Business in the front...

I don’t really wear makeup. I don’t really know how… For some reason, I didn’t learn in middle or high school like everyone else did. I was too busy with my nose in a book, or playing sports.

Even through college, mascara and a little bit of blush was the extent of my makeup wearing. A pretty serious bout with acne, which I still struggle with, didn’t help matters. It seemed like if I layered the cover-up on, I broke out more. So I stuck to the basics, and never left the house without chapstick. Seriously, the best present I’ve ever received (ok, I’m being dramatic) was a year’s supply of all different types of chapstick.

Anyway, in terms of wedding day makeup, Harrison doesn’t have a lot of doesn’t have a single makeup artist that I’d trust. Seriously, I had my hair cut in Harrison once, right before Mark and Jos’ wedding, and she cut my bangs so short that Erin and I kept joking that I deserved a shirt saying “I’ve been banged in Harrison”.

My facial expression indicates how thrilled I am about the length of my bangs.

(DJ: I’m about to talk about wedding day hair and makeup. I don’t care if you know what I want to look like, really, I don’t. I promise the goal is to look like myself, only better. And not have a mullet.)

And I don’t want to drive to Coeur d’Alene and back the day of my wedding. I don’t need to add to the stress by spending two precious hours in the car.

So, my hair and makeup must be done in Harrison. And I’m turning to my trusted sister to do my makeup. Seriously, she’s good at this whole looking like a girl thing. She’s done my makeup for random things before, and it always looks way better than if I try to smear some on.

Hmm... same shirt. And blurry photo, but you get the idea. Gretchen is always able to put makeup on herself so much better than I am!

That leaves hair… hair hare hare…

First, I want it down. I’m insistent upon it. I look terrible with my hair up on my head. An “up-do” has a tendency to make my head look huge, and I actually have quite a small noggin. And I look bald. We’ll leave the looking bald up to my dad.

Sarah's wedding. Strapless dresses. I look kinda bald. And shiny.

Buuuutttttt… it’ll be hot out (fingers crossed), and I don’t want my hair in my face. Hair down, but not in my face, got that? And I think the portion that is pinned up will be where the veil is attached (more on that later).

Last Saturday I played around by throwing curlers into my hair before going to Chico. And pulled the upper half back with bobby pins. I walked out of the bathroom, and asked DJ how I looked.

Me: “What do you think of the hair?”

DJ: “Uhh…mmmm… ehhhh.”

Me: (laughing) “Well, that’s not a resounding hotness level!”

DJ: “Well… with half your hair back like that, it looks a little…. Business in the front, party in the rear.”

Ladies and gentlemen, my beloved just told me that my wedding-day hair style looks like a mullet.

Fastforward to this morning, which I took off from work since I’m hosting a seminar all day tomorrow. I played around with makeup and hair.

Disclaimer One: This is the most makeup I wear, pretty much ever. I’m pretty sure some of the product I put on my face in these photos I purchased in Lexington, Kentucky more than two years ago. That’s how often I wear a full face of makeup.

Disclaimer Two: We’ve still got a lot of snow on the ground, and it was super sunny, so in my attempt to capture natural light, I look washed out in some of these photos.

First, the results of putting every curler on the stand into my hair:

I tried just pinning up the crown of my hair, with decent results.  

  Then I added the sides, to see exactly how mullet-y it got.
 

 

 Finally, I realized that I’d been shooting the photos in our north-facing bedroom window, and I should try to see what the whole getup looked like in south facing light.

Hmm…. Not too shabby. Not too mullet. Easy to throw a few more pins in at pop it all onto my head for later?


Whatya think?

We’re working on more hair and makeup when my mom and sister come to visit in March. Any suggestions for makeup that doesn’t feel super heavy and would be good for a hot day in July?