Lash lifts are usually (hopefully) preformed by a beauty professional. It is the technique of manipulating your natural lash around a silicone shield, using a semi permanent perming solution, to change the formation or bend. This gives your lashes a lifted more open appearance. 

Sounds awesome right !?

On a day-to-day basis this is amazing. So why NOT get a lash lift on your big day ???

Here’s my reasoning….. 

I am a huge advocate for individual false lashes for bridal makeup (even over permanent lash extensions) and often, the degree of curl that is achieved with a lash lift is too intense compared to the curl of the false lash being applied, resulting in the lash not sitting neatly on the lash bed and not blending with your natural lash. In some instances, they are impossible to apply at all. 

Spread the word to your bridal party too ! If you want “lashes” don’t get a lash lift .

Not hair and makeup related ! 
YOU DON’T KNOW, WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW, UNTIL YOU KNOW ( THAT YOU DON’T KNOW IT!! )
The wedding day morning is such a special, sacred part of a wedding day and should be as zen and stress- free as possible ( my personal goal!) I have a unique perspective on how the morning flows……Here are a few things, that I see pop up on a regular basis that cause a little tension and with some forethought, could be easily avoided . 
IDEA- delegate to one of your tribe, the following points:

1. Steam bridesmaids dresses AT LEAST, the night before ! So many times I see fabrics not respond the way you might imagine on the day! I know that sounds so random …. But it’s a thing ! I can understand thinking that you have ALLLL morning to do these last little tasks, but the morning flys ! Also, if your dress has a specific “multi wrap” configuration to it….. practice all tying scenarios before hand . The Multi Wrap dress can look fantastic but they can be a god dam puzzle 😂 Usually you don’t get dressed until the last minute and it’s too late to realise you have no idea how to get the dress tied up.
2. Bring nail polish remover and a universal nail polish colour ! There’s always 1 ! 😂 and to be fair, it’s not always because someone has “forgotten” to paint their toes or fingers…. unforeseeable chips and smudges do happen ! Having a neutral colour is a must .
3. Learn how to pin a “button hole” or “boutonnière”. I get asked 9 times out of 10 ( how to button dads flower to his suit) and I keep meaning to learn! So I just watched this little tutorial 👇🏻

https://youtube.com/watch?v=r0n3x7gani0&feature=share
Pass it on to the groomsman as well ! 

Generally speaking, on your wedding day you will want to look “flawless”.But what does the word flawless mean to you?Your idea of “flawless” may be different to the next person and that of the next . It’s a pretty obvious statement, but I see it demonstrated with each new client and the ever changing “ideal” is my most favourite and sacred parts of my job. I will give you a very rudimentary analogy !Take freckles for instance….you may dislike your freckles ! Your idea of “flawless” might mean that you want every last freckle on your face to be covered? (P.S I love freckles just saying ….) OR you might love your freckles and having a light coverage foundation, that looks super natural so that you can still see your skin, is your thing.My job, is to use my skill set to make you, look like “you” but at your absolute best on your biggest day ever, while achieving your idea of flawlessness. This is really where the Lit-from-within theory begins! You want to feel comfortable on your wedding day and this will only happen if you feel like you.

Be your own kind of beautiful
With feeling comfortable comes feeling confident and nothing radiates flawless beauty more than that! (Mic drop)

Photo: Danilo Hess

We’re starting how early?

In terms of having hair and makeup done on your wedding day morning, you can never have too much time! As a loose rule of thumb: the photographer, will arrive to us at our “getting ready” location, 90 mins before the ceremony (depending on travel time to the ceremony location and whether you’re having “1st look” photos) At this point, the hair and makeup team, plan to be finalising “finishing touches”.While we wrap up, photographers will be capturing shots of you in the makeup chair and your bridal party having a champagne in your robes. Also of the bridal gown before you put it on, your shoes, jewellery, perfume and all of the little details before they come together as one final vision . I work backwards from the time the photographer arrives, to achieve our start time. Depending on how big your bridal party is, that can sometimes be early! (or earlier than you thought) The start time, can sound like an early start, but the morning really does fly and you’d prefer to have too much time than not enough.The morning, should be remembered as a calm, relaxing, stress free part of the day and as my 5 year old daughter likes to say “beauty takes time”.What I like to do in consultation with my bride, is to sketch out a time table. The bride generally is scheduled last in most cases, so you can have a sleep in (or try to have a “sleep in” in any case) and rest assured that I have a clear timeline for everyone to follow! 

My solution:

1. I always do a timetable no matter how big or small the bridal party is. 
2. I rarely take more than 1 wedding in a day so that time is only ever dictated by what time you need to be ready by.

Myth or Legend ?

Flashback, is when you look at a photo of yourself and you have a ghostly white cast or patches of powder that show up above all else. Or your face simply looks as though, you accidentally chose a foundation 3 shades too light in comparison to your body. Every now and then in the fashion mags you’ll see a photo of a celebrity in the “hits and misses” category sporting this makeup blunder. This phenomenon is called flashback and is often caused by SPF sunscreen or powders that contain titanium dioxide within the foundation or powder. So the question remains – how do I avoid flashback??!! The short answer is, that this is only a problem in “flash photography”; weigh up the need for SPF protection v’s the amount of flash photography used. Speak to your photographer and makeup artist about your needs for the day, because this is definitely something you want to avoid!!

To be, or not to be, that is the question?

I get asked quite often “do I need to have a trial”? The short answer is no (with that being said……) You’re not wrong in thinking that its main purpose is to “check out” your hair / makeup artist and to make sure that they can achieve your desired look and indeed, that your desired “look” actually looks good. I believe it’s important for other reasons too, it helps the stylist know exactly what your expectations are on the day.

Your stylist will record the products and techniques used at the trial so that on the day there are no surprises and the wedding morning runs like clockwork! Equally important, as I have mentioned a few times already, it’s nice to start a relationship before the date and I believe this lessens your nerves in the lead up. If having a trial is not possible and sometimes it can simply be a geographical reason, pick up the phone, email back and forth, start a shared Pinterest board. A good hair/ makeup artist will answer your questions and an excellent stylist will welcome being a part of your journey.

My solution, for the scenario in which a Bride cannot commit to a trial, is to offer a “complimentary catch up” coffee date here on the Peninsula, to chat all things weddings and if that doesn’t suit we can always ZOOM ( now that I am an expert after lock down homeschooling 🙂

Photo: Iryna Matyash design