suite, so that we would be ready to go at 10:30 for our appointments.
Tip: It's a good idea to double check verbally that everyone knows when things are happening.

The appointments were at Studio Palmieri, conveniently located just a few blocks from the hotel. When we arrived at 10:40, our amazing photographer, Ken Blaze, was waiting for us.

Entering the salon. I chose to wear one of my favorite shirts, which I've borrowed from my mom (and which she wore to her rehearsal dinner nearly 27 years ago.) Along with my favorite jeans. And these:

My favorite Birkentocks were a necessity.

Waiting for our appointments

The ladies were called for their appointments first

Best friend (and maid of honor!)

Brother's fiancee

Calvin's sister

And then it was my turn. The look I was going for was a french twist...


Which meant that my fine hair was teased. Really teased.

So I was reading Marie Claire magazine, and happened upon these pictures of Tina Fey- which turned out to be pretty much exactly what I wanted to do with my hair. I pointed out the picture to Dena, and she was able to do exactly what I wanted.

Perfect.

And then it was time for makeup- not only does Dena do amazing hair, but she does absolutely fabulous makeup.



Tip: If you have a favorite lip gloss or lipstick, use it on your wedding day

One last coat of hairspray...

A final check of the hair...

Taking care of the bill...

And we were good to go.

All photographs are copyrighted by Ken Blaze

Product Review: Jergens Natural Glow

After all of the suggestions on my previous post, I decided to bite the bullet and go with the most heavily recommended one- Jergens. When I was shopping at my local Meijer, I stocked up on two products.

Jergens Natural Glow

For good measure (and because I still hadn't found a good moisturizer), I also got this:

Jergens Natural Glow Face

Now, after a week or so of using the products somewhat diligently (I try and remember to do it most days, but I've definitely forgotten a couple of times), my skin is a nice, bronze tone. Not heavily tanned (which would look unnatural), but with a little more color. And the added bonus that my acne scars are not as visible :-)

Thanks to all of those who made suggestions- I'm really glad to have found a product that works for me.

Big Day Beauty

I scheduled my hair and makeup trial for Saturday, just before my shower. (If you are doing hair and makeup trials, I'd highly recommend scheduling them for some sort of occasion, so there is a reason for getting beautified.)

I headed to Studio Palmieri, located in the Warehouse District in Cleveland. The studio was chosen strictly based upon location- it is only 3 blocks from the hotel where I will staying the night before the wedding. When I was speaking with one of the receptionists on the phone, she decided to set me up with the amazing Dena to do both my hair and makeup.

For the hair, I just wanted a simple french twist. Dena graciously offered to take pictures of every angle of my hair, so that if I want something changed for the wedding, I'll be able to tell her exactly what I want done differently.

The back

Right side

Left side

Front, without makeup.

As far as makeup goes, I said that I really wanted my eyes to pop. I brought along my own mascara, as well as my own lip gloss so that she could see the sort of color that I typically wear.

Pretty makeup! That looks nothing like my prom makeup, thank goodness!

With my best friend.

Self portrait 12+ hours later, when I'm thoroughly exhausted. (With not great lighting. In my childhood bedroom. Yes, the walls really are purple.)

Looking at the pictures now, the couple of things that come to me is that I'd like the top of the french twist to be not quite as open, so that the view from the left side looks a little bit neater. I'd also like the hair on the right to be tucked in a little bit better, so it doesn't come out by the end of the evening.

Do you see anything that should be changed with my hair and makeup?

So about my skin tone...

Right now, my skin is a nice shade of pale. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm looking to add a little bit of color to my skin prior to the wedding. Normally, I'd go about this in a "normal" way, like going out on walks wearing a tube top, but the weather here in Michigan is cold and/or gray.

So self-tanners, Mystic Tan, or tanning beds would be the way to go, right? The only thing is, I'm terrified with looking like this:

Jessica Simpson in 2005; courtesy of Go Fug Yourself and Daily Celeb.

She looks scary. Really scary. And not at all what I want to look like at our wedding.

Are you planning on tanning prior to your wedding? Anyone have a favorite product or technique they'd like to recommend (or advise staying away from)?

DIY - Sea Salt Scrub

So I've been trying to take better care of myself lately, especially my skin. As I've mentioned before, I'm fairly breakout prone, on my face, back and shoulders.

Last year, Calvin gave me a spa package for my birthday, and one of the most amazing parts of it was a sea salt body scrub. Afterwards, my skin was much clearer, and softer, which suggests that exfoliation is not overrated at all.

Given that, I wanted to try and get my skin feeling the same way, but as the grad student that I am, resources are, shall we say, limited.

So what's the alternative? Making the sea scrub myself. It's really easy, and it actually makes quite a difference. Here's the recipe I've been using, which is a combination of several recipes I found online.

Sea Salt Scrub
1 c. coarse sea salt
1/2 c. olive oil
several drops of tea tree oil

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour mixture into a sealable container. (I used a clean, empty mason jar.)

It's easiest to use in the shower. Basically, rub it all over your body, and then rinse. Because the oil can leave a fairly strong residue, I use a mild soap after I've rinsed. And as a word of caution- make sure to do this before you shave, and not after, as the salt will (obviously) sting any cuts.

Notes: Tea Tree Oil is a natural antiseptic that helps with the acne; you could use other essential oils, like lavender or rose, if you want something that smells better. You could also use any other type of coarse salt.

I've gone and chopped it off

My hair, that is.

You have to understand that my hair fluctuates with considerable regularity between these two lengths.

Long:

(taken in Playa del Carmen with my mom last month)
And short:

(Brandenburger Tor about 5 years ago, although my hair has been cut this short 2-3 times since then)

I decided that the ends were looking pretty scraggly- a good indication that it's time for a haircut. Yes, I've been "growing my hair out" for the wedding, but a year and a half ago, it was shorter than the short hair pictured above. Now it's a good inch longer than the long hair picture above. (Yes, my hair grows somewhere in the neighborhood of an inch a month.)

I mean, it was longer than that picture. When I went to the salon today, I said that I wanted to get as much taken off that would still let me have some sort of french twist for the wedding. I came back looking like this.

(FYI: I have no makeup on in this pic. It's not a good representation of what my face generally looks like, but it is a pretty decent pic of my hair.)


Anyone else get their hair cut shorter before the wedding? (And who cut their hair after the wedding?)

Product Review: Facewash

When the new year started, I thought that I would begin to take better care of my skin. I mean, I've been pretty rough on it (salicylic acid and benzoil peroxide, I'm looking at you) and it wasn't helping my acne much at all.

(Yes, I get acne. Yes, I've had acne since I was about 13. Yes, I recognize that this means I've had it about half my life.)

But for the first time, I'm actually winning the war against the acne on my face. Because unlike the Clearasil and Clean and Clear days of my youth when my face extremely oily, I'd noticed that my face, especially my cheeks, are dry.

(Honestly, as a teenage, I never thought that day would come.)

So, I decided to try this:

Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser

After using it for about 6 weeks, I want to let you know that it works. Seriously. I haven't had any zits/pimples at all on my face since I've been using it (except when I've been traveling and have forgotten it- and then my face reminds me that I should never forget it.) My skin doesn't feel especially dry OR oily, which is pretty much a modern miracle for me.

So now that I've got a good face wash that has done wonders for my skin, I've figured out that I should probably start using some sort of moisturizer as well. Right?

What's your favorite face moisturizer?

Say "aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh"

This was me earlier today:

Image found here.

Okay, that's not actually me, but I did go to the dentist this morning for the first time in quite awhile. (This is what happens when your insurance plan changes and the dentist you've been going to since before you were born retires.)

Anyways, as I was at the dentist earlier today, I remembered something from a trip to the (old, awesome) dentist awhile back.

(Cue smokey haze and nostalgic music.)
I'm reading Highlights magazine in the waiting room, as I wait patiently for my turn to get my teeth cleaned. My mom dropped me off so that I could run in while she parked the car and brought my brothers in. There is a woman getting her teeth cleaned before me, and when she comes out, the hygeinist (I think her name was Sue, but it might have been something else) tells me that the woman is getting married that Saturday, and wanted to come in and get her teeth cleaned so they were pretty for her wedding day. I think it very strange that someone would want to go to the dentist right before their wedding to get their teeth cleaned. Won't regular brushing be good enough?

(Smoke gradually clears and focus is on present day Meg.)

I'm scheduling an appointment in May, not long before the wedding so that I can have my teeth look nice and pretty for the wedding.

Anyone else making a trip to the dentist before the wedding day? Are you doing anything else to prep your pearly whites?

Product Review: Mascara

There are two things that I look for in a mascara.

1- It must be waterproof, because I cry. I don't always cry, but it can be guaranteed that if I am not wearing waterproof mascara I will cry. And if I am around my mother, and she starts crying (which happens fairly regularly- she is wonderfully emotional), 90% of the time I start crying too.

2- I can't have raccoon eyes at the end of the day. I already have dark circles under my eyes (thank you graduate school!), and I really don't need any help in making them any darker than they already are.

For the longest time, I used Maybelline Great Lash Mascara. And then after getting my makeup done at a Clinique counter about a year and a half ago, I switched to Clinique's Gentle Waterproof Mascara.

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara and Clinique Gentle Waterproof Mascara.

Sadly, although Clinique really was a step up from Maybelline as far as how it felt when I was wearing it, it did not resolve the raccoon eyes problem that I have whenever I wear mascara. I wear contacts, I rub my eyes a lot, and I get dark circles. That's how it is. Or rather, how it was until I was introduced to this amazing product from a friend.


Blinc Kiss Me Mascara.

Now, I originally balked at the idea of spending $24 on mascara (it is $25 on the Blinc website, but $24 at Sephora), but I had a $15 gift card to Sephora, and figured, why not? So I bought it, tried it and must say that I am very impressed. It works differently than other mascaras, forming tubes around your eyelashes that are supposed to come off only when using both water and pressure to pull them off. In practice, I can still rub them off, but it is a lot easier to pick a couple of small black tubes (these are really tiny) off your face than it is to deal with the mascara induced black eye. If I end up doing my own makeup on my wedding day, I am almost positive that this will be the mascara that I will wear- and if I don't, I may still request that the makeup artist use this mascara.

As a bonus, I shared my excitement with my chemistry student brother, who proceeded to tell me about the various polymers that were in the mascara, and then assured me that they are completely safe.

What is your favorite mascara? Are there any others that I should try?