Along with everyone else in America, I am trying to figure out ways to save money and still get good quality products.  One of the areas where my spending tends to be a bit exorbitant is beauty products.  For years, I have worn only Clinique makeup.  It doesn’t break me out, and I am happy with the product.  However–a few weeks ago, I had to buy a new mascara and lip gloss.  That ran me $34 something!  EEEK!  I am ready to try some different products and see if I can find things I like that are a little more budget-friendly.

In answer to my unspoken quest, Good Morning America has done a couple of segments on the steals their makeup artist finds at drugstores.  Get this–all of the products listed are $10 or less!  Hallelujah!  Now, as I run out of makeup, I will be replenishing with less expensive products and see how that goes.

Check out the link, and play along with me.  What woman couldn’t use some great makeup products for under ten bucks?

     Wedding day beauty details can be overwhelming and expensive.  Do you have your makeup done or do it yourself?  Wear your hair up or down?  Try artificial nails or get a manicure?  Consider tanning beds, spray tans, or the natural look for your skin?  I wrestled with all of these questions, probably more than necessary, so I would like to share my discoveries and what worked for me.

• HAIR:  I don’t believe the wedding day is the best time to unveil a dramatic change to your hair.  For example, I think it’s a bit extreme  to get hair extensions for your wedding day, if people are used to seeing you with shorter hair.  I have drastically changed my hair color before and had friends and family struggle to recognize me.  You do not want your guests worried that they are at the wrong wedding.  So, subtle changes to the hairstyle/hair color are best.  I do think it is well-worth the money to pay someone to do your hair for the wedding.  Most women do not have the expertise to integrate a veil, tiara or headpiece into their hairstyle of choice.  Go over the details with your stylist, and if the style is complex, schedule a time to do a “dry run” of your wedding day look.  No matter how short your hair is or what the style, make sure you have plenty of hairspray and bobby bins.  Bobby pins are essential.  On my wedding day, my tiara/hair looked great when I left the salon.  I spent the rest of the day preoccupied that my tiara was going to work it’s way off my head. 
• MAKEUP:  It’s embarrassing to admit, but I did obsess about makeup.  Should I do it myself or pay someone else to do it?  I was worried that I would be too nervous to make very smooth application.  So, I had a makeup artist work on my face a few weeks before my wedding to see if I wanted to go that route.  I liked what she did, but it was so much more makeup than I was used to wearing–a different line of makeup and all different shades.  It would have been very expensive to buy the makeup I would have needed to reapply throughout the day, and pay for the service.  Plus, fitting in time for hair and makeup would have made me pressed for time, which I did not want to be.  I chose to do my own makeup, which I was very happy with.  The only purchases I made were for a better concealer (I’m a fan of Laura Mercier.) and waterproof mascara.
• NAILS:  In most of the wedding pictures I saw in bridal magazines and photographers’ books, the bride had artificial nails with a french manicure.  This did not appeal to me because I thought it was overdone, and just looked too fake.  I didn’t do much better.  I went with artificial nails trimmed shorter, and painted a color close to the claret color of the bridesmaids’ dresses.  This worked okay for me, because due to time, I could not fit a manicure in the day of the rehearsal, and I was worried about chipping.  It has taken almost a year for my nails to look normal again.  Artificial nails are very bad for your real nails.  Also, if you are not used to them (even if you are) you run the risk of breaking one on the day of the wedding, and then you have one more thing to stress out about.  I think it would have been just as pretty, and perhaps more elegant, to simply paint my nails myself in a pale shade of pink or beige.  Light colors do not show flaws, and look very feminine.
• TANNING:  First of all, consider the month of the wedding.  Unless you are getting married during the summer, most people in your wedding party are probably not going to have a deep, dark, tropical tan.  Therefore, I am an advocate of going natural with the skin tone.  If it is summer or you are self-conscious  about being pale, try a spray tan.  Some salons also offer an application of sunless tanner as a service. 
  

  The girls getting ready to walk down the aisle!