My Big Fat Cajun Wedding

Well last week I had the opportunity to work with one of the most colorful families I've ever met. Cara Courtney, one of 3 beautiful daughters was marrying the man of her dreams and she asked me to make her pretty for her big day! When I arrived, the first thing I saw was Cara running around the driveway smiling while scolding her Dad about turning the sprinklers off for the 3rd time that morning. Apparently before I arrived he was so concerned with making sure the lawn was watered that he soaked a majority of the linens that the crew was there to put up so when he turned them on again he sent Cara and her mother Mary into a tizzy! The rest of the house was buzzing with teams of workers getting everything ready and it took me awhile to corral my first group upstairs to get started with hair and makeup.



Blanch Torres of Bella Ella Salon in Winter Park styled all the girls hair while I painted all their pretty faces. It was a big group and they literally kept me laughing the entire day with their mixture of Louisiana humor and a huge dose of southern charm. Blanch and I were working back to back and kept joking about our noses being stuck together from the 5 bottles of aresol hairspray she went through that day.

At many points I felt like I was in a scene from Steel Magnolias because every person in the room, mind you, it was a huge, gorgeous bathroom but we had at least 20 people with big personalities in it, plus food and champagne at any given time!

Cara was getting married at a church in Leesburg and then the reception was being held at her parents home which was stunning with an incredible view of the lake. Even when the sky grew dark and it started to rain, my little optimistic power packed bride didn't bat an eyelash about the possible hurricane brewing outside the window... that takes grace, let me tell you!

So I wanted to share a few snapshots from the day until the photographers photos are ready.





I also got a little note from the Mother of the Bride after the wedding that I'd like to also share with you...

Dear Kara,
Thanks so much for making us beautiful for this special day. We all had one of our prettiest days thanks to you. Your patience with my family was much appreciated. It felt like my big fat cajun wedding. You are just incredible. I'm trying to learn how to use that flat brush on my eye lids. Not too successful yet. What a talent you have. Thanks again for sharing it with us. Mary Courtney

SCRUNCHIES ARE NEVER OK!

So yesterday I saw 3, yes, that’s right THREE women in various areas of Orlando wearing the unthinkable… A SCRUNCHIE! That prompted me to post it on facebook and was surprised at the responses I got - so for you ladies… I decided to blog about it.

It is 2010 and thankfully almost every hair accessory company has come out with multiple ways to secure your hair in a fashionable and attractive way. Here are a few of my favorites:

http://www.goody.com/#/grid/default/products/simple_styles_spin_pin

http://www.goody.com/#/grid/ouchless/products/gentle_elastics_in_liberty

So SCRUNCHIE wearers, you’re feeling a little defensive at my statement and that’s ok, I will try to give you solutions to all of your objections.

But Kara, won’t rubber bands cause breakage and damage my hair? Actually, it’s not the band that causes the damage it’s the metal piece that holds the band together that causes breakage but luckily companies have done their research and you will rarely find those types of bands in stores anymore.

Well rubber bands put a crease in my hair so that’s why I prefer a SCRUNCHIE? You are correct, it happens to me too so I typically only use a rubber band the day I plan to wash my hair. On other days, if I must pull my hair back I choose the new spiral bobby pin which holds my hair securely without leaving an ugly crease behind (or you can use 3-5 bobby pins and you will have the same affect for about .03 cents).

But I have a drawer full of SCRUNCHIES… what do I do with them? THROW THEM OUT! Definitely don’t add them to your Goodwill donation pile… we don’t need to see homeless women rockin’ the either!

If you are still not convinced that you should move into the new millennium then I will list the criteria or loop holes, if you will, when it is in fact ok to wear

SCRUNCHIES:
A. Do you put your feet on the dash of the car while you are a passenger or remove your shoes at a movie theater and rest them on the back of the seat in front of you? Since that is equally tacky, by all means… put the SCRUNCHIE in!
B. Do you own and wear banana clips for anything other than 80’s parties or Halloween? If you answered yes, wear on!
C. Do you live in North Dakota, Alaska or Upper Peninsula Michigan? Go ahead… no one cares what you look like up there anyway.

DISCLAIMER
This blog was meant in fun, please don’t be offended but at the same time, please stop wearing the SCRUNCHIES in public, at bedtime, to wash your face, on the boat, at the beach… anywhere actually *wink*

TATTOO COVER UP with AIRBRUSH MAKEUP

I am all for tattoos but I can also respect that fact that you may not want them front and center on your wedding day so that’s exactly why I offer Tattoo Cover Up with airbrush AND manual makeup. It is available for only $25 and looks almost flawless!

BEST DEODORANT EVER!

So although I usually review beauty and hair products, after seeing so many photos of bridesmaids and models with that awful white ring of deodorant under their arms magnified by the flash I decided to try a few alternative deodorants to see which ones kept me dry and unlike so many drugstore brands that claim they dry clear or are ‘little black dress approved’, actually did dry clear. The WINNER is Kiehl’s Superbly Efficient Anti-Perspirant & Deodorant, aptly named. It is completely unscented, suited for sensitive skins and is NOT tested on animals. The other nice thing is they sell it in 2 sizes so I keep the larger one at home and since I travel a lot I have the smaller, 1.7oz tube in my carry-on bag. You can buy it at Neiman Marcus, Saks and Kiehl’s stores for $12 to $17. It may seem a little expensive for deodorant but I assure you, one container will last you 4 months or more and the cool thing is it does last 24 hours!

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE PRODUCTS

1. Tarte Lifted Eye Base which keeps my eye makeup on without creasing even on my longest and hottest days in the Florida weather.

2. MAC Brun eye shadow which I use in my brows everyday and have since I was 16 years old with the MAC 266 brush only!

3. Laura Mercier Secret Concealor set with the most incredible Secret Brightening Powder which makes my under eye area flawless until bedtime (and beyond some days).

4. My 2 favorite foundations are Nars Oil Free Matte in Fiji (winter) and St. Tropez (summer) and Laura Mercier Oil Free foundation in Sunny Beige.

5. Smashbox Light Photo Finish Primer… I have yet to find a better primer for my oily skin that does not aggravate breakouts and photographs beautifully.

6. Laura Mercier Black Violet eye liner lining on the inner rim of the lower tear line makes the whites of my eyes super bright and gives an intensity to my eyes that commands attention (that’s for dramatic days) and on my days off I usually reach for either Bountiful Brown or Bordeauxline by MAC which are completely water proof and stay all day with or without an eye primer.

7. MASCARA, MASCARA, MASCARA… this is a very personal choice and it takes a long time to find the perfect one but after many tries I have found my perfect pair. I use Laura Mercier Long Lash on my days off or when I want a very natural mascara look and for more dramatic eyes I use Tarte Lights, Camera, Action BUT I have recently tried the NEW Laura Mercier Full Blown mascara and it may give Tarte a run for it’s money!

8. It’s no secret… I love my lipgloss… I literally have hundreds (don’t judge) so I can only tell you my favorite brands: Chanel, MAC, Dior, Georgio Armani & CO Bigelow Peppermint Balm.

9. For bronzer I have my all time favorite stand by Hoola Bronze which I have used for over 6 years but I recently tried Kat Von D’s shimmer bronzer and although it is not enough color to use on most days alone, I do like to sweep it lightly over my Hoola Bronzer or use it in place of blush.

10. Which brings me to blush, my 2 favorite colors that I use regularly are Mata Hari and Orgasm by NARS… you can’t beat them, I promise you 

11. Eye Shadows, there are too many to have just one favorite or even 5 so I’ll give you the ones that I find I feel sexiest when I use them: Laura Mercier Deep Night (wonderful for smoky eyes and recreating the famous Kardashian eye), MAC Copperplate which is a beautiful soft dove gray and I wear it usually when I’m wearing something really feminine or pearls, Corfu from NARS which is a cream shadow that looks subtly sparkly and looks great for a Boheimian look, MAC Sumptuous Olive with Fig1 in the crease brings out the green in my eyes and doesn’t look like 2 colors that you’d think of putting together but they work great! I also rarely use mineral shadows because I think they are messy and hard to travel with but 3 colors that I like from Bare Essentials are Queen Tiffany, Gold and Sanctuary (which I only bought because the proceeds went to help the rainforest but it turns out I really liked it). Diamond Lil by Stila is a gorgeous diamond like gray that makes a great smoky eye too. I also use Kid by MAC a lot to start a smoky eye or in the crease for a more retro, pin up style eye with bold liner. See… there’s a lot and that is only a small fraction of the ones I use regularly. I try to do a different look with completely different colors every single day because it challenges me and makes me want come up with a different combination that I can use on my clients too. Oh and I also love Atlantic Blue over white chomaliner by MAC (it makes it super bright). Ok, that’s it for this round.

12. Last but not least is my ALL TIME FAVORITE lip liner – Subculture by MAC because it is so close to my natural lip color and I can wear it with a clear lip balm or under any gloss I choose.

BRIDAL HAIR EXTENSIONS

Have you been flipping through bridal hair magazines searching for the perfect wedding hairstyle? That’s great and I am sure the only trouble you think you will have is narrowing down your choices but the truth is you will probably will fall in love with a style in which the model is wearing a head full of extensions. This means that no matter what stylist you hire they may not be able to give you your dream look without the fullness of extensions.



Human hair extensions are readily available now and used on brides all of the time because they can look unbelievably natural when done properly. Fabulous Faces offers custom hair extensions for $200 and up and what sets us apart from other hair and makeup companies that also offer them is that we not only custom match your color but we cut them into a style that will flatter your current hair cut so that you can use them after the wedding too!



Don’t be afraid of extensions ladies… almost every celebrity on the red carpet uses them and whatever style you choose for your wedding day will only be enhanced by using them!