I'm a recently retired burlesque performer, so I have a lot of beauty products, and also some skills from years of gettin' fancy. But I was feeling a bit rusty (I don't wear much on the daily), so I wanted to play around a bit and take make-up inventory for wedding.

I also thought I would look up some eye shadow tutorials to try out some new looks. I ended up following along with this tutorial:

Although it doesn't deviate much from my typical dress-up look, I thought that someone out there might appreciate the link, plus I picked up a few new tips!

Here's my vintage-style makeup and hair tips for a burlesque-esque wedding day look...

For my face, here are the products I used, and what I did with them:

First off, I hate how foundation looks on me and never wear it. If you love foundation, no problem! But if you don't like foundation or don't want to wear it, you don't have to. Not even for pictures or under bright lights. When I want a flawless look, I do use a few things to smooth out my skin tone, keep the shine down, and conceal blemishes, but I don't use heavy cake foundation.

Second, I use a mix of high-end boutique stuff and drugstore. I have tested some shit far and wide and these are my faves...

I start with this pore primer from Beneft, which is super light and just makes a nice base. I put it on my cheeks, nose, and chin. Then I use Fake Up, also from Benefit, which is one of my all time favorite products ever. It's magic. I dot it on my undereye circles, streak it down my nose, and on any red spots on my face. I finish with a light coat of Wet & Wild BB cream. I wear this shit every day. It's super light, goes on easy with my fingers, has sunscreen, is cruelty free, and makes my face look radiant. (FYI I can no longer find this in Walgreens and have to order online). Oh and then a nice fluffy brush full of finishing powder, translucent powder, to set ( this is the one I'm using right now, but whatever works).

For my eyes, I just followed the tutorial, and here are the products I used:

I start with primer. This is one of those things I assumed was a scam to get you to buy more shit, but it's for real. There are lots of expensive primers out there, and Urban Decay's is good, but my fave for the price tag is this Wet & Wild primer. Seriously, I once did my eye makeup with this, had a super sweaty dance party makeout session, followed by a shower, and ridiculous sex, and my eye makeup was intact the next morning. Primer will make your cheapest shadows look so much better, too.

I used a crappy white pencil from NYC because it was the only one I had on hand, but ordered one from W&W and hope it's better.

Black liquid liner - I have tried pretty much everything out there, and this is my hands-down, can't live without fave. I have REALLY oily lids, and every eyeliner except this one smudges on me. This one is to die for and is like $6.99 and you will have eyeliner on for days unless you take it off with oil.

• Fave mascara ever: Benefit They're Real. I love that you can get this one in a tiny travel tube for like $10 at the Benefit store or Sephora.
• Fake lashes on top. I love them. Not totally necessary though. I really just like how they feel on my eyes - I feel immediately more dramatic and glamorous with the bit of weight on my lids. I love Ardell's at the drugstore or the cheap ones you can find at Daiso.

For my make-out ready lips:

I brushed a bit of blush on the apples of my cheeks and then finished with a swipe of Revlon ColorStay lipstick in Finale, I think (the best long-lasting I've ever tried - doesn't come off on your coffee mug OR on your sweetie's face). I'll probably go with a top coat of Urban Decay Revolution (shade 69) for picture times, as it's a more vibrant red, but it's pretty transferable and I don't want to get lipstick all over her face when we make out in the limo later. So I'll wipe that off post-photos and stick with the ColorStay for the rest of the day. It's a nice natural red and goes well with the '60s hair and eyes.

For my hair:

I love this tutorial for a messy, sexy, but easy 60s bouffant. I'm going to try this one soon and see if the results are different. It looks a bit more challenging but also the back is prettier. FYI I used NO hairspray to get this volume, just a crap ton of teasing (and my hair was really really dirty, like a week dirty - I don't shampoo very often, which I've been told helps to protect it when I do heavy teasing like this). I took a class on teasing, and if you're new to it, you can't be afraid. Rat it rat it rat it! It WILL come out, whether by careful combing apart or getting in the shower and washing it out (and heavily conditioning after to smooth it back down).

That's a lot. I hope it's helpful for someone? I see a lot of questions around about DIY makeup and hair and I've picked up a few tricks from being a theater major back in the day to years of being fancy on stage and doing a bit of pinup modeling. I like sharing!