Nail Art

I'm taking a break from the budget recaps to share what I think is becoming a trend - and a scary one at that. Nail Art. Little did I know that there are entire freakin' websites dedicated to nails and nail art. Have I been living under a rock? Perhaps I've just been slightly distracted by The Martha and Style Me Pretty to look further into the depths of fashion.

Now, y'all know I did my best to grow my nails out for The Big Show. I was boo-hooing about it here. I didn't do such a great job. Neither did my manicurist. But in the end, everything really was fine.

So, I'm flipping through the October Vogue (I'm still a little behind in my magazine reading) and I see this article about Nail Art. Now you know if it's in Vogue there's got to be some validity to the trend, right? I mean, come on. They don' just make that shit up. Do they? I don't think so. And if you do think so (or know so), keep it to yourself. I like my fantasy world.

So I found one of the places on-line that Vogue talks about. It's called Valley and it's in NYC. It's a real kooky kind of site. However, I thought I'd share with you a few things I found there. All photos courtesy of Valley.

This shot is what prompted me to blog about this. LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT EFFING DIAMOND! My question is this: why in God's name would anyone detract from that ring with a hideous bedazzled NY on their ring finger? Sadly, money and good taste do not go hand in hand.

Mmmmm, Klassy.

I'm sad this picture is so small. You can't see the double-knuckle ring that reads "MelisciousB." Goes well with her Paul-Stanley-esque nails.

"There's a party goin' on right here, a celebration to last throughout the years. So bring your good times and your laughter too. We're gonna celebrate and party with you. Come on now - Celebration! Let's all celebrate and have a good time! Celebration - we gonna celebrate and have a good time." Nail fashion by Kool and the Gang.

I like the light gold tips. Pass on the bling though.

This is about as far as I would go. I actually think this is kinda cute.

Please enjoy this budgetus interruptus.

How to Blow Your Beauty Budget

I want to preface this blog post with this: I felt absolutely STUNNING on my wedding day. I think I might have mentioned this fact once or a bazillion times, but seriously, I felt soooooo good. Like, I feel like I knocked it out of the mother-effing park. I cannot remember an occasion in my life where I felt I looked as good as I did on my wedding day. My body felt good (no weird, last minute bloating), my skin looked good (thank you, prescription zit cream) and my hair was exactly as I had envisioned it. I can only hope that all you brides out there get as lucky as I did in regards to feeling so wonderful.

Now, let me tell you about how it cost me an arm and leg to get that way. And, let me also tell you that it was worth EVERY DAMN PENNY.

So y'all know that I had a couple of trials that just didn't work out.

WEDDING TIP #4: If you don't like the end result of your trials - SPEAK UP!

For some reason, when it comes to my hair and my make-up, I am just so unsure about it all. I mean, I wear make-up and I can do my hair to my satisfaction on a daily basis. But when other people do it, I am just in a state of shock or something where I can't speak my mind. I know, hard to believe, right? I think it's why I pay an amount just short of my mortgage to get my hair cut and colored. I trust my stylist because she's really really really good. I just hand over the cash, because I know I won't walk out looking like a total tool. Sadly, my stylist is so good that she doesn't do wedding hair any more. Why work weekends when you don't have to, right? I wouldn't.

So after two failed trials, I was getting desperate. And scared. Tabitha helped me out by suggesting I go to Julie at J.Bangs Salon. Tabitha set up the appointments and really handled all that for me, which was a huge relief. The trial went much better than the other two. You can read about it here.

After the trial, I knew I liked my hair, but it wasn't just exactly right. Tabitha told me not to worry, that we could revise the day of. She was right! It was exactly how I wanted it! I did bring in a final picture to discuss the small changes. Julie was totally down with it.

Hi! Nervous much?

I just love my DIY hair toys.

So here's how the $ all shook out in the end. My first failed trial was free (whew!). My second failed trial was $100. Hm, bummer. My third trial was $130. So now, I've paid $230 to figure out how I want to look. That does seem excessive, yes?

I knew how much the day-of would be (sort of). I know Tabitha told me and I know my heart skipped a little beat when she did, but like any good bride on her third trial, I ignored it. I was happy with Julie and I wasn't going to think about hair and make-up for one second longer. I was planning on having my MOH's hair done too and I knew that would be added on top. I still didn't care.

I had initially planned for all sorts of beauty treatments: facial, massage, all that stuff! Sadly, I just ran out of time. Probably a lot better for my budget in the end. Check it out.

The Mani/Pedi was for both me and my MOH, which I knew I was going to do, but forgot to put in the budget. Oops. Same with including her hair in the mix. I knew I was going to pay for it, but just forgot to budget it in. Oops numero dos.

WEDDING TIP #5: If you have a small wedding party, don't forget to talk to them about day-of beauty way in advance and hold everyone to those decisions. You don't want last minute additions to blow your budget.

I totally didn't do this at all. My mom starting talking to me about having her hair done on the day-of, about a week before the wedding. I just about fainted in the car when she said this! Not good, because I was driving. I was nervous about fitting it in timing-wise and well as budget-wise. I know that she'd end up picking up the tab (or try to) and I didn't want that to happen either. I just didn't want to think about it at that point since the schedule had been made and all that. I assured her that her own skills and the timing of the pictures would be wonderful. On that fact I was absolutely right because my mom looked like a million bucks (no pictures of her yet without the tinted spectacles. Ugh.). Her dress was the most perfect color brown (she matched our color palette!) and she even found great shoes (a challenge for her)!

I never even really talked to my MOH about hair or make-up either. Like what we were going to do and that I was going to pay for it. I should have done that!

So yes. I went WAY over budget on the beauty. Like, 56% over budget. Ouch. But like I said, it was worth every penny for how I felt that day. If you think you might have an area that is going to go over budget - don't kid yourself. Pad the hell out it. If you come in under, sweet.

So, where are you (or did you) pad the budget? Did you need it all or did you save?

Trials....indeed. Part II

I think everyone knows by now that The Thirty-Something Bride leans a little towards the dramatic side at times. Who? Me? ;) Just keep that in mind.

When Tabitha (my day-of go-to girl) set up my trial run with Julie, the owner of J. Bangs Salon in Green Hills, I was a little hesitant. It's a new salon - only open since April. Their website is bare bones right now. I was already nervous. My stress levels are not that of a normal individual.

I headed out to the appointment with an attempt at a care-free attitude. I threw my hair up into The Bradshaw Bun and not wanting to forget my hair toy for the appointment, clipped that into my hair. Pretty! I felt pretty good. I jumped in the go-mobile and headed out to Green Hills. The day was warm and sunny and I had the window down, riding on the freeway with the music up. I continued to feel pretty good. I exited and when I rounded the exit ramp, I saw a flutter from the corner of my eye. Bye-bye hair toy. Yes, it's true. The coveted and recently awarded hair toy from DonnaElla is now, I'm sure, smooshed under an 18-wheeler on I-65 North. Decidedly NOT feeling so good now.

I arrived at J. Bangs a mess. I was disorganized and was trying to carry all this crap into the salon (wedding notebook with all my hair pictures, veil, purse, keys, jewelry, Starbucks - the usual). Tabitha got there at the same time and we walked in together. She could see I was frazzled and I told her that I was so nervous - it was trial number THREE! I mean, come on! Am I that picky? Am I being totally unreasonable? She poo-poo'd me and shoved me towards a chair.

Behind that chair was a breath of fresh air, Ms. Julie Marler. Instead of eyeing me with a look of confusion and fear (as most people do who see me in freak-out mode), she smiled easily and motioned me to sit. Then she offered me a glass of wine. Hell, yes. I was hot and starting to sweat at that point so I asked for white (I generally prefer red). She came back with the most giant glass of white wine and I gulped like half of it down immediately.

We talked about my photos, what I was looking for, what was making me nervous and why I was there. She agreed that we needed to blow me out (curly is decidedly too risky since you can't trust my hair to behave the same way twice - ever) and work from there.

Lisa, my shampoo lady gave me a great wash with a lavender mint shampoo that really relaxed me. It was awesome. After a blowout and a flat iron, Julie went to work on the do.

Here's Julie making the slightest adjustment to the sides that made a big difference in the overall look.

We decided to do a deep side part and sweep all my hair over to the side. The only problem right now is that my hair is in desperate need of a cut and color, so I have crazy frizzy hair all over the place. That will be remedied prior to The Big Show.

Once Julie was done, we tried it out with the veil. Oh no! Because my hair was now on one side, the veil poofed out on one side. I knew I'd be adding a flower hair toy (of which I'm looking for now again) and I thought that would probably add some volume under the veil. Julie grabbed a plumeria from her front desk and tucked it in my hair. Problem solved. The veil looked fine. I brought my jewelry with me too, so put that on, just for good measure. *Please note the nearly empty wine glass. Of course I was smiling!

We moved onto the make-up area and got to work. I needed a little tiny push from Tabitha to tell her what I thought. It was so hard! She started with a dark grey liner on my eyes and I was not digging it. I got the courage to tell her brown and it immediately made a difference! We agreed that we didn't need to use bronzer since it looks orange on my pale-ass skin. It was hard to tell about the blush because there was a little bronzer on me, but I think it will be OK.

Here's the final make-up. I think it looks really good. I felt comfortable in it. I wore it the rest of the day and I felt great all day. When I got home, The Candyman gushed a little. He said that this was definitely my best look, the most pretty and the most me. I think I need to go buy the lipstick from Julie because it was a gorgeous color. I wold have never picked it out myself. I love when stuff like that happens.

We took a sunshine picture and I think the make-up looks good here too. Not too heavy. The only comment about the hair is that it looks a little odd in this shot. That little lump at the bottom is a bit strange! We had been adjusting and tugging and I think it might just be a result of all that. I do think I want the curls to be just a hair looser. Pun intended. :)

I think it looks prettier on this side!

The overall plan is to go in on Saturday and it get it blown out. My hair will be down and straight for the rehearsal, which is AWESOME! Even more awesome is that I don't have to do it. My hair will be colored and trimmed and won't have all the fly-aways. Since my hair was squeaky clean, the little height she gave me in the back immediately fell. She's totally confident that the next day (since my hair will have a day's dirt in it) it will stay put. My hair definitely works better a little dirty, so I'm comfy with that happening.

Overall, I'm really pleased. I'm not even paying attention to how much it will cost in the end because I'm happy. Julie mentioned the cost for the day of hair and I just sort of let it roll in one ear and out the other. Process it and let it go. At this point, if I'm happy with it, it's happening.

And that ladies, it how a budget gets blown. Am I right, or am I right?

Trials....indeed. Part I

I am plagued with the crappiest hair in the world. I can make it look good, but it takes some effort. It's long and I generally wear it back or up in a what I lovingly refer to as "The Bradshaw Bun." In a pinch, it's my best look. I can straighten it, but it takes about 40 minutes to get totally dry and then another 40 minutes with a flat iron. Hence, the The Bradshaw Bun. I just don't have that kinda time to look spectacular every day. Who does?

I have done my own hair a gazillion times for fancy soirees. It takes time and a lot of energy and sometimes undue stress when things don't go my way, follicle-ly speaking. I decided I didn't want to chance that on my wedding day. Luckily, the fiancee of a good friend of mine is a hair and make-up artist for the theater. She offered to do my hair and make-up for me. SWEET! Our schedules and her wedding made it hard to coordinate the timing, but I had a trial run in April.

The way the world works is funny. To keep things more anonymous than not, a few things happened in The Thirty-Something Bride camp that kind of pushed the friend's offer to the side. I felt bad about it, but had to decide who to appease and who not to. :( All told, I think the situation was for the best. I wasn't loving the hair and make-up, but I thought I just wasn't use to wearing make-up. I really don't wear a lot at all. I probably should, but I I have freckles and I feel like too much makeup just makes me look weird.

The brand of make-up that my friend used wasn't all that flattering on me. It looked pretty cake-y after an hour or so. My skin is pretty dry and I think it might have been a more drying make-up. My eyes looked REALLY wrinkly! I think the base color might have been a little too light too which surprises me as I'm so pale my skin might as well be translucent. From the front, my hair didn't really look any different than if I pulled it back into a ponytail. The back was cool though. She had used a hair poof to make it big, although I am not sure I needed it. It gave a lot of volume, but it did feel a tad heavy.


So this was back in April. Trial number two was this month. A few things I'd like to preface and stress right now:

1. All the people who have worked on my hair and make-up are truly talented people.
   
2. I respect many different artistic outlets and hair and make-up is one of these outlets.
   
3. Not everyone likes the same kind of art.
4. As a bride, you need to feel happy with the vendor you pick. You need to feel comfortable and positive and sure.
   
5. As a paying customer, you need to get what you want. Period.
6. I'm sure someone somewhere will disagree with the five points above! However, it's my blog and this is my word to brides on the street. :)

I had trial numero dos with Sherita Leslie. I had the most fun with this chick! We cracked ourselves up and just had a great time. Sherita took her time on my trial and did what I asked her to do. The one thing I wasn't digging was the false eyelashes, so we took them off. I felt better about that. I felt OK about the make-up. Again, I felt I looked better than the first trial, but I was still not-so-sure. I can't explain it. I couldn't explain it at the time because I was fine at the time. It wasn't until several hours later that I realized, it just wasn't me. The Candyman and I went out to dinner and I had the make-up on. We ran into one of my friends and I felt a little odd - like I wasn't who I was supposed to be. That was the clincher for me. Again, I didn't look bad - just didn't feel like me.

I felt like my hair looked good from the back again, but that it was just the same old me from the front. I didn't get that feeling either until later in the afternoon before we went out. I did feel like the make-up was lighter and I felt less dry. One problem was that my eyes went crazy-bananas from the eyeliner under my bottom lashes. I haven't worn eyeliner there in years and I think my eyeballs rejected it. I had runny, red eyes for most of the night. No bueno. No bueno at all.

So the fact that things weren't groovin' on my head doesn't mean I think the person who did it wasn't good. Sherita is great and she comes highly recommended. I would recommend her to others. She's sweet and funny and incredibly professional. I really liked that about her. It kinda made me upset later that I didn't feel incredible about my trial. Since I was upset, I called Tabitha, my day-of planner (duh, who else?).

She stressed to me what I think all brides need to know: You need to feel GREAT. Not good. Not OK. You need to feel fabulous. She (very) quickly pulled some strings and got me into my next trial run. You will have to wait until my next post to see where we went from here.

I'm curious - have any other brides had this much drama around how you feel about something? I mean, the dress creates some more obvious emotions. Does anyone have flower frustrations? Alter anxiety? Venue vexation? Dress depression? Reception resentment? Groom grievances? I could go on and on with this one.....

What to Do with the 'Do?

What the hell am I going to do with my hair? I have no earthly idea. The Candyman likes when I leave it down and pull the front part back into a clip in the back. Not going to happen. My hair cannot be trusted to look smashing when it is down for any length of time unless it is stick straight. It must go up.

Here is what I've got to work with:

• Curly-ish hair that will get pretty curly with a diffuser. If I let it air dry I look like white-trash growing out a spiral perm. You know what I'm talking about, right? It looks bad.
• I have a lot of hair. This surprises people who work with my hair for the first time. It's also thin. Lots of thin hair - great.
  
• I can straighten my hair really easily without frizz or anything, which is nice, but time consuming.
• I kind of want my hair to be curly and natural the day of The Big Show, but I don't trust it to behave. It never does the same thing twice.
  
• I do NOT want any sort of ribbon curl to be found anywhere on my head. I hate them. They make me feel like those horrid dolls that strange, Canadian women collect and display all over the house. They have the frilly petticoats and eyes that follow you. Some people fear clowns. I fear dolls.
  
• I have to have a low bun that is rather large. I say have to but I suppose I don't have to. It's just that a low, large bun hides the fact that my ears stick out. That makes me less self-conscious and that would be good on my wedding day too.
  

Here is a montage of wedding hair that I do not want. I will not credit this photo for fear of someone wanting these hair styles. None of these looks natural at all. It just looks crusty and stiff. I do not want to look crusty and stiff on my wedding day.

Here are some ideas of what I do want for my hair.

This one is a little stiff for me, but I like the braid element.

All photos source.

My hair and make-up trial with Sherita Leslie is on the 8th, so I need some sort of game plan. I do know that the veil needs to be low. The veil is also going bye-bye after the ceremony so the 'do must work with a hair toy after the veil comes off.

I do believe the hair toy issue has been solved.......wait for it......

The Best Lotion Ever

As a kid, I had horrid skin. Simply horrid. It was dry, painfully so. I also had lovely patches of eczema at the insides of my elbows, behind my knees, my wrists - just about any place I could bend.

For a while, the doctors thought I was allergic to water and I was only allowed to take a water bath once a week. Other days I had to use Cetaphil to "wash." Ever meet a 5 year old who wanted to bathe? That was me!

At any rate, it turns out I was allergic to lanolin as well as citric acid (lemonade, ketchup, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, kiwi, tomatoes, etc.). I've outgrown most of these allergies, but I still can't touch anything with lanolin in it. It gives me the skeeves as well as "itchies" (what I used to call my eczema patches).

I used to use this awesome and awesomely expensive lotion called Ala Derm. You can buy it here. I used to buy it by the case. I switched to the cheaper Lubriderm several years ago.

Then a couple months ago, my friend Kathy came to visit and brought me a sample of her "homemade" lotion and I've been using this ever since. It's awesome, I swear. Here's the recipe:

• 1 bottle baby lotion (any brand), 15 oz.
  
• 1 small tub petroleum jelly (the 1.75 oz size, about 2 tablespoons)
  
• 1 4 oz jar Fruit of the Earth Vitamin E Lotion (use this brand!)

Photo courtesy of Amazon.

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer with a whisk attachment, if you have it. Otherwise, just mix with a hand-mixer for several minutes. You need to make sure the petroleum jelly is really mixed in well. You can spoon some of it back into the vitamin E tub. I put it all in a Tupperware container.

If I had a bigger bridal party, I'd definitely be making this, putting it into cute containers and giving them as gifts. I might still do it.