Breathe out...

This post may come across as somewhat personal, but I'm okay with that. Again, this blog is going to be about my life and my ways of finding beauty in every situation possible. Maybe it will be my way to de-stress, maybe someone else out there encounters similar situations, or maybe it will be someone's distraction from a busy life. Whatever reason it is, I hope this blog gives you some perspective. Don't get me wrong...I'm still going to talk about "makeup" and my career as a freelance artist...but there is much more to me then just my "career". Which is something that I have accepted as of recently.

April 27th, 2012- I suffered a miscarriage. I was 8 weeks pregnant. We were thrilled and so excited, (to say the least) that we were expecting our first child come December 2012. And so suddenly suffered the loss. If you truly know us, then you know how badly we want to be parents and how excited we are to start a family. A lot of people our age may have an opinion to that. Yes, we live in a one bedroom apartment, no, we don't make a ton of money, yes, we told too many people too soon....but all of that aside. It's our life, and who are you to judge? Again, if you know me and my husband, you know how in love we are and how rare our kind of love is. And that in itself, is pretty damn special to me and is all you need to make it work. I can honestly say that since the miscarriage, I haven't been myself. I've struggled with many emotions. Questions that I knew the answers to but didn't want to accept them for what they were. There had to be something wrong with me. Why did this happen to us? One more crazy intense situation that my husband and I have to be put through.

I have felt things these past couple months that I never knew I could feel...or knew I could feel but always felt like, "no, that will never be me". Major depression...but I'm good hiding it. Except from one person, my husband. I felt like I was inadequate, as a wife, as a person,in my job, and it was something that my husband was picking up on. And he was not happy about it. I was convinced that these feelings were just normal, and eventually would go away and were just part of the healing process. Well, unfortunately they got worse. Anxiety and depression in full swing. Your mind is a crazy thing. Your thoughts can do some serious damage. I felt as if I was loosing my mind.

Now, I can finally say that I feel like I'm heading in the right direction...with my thoughts and outlook on life and truthfully, I have my husband and family to thank for it. And for that I am beyond grateful. You can't dwell on the what if's or the could have beens'when things don't go as planned. You have to focus on the present and live for the moment. And that's what I'm doing...or trying to do as often as possible. I'm quite a work in progress but at least I know I'm trying my best. I can make it through anything, you can make it through anything. It is all about positive thinking. And it definitely doesn't hurt to have an amazing support system ;)

Happy To Be Back.... With so much to talk about :)

Ok, first things first....IM BACK! Truly, honestly...back in the blogging world. This summer has been CRAZY busy with weddings every weekend. Weddings of which I am so grateful for. I have met some of the coolest, most down to earth brides and I have been so fortunate to meet every single one of you and I couldn't appreciate your kind words and I was honored to make you even more beautiful on your wedding days : ) I've said it before, I'll say it again....you are the reason I love what I do.

Now, I am gearing up for all my Fall Brides. August is pretty quiet with weddings but filled with trials of **new** Brides that after months and months of talking about their special days via email...I will finally get to meet and make their wedding day beauty visions become a reality!

Here's some exciting news!! My good friend Kate is now apart of Meredith Lane Makeup Design! She joins MLMD as our Bridal Hair Stylist Specialist! She is AH-MAZING when it comes to up-dos!! She's definitely not your "cookie-cutter" typical hair stylist...she is beyond creative and so passionate and skilled, and will amaze you with her special bridal looks. So, make sure to check out the website for some of Kate's beautiful wedding day looks in "Our Beauties" section!

It's award season!!!! I am thrilled about this!!! I was voted Best of Weddings for the 2nd year in a row by The Knot : ) And this year I am actually featured in their Fall/Winter 2012 New Jersey Magazine and it is on stands now!!! So, all you Brides-to-be make sure to pick up your copy now! There are some great vendor articles featured in this issue...you are sure to find EVERYTHING you are looking for! Also, don't hesitate to ask me for referrals as I have worked with tons of vendors and would love to recommend my favorites to you!

I can not believe it is already August...the fall is going to be here before we know it and I can not wait to embrace it! The Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year! This year it is particularly special as this September is my one year Wedding Anniversary! Time sure does fly!! Hopefully by December my husband and I will FINALLY get to take our long awaited Honeymoon to St. Lucia as we planned last February...then last April...then this August and guess what? We had to push it back AGAIN!!! Beyond frustrating but that's a whole other blog in itself, ha! Which brings me to my next topic.........

This blog is not going to be just about "wedding makeup"....it will now be geared more towards all things beautiful in MY LIFE : ) I'm going to be talking about it all, which you could probably pick up the change in my blog name: Beauty in The Madness <3 I am still going to put an effort into making videos of tutorials, product reviews, discuss topics within the industry but this blog will focus now my life as a Freelance Makeup Artist and Wife and all things in between. So, I hope that you will pass my blog along to all your friends and tell them to share it with their friends and so on. I'm really excited to get this up and running on weekly basis and hope you will join me on this crazy blog-filled ride!


Thanks for following!
Love,
Meredith

Wintery Wonderland Wedding Day

Yesterday I had the honor of working another beautiful wedding. This time it was with a bunch of girls that I went to high school with. It was so nice to see all of them again and catch up. They all got ready at The Dolce Valley Forge Hotel in King of Prussia, PA. At around 2:30pm they got picked up and taken to the wedding that was being held at The Foundry. That morning, we woke up to about 4 inches of snow with a mixture of sleet and rain. Mind you, we have not had snow this winter since Halloween so, it was so nice that the Bride got to have her dream "winter wedding".

Here is a sneak peek of the girls hanging out while I was working on the Bride...

These girls were so cute! All morning they prepared to get ready in their cute little ivory velour outfits the Bride gave to them as a present from Victorias Secret, drank mimosa's, dance and sang to the Mariah Carey
station on Pandora, and had me laughing the whole time.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I was not able to get some pictures. Once I get some, I will post them with details and vendor names!

To say the least, it was a beautiful morning and I am sure the Bride had the most beautiful day. Everyone looked stunning and I was so happy to be a part of such a special time. I can't thank them enough for including me. I wish the Bride a lifetime of happiness and all the best on her new beginning!

Have a great Sunday everyone!!

Love,
Meredith xo

Wedding Wire Award!

Here is the official badge of the award I won from Wedding Wire!! I am so excited about it : )

Have a beautiful Tuesday everyone!!
xo,
Meredith

2012 Golden Globes Recap!

Well, one of the years most anticipated red-carpet nights arrived last night and I have to say, I was not all that impressed. There seemed to be two re-occurring themes of the night...red lips and old Hollywood Glamour. Two looks in which I admire very much, but a.) not everyone can pull it off and b.) come on people, gives us something new to fall in love with!

Some stunners of the night to me included Charlize Theron (does she ever disspoint?), Salma Hayek, Claire Danes, Sophia Vargera, and Reese Witherspoon. All had very different looks from one another, but stood out to me the most.

Charlize Theron dazzled in a light pinkish almost nude color gown, but definitely took the crown for best nude lips and natural eyes. I doubt this look was hard to achieve for Charlize considering how drop dead gorgeous she is.

Speaking of another naturally nude beauty; Modern Family's- Julie Brown looked AHH-Mazing in her old Hollywood Glamour hairstyle and nude lips. To achieve that perfect nude lip you want to make sure you have that just kissed by the sun tan and put the dazzle elsewhere as Charlize and Julie both did. Julie, created a nice subtly smokey-eye while Charlize kept her entire look pretty simple but added an accessory headband as the finishing touch.

But the one who won best overall everything to me was Reese Witherspoon...

Besides the fact that she's just so freakin cute...Her gown, her hair, her makeup, her accessories...PERFECTION! You can't ever go wrong with a crimson red Zac Posen gown, natural waves and naturally flawless makeup. She totally pulled off an effortless look...Gorgeous!



Best Hair definitely went to Salma Hayek!

She always looks beautiful to me but lastnight she was a complete BOMBSHELL! That hair full of loose waves was perfect for her fitted almost Cleopatra-like black and gold gown.

Two looks that I was not so crazy about was Angelina Jolie and Sarah Michelle Geller.

I read that Sarah Michelle had her two year old daughter, Charlotte pick out her gown....well, that explains it. It looks as if her daughter went crazy with splattering blue paint all over it. Not a good choice on her part.

Angelina...the red lips were OK, but I was not digging her gown. I don't know if its because she is so thin and frail looking but white was absolutely not her color.

The ones who did however stun with those fiery hot red lips, were Claire Danes and Sophia Vergara.

Sophias hair was elegantly pin straight and swept to one side over her shoulder, while Claire looked amazing in her slightly tight up-do and backless gown. Well done ladies.

The best smokey eye, hands down...went to Emma Stone.

When you have piercing green eyes and that awesome shade of red hair, you can easily overdo your look...but the silvery gray hues her makeup artist used on her were perfect and made her eyes look killer.

Well, that completes my Golden Globe recap. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and make sure to check back this week when I post some tutorials on how to get some of what I think, were the hottest looks from this years Golden Globes.

Enjoy your Monday night everyone!
Love,
Meredith

And the winner is....

I have been extra happy this month for many reasons. Wedding season is in full swing and I have been crazy busy with inquiries, bookings, trials, getting contracts out...etc. But on Monday I got some pretty special news. I won my 2nd award!! The first award I won was from The Knot...now I have one from Wedding Wire!! That award was the 2012 Brides Choice Award. What that means is, I've been recognized by Wedding Wire as one of the top wedding professionals based on my professionalism, responsiveness, quality of service and rating as a vendor on Wedding Wire and I now represent the top 5% of vendors in the wedding vendor community on Wedding Wire across all service categories and all regions throughout the U.S. and Canada! That's pretty awesome, isn't it?? So, in a nutshell...I'm pretty thrilled about that : )

Speaking of awards....it is officially award season for celebrity's all around; starting with the Golden Globes tomorrow 1/15 @ 8pm on NBC! I am so excited and can not wait to discuss all the hot looks and of course the not so hot looks. So, make sure to keep an eye out for my post on Monday! Also, you can tune into twitter as I will be "tweeting" live during the show! Make sure you follow me @mlmakeupdesign!

Now, I am going to enjoy the rest of my relaxing Saturday with my hubby and our pup, Murph. He finally has an entire weekend off which also adds to my happiness!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend as well!!

Love,
Mere
xo

Sisterly Love and PLAYTIME!

Spending the night at my parents while my hubby works overnight equals some QT time with my sister who actually just moved home from North Carolina after living there for the past 7 years. Clearly, we have some things to catch up on especially since she has missed out on all the make up trials I had with friends and family since I got my business up and running. Tonight was one of those nights that I got to put my **NEW** Sigma Brushes to good use, along with some pretty awesome other new things that I got as Christmas gifts and go wild with creating an awesome look for her! Well...not too wild...cause that's really NOT my style. So without further a-do! Meet Laurel before....

And here is Laurel after....

With Laurel I wanted to create a really elegant Bridal look and make her eyes pop. The colors that I used on her would be ideal for any eye color. It was all a matter of blending them correctly. I always say BLEND, BLEND, BLEND! It seriously could make or break your look. 

To achieve Laurel's look I did the following:

1. Start with a clean face and moisturize!

2. I used a concealer (Temptu Pro Concealer Palette) under her eyes and on her breakouts/red spots to create an even canvas. I used Sigma Brush F75.

3. Next, I applied a light layer (but enough to cover her face completely) of the Studio Fix Fluid Foundation by MAC in NW35 with MAC brush 190.

4. I then dusted the MAC Invisible Setting Powder under her eyes (so her concealer would not crease) and all over her face to set the foundation. I did this with the Sigma F20 brush.

5. Now for her eyes...I used two palettes on her eyes. I first used the color heaven in the Too Faced Natural Eye Palette. I covered her entire eyelid with the color using the Sigma E20 brush. 

6. Next, I used the shade "cut the cake" from the Too Faced Romantic Eye Palette, all around the crease of her eyelid with the Sigma E45 brush.

7. The last color I used on her eye was"First Dance," again from the Too Faced Romantic Eye Palette; focusing more on the outer corner of her eyelid; sweeping the excess color up toward the outer rim of her crease. This created a smokey effect. For this effect, I used the Sigma E25 brush. I kept blending with this brush until the colors blended smoothly together. 

8. I finished her eyes by lining the tops and bottoms of her lids with MAC's Power Point Eyeliner in Engraved and used one coat of mascara of Maybelline The Falsies Volume Express in Black Drama.  

9. Next, I completed her look by contouring her cheeks and the bridge of her nose by using my most favorite Bronzer right now...Park Ave Princess by Tarte. It is a matte, waterproof, natural looking bronzer...with NO shimmer. LOVEEEE! Great contouring tool! And also applying a Smashbox Lip Gloss in Infamous on her lips. 

*To find out more about the products I used, please refer to:

Too Faced

Sigma Brushes

MAC

TemptuPro

Tarte

Hope you guys enjoyed this look and how-to! There are many more to come : )

Love, 

Meredith

Top 5 Wedding Planning Sites

For all you "Brides To Be" out there- I thought I would share with you the Top 5 best wedding planning websites that I found were helpful for me while I was planning my own wedding. BEWARE: they are extremely addictive and time consuming!! They pretty much cover everything you need to know when it comes to planning a wedding. Most of them even have a beauty and health section so you can research some of the best beauty remedies, makeup looks, hair ideas, etc. As a makeup artist working in the Bridal Industry- it is always good to have an idea on how you want to look, what you like, what you don't like or pictures to show during your hair and makeup trials so the artist has a clear idea of exactly what you want on your big day.


#5- The Knot the most popular sites out of them all. You do have to create a free account. You can save every picture, article, vendor..etc to your profile and create an entire inspiration board.
#4- Project Wedding I used this site for the community boards and ideas. Everyone in the community is super friendly and helpful for all those wedding protocols that you may be unclear about.
#3- Ruffled A vintage inspired blog that I found so amazing. They publish real weddings everyday that are so beautiful and inspiring.
#2- Wedding Chicks I loved this site because they have a section on their blog for DIY and Printables. This is where I got my monogram that I incorporated into our wedding.
#1- Style Me Pretty SIMPLY AMAZING...go see for yourself how awesome this site is! You will not be disappointed.

I hope you guys find some really awesome ideas and inspiration for your big day. There are some fabulous ideas out there and some really creative people who can help bring your vision to reality. Good luck and happy planning!!

Love,
Meredith

Winter Blues and Pale Skin

I don't know about you but I am definitely not one for winter weather or the effects it has on my skin tone. It is a combination of the constant running of my heater in my house along with the crisp, dry, bitterly cold air outside and lack of sunlight that wreak havoc on my skin. Today, I am going to discuss the best ways to get the perfect sun-kissed look to perk you right up!

Lately, I have felt so pale. So, last night after my shower I was rummaging through all my products searching for a self tanning product a friend of mine gave to me a few months back for me to try. It was called the Tan Towel and I have to admit I am in love- even more in love with the fact that it doesnt even smell! This product made self tanning so easy to achieve and I have to say it looks so natural. I am always hesitant to try self tanning products simple for the fact, you have no idea how they are going to turn out...but I was positive in knowing that my friend wouldn't steer me in the wrong direction and I was desperate for some color. The Tan Towel was so easy to apply and dried super quickly on my skin which made it perfect for me to hop right into bed after the application. Not to mention, I have white sheets and sleep next to my own little personal heater (my husband) so, I was nervous about it rubbing off onto my sheets which to my surprise...it did not.

Here are some of my best self tanning how-to's:
Step One: Exfoliate your entire body with a loofah sponge and body wash. Use a body wash that is clear, fragrance free, has no moisturizing agents in it and no oils. STAY AWAY FROM DOVE PRODUCTS- they tend to strip the color once it is applied.
Step Two: Shave your legs- again, use the same product as you would wash your body with. The oils in some shave lotions with create a barrier against your skin and the tanning product which will not allow the color to be absorbed.
Step Three: Get out of the shower, dry off and put NOTHING on your skin. No deodorant, no lotions, no face moisturizer, no perfume...NOTHING! Tanning products have a tendency to change your skin color if you are to apply the tanner on top of the items I just mentioned. No one wants bluish armpits, right??
Step Four: Put on a pair of plastic gloves. You can buy them at any beauty supply store. The gloves help for a smooth application and keep the color off the palms of your hands.
Step Five: Apply color liberally to the areas you wish to tan. I tend to always use less product around my elbows, knees and feet. Especially now because they are a little dryer. *Useful Tip* Apply a light layer of moisturizer to the dry spots on your body to make sure you dont overdue it with the tanner.
Step Six: Once you have applied the tanner air dry for a few minutes before you dress or you can use your blow dryer on the cool setting to help set the color on your skin.
Step Seven: Go about your daily routine but do not shower, sweat, get wet or have any sexy time for at least 8 hours.
*I always apply self tanner right before bed*
Step Eight: Shower after your 8 hours are up to reveal that perfect tan! And now you can add all your regular goodies to your skin. But try not to over do it with the shaving and exfoliating. It will strip your color and you may have to reapply the tan again.

Here are my top 3 favorite self-tanning products:
#1- The Tan Towel Fair-Med Skin Tones (Sephora-10 Towelettes for $24)
#2- St. Tropez Bronzing Mousse (Blue Mercury- $30)
#3-Clarins Self Tanning Instant Gel (Sephora- $33 or any Clarins Counter)

All three products last an extremely long time so I definitely feel they are worth every penny. But, you do want to replace your tanning products every 6-8 months as they can go bad. Also, don't forget to wear your sunscreen of at least SPF 30 every day..especially on your face! Just because it's cold outside and the sun may not be out...you are still prone to sun damage and getting burnt : )

Love,
Meredith

New Year = New Beginnings!

2011 has quickly come and gone and I would have to say I am A-okay with that. It brought me one of the happiest days of my life- I married the love of my life and best friend; Jim, and I finally got the courage to start my makeup business; Meredith Lane Makeup Design. I had a great first year. I met some amazing people, gained wonderful new friendships, worked with some of the best wedding vendors in my area and got some great exposure. But, I am thrilled for 2012 and all it will bring. I am excited to team up with one of the areas top wedding photographers Jordan Brian. Excited to add new elements to Meredith Lane Makeup Design as in; my Blog, Mother Daughter Beauty Nights, Waxing services and Airbrush Tanning with one of the top sunless tanning products in the industry. Great new things are underway and I can not wait to share these new and exciting happenings with you all. If any one of you would like more information on a particular service, please feel free to contact me at mere.moyer@yahoo.com. I wish you all a wonderful, happy and healthy New Year. God Bless.

*Meredith

(Family photo from our wedding 9-16-2011 courtesy of Jordan Brian Photography)