Summer Glow

I love meeting people you are certain you were friends with in a former life--Molly was one of those. And talk about easy going and effortless beauty: she had a stunning, simple halter dress (I believe it was Calvin Klein?). The price was absurd; I won't reveal it--my mom told me to stop telling people when I got stuff on the clearance rack on Target despite my excitement for finding bargains-so I'll respect Molly's fiances too. But let me tell ya, she's got all y'all beat on best-wedding-dress-price-ever. I think if I chose a dress ever (I may or may not have a folder already with ring and dress photos I've saved on my computer titled "In My Dream Life") it would probably be fairly close to her style.

In our consultation prior to her big day, we discussed that we'd do a simple blow out to give her some volume and body for the day. We had a hair piece that we clipped in and tucked gently behind her ear. For make up, I kept it all bronzes, browns, and earth tones. I used Dermalogica Sheer Tint SPF 15 as a very light foundation and protection since she had chosen to have an outdoor ceremony. We then used my favorite liner (and VEGAN!), Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in "Baked" to give her warmth around her eyes. I used a variety of golds, bronzes and shimmered tones to really give her the look of a summer bride.

Simply put, Molly was glowing. See? I swear, she glows from the inside out.

And here she is with the new hubby, loving this dress in the black and white photos.

Thank you Molly for trusting me on your big day. And, even bigger thank you for coming to my roller derby game nearly 6 months later. Really, you're the best!

Mary Elizabeth

Location: Bahamas, Cat Cay Island

Luggage: 3 total, 2 for hair and make up, 1 for bathing suits

Perpetual State for the week: a hot sweaty mess.

My dear friend Mary wed handsome Niall a few years ago, before I had started this blog. There was no way I could not feature this. It was the first time someone had trusted me with their complete styling: hair and make up for an entire bridal party, including myself. 

I prepped mostly by hyperventilating. That and researching some bad-ass new styling tools. I bought this beaute: Clipless Barrel Curling Iron. It came complete with a glove (so MJ) to protect against burns, and I was able to manipulate Mary's hair into gorgeous, natural waves:

 

How cute is Mary? I mean, really. The smaller flowers in her hair I actually purchased while still in Miami. I toted them on the flight with me, smashed under a very teeny tiny seat, into a even tinier fridge, to emerge a few days later still pretty much in tact! Also note: Mary is a "bangs" connossoir. We had a very successful bang job (err, I mean...) and she was thrilled with the results.

Of course, it wasn't done with Mare-Bear. I ended up styling the whole group of us, sans the bridesman, Ryan. He was handsome enough already, that little devil. There's me with my looooong and very brown hair. From the left it's Megs, me, RyRy, Mary, Katie and Andrea aka Campby:

Here's me, spray spray spraying away....god help us in this humidty.

And let's give a huge shout out to Miss Cheyenne Shultz and her hubby, Geoff, who tag-team photographed this wedding. Special shout out to Chey for facing her fear of flying to do so :)  Note: I'm a total Shultz Photography lurker. Cheyenne's entrepreneur spirit and zest for life is to be admired. Love her...now you will too: The Shultzes Blog

Twice Is Just As Nice

Nimisha and I found eachother on this fancy schmancy site, MiNeeds. You post what cha need, find people who can give it to ya. I was able to scan the site looking for brides-to-be seeking a stylist and found that Nimisha needed me not just for one occasion--but for two! In the same day!

She and her husband to be, Samit, were planning a traditional Indian ceremony and a western-style reception. I was thrilled when I had learned this as I'm slightly fanatic about Indian culture--I desperately want to have a sliver of culture and the color, vibrancy, warmth of the Indian culture is unparalleled. Nimisha let me in at our trial run that we were doing hair for both the ceremony (under her head scarf and adorned with jewelery) and then a western style for her reception (think: vintage hollywood glam).

And, we were doing Mom and Cousin too. Let's say I hydrated for the 48 hours ahead of time, and brought a truckload of bobby pins.

First, for her Indian ceremony I did a very sturdy, traditional up do. Because of her face shape, we decided against a part, and softly brought it back away from her face. I actually convinced her to let me put in some "fake hair" to give the bun and curls a thicker, fuller feel, and hold the sheer weight of the head pieces. This was just the pic I snapped with my iPhone, but you get the idea:

Then we added the jewelry, all held in her hair with small bobby pins and clipped to various places on her face (nose, ears). The actual scarf weighed probably a good 8 pounds, and was held in place by some serious heavy duty monster truck bobby pins. Simply stunning, was the result:

After the ceremony, I met her at her hotel, and we took the entire piece down. Using the curls already in place from the morning, I created a low, chic bun at the nape of her neck and attached a bird cage veil on top that she had actually made her self (little miss crafty, huh?). Unfortunately, because of the rush of the evening, I didn't snap a picture of the second style.

Crossing my fingers I get to do another wedding like this again. Thank you Nimisha and family for letting me participate in their incredible day!

Lovely Angie

Angie wrote to me: "I'm worried that I'll be a short girl with a poofy dress and big hair looking silly:-(   I need to stop stressing.  I have to trust your hair magic, right?"

Which is exactly what she did!

Angie and I actually met over a year ago--brought together by the craigslist gods, when I responded to an ad to do hair for a photo shoot in San Anselmo with Silvana Di Franco. (Just die a little when you see how incredible her photography is, and then thank me for finding her for your wedding). I'll show pictures later of that shoot, but for now, I want to highlight Angie and her loveliness.

It's impossible to make her hair not look incredible. I mean c'mon--great cut to start with, and the capability for volume. Just delicious! I used a large 1 inch barrel; curled all over and pinned the curls to her head while it cooled; I teased the hair at the crown and worked with it to create natural, earthy curls with sex appeal. And, an added bonus, we converted this hair piece from a tack-tastic Chico's lapel magnet pin. I literally ripped the magnet off and pinned that sucker to her head.

Thank you Angie for letting me be part of your wedding adventure!


Photos by Silvana Di Franco

It's about time.

I've started a collection of friendships, styling tools and more bobby pins than I care to admit. And, I've realized that in order to make my dreams a reality, I need to start blogging, recording it all, and sharing the beauty with all of you. Like yesterday. I need to chronicle my journey through this hobby-sorta-turning-lucrative-business, and share with you the people I meet along the way, their stories, and my own self-discovery through styling.

I hope you enjoy diving into my creative space as much as I enjoy creating.

xoxo,
Lexi