Monday 21 July 2008

The Cloning of a Bride


There's no excuse. It's three weeks since I posted and though in my head I have had plenty to say-i haven't made enough time to commit it to blog. I feel most dissatisfied about that. Having said that-the mother board on my PC finally threw the towel in-it was over ten years old-and it took some time to deal with the shennaningans that ensued. The pay off is a new, shiny, faster model that is making life so much easier.
Today I was taken by another inane article that appered in the Daily Mail entitled Bridal Beauty Tips.


I would love to know if anyone finds these things helpful or if they are simply there to pad out the paper. Here we go: Apparently some brides will go to great lengths to look amazing on their wedding day by having dental work, breast implants, liposuction etc but really, says the article, all you need to do is keep it simple and relax.

1. Don't look too orange-go easy on the fake tan and put your make-up on in natural light

2. Get a good nights sleep-duh!

3. Don't get stressed-it causes spots and greasy skin-use peppermint tea as a toner

4. Keep it natural-your hair that is -down and tonged is suggested-washed well in advance

5. Keep it in place-your veil that is-with grips instead of a veil comb and make sure your hairpiece actually matches the colour of your hair(or it will look rubbish on the photos)

6. Don't have dead ends-cut them off a week before-also ask bridesmaid or similar to carry shine spray with her to refresh you throughout day and night. Honest-it says that.

7.Practise your make-up beforehand. Take photos of it. On the day use a primer and custom blended foundation with extra coverage for photos... and powder on top of that.

Well, it's no wonder that brides get so anxious and stressed with all this fussy, uneccessary palavering. Hairdressers and make up artists -layers of foundation and endless top up spray. Fake tan and hairpieces-why hairpieces? What is with brides and hairpieces?

I agree with keep it simple and relax. Wholeheartedly. But this is not what this piece is about. Just reading it makes me on edge .Firstly the condescending tone of it which is more suitable for teenage readers than intelligent women reading the Daily Mail -and the feeling that it invokes of-there's just so much to think about.

Yes,keep it simple-strip it back to basics. True bridal beauty comes from within. Prepare yourself mentally and emotionally and be your wholesome, natural self on the day-with light make-up -hair that suits you that you feel comfortable with and a clear, calm mind that allows you to be in the moment. You will never have been more radiant and beautiful and not a can of fake tan in sight.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So gald to see you back, Lesley!

And yes, I'm with you. There's no need to hire someone to do your makeup and hair unless that level of primping and pampering is what makes you feel comfortable and relaxed. And hairpieces? Really? Cosmetic surgery? Faux tanning? No, you absolutely don't need any of these things to look good in your wedding photos.

That's part of the problem, I think. Too many people have been convinced that they aren't good looking enough to be in their own wedding albums.

Trust me: your photos will look good because you look like YOU at your happiest.

I love to pull out my wedding album. I did my own hair in a simple style that I knew looked good on me, and did my own makeup. Since I rarely wear makeup, I kept it light and as close to my natural tones as possible. Why did I wear makeup at all? Mostly because I can look a little washed out in photos when I don't, and then I look as though my very black eyebrows are plotting world domination. A little bit of eyeshadow and mascara, a dab of lipstick, and a slight touch of blusher was plenty to make me look my best, and I still look like me in my photos.

Any drastic change in hair and makeup is going to look odd on your wedding day. Don't let someone tell you that your blue-dyed hair is too extreme or you have to cover up your tattoos or that you can't get married without lipstick.

To my eye, there's nothing less attractive in a wedding album than a bride and bridesmaids who wouldn't recognize themselves walking down the street looking like they do in the pictures.

Be you on your wedding day. After all, that's who's getting married.

lesley said...

Completely agree with you-as ever.

I think the problem is that many brides don't know who they are and rather than use the months before they marry to journey within and get to know themselves more-they instead use it to re-invent themselves on the outside and conform to society's expectations of the perfect bride-hence the tan, the surgery, the bridal hair. I often wonder if the bloke at the end of the aisle is thinking-who is this women walking towards me?'

Anonymous said...

I think that's a big part of it. But I also think there's another aspect. The thing weddings and funerals have in common is the fact that nearly everyone planning one hasn't really given much thought to how it's done until they had to plan one.

That makes it easy to bow to 'experts' and people with strong opinions. They seem like they know what they're talking about...and sometimes they do, but at least as often, they don't. Or at least they know what's best for themselves better than they know what's best for you.

That's why I think it's a great idea when possible to take some time getting to know a little about the process before you start planning, just as I think it's good to get to know about yourself before you agree to spend your life with one specific person.