I was in Ardington House in Oxfordshire one of my favourite venues. Michelle my bride chose a classic wedding hairstyle  a large bun at the back of her head, and the rest of her hair was swept back clean from her face.  Her look was classic and beautiful. Michelle and I, during our Make up Design Appointment chose to use matte shades of browns on her eyelids and for defiition chose ‘MacroViolet Gel FluidLine eye liner by MAC’ ,’ her skin looked fair and was glowing, I chose to use ‘Nars Sheer Glow foundation’ on her which I love as it gives a good coverage without looking heavy. Michelle’s chose a lovely photographer www.kerrymorgan.com Kerry was really kind and told me she will send me some photos which I will post for you to see shortly.

With Michelle and her bridesmaids looking stunning …now all I needed to do was get back through the snow which I just about managed to do with a few obsticles along the way, a couple of gentlemen helped shovel snow from under my wheels and push my car up a few slopes along my way. Ahh there are still gentlemen out there.

This summer…Where has it gone!? It feels like it has gone by in a whirlwind! I still find myself opening my diary at April.

We have had a great summer and have had the pleasure in working with some really lovely ladies and very beautiful brides, who you can see on our gallery.  Over the next few weeks we will be updating this as we receive pictures from our brides of 2010 with lovely thank you letters that we have in somes cases put up for you to read on our testimonial pages if our brides have allowed us to.

I would like to, in preperation for 2011 give some advice to brides to be. Skin is so important, over the years I have treated many ladies who have suffered from acne to Ezcema and have managed to improve their condition and in many cases helped them to achive flawless skin in time for their big day. We use Dermalogica in our facials and when a bride comes to us for their Hair & Make up Design appointment we offer a complimentary mini Dermalogica prescription facial.  The most common problem that I see is that delicate skin around the eye are is neglected, even by ladies who are devoted to a good skin care routine.

Brides tell us that they want their make up to look flawless and last all day. As professional make up artists the skin is our canvas to work on and the better the skin is hydrated and nourished the better the makeup will look , feel and last on our brides skin. I highly recomend a good eye cream such as Dermalogica ‘Total eye care spf15′ or ‘Intensive eye repair’. You will see an immediate result and your make up will sit evenly on the skin especially where concealer is often needed to conceal dark circles. If the skin is hydrated the concealer will look even and will not crack. Making a bride look youthful.

Until next time

Claire Nicole x

May has started off busy as usual for myself and the team.

I was working around the corner on Saturday which was unusual as most saturdays I can travel for up to 2 hours to a bride. Sharon my bride on Saturday chose a beautiful tight curled look  for her hair with the sides of her hair pinned back and I created fine ribbon detail with the hair to add some detail at the back. I used extra strong hair spray as unfortunatly the weather was a bit drizzly.

I kept her make up simple, yet beautiful. Sharon chose to wear no eyeshadow on her eyelid as she is lucky enough to have a naturally strong contour shadow. So I applied a highlight to her brow bone, and defined the shape of her eyes with brown waterproof pencil which I felt contrasted with her eyecolour to draw her eyes out so not much make up was needed. Her skin which looked gorgeous before any make up! Was enhanced with a light application of Clinique moisturising foundation. I chose a favourite blusher of mine by Nars to bring out Sharons perfectly chisled cheeks bones which gave her just the right colour to her face and and added a glow. I also used another favourite product of mine, Nars ‘South beach’ highlighter on her cheek bone to give an extra emphasis to her bone structure, (this can also look great in photos). Sharon chose to use her own lip gloss a favourite of hers by Estee Lauder and I used MAC Cosmo under it to give it some depth. Sharon’s dress was a beautiful colour that suited her skin tone perfectly,the best way I can describe it is that it had a very faint silver hue.  Her exposed body skin was finished off with a fine spritz of shimmer. Sharons chose to wear ‘Lovely’ by Sarah Jessica Parker as her wedding fragrance. I can’t wait to see her pictures, she just looked stunning and it was a very lovely morning spent with Sharon, her Mum and daughter.

I’m excited to hear how my teams weddings went in detail. As usual I have had messages coming in from them keeping me up to date and apparently as expected all went very well and as usual all our brides headed off to their wedding ceremonies looking radiant and beautiful. Im confident it won’t be long until we have some pictures to post from this Saturdays brides.

Until next time happy wedding planning.
 
Claire Nicole

I am very selective on who joins the Claire Nicole team, as I know that when you book us to style you it is often going to be for a very special occasion. Most often my clients are brides to be who are putting their trust in us and are apprehensive. so I will only have artists in my team who I feel are fantastic and not only great at their art, but are warm and friendly too, my artists want to make you feel and look amazing and we want you to feel comfortable with us so we can help you find a look you will love.

When I began building my team in 2004 ladies were excited that a professional hair & make up artist who styled models for magazines and celebrities was now available to style them for their very special day. You see when I began in 1996; brides had their hair styled often at a salon, but make up being professionally applied by a mobile make up artist was a new trend that I started and brides to were very excited about this. ( I make myself sound ancient I’m only 30, but this really is what happened.)

I was unable to attend every booking myself and therefore I began looking for other make up artists that I liked and could trust with my clients.

When I’m not available I know that my dedicated team will do just as good a job as I would and look after my clients as well as I do. I don’t believe that Franchise in this industry is suitable as I believe it is important to know that each artist that works for Claire Nicole Ltd is qulaified and professional enough to provide the high level of service that we are known and recommended for. Every artist in my team I know and have interviewed and trained the Claire Nicole way to care about our clients needs. So my artists have my training on top of their professional training.

Emily our Customer support lady helps me to ensure that each of my clients is matched with one of my hair and make up artists that I feel will suit the client, and any specific requirements that she may have. My aim has always been to oversee each booking to ensure that you receive the highest possible service avaiable from Claire Nicole Ltd.

I would like to invite you to learn beauty tips and receive advise from me and my team on Twitter and Facebook and be a part of The Claire Nicole Ltd family.

I hope to see you soon,

Claire x

I am so excited that my first post is about my Sisters wedding last Saturday (6th June 2009). I can honestly say that the weekend was the best weekend of my life, and my baby sister looked absolutely gorgeous as you will see from these pictures.

We started the morning with champagne at Tylney Hall in Hampshire, where myself and one of my Creative Director’s ‘Emma’ worked our makeover magic on ‘Louise’, (The Bride) and her bridesmaids. My Sister took full advantage of the fact that I was on hand, and so she had, ‘in true princess style’, two hair styles on her big day.

For the day time she opted for an all up clean style with a few tendrils to soften her look, a low bun with elegant detail in contrast to the neat smooth bun. Louise chose a low tiara from www.charlottesboutique.co.uk. For her makeup I complimented her natural beauty and big eyes with a small amount of definition and a subtle wash of creams and gold across her eyelids, her skin looked glowing with Nars foundation and a touch of blusher on the apple of her cheeks that not only accentuated her cheek bones it drew attention to her eyes. I finished with a touch of Mac Lip jelly on her lips for a subtle touch of colour.

For the evening Louise chose a more relaxed style to compliment her Proniovias dress and I curled her hair and pulled it back to one side with a sparkling diamante hair slide from www.charlottesboutique.co.uk.

The day was magical and everyone looked gorgeous as you will see from the pics.

Georgina Creative Director was at Wargrave at Suzie Stubbs wedding who had a marquee in her parents garden with a beautiful setting on the river Thames. Suzie opted for a natural make up accentuating her eyes beautifully and her hair was in a low slung pony with tumbling soft curls.

Jo also one of my fabulous Creative Director was meanwhile attending to the gorgeous laura Wilkinson who was getting ready in traditional style at her parents’ home in Chalfont St Giles, Bucks. Jo styled not only The bride but the brides mother, 2 bridesmaids and a little flower girl.

Please keep an eye open as I am sure we will have some pictures of these weddings soon to show you, as we have already had a lovely letter of thanks from Ayala, Lauras Mum. Who tells us Laura will be in touch on return from her Honeymoon.

Until next week, happy wedding planning!

Claire Nicole xxx