This week has been insane! i have been preparing to travel to Charlotte for a full blown, all out, no holds bared beauty weekend! This weekend, once a year, I direct the North and South Carolina International Pageant! Its a work in progress all year with the culmination of it all this weekend! I will be posting some fun event photos and you might catch me in action! B fore I leave for the weekend I wanted to give you a quick Bridal Beauty on a Budget for the week. I have been holding onto this all week now! Its a rare find, and I am thriiled.
No coupon needed for this one. Walgreens is offering in the flyer until Sunday 50% off Broadway Press on Nails and Kiss Eyelashes. I love these sales because these items are a GREAT way to save money and time! I will talk about the nails coming up. But I keep a few sets of these nails in my closet and of course the eyelashes for upcoming events and more. Its a huge money saver and they look fantastic on.
I will talk a bit more about them in my upcoming Bridalicious! Happy Shopping!!

My friend Kacie Lynch of Kacie Lynch Photography sent me over a facebook message a few weeks ago and asked me if I would like to be a part of a Vintage style "Trash the Dress" session! I was not sure what a Trash the Dress session really was? Kacie explained to me that it is a photo session post-Wedding where the Bride will get photos done in places she would have NEVER thought about doing before hand since it would surly ruin her dress. Places like under water, in the rain, and so forth. The twist was that she was shooting a vintage style Trash Session! So I would be doing makeup for a vintage style look. In my research I found that women of the 40's loved Glamour and Mascara!
Eye shadow was not so difficult and really just shadowing the crease, avoiding the brow bone, keeping a creamy undertone to almost a fleshy beige color completed the eye shadow. To complete the look it was black liquid eyeliner on the upper lids ,and sweep up to create an arch for that sexy and glamorous touch,  then tons of black mascara for the top lashes. False eyelashes were also used in abundance to give that increased glamour! I also found that women would fill in their eye brows even making them wider and fuller. Topped with Red Lips, the 40's vintage look is a classic modestly sexy starlet, with an innocent attitude in my opinion.
 
Keeping ALL of this in mind I had a GREAT time giving our Bride Emily the "look" she desired!

One of my favorites! I love this!

Countdown- 2 weeks!

This week I would suggest maintaining full speed ahead on all of this ideas that we have previously talked about. YOUR almost there!Take a HOT bath tonight! Prepare for the week with your facial and hair masques!

This week, each day before you get in the shower, use your WHITE Stripes before you jump in. Plan to leave them on per manufacture suggestions. Personally, I cannot tolerate using them everyday. So I alternate days (which is why i give you two weeks for this). I also use a whitening rinse to give me extra punch!

DRINK LOTS of water this week and try cutting to just 30 minutes of light cardio. Just to keep your body moving and stress free. Yoga in the Am would be a refreshing change? Comcast TV offers a variety of different exercise programs "On Demand!"

Start to PACK! Start packing needs for your big day! Make sure to pack your beauty needs! Things I always suggest to Brides to pack for beauty:

• Your favorite lip color your using for your ceremony (try a colorstay)
• A light refreshing body spray, its been told to me that anything with Lavender helps calm senses...why not try finding something at Bath and Body Works with a scent like that- One of my favorites is Moon Light Path!

• A loose or pressed powder. After the ceremony, you may want to refresh your make-up and just dab on some loose or pressed powder. 
• Make sure to pack Band-Aides for tired feet 
• Aspirin or Tylenol for head and body aches and maybe a "night time" version with a light sleep aid for the "night before the wedding" when you will be hard up for SLEEP! 

Enjoy your week its almost the big day!!

This week has flown by so fast that I can hardly keep up! I had planned to give you Bridal Beauty on a Budget on Tuesday, but Ed's video was too nice to pass up!

So, THIS WEEK! You should be getting your Crest White Strips as we talked about on Sundays BLOG post!

Now, i have saved SEVERAL $10 off coupons for Crest White Strips and I have a flyer from Walgreens saying that they are giving $10 off as well. So That is a $20 BUCK savings! hard to beat! Now for My bragging rights.....  I arrived at Walgreens this past weekend, found the small clearance section in the back of the beauty isle and low and behold 3 sets of Ardell Lashes!!! Marked down from $4.50 to $1.07!!! WOW these are a Bridal Beauty on a Makeup Artist Budget FIND! These are the lashes I use for Bridal Makeup!
I ALSO scored another Maybeline 16 hour Colorstay at Target for $1.37. YEP it had been marked down 4 times!! They are making way for the SuperStay Lip Color, so get to Target to see if you might be able to score yourself one!

I just got this little gift from Ed Ip. This is a little look into a behind the scenes photo shoot!! This is in Richmond VA! and YOU TOO can get in on all the fun! Book a session with Ed and myself today!

ENJOY!

Week 3

I hope you are enjoying our 4 week countdown to being a fabulous Bridalicious BRIDE!  Last week we began a 4 week count down on must do beauty ideas to get you ready for the big day. Now at 3 weeks, we have some more things to talk about!

3 weeks from the big day Skin Care:

Night Time Renewal

Sugar Lip Scrub for moist lips!

• Visit a local spray tan salon this very week!
• Start by going on Monday(tomorrow). I have found that often times salons offer deals or 1/2 price sprays on Mondays! Dont hesitate to call around and ask? You can save at least 1/2 the cost for your trial spray with just a little investigation.
• If you are planning to go, make sure to exfoliate really well in the shower before you leave. Put your hair up and head out for the salon.
• Most salons offer levels of shades. Shade 1=light; Shade 2=medium;shade 3=dark. The attendant at the salon should be able to advise you as to which shade would work best with your skin tone. But, I may suggest, stick with light to med. for your Wedding day. Just a hint of color would be your best choice, you really do not want to look like you just got back from Jamaica. You may be going there after the Wedding, but not before. :)
• Your tan should last you all week. Think about a few things while your enjoying your "new" golden bronze look. Does it smell funny? Does it look natural? Does it rub off on your clothing, How much comes off in the shower? Does your fiancee think it looks nice? Does it wear off well?  These are very important factors, when you are considering doing it before your BIG Wedding Day. You will need to answer these questions to decide if you should get it done, and how long before the Wedding day? The day before? Two days before? It all depends on how it wears off and smells?
• Lastly, give your MAKEUP ARTIST a heads up about your Spray Tan! Let them know that you will be getting one, so that they can adjust foundations as needed. You may require a shade darker mix if you are darker than your original consult. :)

WEEK 3 HAIR

You should be continuing with your Hair Masque and extra special shampoo and conditioners. This week you may have noticed a nice change in your hair, with the special care you have been giving it. Continue on the same path. Tonight should be a deep conditioning treatment as we discussed last week.

If you are getting a trim, or a color, I would suggest that you would have already set up your salon appointment for a week from today for a trim and about 10 days from the big day for your color.

Week 3 -Your HANDS 

 If you can afford to get a manicure this week, I would GO FOR IT! A manicure is about 12 bucks. Yes, you are 3 weeks away, but if your anything like me, I have cuticles and don't keep up with my hands like I should. I went for a manicure 3 weeks ago, and I am in need again! If you go this week, you will get a chance to clean up your hands well in advance of the big day and really start getting your nails in shape. If you really want to save some money on a full set of nails, start this week on your manicure, and your nails may be in good enough shape to go eu natural for the Wedding day!! You can ultimately save $ money on getting your own nails french manicured for $12, rather than getting a $40.00 full set! MUCH CHEAPER and BETTER for your nails!

I have been looking forward to sharing some photos from my ultra GLAM photo shoot session with model Sarah and photographer Ed Ip this past Sunday! Course there are more to come, but I could hardly hold back from giving you a SNEAK PEAK! Sarah, our model, is getting ready to compete at an upcoming Miss USA state pageant. She needed some new head shots for her pageant. I was called in for hair and makeup! I am excited to finally offer ladies here in central Virginia a wonderful photographer and {me} for hair and makeup. This is long in coming that our area finally has something to offer our beautiful Virginia ladies!! If you would like to book a session for pageant/modeling or any type of shoot, visit eds website .
You can view his Pageantry/Modeling prices here. 
DONT FORGET you can WIN a STARBUCKS gift card from Ed!Anyone that finds and likes Ed Ip Photography on Facebook, and mentions this blog (must post it to the wall), will be entered to receive a $20 Starbucks gift card!  Contest ends 3/31/11. No purchase necessary!

behind the scenes 10 am Sunday morning..so I am not looking very bombshell-ish!

my behind the scenes look!

If your a bride and your seeking beauty then you have come to the right place! These are easy finds that you can  use on your wedding day or pre-wedding to get beautified on the cheap!

Remember last week I told you that I was going to FIND that long lasting lip stick on sale from Maybelline? I got it!
So...to be a FBJ BRIDE on a Budget you have to CLIP the beauty coupons each week out of the Sunday circular. Put them into a small pouch and stick them all in your purse. You have to have them at all times! You will need to pull them out when you see things that are on sale or something you see on the blog here that I have found! You will save a TON on your beauty!
I always tell my Brides that the best thing they can do for lip stick is to find a "colorstay" that wont kiss off during the ceremony! It will last into the reception and you will only need to gloss over it! SMART!
Over the past 2 weeks I have collected Covergirl $2.00 off any lip stick and Maybelline $2.00 off Superstay lip gloss. I had 4 coupons in all just waiting for the right moment. Be sure to read your coupons too...I had Covergirl and Maybelline. Often, although they are featuring a certain product on the coupon, it applies to ALL of their products, not always, but most of the time. So although my Maybelline ones said they were for the 24 hour colorstay, I still got it off the Maybelline16 hour. Today I arrived a CVS and low and behold they are running 50% and 75% off certain makeup brands/colors/products!! They do this a few times per year and I LOVE it! I took out my 4 coupons and here is the break down.....
With the 50% off my Covergirl double outlast came to $5.89- $2.00 coupon=$3.89! My Maybelline Superstay at 50% off came to 5.65-$2.00=$3.65!
Now I of course bought 4 since I do makeup for a living! BUT you could have gotten one for your big day for as little as $3.65! I bought shades: nude glaze, rose quartz, born with it, and tutu. ALL great Wedding day colors!!
SUPER!! On top of that I had to take advantage of the buy one get one free GOT2B Rock'in It  and GOT2B Guardian Angel Heat protectant for bridal hair.  I got both of these Schwartzkopf products for $7.29!

Not a bad beauty afternoon!!! GOOD LUCK!!!

So its official! I got my Richmond Weddings magazine yesterday and I dove in!! What a beautiful magazine just to hold, in the first place! I could not help but quickly let my fingers do the walking to the "beauty" section of the magazine...and THERE IT WAS!!!!!!!!  My ad and a FULL page article that I had submitted! First, I am jumping up and down like a crazy woman 'cause I am a "published" author...lol! But, really..... super happy to have been included in such a great publication! So get yourself on down and get one of these magazines, and check out my article on Airbrushing!!!!! Plus you will find TONS of information on other GREAT vendors for your Wedding from A-Z!! Thank you Scott and Amye!

FREE RIMMEL Mascara and eyeshadow at TARGET!

I am excited to pass this along to you! I am going to go to Target today to get mine, but according to two web sites that I follow the Krazy Coupon Lady and via Totally Target web site you can get Free (or almost free .29c) Rimmel Mascara or eyeshadow at Target. You will need to visit Target.com print off your Rimmel coupon and then according to them you will need to also visit Rimmel facbook fan page where when you become a fan, you will get another coupon!
At Target you are allowed to "stack" meaning use both the target coupon AND the manufacture coupon! enjoy!

I had a great time with Katherine (Bride to be) and two of her Bridesmaids today as I arrived at her home in Fredricksburg to do an location bridal makeup consultation. She so graciously had a beautiful layout of yummy muffins, cheese and crackers and Mimosa's with strawberry garnish. What a lady and a host!

As always I love consultations because there is so much value in them. For little cost, you get to try on multiple colors and create looks for your upcoming wedding or event that I know you will love. You get a trial run with what will look amazing and get more choices as we create your color palette together. The best part is that Katherine smartly scheduled her consultation on a day where she has another event! As a matter of fact, she is attending a Ball this evening with her fiancee. She looked amazing when we finished her makeup and hair and she was ready to get swept off to the Ball!! So scheduling your consultation along with a evening diner would be a great idea to get the most bang for your consultation buck!


I took a few photos of my day to share with you! I first stopped at CVS to pick up a few items and WALA....Loreal had 75% off their HIP colors! I ADORE the loose pigment eye shadows so I was thrilled to pick up a bronze color for upcoming pageantry makeup I am doing AND I picked up a light lime called Restless in which I used with a Clinique smokey grey on one of the bridesmaids today. BEAUTIFUL with her light skin and blond hair!

A great day comes to an end....happy dancing tonight Katherine!

UPDATE:

Here are a few picture of Katherine at the Ball!