A Guide to Looking Beautiful For your Big Day

In the weeks leading up to your wedding day, there is so much to be done on your part. I've put together a handy guide that's easy to follow and makes putting your best face forward a no brainer.

Skincare

*When it comes to makeup, having great skin is more than half the battle. If you haven't already begun, start by establishing a good skin care regimen tailor made for your skin type.

*If you have dry skin, don't use harsh scrubs or drying cleansers and toners. Instead, invest in a cream cleanser, an age defying or specifically made for dry skin toner. The bulk of your investment should go into a fabulous cream that will make your skin glow.

*If you have oily skin, a gel or powder cleanser is your best bet. An oil absorbing toner will rid your skin of excess oils and an oil-free gel or light cream moisturizer will give your skin the boost of moisture it needs.

*Try to schedule regular facials to keep breakouts at bay. If that isn't an option for you, opt for a "home made" facial. After cleansing, grab a large mixing bowl and fill it with hot water. Lean over the bowl and put a towel over your head to trap the steam, and remain that way for about 5 minutes. This will allow the steam to open your pores to allow the next steps to penetrate to a deeper (and more effective) layer.
Next, follow with a toner and then use a purifying mask to draw any impurities out. Allow to dry for 10 minutes. Rinse and apply your moisturizer.
By following this routine once a week, your skin will be in tip-top shape in no time.

Daily Care

*Be sure to use a sunscreen everyday to protect from sun damage and hyper-pigmentation. Whether it be a cream, gel or even powder sunscreen make sure it's a minimum of SPF 15.

*While it may be a pain to wash your face twice a day, make sure you at least manage to wash it at night. Dirt and free radicals that age your skin accumulate on your face during the day, so make sure you spare 5 minutes at the end of your day to treat your skin well.

*Beautiful and glowing skin comes from the inside out. Make sure to drink plenty of water and work in some fruits and vegetables into your everyday meals.

I hope our brides-to-be find this a helpful guide to prepare your skin for a very Special Day

__________________
Rebecca Liceaga
Professional Makeup Artist
www.bridalmakeupartists.com
On-Location Bridal Beauty Services
Serving Southern California
Visit my blog at http://bridalmakeupartists.blogspot.com

What not to do the day before your wedding...

I have compiled a small list of "Beauty Dont's" that a bride should never do the day before her wedding. I hope it is as informative as it is entertaining

Face

*Wax/Thread/Overpluck eyebrows (or any part of your face for that matter!)
-This should be done a at least three days before your wedding day (5 days is optimal), to allow for any redness, swelling and sensitivity to vanish. It's also not the time to try that "new dramatic" brow look you've always wanted to try.

*Trying out that new self-tanner
-If you've never tried it before, this certaintly would not be the time.

*Glycolic Peels, Microdermabrasion or Pore Refining Facials
-In short, you could have scabs, redness, breakouts and iritated skin as a result of these procedures. Believe me, it's loads of fun using liquid bandaid to apply over scabs so that makeup will at least adhere to the brides skin

*Eyebrow bleaching/lightening
-Unless you do this on a regular basis, it's best to have this done a couple of days before the wedding. Some women's brow hair will turn orange if bleached, even slightly. If this happens, at least you can try and get an appointment to have some color thrown on top of it.


Body

*Mystic Tan
-If you have mystic tan freshly applied, color may come off on your clothes...like a wedding dress.

*Get a Brazilian Wax*
-This should be done a few days prior to the wedding. If you've never had it done, the day before is not the day to experiment...you do want to be able to walk down the aisle, right?

*Laser hair treatment
-I will leave it at that.

*Nair
-Even if you do a patch test, you could break out in horrible red bumps on your legs (especially if you leave it on longer then the recommended time)


Hair

*Extensions

*A "trim"

*A perm

*Highlights

*Anything that alters the chemical makeup of your hair.

If anyone has anything else to add to the list, please post!

__________________
Rebecca Liceaga
Professional Makeup Artist
www.bridalmakeupartists.com
On-Location Bridal Beauty Services
Serving Southern California
Visit my blog at http://bridalmakeupartists.blogspot.com

Spring 2009 Bridal Makeup Trends

It's that time of year again. New Spring color collections are coming out from our favorite makeup lines and we see what will be the bridal makeup trends. I've done my research and found some fun and lovely products that I think will be a big hit with brides who are getting married this spring

Trend: Peach/Coral Tinted Cheeks
While summer generally leans towards bronzed cheeks, spring brings a more subdued hue and the color of the moment is a peachy coral. This is a great color for every skin tone as it adds warmth and color without the "fake bake" look that bronzers can sometimes give.

Hot Products:

*Benefit "Coralista" - If you love the other face powders in Benefit's expansive collection (Dallas, Georgia, Throbbb, etc.) you will love Coralista. It's a great product for a pinch of peach color on your cheeks and has a light fruity fragrance.

*NARS "Super Orgasm"- One of the most famous blushes of all time is undoubtedly the legendary Orgasm from NARS. Super Orgasm is an updated and decidedly better version of the blush we all know and love. NARS added an extra dash of pigment and just an extra hint of the dreamy golden sparkle.

Trend: Pops of color on the eyes
While we do see washes of pastels on the eyes as a favorite look for spring often, the looks on the runway were noticeably brighter and the colors carried a heavier application of the beloved pastels.

Hot Products:

*Sephora "Moroccan Sunrise Palette" - This palette contains 5 silky and highly pigmented shadows in shades that range from a pearly cream, to a stunning sienna and a lovely deep eggplant. These coordinating colors allow you create a lighter look for day or a decidedly more smoldering evening option.

*Urban Decay Primer Potion in "Sin" - For many pro makeup artists, Urban Decay Primer Potion is one of the best eyeshadow primers you can get. It prevents shadows from creasing and allows the colors to stay true to color all day. Urban Decay has added to their inventory by coming out with a new primer potion in Sin. This is a sparkling champagne toned hue that will give warmth and a slight shimmery to any combination of shadows placed on top. In my opinion a must have for the spring!

Trend: Pink-toned Lips

While you may have visions of Barbie pink running through your mind at the mention of pink color lips, I assure you that the look for spring is much more sophisticated than that. This pink is meant to enhance the natural pink hue of your lips. Throw in a dash of glossy goodness and you will have a pout that will pair perfectly with the more colorful eye and cheek looks for the seaosn.

Hot Products:

*Dior Addict Lip Color in "Undressed Pink" - A shy and coy pink that has the slightest peach undertone that pairs perfectly with the coral cheeks the models were sporting at the runway shows.

*Too-Faced Girls Dig Pearls Lip Gloss in "Mermaid" - Wear it on top of a lovely lipstick or wear it alone, Mermaid is a gorgeous beigey-pink that will allow the bolder eye colors of the season to shine and still give a gorgeous pink glow to the lips.

Press Release: Bridal Makeup Artists.com Receives 2009 Brides Choice Awards From Wedding Wire

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3rd, 2009

Contact:
Rebecca Liceaga / (562)480-1006
Rebecca@Bridalmakeupartists.com



Bridal Makeup Artists.com Receives 2009 Brides Choice Awards From Wedding Wire

LOS ANGELES, CA-WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Bridal Makeup Artists.com has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™.

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US.

President, Founder and Key Makeup Artist for Bridal Makeup Artists.com, Rebecca Liceaga, began her makeup artistry career in December of 2000. Starting off in retail, Rebecca soon realized her artistic talent and love for the makeup artistry field and decided to start her own bridal hair and makeup artistry business to beautify people of all races and walks of life.

In addition to making her brides look elegant and dazzling, Rebecca has also done hair and makeup for celebrities, numerous advertising campaigns, commercials, infomercials and photo shoots for several advertising agencies in the Southern California area. Her work can be seen not only on the radiant faces of happy brides, but also in fashion shows and magazine spreads.

Bridal Makeup Artists.com has had the honor of receiving the Fox 11 Hot List Award for one of Los Angeles Best Bridal Beauty Businesses for two consecutive years. Bridal Makeup Artists.com is also currently one of Southern California’s top bridal beauty businesses, booked up to two years in advance during the peak wedding season.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

Unlike other awards in which the company selects winners, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“ It is such an honor to be recognized by our wonderful brides and to know that we made such a positive impact on what is undoubtedly one of the most important days in a person’s life,” beams Liceaga, “It makes what my team and I do that much more special and why we love our work.”

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How To Achieve A "Fun" Makeup Look While Still Looking Classic

Hello Brides-to-be!
I recently received a question from a summer bride asking how she can have an "updated and fun" makeup look while still maintaining a classic appearance. I have a few suggestions any bride can incorporate into their own look :)

Add a "splash" of color to your eyes

By adding a wash of a brighter color to your eyes, you automatically up the "fun" factor. The key to maintaining a sophisticated look is by making sure you literally apply a thin wash of color to your lid and crease. Then, simply pair it with some liner (a slightly darker color similar to the shadow shade and smudged out will look absolutely stunning!) mascara and complete the look with soft lips and cheeks and you will look absolutely radiant. Some beautiful soft colors that have great pigment and blend very easily are from Nixie Cosmetics (www.nixiecosmetics.com) and a few of my personal favorites are:
*Deep Coral
*Evergreen
*Majestic
*Blue Sea
*Moss

Nixie also carries multi use pigment powders that you can mix with your foundation to add a subtle shimmer, add to your body lotion and and apply to your decollete, or just add a touch to your cheekbones, the ridge of your nose and just below your bottom lip for an absolutely radiant glow. Some great colors are:
*Almond
*Firefly
*Flirty
*Affection

Let your lips be noticed

You can also allow your lips to be the center of attention by applying a rich lip color. It's a slightly unexpected twist, but when paired with soft neutral eyes accented with crisp eyeliner and perfectly groomed brows, this look will not only be updated and fun but romantic and fresh as well. Nixie also makes some great lip products, and one of my favorites is their lips stains. These colors will last all day and give a natural, flushed look. And added bonus: You can thinly apply the stains to your cheek for a coordinating look that will stay fresh and dewy. Colors to consider are:

*Cinnamon
*Pink Pout
*Raspberry Delight
*Sunset

These are two ways one can add a bit of creativity and uniqueness in their bridal makeup while still looking radiant and feminine. Keep the questions coming ladies as I am always available to answer them!

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How to Decide What "Look" To Have on Your Wedding Day

Hello Brides-to-be!
Today's blog will cover different makeup "looks" and which one you should go with for your wedding day. There are lots of different looks ranging from natural, to bronzed, to smokey. It all depends on your personality, location of your wedding, time of the year and even the color palette of your wedding. Here is how I go about helping to choose a look for a brides.

*Questions to Consider*
1) What time of the year am I getting married?
Unless you don't wear much makeup and you just want a clean, natural look, you are going to have to decide exactly what look you want to go for. If you are thinking a beautiful "Bahama Bronzed" look, but your wedding is in February (and not in some tropical locale) you may want to reconsider. 90% of Brides that get married in the winter months tend to either choose a color palette that is "wintery" (silver, white, baby blue, light pink, pearl, etc.) or if they are getting married in February they will choose a more "romantic" palette (red, wine, cream, black, white, eggplant, etc.) If you fall into this category, you may want think about choosing a makeup look that incorporates these colors. For instance, if you are going to have a wedding with red, cream and black, you could go with a dark red or wine colored lipstick, a pretty mauve cheek color and simply but defined eyes with black liner for your look. Or, if you have the more wintery color palette you could go soft on the lips and cheeks with a light lipcolor and do a more smokey eye.

2) Where am I getting married?
If it's the spring and you are getting married outside in the morning, you may have a slightly different look to consider. You will probably keep the focus on your eyes with dark liner and a soft wash of color on your eyelids matched with dewy, glowing skin. Or, if it's summer time and you are getting married in the afternoon, a bronzed "healthy" look is the one that suits you the best.

Next, how exactly do you make these different looks work for you?

I usually stick to the rule of thumb that if you are playing up your eyes, you will probably want to keep the cheeks and lips more neutral. Reason being, if you have gorgeous smokey eyes with false lashes that just make your eyes "pop", you don't want your cheeks and lips competing by wearing a dark blush and dark lips. It also looks too overdone unless you are on stage. So I have compiled a small guideline when trying to create the "picture perfect" look for your Big Day.

Smokey Eyes
*This generally consists of 3-4 eyeshadow colors that are blended and "smoked" out to give the illusion of more depth of the eye and it gives the air of dramatisicm. False eyelashes and black/dark brown eyeliner are usually attributed to this look. Softly colored cheeks (light pink/light bronze) and soft, nude lips are what compliment this look perfectly. This look can work anytime of the year and can be adjusted to ones feautures and complexion.

"Bronzed Baby"
*Think J-Lo. Bronzed, glowing skin and alluring eyes are what make this look work. A cream or liquid bronzer is generally mixed into the foundation to make the skin look soft and glowy. Bronze is then applied to the face where the sun would naturally hit it, giving a "just tanned" lift to the face. Light lips in the gold, apricot and bronze family are used sparingly and brown and bronze shadows are mixed to give an exotic and refreshed look. False eyelashes may or may not be used in conjunction with brown or bronze eyeliner. June to August is the best time of year to try this look.

Autumn Sun
*Rich, warm and jewel colored tones are used in this look. Eyes come alive with shades of sapphire, emerald, onyx or aubergine incorporated with soft neutrals to make a bold statement. Lips and cheeks are given a "flushed" look, and false eyelashes are almost always used to perfect the look. August through November is the most popular time of year for this particular look.

Snow White
*This is where more intense lips and cheeks are the focus by using reds, wines, burgendies or merlot colors, the eyes soft and neutral, and defined only by the use of black / dark brown eyeliner and "natural"looking false lashes for added thickness. This look is used most often by Brides getting married in the Winter months.

Spring Pixie
*This is where the skin looks healthy and refreshed, complimented with dewy peach colored blush, peachy-pink glossed lips and beautiful pastel colors used as a "wash" on the eyelids to give a subtle hint of color. Liner is used very thinly and is not smoked out, while lashes are lenghted and curled to give a "wide eyed" look of innocense. Very popular with spring-time Brides who are having an outdoor wedding.


Next time we will discuss the importance of matching makeup colors to your hair , jewelry selections and wedding color theme.

Until Then!

Rebecca

Visit Rebecca's On-location Bridal Beauty Service at www.bridalmakeupartists.com Currently serving Southern California

Wedding Day Makeup Tips and Advice-Colors

Hello Again!
Last week I wrote about foundations and powders that were appropriate for photography, and tips to make sure you look flawless on your wedding day. Today, I would like to focus on makeup colors and complimenting jewelry types. I will also include a little advice on how to determine your "color category". Believe it or not, the category that you fall in should determine what your wedding colors should be, the color makeup you wear and the type of jewelry you should use.
Many people don't realize that hair coloring, eye coloring, skin coloring and undertones determine what category we fall into. The three categories are as follows: Warm, Cool and Neutral. Those who fall under the "warm" category generally have golden blonde, strawberry blonde, red, orange-red, auburn,golden brown, chestnut brown, chocolate brown and espresso colored hair. To go along with those hair colors, they will also have brown eyes with specks of gold, hazel, green or blue eyes with gold and/or brown specks. People with warm coloring also have green veins and a golden undertone. "Cool" colored people have platinum blonde, ash blonde, "dirty"blonde, ash brown, light brown, medium brown, and dark brown hair colors that do not reflect any golden or reddish colors in the sun. Those who are cool will also have "black" brown eyes that have little to no silvery flicks, dark brown eyes that have silver flecks, green eyes that have silver flecks and blue eyes that have silver flecks. Those who have these combinations of hair and eye colors will generally have blue colored veins and rosy/pink undertones. "Neutral" color types will have "mousy" brown hair, plain dark brown hair, and black hair. They will also have "black" brown eyes and dark brown eyes that are free of silver or gold flecks. The coloring of the veins are a little hazy, sometimes seeming blue, sometimes seeming green, and an olive type of undertone that "shouts" neither cool or warm. Now that i've classified the different types of color categories, I can elaborate on what colors and looks to consider for your wedding.

Warm Colors

Once you have assesed yourself as being "warm", you can begin to think about what colors you want to use on yourself for your wedding. Now, I know that from the day you start planning your wedding you will probably have a certain color scheme set in your heart. However, if you are a classified as a warm, I don't suggest using powder blue and baby pink, or silver and mint green. Colors that would be beautiful are chocolate brown, salmon pink, dusty rose, black, teal, lime green, sage green that's on the more yellow side, sapphire blue, garnet, burgundy, wine, emerald green, amethyst purple, ruby red, gold, cream, turquoise, and white.

Colors for your makeup can range from light and pretty to bronzy with bright color accents. For example, if your wedding colors and chocoalte brown and dusty rose, then your makeup can reflect that. You can wear a dusty rose colored lipstick, blush, and contour your eyes with the blush or a similar eyeshadow color, then use a chocolate brown on the outer corners of your eyes to accent, and follow up with a dark brown eyeliner and black mascara. If you are a little more daring and your wedding colors are cream and teal, you could use a tan lipstick with caramel colored lipgloss, lightly bronzed cheeks, a skin colored eyeshadow as your base, contoured with a tan colored eyeshadow and a dash of teal eyeshadow on the outer corners with matching eyeliner and black mascara. These are merely suggestions, a trained makeup artist can work on finding a look that is perfect for you.

As far as jewelry goes, make sure you use yellow gold jewelry. Silver, white gold and platinum jewelry should be reserved for cool or neutral color types. Gold jewelry with pearls will also look beautiful.


Cool Colors

Great cool colors for wedding colors are powder blue, baby pink, mint green, silver, white, easter yellow, teal with more blue than green, lilac, kelley green, aquamarine, black, lavendar, royal blue, sage green that's on the more minty side, and a blood red or blue based red.

Makeup colors will follow a similar trend as with warm: If your wedding colors are silver and sage green, then you could wear a soft pink or a baby pink, cool pink blush and light pink base eyeshadow color on your lid, a slightly darker pink in your crease and a sagey green color on the outer corners...or for the more daring, you could put a sage green on your lid and a darker green or smokier black on the outer corners with black eyeline and black mascara.

Silver, white gold and platinum are the best metals for cool colored people.

Neutral Colors

Well, if you were one of the people that fell into the neutral catergory...LUCKY YOU!!! People who are neutral can wear either warm OR cool colors and can pretty much have thier wedding colors be anything they want! They also don't have to worry about what type of metal thier jewelry is set in. So the advice that I can give to you neutrals is to chose whether you like cool colors or warm colors, and then use the advice from those sections to plan from there.

Next time, I will post about makeup looks, such as natural, bronzed, brightly colored or smokey looks.

If you live in the Southern California area and you are interested in getting your makeup done by a professional makeup artist, You can contact me for a trial bridal makeover at www.bridalmakeupartists.com

Until Then! :D

Rebecca