Why are weddings so flippin' expensive??!!

Have you noticed that whenever you mention you need a product or service for a wedding - the prices get hiked up?

People know your wedding is *the* biggest day in your life - surrounded by your family, his family, friends and on a life-changing occasion - and they know you just 'have to have' what they supply.

It's true is every industry. Including the beauty profession. Prices for hair and makeup services can quickly go into the hundreds or THOUSANDS for you and the bridal party.

Have you considered doing your own makeup on the big day?

What?!  That can't be right?  Isn't this a makeup artist's blog!

Yes, this is my blog and I'm a professional makeup artist, and I don't usually recommend brides do their own makeup on their big day. But this is also the blog of a personal makeup coach.  Women of all ages in the Bay of Plenty take advantage of my makeup expertise, personalised advice and to discover how to use professional techniques in their everyday makeup.

Did you know you can enjoy an interactive makeup lesson by yourself or with your girlfriends and get the smarts to use cosmetics with confidence?  Let me teach you how to use your best products, colours and techniques so you can apply your own, professionally inspired makeup - for your wedding or any occasion. If you get your bridesmaids together for an interactive workshop, you can all get leave makeup mistakes behind and get the skills to do your own makeup on the wedding day.  It makes a great hen's night or girls' night in, plus you'll not only save the costs of booking a makeup artist on your wedding day, you'll also have the experience to look amazing the day after the wedding and beyond.

The results for Deborah after a small group 'Makeup Mastery' workshop with A Beautiful Education.

With A Beautiful Education YOU can learn from a makeup artist and become your own beauty expert. Visit my website to see how my private consultations or small group workshop will suit you, then use the contact form to ask a question or make a booking. Subscribe to my free monthly Beauty Bulletin while you're there!

Wishing you all the best on your wedding day and beyond,

Lillybeth Melmoth
Makeup Artist
www.abeautifuleducation.co.nz

Christmas Shopping Open Home

You're invited to sample a gorgeous range of cosmetics and find something for you and the ones you love this Christmas - gifts that can't be found in any stores! My favourite must-have products from Mary Kay Cosmetics will be on display and available for you to sample, test and order. The ultimate in 'try-before-you-buy'. *LIMITED EDITION PRODUCTS * NEW MINERAL MAKEUP * BODY CARE * TRAVEL GIFT SETS * SAFE-TANNING & SUN PROTECTION * THE BEST MAKEUP COMPACTS * SPECIALITY FRAGRANCES * SKINCARE FOR MEN *** Get your gift shopping done in one hit. *** Complimentary gift wrapping and free local delivery *** Gift vouchers for private makeup lessons/consultations available (a truly valuable gift for the professional woman) Visit www.abeautifuleducation.co.nz for more info *** COMPLIMENTARY FOUNDATION-MATCHING Meet your 'perfect match' and take advantage of my experience. While you're here I'll help you find the perfect foundation colour and finish for you. *** Purchases can be made with VISA, Mastercard, cash or cheque (Orders will be delivered within 7 days) ENTRY is by donation to the Tauranga Foodbank (We're taking part in the Foodbank Challenge as on the Bay News' front page) To preview the Mary Kay range visit: www.marykay.co.nz I can access any of these products on your behalf and post free NZ-wide if you're out of town. They also have a wonderful 90 day satisfaction guarantee. Details on the invite:

You've Got Til Dec 31st To Get Your Own Life-changing Lippy

In October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month - I hosted a cupcake-sized (smalll) Tim Tam Pink Tea Party at my home to raise funds for Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition. We raised just under $75 including 10% of the Mary Kay Cosmetics orders placed through me in October. So thanks to those who donated and congrats to my customers who chose to trust me with their beauty purchases in October - 10% of your order is going to NZ women overcoming breast cancer! Good stuff! You still have until December 31, 2008 to help change the life of a female cancer sufferer in New Zealand. Act now. Change a life. All it takes is one lipstick! We are now in the season of giving. How many of you have ‘make another woman feel beautiful’ on your gift list? It’s not too late and Mary Kay’s awesome Beauty That Counts campaign means it involves nothing more than a simple lipstick purchase. Get this: Mary Kay in NZ and Australia are donating 100 percent of the profits from the sales of their Apple Berry Lipstick to Look Good Feel Better. Look Good Feel Better assist women who are suffering from cancer and help them deal with the appearance-related side effects of chemotherapy and radiology. So every Apple Berry Lipstick we buy will have a positive impact on the life of a female cancer sufferer! Call me to place your order of this life-changing lippy (or any MK product) and put a little extra sparkle in the eye of another woman this Christmas. My contact details are at the bottom of this page. I offer free postage or delivery NZ-wide and can gift-wrap your purchase for you if you want to make this special lippy a gift that gives twice. What a great idea. Try the Apple Berry lipstick for yourself at my Christmas Shopping Open Home on Thurs Dec 4th!

Three Questions You Must Ask Before Buying Another Beauty Product

How to avoid buyer's remorse and stop stuffing your drawers with products you'll never use! The first step in becoming your own beauty expert.

Like many women, and perhaps like you, I’ve wasted time, money and energy buying products that didn’t live up to their claims, reacted badly with my skin or just plain didn’t suit me.

I was an early starter when it came to using skin care and cosmetics - I suffered with problem skin from the young age of nine and my mother was a representative for various skin care and cosmetic companies during my childhood...I had a skin care regime when I was primary school-age and, starting with my attempts to conceal and correct my bad skin, have worn foundation almost daily since intermediate.

Throughout the years I’ve tried various skin care and makeup brands - some cheap, some expensive. Even though I knew the importance of good skin care, most of the time my budget meant I ended up using ‘bits and pieces’; products not designed for my skin type, freebies from friends, one-off purchases or whatever was in my cosmetics case at the time. With most skin care products, I had no idea if they were working - I couldn’t see any difference. Worse, some added to my embarrassment by causing my skin to break out even more.

Eventually, I realised leaving something as important as my appearance to a ‘fingers-crossed’ approach or putting up with ‘hit and miss’ was only working against me and the healthy skin and polished makeup look I wanted to achieve. Now, with experience as a consumer and professional in the beauty industry, I use a simple test to determine whether a product will end up as time and money spent in vain and gathering dust in my drawer or be my new best friend in helping me look my best every morning.

For each purchase, if you first ask the right questions about the product, about yourself and the best way to buy it, properly investing in your beauty will be rewarding, easy, and regret-free. There are some worthwhile and effective skin care and beauty items available, but they will elude you unless you ask the Three Questions You Must Ask Before You Buy A Beauty Product. Ask these Three Questions and you’ll never worry about getting stuck with unsuitable or disappointing products again. Better still, you’ll be able to trust yourself to make decisions when it comes to enhancing your own beauty:

• Will it suit me? (I.e. For cosmetics: Does it suit your skin tone, complement your eye colour etc? For skin care: Is it the right formulation for your skin type?)

• Do I know how to use it? (And, if you’re not sure, is someone knowledgeable available to teach you so you can apply it for yourself in the future and get the most benefit from the product?)

• If it doesn’t end up suiting me, will they take it back and give me a refund even if it’s opened?

When you have guidelines, it’s easy to be confident in your ability to make yourself look your best. Get positive answers to these questions and you’ll no longer face confusion when you shop for beauty products. Plus you’ll eliminate costly and annoying mistake-purchases from your life! Need help answering these questions? Keen to become your own beauty expert? Click HERE to start your 'beautiful education.'

Self Grooming: Are We Losing The Skills?

Do-It-Yourself’er or Pampered Pet? Who do you rely on to ‘make you beautiful’?

An increasing number of women rely on beauty therapists and clinics to polish, deep-cleanse, tweeze and tan them towards perfection. It’s enough of an increase, that in the industry right now, there’s a shortage of beauty therapists and nail technicians to meet demand.

But in leaving their beautification up to the ‘experts’, are modern women losing the skills to do basic grooming for themselves?

A beauty editor for Runway Reporter (www.runwayreporter.com - the online presence of Fashion Quarterly magazine) observes the trend from Auckland. She writes: “A friend of mine travels to Sydney with the express purpose of having her brows shaped there by a therapist famous for her deft touch rather than lift a tweezer herself. Another friend trots off on a weekly basis in summer to our residential beauty parlour to have a fake tan applied because clearly opening a bottle of self-tanner and spending five minutes slapping it on after her shower is far too much trouble.”

Wow. And it almost doesn’t sound so fun, visiting a beauty clinic regularly for something as mundane as eyebrow shaping. Where’s the relaxation or indulgence in that? (I must be of the old-school who still thinks ‘rose petals and fragrant oils’ when faced with the words ‘beauty clinic’ and who uses them mostly as a luxury or treat!)

And in my humble (and not so jet-setterly opinion) it sounds rather impractical visiting a therapist every time I want some eyebrows removed, not to mention a debatable use of money.

But back to the beauty editor at Runway’: “[As] New Zealanders [we] pride ourselves on being a DIY nation. We think we can sort it all out for ourselves with nothing more than a bit of number eight wire. Well, not anymore. These days we are pampered pets who have become so domesticated by the beauty therapists that, left in the wilds of our own homes, we do not have the ability to do even the most basic grooming on ourselves.”

If that describes you - “domesticated by the beauty therapists” - are you still capable of doing the essentials for yourself if and when you want to? Think: styling your hair, shaping your brows, properly taking care of your skin, maintaining your nails, smoothing your legs...or have you lost the skills now that beauty has been literally taken out of your hands?

You may not feel the urge to mix up a mask from yoghurt and rolled oats in your kitchen (although it can be done), but self-beautification and the independence that goes with it is within your reach. Watch out for regular D-I-Y slots in every beauty bulletin from A Beautiful Education to discover how you can perform ‘professional’ treatments at home. You can sign up for the free publication at www.abeautifuleducation.co.nz.