HINDSIGHT AND THE WONDERFUL GIFT OF DIVORCE!
Hey and welcome to my first blog! With experience, comes wisdom and learnings…so you are in safe hands!
So for those that don’t already know, hi I’m Sian. I cannot wait to connect with you and share with you my tips, tricks, life, loves and passions, whilst also sharing some of my most trusted people and experts along the way. One thing you should know about me, is that I love to learn, be that makeup and its ingredients, sustainability, technique, colour theory or gut health…Yes, I’m a bridal makeup artist but there is more to things than just painting our faces, we need to feel good on the inside (look after the inner person and the outter person will look after themselves as my Mumma would say!). With this in mind, my aim is to create a community of people that not only take inspiration for their wedding day makeup but who also talk about real life and experiences with a few cold truths dropped in a long the way.
DIVORCE dah, dah, dah!!
Tell me if I’m wrong, but it kinda feels like the wedding industry is aimed at first time marriages?! In an ideal fantasy world we would be like Swans or Penquins and have a mate for life (apparently this isnt exactly true, any how…) but in the real world, life for some, can get messy, people fall out of love, have affairs, stop making the effort because they think they don’t have to anymore, don’t fulfil the others needs and much more awful situations to boot.
It might sound a bit weird for me to start chatting divorce to you in my first blog, when you have recently got engaged (and maybe for the first time) and are totally loved up but I like to keep things REAL. If you are getting married for the first time it may not be forever. THERE, I SAID IT! Lol shock horror (goes without saying I hope you never have to go through this). Maybe we aren’t meant to be with the same person forever or maybe people do things the wrong way round and dont fall in love with themself first? (Self love blog to come!). Others find their one true soul mate early, sadly (or not so sadly) this wasnt me, so dont worry if this wasnt you either!
This is not a blog about the doom and gloom of marriage, on the contary - divorce was actually a super positive experience for me (lol after the initial blow + personal development jouney)...and whilst marriage isn’t on the cards right now for Ben and I, we have spoken about it and I’m kinda excited about doing it all again…
Which lead me to thinking how I would I do it 2nd time round (for you this could be your 1st, 3rd, 5th…no judgement here)…where would we spend our cash, how would we do it differently, learning points? So I thought it might be helpful to share 3 (for now!) of my pearls of wisdom based on my experience.
So here we go…
THE OUTFIT
It shames me to say, that my wedding dress has ended up in a right old state - what a waste. A waste on SO many levels…I had mine bespokely made (a story I will share another time!) and originally never planned to sell it/lend it/give it to someone etc. In hindsight, I think I would now choose something I that could wear again and again! One brand that has really caught my eye is www.theownstudio.com. I Absolutely LOVE their pared-back, minimalistic style. This coupled with their ethos absolutely resonates with me.
AS A BRIDAL MAKEUP ARTIST WOULD I DO MY OWN MAKEUP?
Hmmmm probably not, I’d rather indulge; there is something so relaxing and therapeutic about someone giving you a little facial massage and pamper prior to makeup, filling your space with love and positive vibes and making you feel like your best version! But who would I choose?? I am super lucky to have a plethora of talented Artists I could ask, but I would base my personal choice on the following things:-
- Can they handle a hooded eye?!
- Does their work have a cool, stripped back effortless and modern feel?
- Do they look fun? - will I have a laugh with them (obviously still want them to be professional)
- Are they kind, caring and thoughtful?
- Do they display images on insta/website of real, everyday people or only models?
- Do I keep going back to their insta/website again, and again and AGAIN!
POTENTIAL INVESTMENT PIECE!!
Call me naive but when I chose my rings it was never about having the best cut diamonds etc, it was about whatever sparked joy. Not knowing much about jewellery we went to a fairly well known jewellers in Cambridge and I fell in love ‘with the one’! At the time, I obviously didnt expect to be selling it a decade later, but when I did, I found out that from an independent jewellers and makers that I could of got a much higher quality ring from an independent store AND bespoke made at that! Basically mine was worth a fraction of what was paid for it. In short, do some research before buying and dont just head to your nearest jewellery chain.
I hope this first read of my blog has been useful and given you a flavour of where we will be heading on this journey together. So why not join me by signing up to my mailing list to receive all future blogs and info straight to your inbox.
Speak soon
Sian x