With all weddings, music is usually apart of the getting ready, the ceremony, the reception, the first night as a married couple. Today’s show introduces you to some of the songs that I love and some that my Brides have used to commemorate their special day.
The Tuckers
Press PLAY to listen to 3.30.22 show
As I’ve said before, music is the language of life; it brings us together but for some, it says the words only our feelings know how to communicate. When I am servicing Brides, I try to always have my speaker with a few different wedding playlists. Whether its the love songs for the Bride to really just sit and listen to the words and imagine her love at the end of the aisle. Whether its the girls anthems to keep the bridal squad hype before the last dancing moments being single. Whether it’s just feel good music to keep your mind off the stresses of the day, who is late or what things aren’t going quite as planned. Whatever you need in that particular moment, music can transport you there. Music helps me connect to my bridal squad, as well as provide ‘songs to maintain an atmosphere of joy, love and celebration (as stated by my most recent Bride).’
J.L. (interlude)- Sinead Harnett
Jaheim- In my Hands
The O’Jays- Lovin’ You
Mali Music feat. Jazmine Sullivan- Loved by You
I mentioned @RandomRoe in the show so I wanted to be sure to provide links for you to check him out.
Click HERE for the link to TGL / BLYNN THE BRAND APPAREL
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Make sure you check in each week in April- IT’S MY BearthDAY MONTH- WE’RE CELEBRATING. EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 10AM EST!
I’M SLIDING INTO 40 ON APRIL 22ND!!!
Interested in free advertising or being a guest on the show, click HERE to schedule a time to chat or feel free to email me at: info@NiSisEyes.com with the subject: Through the Eyes of NiSi radio show
We continue our discussion on bridal makeup and how what we do is not just about showing up and doing makeup.
Press PLAY to hear the audio replay of the 3.23.22 show.
Episode 17
What are some things a Bride should consider when looking for a Bridal Makeup Artist?
Quantity– How many are coming through for you and standing up with you on your wedding day? Basically, how many people are in your bridal party and will need makeup/hair services? Most service providers can provide service to 4-5 people depending on the time frame allotted. Once you submit your inquiry, we immediately get to work on confirming if assistance is needed. We know that most glam squads are booked 6 months to a year in advance, so even we have to confirm availability if we may need assistance in glamming your entire squad. Remember, even though you book me for your wedding date; I start working long before that… the constant communication, planning, beauty preview, bridesmaid discussions, etc.
Ambiance– Do you want music played as you’re getting beautified? I normally play music that caters to everyone to break the awkwardness or silence. Also, music brings people together so it also helps to get conversations started. If you have certain music you want played while services are being provided, go ahead and have it on- we want you to feel comfortable and relaxed.
Packages– Does the package include your service providers or vendors being there all day? Keep in mind that vendors may be traveling from a distance so consider that if you need them to be there from sun up to sun down. Maybe offer to cover a room for the night so that they don’t have to travel hours back to their home base. Some bridal beauty packages come with a touch up bag, if so, this allows the beauty team to leave you being prepared if you need to touch up lips or face. Remember, everyone has a camera; you want to be camera ready by making sure you have a Makeup Artist/ Hair Stylist there throughout the night or that you feel comfortable enough to pull yourself back together.
Venue Location– Are there 2 or more flights of stairs? Are there working elevators? Is parking on property? Will there be a shuttle from the parking to the venue? Are you paying any parking fees for your vendors? If someone has to move our car or go park in a different location. Does the venue provide assistance? Are there enough chairs, tables, outlets, etc.? Will beauty services take place in a bridal suite, bathroom, fellowship hall? Will this room be locked so everyone’s (including the glam squad) property is safe and/or closed to the public?
Are these questions that you are asking? Do you need more clarification? Leave your questions and comments below and/or join us for the Facebook Live tonight.
If only you could be a fly on the wall when we have conversations about our lives as bridal makeup artists and hairstylists…. well here’s your chance. We are letting you inside our in depth conversations, giving more tips and behind the scenes information on what it takes to be a bridal makeup artist and what things Brides should consider. Be there TONIGHT at 8pm EST on Facebook Live (the time below is for the west coast folk). Click below to set your reminder!
Join us on Facebook, TONIGHT at 8pm EST (press Get Reminder above) to go more in depth on what all goes into being a Bridal Makeup Artist, what you should look for, etc.
You can stream the show on iHeart, iTunes, Streema, TuneIn, etc.
Make sure you check in next week when we continue our series on Bridal Beauty and what goes into being a Bridal Makeup Artist/ Hairstylist.
Interested in free advertising or being a guest on the show, click HERE to schedule a time to chat or feel free to email me at: info@NiSisEyes.com with the subject: Through the Eyes of NiSi radio show
The Month of March is dedicated to providing the knowledge of what goes into servicing Brides as a Makeup Artist.
Press PLAY to listen to this week’s replay.
I’m always grateful for photos of me working but this photo tells it all. I was tired, my hair sweated out but I did my best to put on a little bit of a face… I showed up.
Story Time: Picture this, you are booked for a wedding. You arrive the night before because the location was a bit far to drive when there’s an early start time. You get to the hotel, hoping to get a good night’s sleep and then you notice that this room isn’t the cleanest. Luckily you haven’t removed anything from your luggage but for the next 30 minutes, you sit in the chair, you stand in the middle of the room, you pace back and forth because you notice there are some little bugs on the nightstand and on the bed. The hotel is sold out and there are no rooms you can be changed to (if you would even want to). After talking to a friend, you decide you will drive over a hour away at 1am to get at least a few decent hours of sleep because you have an 8am start time.
The picture you see above is me working through being extremely tired, I couldn’t get my hair right, and wishing I had a hat or head wrap. However this was a photo of The Bride and I, after I had done approximately 5 people’s makeup in the bridal squad. After this photo, I was on my feet for another 5 hours; making sure that I was available to assist the Bride with whatever was needed. She did not know anything about my night until a few days after the wedding (and that’s mainly because I wanted her to be sure to get her money back).
My job is to make sure that my Bride is not stressed and that she feels and looks amazing. There was no need for me to call her at 1am to complain. I made necessary arrangements based on the options I had available. I am grown and have common sense, I did what I needed to do for me to be as close to my best as possible.
Focused!
Being a Bridal Makeup Artist, is not just about Makeup; there’s so much more that goes into it.
With every client, with every bridal party; lessons are learned. Processes change, contracts get updated, more emails are added to make sure we’re all on the same page, and so much more. I don’t want to be stressed, nor do I want my Bride worried about anything (if I can help it).
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you’re beginning your search for a Bridal Makeup Artist:
1. Book your Makeup Artist as soon as possible. You have to do your research when it comes to deciding on makeup artist for your day. Most Bridal makeup artists are booked months or even a year, in advance. You are not locked in (in most cases) until a contract is signed and a deposit has been paid.
2. Not every Makeup Artist is a Bridal Makeup Artist, a lot goes into the planning and wedding day timeline. Make sure that whomever you choose is professional, understands your vision and has a contract. Not everyone is yours truly, I’m naturally a helper so I am more of a Makeup Artist/ Assistant. I feel like if I am there, I am going to help as much as I can. I’m not going to stand there and say, ” I’m here for makeup and that’s it.
3. Choose a Makeup Artist that you feel comfortable with. Don’t choose someone that will easily get on your nerves. Choose someone that can provide the vision that you have for your beauty services. Choose someone who you and your bridal squad can vibe with. Choose someone that is professional, has a contract, customer friendly, available (mainly during business hours) to answer questions and concerns, transparent, understands your concerns, etc. Planning a wedding is stressful in itself, almost like a second job; choose vendors who keep things as easy breezy as possible for you.
Having experience in doing plays and fashion shows has shown me (as a model, actress, director, etc.) what can go right and what can go wrong. I’m used to someone having to change bras, spanx…. I’ve seen it all.
Next week we will have my business partner, Courtney Haynes of Courtney KBeauty on the radio show and on Facebook Live to provide more tips and information. Click below to set a reminder. Join us on Facebook, Wednesday at 8pm EST (press Get Reminder below) to go more in depth on what all goes into being a Bridal Makeup Artist, what you should look for, etc.
Be sure to leave your comments and any feedback in the comment section below.
Like for real, we want to help people understand what all goes into this business.
You can stream the show on iHeart, iTunes, Streema, TuneIn, etc.
Make sure you check in next week when we continue our series on Bridal Beauty and what goes into being a Bridal Makeup Artist.
Interested in free advertising or being a guest on the show, click HERE to schedule a time to chat or feel free to email me at: info@NiSisEyes.com with the subject: Through the Eyes of NiSi radio show
If you follow me on social media, you may have heard me say that people’s experiences directly affect how they react in certain situations. Well the same applies when it comes to clients and their Makeup Artists.
I met a young lady through a referral, unfortunately we didn’t meet face to face right away due to COVID-19. Her wedding had to be postponed due to unrelated COVID issues, but we would soon meet for her bridal makeup preview.
The day finally came for us to get together to test out a makeup look for her special day. Luckily we were able to meet a few times prior. My clients sometimes become good friends, acquaintances and business connects; I love that. Your makeup artist (especially your bridal MUA should be someone that you can trust and feel comfortable with). We had a blast but I quickly learned that I needed to be on guard.
They usually say don’t mess with a black woman’s hair, well you may not want to mess with a woman’s eyes. One might ask, how are you to do eye makeup then?
Welllllllll, this is how it all went down.
Now when I do makeup, I start with the eyes so if there is any fallout, there’s less to clean up and I don’t waste product; however, that may have been to my advantage in this case. So we moisturized her skin, added primer, moved on to the brows and started working on her eyes. We were doing good, laughing and talking, and keeping it moving. I added a liquid eyeliner and some natural looking eyelashes.
Disclaimer: I love a good lash, however I’m not big on the Snuffleupagus looking lashes. I like lashes to look very natural. Most of my clients are everyday women, who don’t wear a lot of makeup (if any) and have found the love of their life and wanting to add a little extra glam on wedding day. We want everyone to see this whole package when the doors open, not just her eyelashes flapping. Her fiancé wants to recognize his/her fiancee walking down the aisle and we aim to make that happen. I digress…
Once my client got used to the eyelashes and being sure she could see clearly, I was ready to move on to eyeliner for the bottom waterline and mascara. If you’ve sat in my chair, I try to get in and get out when it comes to that bottom waterline. No one likes it and that’s when we learn how strong your tear ducts are. I always give a warning that I’m about to go there so that my client can prepare themselves. Sometimes the trick of looking up and the opposite way of the eye I’m working on works, but sometimes it doesn’t. My client almost grabbed my hands as I got up to her eye. She said it was a reflex, I just didn’t want to poke her in her eye. We had a couple tries and gut busting laughs.
Y’all listen, when I tell y’all she had to sit on her hands and we had to count to 3 to get the eyeliner on that bottom waterline. I wish I had a picture but I can’t put her out there like that. I am glad I lived to tell the tale.
Every tip and trick doesn’t work for everybody and you are constantly learning from each experience. Not everyone is okay with things coming towards their eyes. Sometimes you have to get creative, sometimes that area may take longer than for others, sometimes people will cry puddles just at the thought of anything being that close to their eye. My point is I AM CONSTANTLY LEARNING no matter how long I’ve been doing makeup.
Just know, when it was wedding day; we still had to count to 3 but those hands had to be put away first. We had a good laugh and she looked amazing; I just didn’t want a black eye from simply trying to make her comfortably flawless.
Want to hear more about my life as a Makeup Artist? Let me know in the comments below and ask whatever questions you may have.
So instead of putting this in poetry form, I figured I need to write it out and tell you how I really feel. If you follow me on social media (@nisiseyesmakeupartistry), you know that I had bridal makeup clients yesterday.
I was up at 6am, and pretty much on my feet from 8am until about 630pm. I stopped and got a 4 for 4 from Wendy’s once my job was complete; because that whole day all I had was a bowl of oatmeal before I left the house, some water (definitely not enough), and 2 mini chocolate chip muffins. I was exhausted when I got home, so I laid down.
Due to me taking a nap once I got home, I was up at about 2am with a headache. So I took Excedrin Migraine about 4am, drank some water and laid back down. I usually have migraines but this felt more like a tension headache (pain nonetheless). As I sit here typing this at 1:45 on this Sunday afternoon, it still lingers on but I am still pinpointing my triggers of migraines and tension headaches (for me it feels kinda one in the same), but the fact that I’m even up able too type this tells me that this is no migraine.
So some may ask, whats’s the difference between a cluster headache and a migraine?
Well according to MayoClinic.org, Cluster headaches are one of the most painful types of headache. A cluster headache commonly awakens you in the middle of the night with intense pain in or around one eye on one side of your head.
A cluster headache strikes quickly, usually without warning, although you might first have migraine-like nausea and aura. Common signs and symptoms during a headache include:
Excruciating pain that is generally situated in, behind or around one eye, but may radiate to other areas of your face, head and neck
One-sided pain
Restlessness
Excessive tearing
Redness of your eye on the affected side
Stuffy or runny nose on the affected side
Forehead or facial sweating on the affected side
Pale skin (pallor) or flushing on your face
Swelling around your eye on the affected side
Drooping eyelid on the affected side
A migraine can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It’s often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine attacks can last for hours to days, and the pain can be so severe that it interferes with your daily activities. Migraines, which often begin in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood, can progress through four stages: prodrome, aura, attack and post-drome. Not everyone who has migraines goes through all stages.
There are a number of migraine triggers, including:
Hormonal changes in women. Fluctuations in estrogen, such as before or during menstrual periods, pregnancy and menopause, seem to trigger headaches in many women.Hormonal medications, such as oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy, also can worsen migraines. Some women, however, find their migraines occurring less often when taking these medications.
Drinks. These include alcohol, especially wine, and too much caffeine, such as coffee.
Stress. Stress at work or home can cause migraines.
Sensory stimuli. Bright lights and sun glare can induce migraines, as can loud sounds. Strong smells — including perfume, paint thinner, secondhand smoke and others — trigger migraines in some people.
Sleep changes. Missing sleep, getting too much sleep or jet lag can trigger migraines in some people.
Physical factors. Intense physical exertion, including sexual activity, might provoke migraines.
Weather changes. A change of weather or barometric pressure can prompt a migraine.
Medications. Oral contraceptives and vasodilators, such as nitroglycerin, can aggravate migraines.
Foods. Aged cheeses and salty and processed foods might trigger migraines. So might skipping meals or fasting.
Food additives. These include the sweetener aspartame and the preservative monosodium glutamate (MSG), found in many foods.
My pain is currently on the left side of my forehead above my brow bone, behind my left ear and at the nape of my head. No pain on the right side but definitely on the left.
Okay, now that I’ve gotten some explanations out of the way, just know that when it comes to my clients, especially my Brides; I am there with them (most times) through the beginning of the reception. I would consider myself a Makeup Artist/Bride Assistant. I am there if mics need to be put on, putting lotion on, shoes need to be buckled, help with tightening and tying up the corset, etc. So by doing all this I barely sit down unless I am waiting on someone or something to happen because we are on a timeline. I don’t assume that food brought in for the bridal party is for me, nor do I assume that I have a plate at the wedding reception. If things are offered, great but my role is to be the Makeup Artist. Because I am a helping person, I’m not just going to stand there and be like ‘I did my job.’ I am going to help where needed, this possibly results in me not putting myself first though.
Me last night after being on my feet for approximately 12 hours.
From this day forth, I have to do better; I will try not to be hard headed. I will be including in my timeline; brain/body breaks and meal breaks. Whether I need to pack a small lunch or smoothies or something, I have to make sure I am covered even if the people who hired me, don’t remember it in the grand scheme of things (and believe me, it’s a lot going on). I recommend my other MUA’s and vendors (photographers, hair stylists, wedding coordinators, etc.) do the same. I know the value of my work and even through the pain, sometimes I am trying to give 100% and am killing myself because I want to make sure my clients’ day is flawless. I go over and beyond and my prices will reflect that. I know that once your besties get their spanx and everything on, they can’t get down on the floor and help you strap that shoe or make sure your legs aren’t ashy. Once nails are done, there may be some struggle with helping to button and zip the Bride in; that’s where I come in.
If you’ve read this far, know that I am mainly typing with my left eye closed so I am going to go back to my ice pack and lay back down in my dark room. I have a painting to finish and deliver this week and my headache issues won’t let me be great. I just wanted to make sure you understand the magnitude of what we go through to make these types of events/productions as perfect as possible but in return, please remember that we’re on our feet and sometimes barely eating during our 8-12 hour day (sometimes longer). Keep that in mind when you are requesting a service and you want us at our best, unfortunately we are working hard to help you create flawless memories but are hurting ourselves in the process.
Always with a Brush,
NiSi
To educate, beautify and empower one canvas at a time.
