The morning of your wedding is a little like a fever dream. Buckets of anticipation, planning and money have gone into making this the most memorable day of your life, and so actually experiencing it is slightly surreal.
Despite all of my prep, I hadn’t given that much thought to what would happen after I left the safe confines of Celia Burton’s makeup chair and made my way to the ceremony, and then the reception, supper, and party. Surely my face, given how meticulously she had applied my makeup, would stay perfect? Because she always thinks three steps ahead, Celia packed me off with an SOS beauty kit stashed inside my bridal bag—a sweet but tiny Anya Hindmarch horseshoe number.
Realizing I might be in need of more than just the glow that comes with happiness, I chucked a couple of my own non-negotiable products in there, too. (My sister asked if she could pop her phone in as well. Um, no.)
Here, a glimpse inside my micro bridal bag.
Hourglass Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm in Trace
I have the type of face that can’t carry off lipstick. I’m not fishing for compliments; it just looks bad. I can get away with a pigmented gloss, though, and am never more than six centimeters away from my beloved Trace Glossy Balm. It’s a warm, pinky brown tone that goes on like a lip balm but has the shine of a gloss. It’s your own lips but better—especially if your natural lip color leans more taupe or brown.
Glossier Lip Line Enhancing Pencil in Buff
If you haven’t heard the words “nipple-matched” in relation to lip liner, well, now you have. A clever way to find a range of true-nude colors, Glossier used lips and nipples to find the nearest matches. Buff is a soft “toasted almond” shade which translates to a warm, mid-tone brown. Celia and I tried a couple before settling on it, deciding that both Bit and Grip read as too pink for my liking. Having it with me made any post-eating touch-ups a breeze.
Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Pressed Powder Travel in Translucent
A shiny forehead doesn’t care if it’s your wedding day. So, I tossed the travel-sized version of the Hourglass pressed powder in my bag. Not only does it have a handy, good-on-the-go mirror, the product is also reliable enough to pat on without one. Instant shine killer.
Maison Francis Kurkdjian 724 eau de parfum
The first time I sniffed 724, I knew it would be the perfume I wore on my wedding day – no matter that I wasn’t engaged at the time. It’s clean and breezy, with a certain crisp luminosity that evokes the scent of bed linen hanging on the line in the middle of a meadow. The smallest size was just big enough to tote around with me for covert spritzes.
De Mamiel Altitude Oil
Whenever I need to feel calm, I turn to Anne de Mamiel’s most brilliant Altitude Oil. It’s billed as a travel essential (which it is) because of its antibacterial and antiviral properties, but it’s really a lifesaver, whatever the occasion—be that a bad bout of turbulence or your big day. It smells the way you feel after meditating, or a walk in the woods: clear, calm, and grounded. A mix of lavender, eucalyptus, pine, peppermint, fragonia, and honey myrtle, it’s an immediate refresh.
Finally, a couple of miscellaneous bits: a spoolie for eyebrow taming and a clean cotton bud to fix any smudges caused by happy tears.