Articol publicat in "UNICA" - Mai 1999 - Make-up of the modern bride by Bianca Brad It’s your wedding day, You are wearing the diadem, the veil And a white dress. You are the “Only” chosen one, Sa fii astazi Mireasa, A queen who came on Earth. The bride ... “she is the beauty queen – the world queen”. This verse of Eminescu perfectly suits the brides. And which woman doesn’t wish to be the most beautiful and attractive on her wedding day? And she must be, or, at least, she should be! They say it is exactly the other way around, due to stress, emotion and tiredness. But it is not quite true! Plan your time, share the tasks so that at least one day before the wedding to have some time for yourself. Do not let stress overwhelm you. Remember: it is your day! There is no tragedy if you can’t make it to the cosmeticians’. With the help of the advices contained in this article you will be, in no time, “beauty queens”. Even if you are going to be a romantic, classical, extravagant or modern bride, the preparation is the same. The complexion must be prepared for a day, a beautiful but long and tiresome day. The first step is to clean your skin. Should you not have time for a steam bath, put on a warm wild camomile tea compress and then make a peeling (you can buy it or prepare it yourself, by mixing some maize with shaving cream). In order to calm and brighten up your skin, boil a potato; after decortication mix it with some milk, add a yolk of an egg or a spoon of oil. A tonic mask: mix the mayonnaise with a yolk of an egg, some oil ad a few drops of lemon juice. After using this mask your skin will be very soft. Meanwhile it will be indicated to take a bath, to which you may add powder milk (to soften your skin) mixed with some water, or to add some lavender (for relaxation). Should a “spot” threaten you, put on a mixture of lemon juice, onion juice and bran or dot the spot with garlic juice or parsley. If you want to have smooth, shinny and volume hair, you can use the following recipe: boil a glass of beer, at low fire, until it reaches half of the initial quantity ad then mix it with your regular shampoo and wash your hair normally. And because you will have a day with lots of kisses, you need a special treatment for your lips. Before going to bed, scrub with a smooth toothbrush, in order to remove barks and then put on a thin coat of honey. The next day your lips will be smooth and you will certainly be rested after such a sweet sleep! The big day arrived! A quick shower (don’t forget to rub your skin with a special sponge for the circulation), followed by a body lotion and perfume (don’t forget the spot behind the where your future husband will whisper love words!!). A less known trick (which is valid not only on your wedding day) is, in order to calm the nervous system: rub smoothly your solar plexus with pure lavender essence. The next step is to put on the make-up. A natural, diaphanous make-up suits a romantic and dreaming bride. The skin must be transparent; therefore it is not recommended a dark shade of foundation or face powder. The adequate shades for a romantic make-up are pick tones. The eyes will not be strongly painted, just underlined with eyeliner – the line will be afterwards wiped off a little bit. You can apply a darker shade of pink or an elegant gray-silver on the eyelids. For the eyelashes you can use brown, black or even dark violet mascara. It is very fashionable this year to wear silver lipstick or mysterious golden reflexes lipstick. As it is a very diaphanous make-up you may only use pink lip-gloss. In order to complete the romantic image you may use hair curls, which are very demanded this season. Satin shoes, some small flowers or a rose in the hair would crown a beautiful romantic image. Are you extravagant? Do you wear a tight, transparent dress? Then you need a make-up and hair styling to measure. For a special hair style (with added locks?!!) the make-up shades may be futuristic, for instance metallic white, nacreous blue or golden copper; these shades may be used both for lips and nails and for the cheeks and décolletage. The make-up of a modern bride uses dramatic shades, such as: purple, chocolate colour or violet. The skin shade must not be too pale or too dark. It is very modern to use a contradictory combination of pink and green, vanilla and silver gray or beige with cappuccino, light gray with silver. As for the hair, the negligent pinned hair, twisted curls with flowers, combs, feathers, metal crowns are options suitable for a new and modern style. To conclude, there are some tricks to retain and use in order for you to ensure a long-lasting make-up: before applying the foundation, pass an ice cube on the face; apply the powder after the foundation, on the entire face and after finishing the make-up apply another thin coat; apply some foundation and powder on the lips, then the lipstick, then put a hankie between the lips, powder a little and then again put-on the lipstick. use a pencil eyeliner instead of the liquid eyeliner use water resistant mascara (... resistant to tears!!!) after finishing the make-up, spray some mineral water on the face. Epilogue On your route ... “in two” Only happiness and luck Should be the reason. Myself and everyone who loves you WISH YOU ALL THE HAPPINESS IN THE WORLD!