How to Upgrade your Make-Up to Wedding-Guest Appropriateness

First of all, dear reader, I need you to understand that I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a professional when it comes to matters of the face. I just think this whole blog-about-why-your-make-up-routine-is-better-than-anyone-else's malarkey is a load of fun. I don't claim to know where to buy your make-up, or what to buy, or even how you should put it on. There's what works for me and what works for you, and in my books (and blog), that's all that matters.

Today I had a little time to kill, so I thought I would get to work experimenting with my make-up and trying to find a more sophisticated/wedding-appropriate look for an upcoming wedding. When it comes to doing my make-up, I like to use what I already have if I can, before buying anything new. I pride myself in spending as little money on cosmetics as I possibly can. Except on foundation. I'm willing to splurge a little if I have to on what I am putting directly on top of my pores. My pores are important. I respect my pores. They are respecting me now, for the first time in a decade, so I at least owe them that.

You can read about my usual make-up routine here: https://hearttomindblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/10/the-naked-canvas-of-the-face/

Basically, my routine involves a lot of tea-tree based products (thank you Body Shop!) and trying to look as natural as possible. I like to highlight my eyes because I like my eyes. Yes, I actually like something about myself. Take that you twisted cosmetic marketing (which thrives only on the insecurities of the average women). I also like a nice, bright lip, because it looks more artistic. And pretty. Maybe I have some deep underlying psychological issue that makes me feel the need to wear bright lipstick, but whatever the reason it's part of my face, more days than not.

When I think of a formal function, such as a wedding, I think elegance, sophistication and sultry-beauty. For me that means darkening my eyes, albeit just a little, more mascara, a darker lip colour, and a blush shade which is far removed from barbie-pink. To me, barbie-pink blush says, "Hello, I am Barbie." Therefore it is my humble opinion that no-one should ever be stepping out of the door with barbie-pink blusher. Sorry, nineteen-year-old me. (As an aside, I'm mentally getting my pants all in a twist over whether I ought to be writing 'blush' or 'blusher'. So I've stuck in some of each for good measure).

For my formally-made-up look, I didn't really change my foundation because I really love what I use (Body Shop Tea Tree BB Cream in shade 01 with a little 'Fluide Velours Supreme' from Nocibe in shade 'Power of Light', finished off with a dusting of 'Extra Virgin Minerals' from the Body Shop in '108 Golden Ivory'.) I decided to work on my blusher, and in true Nicola-style, set about mixing up my own.

I have a tub of Avon's 'Illuminating Face Pearls' and also a tub of their 'Bronzing Pearls'. These are like little balls of powder that you swirl onto a brush and dab onto your cheeks. The illuminating ones are very light, so perfect for when you want to look 'au naturel'. The bronzing pearls are a shade of brown, so I've only ever used a smidging, on the part of my cheeks that make a line when you do a duck-face (as directed by my make-up-wise sister). I decided to experiment by mixing the two colours together. In a very unprofessional fashion, I crushed some of the illuinating pearls and bronzing pearls between my finger and thumb (not that you need to know which fingers I used), then put the crushings into a seperate container. As my imagination had suggested, it made a nice, richer, peachier colour which I feel is very suitable for a formal occasion. I think I applied a little too much here. Or maybe you can never have enough blusher when you're trying to look all dressed-up and look so pale normally that people frequently ask you if you're feeling alright.

I applied the same colour on my eyes as eyeshadow, so that my face sort of looked matching. Anything with a hint of brown in it is a good shade for hazel eyes. I applied a darker brown on the crease above my eyelid and on the outer edges, making it look softer and more three-dimensial.

I read in a copy of 'Glamour' that to make your eyeslashes look fuller and longer, you should apply seperate coats of different mascaras, letting each layer dry in-between. So allowing myself £5 spending money to purchase some new make-up, I meandered on down to my local Wilko's, and bought a new mascara for the grand price of £2.30. I already have a basic mascara from Wilko's; this one apparently gives extra volume. It was worth a try, for being so cheap. To complete my look I added two more coats of mascara to my usual one. I also sharpened my eyeliner and made my usual black line that little centimetre longer (because longer is better). I don't like to put mascara on my bottom lashes because a) I don't know how to do it properly and b) I usually look like I have two black eyes when I do.

I also took my very fancy, for-special-occasions-only, tube of highligher (from the Body Shop) and applied it in a C-shape around my upper cheek and eye (as advised, once again, by my experienced sister), down the bridge of my nose, along the top of my lips and on the middle of my chin.

Now let's talk about lips. You'll never guess where I found the most beautiful shade of deep-red lipstick. Drum-roll, please. I found it in... Poundland! That's right, I spent £1 on a new lipstick. And it is a very scrummy colour indeed. It calls itself 'Deep Red' (oddly enough ;-) ). It's a little deeper than the red I like to wear most days, and definitely helped to upgrade my look from every-day to classy.

On the day I will make sure that my eyebrows are freshly plucked, and take extra care when applying my eyebrow powder from my Avon's Perfect Brow kit in blonde, so that my eyebrows look well filled-in and even. After all, nobody wants squinty, baldy-looking eyebrows at a wedding.

I think that's it. Now for another photo of the finished look. What do you think: wedding-worthy?