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If you live by your to-do lists the way I do, you might see wedding planning as your Super Bowl. You booked a venue (check), picked out flowers (check), and sent out invitations (touchdown!). Your calendar might be so full that your wedding beauty details—like your hair, makeup, skin care, and nail look—are the last thing you want to deal with. Here’s the thing: Despite what the internet may say about the beauty treatments you should be getting three, six, or 12 months before the big day, you really don’t have to do any of it. As I ticked off boxes and pulled pages out of my notebook, I reminded myself that I didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to. After all, weddings are meant to celebrate love.
But if you want to indulge, many of us at Allure have been there and want to help. In putting together this story, I asked my coworkers to join me in reminiscing about our wedding preparation, including what we loved, learned, and would have done differently. Some of us had meticulous regimens (involving facials, veneers, and multiple hair and makeup trials) while others went with the flow (booking a hair appointment the day of). Read on for what we thought was the fun part of wedding planning. Don’t ask us about table settings.
A note: As editors who work for a beauty publication, we have the unique privilege of receiving many products and services free of cost, including some of those mentioned in this story. Those gratis moments are indicated by an asterisk.
Jesa Marie Calaor, senior editor
Madison AycothPre-wedding treatments*
I mostly focused on my skin leading up to the big day. A few months before my wedding ceremony, I visited David Shafer, MD, to get a sprinkle of Botox on my forehead to smooth, lift, and add radiance. Seven days before, I got a thorough facial with my dermatologist, Dhaval Bhanusali, MD that involved Laser Genesis, a deep cleanse, and LED light treatments. The result was my glowiest complexion ever.
Hair
Don’t skip your hair trial no matter how simple your hairstyle seems to be. I didn’t think I needed one—all I wanted was full-bodied waves with a gold Jennifer Behr headband* at the crown of my head. I’m glad my hairstylist, Devin Toth, talked me into seeing him before the big day. He showed me how we’d fasten my veil beneath the headband (which took more effort to figure out than expected) and talked through scenarios, like rain, that might keep my hair from looking picture-perfect. It ended up pouring on my wedding day and we were prepared. After waving my hair with a 1-inch curling wand, Toth sprayed my strands (from the top, aiming downward) with the Shu Uemura Moya Hold Finishing Hair Spray to keep them smooth.
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Jennifer Behr
Jennifer Behr Rowena Headband
Jennifer Behr
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Shu Uemura
Shu Uemura Moya Hold Finishing Hair Spray
Sephora
Makeup*
I sent artist Romero Jennings a mood board and said that I wanted a terra-cotta lip (with the Sunnies Face Lipstick in Baked) paired with the dramatic winged liner I typically wear. On the big day, Jennings painted my complexion before handing me my eyeliner saying, “This is your signature look.” He explained that he wanted me to look like me, so I should be the one to draw on my cat eye. Once I did, he double-checked to see if it was perfect (it was). He then proceeded to coat my lips with MAC Powder Kiss Liquid Lip Color in Sorry Not Sorry, which he said would last the entire night, to create a base for the Sunnies Face formula I also wore. “Layer your cream lipstick on top of a long-wearing liquid lipstick so that when you sip champagne and eat cake, you’ll still have color on your lips,” he said. Brilliant!
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Sunnies Face
Sunnies Face Fluffmatte Lipstick in Baked
Sunnies Face
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MAC
MAC Powder Kiss Liquid Lipcolour in Sorry Not Sorry
Nordstrom
Ulta Beauty
Nails*
I wanted my nails to be as fun as the dance floor on the big day. My nail artist, Sonya Belakhlef, understood the vision: the funkier the splashes, squiggles, and globs of gold, the better. Belakhlef added pearl appliqués and tiny silver orbs to make the nail art stand out even more.
Scent
I often regret not picking a wedding perfume. I wore my everyday fragrance—DS and Durga I Don’t Know What—and now I feel like I have to reserve it for special occasions. When I spray it, I'm filled with memories of my last dance of the evening with my husband (we cleared the room so that we could have a moment alone with one another). It brings me back to the warm ambiance of my venue, the adrenaline and joy we felt, and the love that just seemed to gush out of us nonstop. Those memories are too special—so much so that I have to find a new signature scent.
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D.S. & Durga
D.S. & Durga I Don't Know What Eau de Parfum
Nordstrom
Bluemercury
Revolve
Jenny Bailly, executive beauty director
Pre-wedding treatments*
About three months before my wedding, I had my teeth professionally whitened for the first time (and the last…my teeth ached for two days afterward). I visited Sania’s Brow Bar regularly in the months leading up to the wedding and Sania coaxed my still-recovering-from-the-’90s brows back into fighting form. I got two or three facials with Christine Chin, known by some at the time as “Mean Christine” for her incredibly thorough extractions. I brought my husband along for my final pre-wedding visit to her Lower East Side spa for his first facial (and his last…the average male’s pain tolerance cannot handle Christine).
Back then, I only occasionally dabbled in coloring my natural brown hair, but I wanted to brighten it up a bit for the wedding. Rita Hazan gave me beautiful highlights a couple of weeks before the wedding and reception, which would be outdoors and hopefully feature plenty of sun to bounce off those ribbons of gold. The concept of spray tanning was really starting to take hold in 2006, and I seriously considered tinkering with my skin tone before slipping into my white dress. Then decided that was a terrible idea. The risk of splotches, streaks, and orange-tinged Monique Lhuillier lace was simply too high.
Makeup and hair*
I got married at my parents’ house in a small town in Vermont and did hair trials at a couple of local salons in the months before the wedding. They were not a success. I wanted a simple half-up style—and I got a lot of crunchy ringlets. The wedding budget did not allow for flying a hairstylist up from New York, so I figured: How hard could this be? I decided my friend Andrea (a gallerist, not a hairstylist) could handle my hair. She is a very capable person and we’d keep it simple. Our test run took place a month before my wedding in my hotel room before another friend’s wedding. The test ended when the smell of burning hair set off the smoke alarm. We resolved to just try again on the big day and hope for a better outcome. We were very optimistic youths.
On the Wednesday before my Saturday wedding, I had a meeting at the office with the Armani Beauty team. I was driving up to Vermont the next day, and talk turned to my nuptials. Tim Quinn, then the brand’s celebrity makeup artist, asked me who was going to be doing my hair and makeup. I told him I was going to handle those duties myself. (I wasn’t a big “makeup person,” so I’d never even done any makeup trials, figuring I could just execute a simple look on my own.) “Wow, great idea,” he said. Just kidding. A look of pure horror moved across Tim’s face. “Are you sure?” he asked. It’s an intense day, you’ll have a lot going on, and your already limited hair and makeup skills might not be at their finest, he continued. (He didn’t say “already limited,” but they were.) By the end of the meeting, Tim and his colleague Kelly Thompson had arranged to have a makeup artist from an Armani Beauty department store counter in the Boston area drive to my parents’ house on the morning of my wedding and make sure I had some Luminous Silk foundation seamlessly blended over my T-zone; Tim’s partner owned a salon in Boston and he was going to send a hairstylist to give me a simple blowout. Almost 18 years later, my gratitude to Tim and Kelly remains undimmed.
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Armani Beauty
Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation
Nordstrom
Sephora
What I know now is that in the hours before I stood before 100+ of my nearest and dearest and made a commitment to have and to hold someone for the rest of my life, I was in no shape to be wielding a round brush and trying to get my eyeliner straight. And while your wedding is not all about how you look…some of it is. If you are going to have a photographer there to capture the momentous occasion (we did) and you’re going to look back on those moments for decades to come (we do) you probably want to feel good about how you presented yourself that day. I’m relieved that my DIY fantasy was never realized and I found myself in the hands of trained professionals that morning.
Sarah Kinonen, associate beauty director
Sarah Kinonen
When my fellow beauty editor asked me to participate in this story, I almost declined. Not because I didn't want to relive my 2019 courthouse wedding day, but because, if I'm being honest, the details of how I prepped are a little fuzzy (and likely a little boring!) after five years. I was the most low-maintenance bride there ever was—just ask my husband, who did all of the planning for our little shindig in less than a month. We decided to make things official in the eyes of the government after seven years of dating by having too many margaritas and picking a random date on a calendar. How romantic!
The whole event was low-key and minimal and I approached my beauty look with the same laissez-faire. That being said, here's what I do remember.
Pre-wedding treatments*
In 2019, I got regular Botox injections every four months for my glabellar lines (the “11s” between the brows), fine lines on my forehead, and crow’s-feet. I got lucky with the timing of my late spring appointment (I got married in late May) and had one scheduled two days before I went to the courthouse. The week before I saw my dermatologist Melissa Levine, MD, I got a 60-minute facial, called the Biologique Recherche "VIP 02" Oxygenating Detox Facial, at the Paul Labrecque salon. The treatment included exfoliation, massage, and a cold blast of oxygen to enhance my skin’s glow. It was nice!
Hair
Back then, I had a bob. I typically let it air-dry and called it a day. But obviously, I had to do something that required a little more effort for an event like this. So, what did I do? If you guessed that I woke up at 5 a.m. on the day of my wedding and booked a blowout at a Drybar location near my apartment, you’d be right.
Sadly, the final result, a tightly curled style, just wasn’t it. I can’t blame my very kind stylist, though. I was the one who showed up without inspiration photos or a plan. So I went home, combed out my Shirley Temple-like ringlets, and touched up what I could with a curling iron. It wasn’t my best look, but I just continued to go with the flow.
Makeup
Keeping up the low-key vibes of the day, I asked my friend (and former Allure colleague) Devon Abelman to do my makeup. She kept the look monochromatic with rosy pink lips and cheeks, complemented by soft, shimmery brown lids. I did my own brows, brushing them upward with a spoolie before filling them in with the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil.* The final touch was a couple of swipes of Huda Beauty’s Power Bullet Matte Lipstick* in the shade—wait for it—Honeymoon.
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Huda Beauty
Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick in Honeymoon
Sephora
Nails*
The night before our courthouse appointment, I got a manicure and pedicure at Sundays, one of my favorite nail salons in New York City. I chose a milky pale pink for my nails (L.01 from the salon’s in-house polish line) and peachy pink (No.08) for my toes.
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Sundays
Sundays Nail Polish in L.01
Sundays
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Sundays
Sundays Nail Polish in No.08
Sundays
Scent
I wish I remembered the exact fragrance I wore to the courthouse five years ago, but…I just don’t. Around that time, I was very into Byredo’s Mojave Ghost (a musky amber scent), so if I had to guess, I likely spritzed it on before heading out the door.
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Byredo
Byredo Mojave Ghost Eau de Parfum
Nordstrom
Eugene Shevertalov, associate entertainment director
Andy GainesPre-wedding treatments
Amid the whirlwind of wedding planning, I found myself hesitant to stray too far from my skin-care comfort zone. However, I made two pivotal changes that truly transformed my complexion: The first was to start a weekly trip to Skin Laundry a few months before the wedding. The Signature Laser Facial helped even out my skin texture and get rid of pesky acne scarring from my teenage years. The second was to make sure that I consistently cleaned my skin each morning and evening. There was nothing too involved about my routine, just a simple Cetaphil sensitive skin cleanser followed by my go-to SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic serum and Chantecaille moisturizer. I credit the consistency with having pretty flawless skin on my wedding day.
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Cetaphil
Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser Skin
Amazon
Ulta Beauty
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SkinCeuticals
SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic
Dermstore
SkinCeuticals
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Chantecaille
Chantecaille Oil Free Balancing Moisturizer
Nordstrom
Dermstore
Hair*
The week of the wedding I went to my trusted hairdresser to give me a fresh cut. But on the big day, there was only one person I was going to trust with strands and my skin: Melissa DeZarate. I met her at a late-night show over a decade ago through my work as an entertainment editor and she happens to be a hair and makeup artist who works with some of the biggest male actors and musicians in Hollywood. To this day she’s only ever done one wedding—mine, and I am so grateful.
With her deft touch, DeZarate ensured that I looked my absolute best as I exchanged vows and danced the night away. She used Kevin Murphy's Anti Gravity Spray and his Night Rider paste to accomplish the volume and texture, followed by the Oribe Superfine Strong Hair Spray to endure the day's trials.
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Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy Anti Gravity Spray
Kevin Murphy
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Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy Night Rider
Kevin Murphy
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Oribe
Superfine Strong Hair Spray
Amazon
Nordstrom
Bluemercury
Makeup*
Skin prep was key to my natural makeup look. DeZarate used an iced jade roller to bring down any puffiness and massaged my skin with La Mer Moisturizing Matte Lotion for that truly luxurious feel. Then she buffed out a few areas where my skin looked uneven with a light layer of Clé de Peau Beauté Concealer and a few dabs of concealer. After a swift brow brushing and some La Mer The Lip Balm, she sent me on my way to a wonderful love- and champagne-filled night.
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La Mer
La Mer The Moisturizing Matte Lotion
Nordstrom
Sephora
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Clé de Peau Beauté
Clé de Peau Beauté Concealer
Nordstrom
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La Mer
La Mer The Lip Balm
Nordstrom
Bluemercury
Sephora
Scent
I have used the same scent for over two decades which I use almost daily. Call it habit or call it loyalty, it was the only choice in mind and the thing I had to give the least amount of thought to ahead of the wedding day. Bleu de Chanel is simply a classic that you can't go wrong with.
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Chanel
Bleu de Chanel Eau de Parfum
Chanel
Ulta Beauty
Kassidy Silva, associate director of social media
Amy SlogarPre-wedding treatments*
I certainly did not have a traditional wedding prep experience; my focus was on an extensive repair to my smile. I was very self-conscious about my teeth, as a veneer had begun to crumble and needed to be replaced. Michael Apa, DDS, was my fairy godmother of sorts, replacing the breaking veneer and making sure my smile was exactly the way I wanted it to look. Getting new teeth for my wedding might seem dramatic to some, but looking back at photos and seeing how big my smile was that day, I have no regrets.
Hair
I was dead set on ultra-long Hollywood waves for my wedding day hairstyle and started my prep nearly a year in advance. For months, I nurtured my hair to grow long, shiny, and strong down to my waist. Extensions weren’t in my budget, so I created an easy at-home regimen of Olaplex No. 7, Oribe’s Gold Lust Repair & Restore Shampoo and Conditioner, and regular trims.
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Olaplex
Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil
Amazon
Nordstrom
Ulta Beauty
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Oribe
Gold Lust Repair & Restore Shampoo
Bluemercury
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Oribe
Oribe Gold Lust Repair & Restore Conditioner
Amazon
Nordstrom
Dermstore
For the big day, I had my dream hairstyle adorned with Jennifer Behr's Supernova Bobby Pin Set* for added sparkle.
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Jennifer Behr
Jennifer Behr Supernova Bobby Pin Set
Jennifer Behr
Makeup
Any form of inspiration is invaluable to your makeup artist. I had two pointers for mine: First, I told the team at M3 Beauty I wanted my makeup to complement the neutral, rosy, Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk lipstick. Then I gave them the guiding words “big, bold, and glamorous.” They knocked it out of the park, to say the least.
My eyes got a dark brown smoky shadow and long false lashes. (Go big or go home, right?) My cheeks were a mauve color that closely matched my full lips, which were lined and filled with Pillow Talk. I looked radiant (like a movie star!) but still like me.
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Charlotte Tilbury
Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Pillow Talk
Nordstrom
Ulta Beauty
Sephora
Nails
I owe a thank you to Zola Ganzorigt and Tom Bachik for creating my two favorite nail looks for Hailey Bieber that I used as inspiration for my wedding day nails. Blending her glazed doughnut mani with her wedding day nail look, I opted for almond-shaped Gel-X extensions with a pearly white finish.
I was getting acrylics each month and had to time my manicure perfectly and go one week before (in case I wanted to make any last-minute changes) for very limited grow-out that wouldn’t appear in photos.
Sophia Panych, content director
Fern Rose PhotographyPre-Wedding Treatments*
My skin is temperamental—random breakout here, mild rosacea flare-up there—so I started treating myself to regular HydraFacials seven months ahead of the wedding at The Aesthetics Club in west London. I also visited Dr. Ash Soni at his London clinic at The Langham hotel for polynucleotide injections (which you can get legally in the UK). He focused on my under eyes—which aren’t as plump as they were in my early thirties—doing three treatments in the three months leading up to the wedding. I also saw my colorist, Oliver Quinnell at Salt Salon in east London two weeks before to tone down my blonde highlights. I knew that, since my hair would be worn slicked down, I wanted the color to look more uniform and more like my natural hue.
Hair*
After moving to London, hairstylist Sam McKnight was like my beauty fairy godfather, welcoming me to the city with open arms. He graciously allowed us to get ready at his studio before the wedding—a dream for the makeup artists because it meant spectacular lighting and lots of space. Valerie Benavides, a hairstylist on McKnight's team, did my hair, which I wanted to be simple, graphic, and small to best complement my structured ensemble. We had two tests. We started off with a softer chignon, only for me to realize a few weeks before that I wanted a sleeker look. Valerie was so sweet and accommodating. Her energy put me at ease not just in the months leading up to the big day, but also on the morning of—and made sure we know how to remove my veil after the ceremony without disturbing the pins in the chignon.
Makeup*
Two of my dearest friends are amazing makeup artists and their wedding gifts to us were their services. My childhood friend Alana owns a wedding beauty company in New York’s Hudson Valley and she prepped my mom and sister. Celebrity makeup artist Vincent Oquendo—who did my makeup—and I have been friends for almost two decades. We weren’t able to do a test ahead of time, so I sent him inspo images, we talked on the phone, and he shade-matched me looking at my Instagram. I really wanted a clean, fresh look—the type of low-key red carpet makeup you might see at the Oscars with every feature beautifully defined. Vincent used a mix of products. It’s hard to remember all of them, but I know we used quite a lot of Victoria Beckham Beauty (fitting for the wedding in the UK), including the Cheeky Posh Cream Blush Stick in the shade Major and Bitten Lip Tint, which he layered over a pinky-nude lip liner.
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Victoria Beckham Beauty
Cheeky Posh Cream Blush Stick
Nordstrom
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Victoria Beckham Beauty
Bitten Lip Tint
Nordstrom
Bluemercury
Nails
I’m half Ukrainian, and grew up immersed in the diaspora in the United States. It was very important to me, with everything going on in the country, to incorporate Ukrainian elements into my wedding as much as possible. Ukrainians are known for their extraordinary manicures, and so there was no question that I would get my nails done at one of the Ukrainian-owned salons in London. I chose So.Shell salon and a sheer pink gel manicure—something subtle that would make my nails look polished and pretty. I actually got my pedicure in Ukraine a month before at the Say No Mo salon.* The burgundy hue matched my vintage No.21 shoes, and the pedicure was so good it was still in pristine condition three weeks later.
Scent*
I knew right away what perfume I wanted to wear for my wedding: Dior La Collection Privée Holy Peony. I received a bottle from the brand that sat on my dresser, un-spritzed, for years. I started wearing it during lockdown; the juicy, woody floral smells fresh, uplifting, and whimsically pretty, and it was a great way to boost my mood when stuck at home. I don’t wear it as regularly anymore, but there was no question I’d wear it for the wedding. It’s a scent that puts a smile on my face, and makes me feel my happiest, prettiest self.
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Dior
Dior La Collection Privée Holy Peony
Christian Dior
Annie Blay-Tettey, associate beauty editor
Margaret K. PhotographyPre-wedding treatment*
I kept things simple for my pre-wedding treatments and got just one thing done: a HydraFacial. My main goal for my skin going into the big day was a clear and glowy complexion—this facial helped me achieve that. The popular facial uses a water-powered suction tool to vacuum out dirt, oil, and other gunk that has accumulated in your pores. I went to Downtown Medspa in Jersey City two days before my wedding, which felt like the perfect timing—not too far from the big day that the results fade and not too close that my skin is still sensitive from the treatment.
Afterwards, my skin felt supple and hydrated and looked clear as day. My makeup wedding makeup had an airbrushed filter-like finish and I'm confident that was, in part, thanks to the HydraFacial.
Hair
I always imagined my hair would be in a classic middle-part bun for my wedding but after trying the look at my bridal trial, it felt a little boring. Given that my dress had a straight, strapless neckline, my hairstylist Jenever Volf of Beyond The Knot Co. suggested a half up, half down style that wouldn't feel overwhelming on the shoulders but would add just enough detail so my neck didn't look so empty.
We used Brazillian Body Wave bundles with a closure from LuvMe Hair* curled beautifully into Old Hollywood curls and which relaxed into effortless waves as the day went on. Volf sewed the bundles in and used the Got2B Glued Blasting Freeze Spray to lay the closure down to my hairline. After hours (and I mean hours of dancing) my hair stayed intact and stilled looked great at the end of the night.
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Göt2B
Glued Blasting Freeze Spray
Ulta Beauty
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LuvMe Hair
Brazillian Body Wave Bundles with 5×5 HD Lace Closure
LuvMe Hair
Makeup
I wanted to keep my makeup simple and understated for my wedding day. I remember telling my makeup artist Keziah Jones, that I wanted to look like myself—if I were a royal. We landed on a soft glam look with a touch of silver shimmer on the eyes. While I don't recall the all exact products Jones used, I do remember her spraying my face profusely with the One/Size On 'Til Dawn Setting Spray, which she swore would keep my makeup in place all day. After crying at the altar and sweating on the dance floor, I can confirm that she was right.
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One/Size
On 'Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray
Sephora
Nails*
I'm pretty boring when it comes to my nails and almost always get a French manicure of some sort but I figured I had to do something a little fancier for my wedding. After perusing Pinterest I landed on a cloud French manicure: soft white diffused tips with a pink nude base. It felt true-to-self yet still elevated enough for the occasion. Yoshiko Yamaguchi, a nail artist at Vanity Projects in NYC, applied medium almond-shaped Aprés Gel X tips to elongate my nails before coating the clear extensions with Aprés Pink Clouds-508 gel polish. She then dipped a nail brush in white polish to create a rough swipe at the tip of each nail, then used a thin brush to fan out the color into a delicate cloud swirl on each nail. The result was a ethereal manicure that paired perfectly with my simple ivory gown and bouquet of white roses.
Scent*
Fragrance was the hardest part of my bridal beauty look to decide on. It's the only aspect you can't see but somehow it felt like the most important and intimate part. I wanted a scent that would compliment whatever my husband wore and I also wanted a fragrance that was memorable but consistent with what I usually wear—spicy, musky gourmands. After smelling almost every perfume in my collection (of over 70 fragrances), I landed on Narciso Rodriguez All Of Me Eau de Parfum. The floral scent is a little outside of my comfort zone but the notes of sandalwood, rose, and magnolia sold me. It's a romantic scent that takes me back to that sunny August afternoon in Florham Park, New Jersey every time I smell it.
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Narciso Rodriguez
All Of Me Eau de Parfum
Macy's