Wedding Season: All Dressed Up With Some Place To Go

Once upon a time (a few years ago) I was on the wedding circuit. Friends getting married almost every weekend of the summer meant plenty of excuses to get all dressed up in black tie- fun at first, it got old fast.

These days, I kinda miss what I fondly refer to as the Prep Olympics- disciplined diet, dry cleaning, spray tan, manicure, pedicure, hair appointment and full-on makeup mayhem- in that order. So for my friend Lindsay's wedding this past weekend, I went all out. Why not?

Here is the rundown:

Spray Tan: Suvara- Got it on Thursday, wedding was Sunday, and it still looked new and glowy. There really is nothing like a good fake tan to make you look about a million times better.

Manicure and Pedicure: Hair Party 24- There are so many things about this place that make me crazy- but the fact that it is under my building and open around the clock make it too damn convenient to avoid. These days, the day-of manicure is a moot point since I am a CND Shellac convert- and on the toes, did a nice pale pink.

Hair: Blow Styling Salon- This was the first time I ever got an "updo" at a salon, and I am not gonna lie- even making the appointment and saying the word updo made me cringe a little bit. Was I going to the prom? But Hailey, the stylist, totally got my long drawn out description of a bohemian braided messy but not too messy situation- major relief since I couldn't find a photo no matter how hard I searched for some reason.

Makeup: The most fun part always, I had the best time going through my stash to create what I envisioned in my head as a bronzed ballerina look. I was in a minimalist mood- and created the entire look with a handful of products (even though I wanted to use everything on my counter, I had to restrain myself.)

• Foundation: Stila Perfect & Correct in Tone- So lightweight but gives amazing coverage- even and matte but not dull.
• Blush: La Prairie Radiance Cream Blush in Berry- Obsessed. I will probably write more about this in a later post- got my hands on it over breakfast with Jaime, who heads up the brand's PR and also clued me in to Suvara so I clearly owe her a lot. The texture is super smooth, it blends seamlessly and just looking at it in the fancy compact makes me happy. And that has to count for something.
• Eyeshadow: Stila Kitten- Yep. That's it. I dipped brush in water to make it more opaque on the inner corners, and then blended it out over the lid and in the crease. If you don't own this shadow, you are majorly missing out.
• Eyeliner: Tarte smolderEYES Eye Defining Pencil in Black- Personally, getting liner into the waterline not only makes me queasy, but it has always been virtually impossible for me to master. But I know it makes all the difference in a defined eye- so I sucked it up, took a deep breath, and went for it. When this pencil is freshly sharpened, the point is just fine enough to get in there, it glides on effortlessly (key to mitigate the queasy factor) and then I used the nubbin end to blend it out a bit so the effect was just slightly smokey.
• Mascara: Ultraflesh Panthera- Wrote about this last Thanksgiving, clearly it works wonders since almost a year of loyalty out of me to any product is impressive.
• Lips: Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Mandorla- This arrived in a delivery from the brand earlier in the week previewing their Italian Summertime Collection. It is a pale rose pink- close to nude but not nude, which is a good thing since nude lipsticks make me look dead. Seriously.
• Final Touch- something TOTALLY new for me- Powder: Jouer Glisten Brightening Powder- I have never been a powder girl. I like products that are as glowy and borderline greasy as possible. But this powder has the most subtle sparkle in it, and I had a feeling it would work really nicely with the flash of the camera, and since I knew I was going to force my husband to take the photos of me that are posted above, I went for it. And glad I did.

The dress is from a Marchesa sample sale years ago, the jewelry and bag are all gifts from my very sweet husband (who happens to have really good taste in all things sparkly, lucky me.) Oh- and the most priceless thing in this post- Norman Falik. Can you even handle how adorable that little man is? He kills me every time I look at him.