"Powder & Paint....

... make a woman what she ain't" - this is one of my grandmother's favorite expressions.  Anytime I get my makeup done, I think of this! 

This past weekend, I spent the day as a bride-to-be being showered with love and generosity and sweetness all around me at my incredible bridal shower. But before I get to the actual shower, I have a pre-shower makeup trial to share with you!

I took the opportunity to schedule my makeup trial the morning of my shower to get maximum photographic mileage out of being done up all fancy. The last thing I wanted was to get all made up and have no where to go. One way or another, my makeup trial was going to be for some special occasion, and I was very fortunate that my makeup artist was available to do both mine and my mom's makeup the morning of my shower. This is just another benefit of not having a surprise shower! 

(All photos personal) 

When it came to finding someone to do my makeup, I definitely didn't have to look far! 

This is my little brother as a cowboy, and our childhood next door neighbor, Danielle, as a BEE! (how awesome is that?) 

That little bee grew up into a very talented makeup artist, who will be doing my makeup for the wedding.  Since she lives so close, she was able to come over to my parents' house the morning of the shower for my trial.  I didn't have too much inspiration to go on, and I trust Danielle. So I closed my eyes and let her go to town. 

I'm not going for a "natural" looking eye AT ALL.  In fact, I was drawn more towards darker eye makeup, with heavy liner, and thick lashes.  That is exactly what I got... and surprisingly, while I don't think it looks natural, it doesn't look as heavy in the pictures from the day.  It was the perfect balance of what I wanted! 

I love getting my makeup done! 

My first time with false eyelashes - LOVED them! 

Checking the final product out! 

 I felt like I had a ton of makeup on, but I absolutely love the way it looked.  As someone who wears a decent amount of makeup daily, I was worried that I wouldn't feel much different with my wedding makeup. I was pleasantly surprised! The only thing we talked about doing a bit different for the wedding was a darker lip, maybe. I did love this whole look though.

After taking my hair down, I got to spend a precious hour with my gorgeous niece while my mom got her makeup done!

One of my favorite moments of the day! 

Before I knew it, it was time to head over to my shower! Here's a sneak peek of my mom and me, with our makeup all done, at the shower: 

My shower was perfect, and the day flew by, but at the end of the night despite how exhausted I was - I still didn't want to take my makeup off!  

Did anyone else have their makeup trial before a big event?