Happy blue moon and last day of the first decade of the 21st century!
Last week I was in NYC for Christmas and happened to do one of my favorite things: casually wander into the makeup department of Bloomingdales and get myself a free makeover 
. Usually I don’t end up buying anything through these makeovers, but this time I actually did – in a somewhat roundabout way.
The look that I got was from the Benefit Cosmetics line and to me, it looked perfect for bridal makeup. I should have taken a photo of myself all dolled up, but the look was a pink shimmery effect. From memory, the products used included the following:
"Dear John" was used first as a moisturizing base. Since I have plenty of moisturizers, I didn't buy this one.
"That Gal" is a primer which I *love*. It brightens your face and I felt like it made me really radiate.
"Some Kind-a-Gorgeous" is a lightweight foundation available in both "pale" and "deep" shades. This was used over "That Gal".
Now, I am pretty sure they used this one on me. It's called "erase paste" and is a concealer available in 3 shades. Like all concealers, you apply it after the foundation. I already have concealer so I'm going to see how things look with the one I already have.
"Sugarbomb" is a blusher and it looks really great!
In addition to these, she also used eye shadow, mascara, and lip gloss – I thought these products were ok, but no real standouts to what I already had at home. Bloomingdales had a special deal on the Benefit Cosmetics line where if you spent $75 you would get a bonus pack which included mascara, eye shadow, erase paste, and a bunch of other things. It’s the best deal on Benefit that I’ve seen, but I ended up getting it from Sephora since I had a Sephora giftcard to use up. Sephora also have a sample pack of most of these products for the bargain price of $10 (I think that sale ends this weekend, so be quick!).
If you or one of your bridesmaids are comfortable with putting makeup on (let’s face it, most of us girls do this every day!), then I recommend going to your favorite makeup counter and having a few different makeovers until you find what you want to use. Pay attention to what the makeup artist does (especially in getting rid of bags under eyes and blemishes!), and then try doing it yourself at home. Especially if you have a lot of bridesmaids, you will definitely save a lot of money by doing your makeup yourself.
