Wedding make-up using Napoleon Perdis

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary. I am shocked at how fast the years have flown by. We have been together for 14 years now so it does feel like Brett has always been a part of my life...but, still, the wedding feels like it was a year ago, not 5 (though, when I look back at the photos we are both a hell of a lot skinnier so obviously time has past! I blame The Crazy Kid and Kiki for 'letting myself go'!).

Today is also Australia Day. Yep, we got married on Australia Day. It's pretty cool as it means that the date is impossible to forget, and we always get a day off; but, it also means that there is usually something else on that day so we actually haven't really celebrated our anniversary so far. Today, though, we are going to more effort. We have booked lunch at Gastro Park (if you watch Masterchef, that's the one where they made calamari crackling - sounds very interesting!) and then we are following it with a helicopter flight over Sydney so it should be a fantastic day. But, the point of this post isn't to tell you that but to share with you my makeup from the day.

At the time I didn't have a regular hairdresser so I decided to just get my hair done at a local salon at the shops. I then decided that since we had to go up there we may as well get our makeup done at a Napoleon Perdis store. It ended up being a good option for us and the best part was that the cost of having our makeup done was redeemable in products. For me, I had a trial and then the makeup on the day and it was $70 each time (not sure if the price is still the same today) but then I was able to choose $140 worth of makeup so I got all the products they used on me to touch up throughout the day. All of my bridesmaids also used Napoleon Perdis products so they were happy to get more makeup too!

At the time, my makeup skills weren't nearly what they are today. I wore very little makeup - pretty much just eye shadow and mascara, so I would never have attempted to do my own makeup. Plus, I liked the experience of being pampered on my wedding day. I actually didn't want to wear foundation (or much makeup for that matter) on the day as I never really wore it but my photographer talked me out of it. He made the point that I would be having a million photos taken that day and my skin would photograph shiny without foundation, plus I would look under done compared to other guests. What he suggested was that I get a makeup trial done then go over to his place and he would do a photo shoot with me so I can see how my makeup photographed. I am so glad I followed his advice as I was really happy with how it looked in the photos.

My eyes are my favourite feature so we decided to accentuate them and keep my lips looking more neutral. I used Autopilot Primer, Camera Finish Foundation, Bronze Patrol and I can't remember exactly the eye colours but they were teals and neutrals to bring out my natural green/blue eye colour plus match with the teal in my wedding dress.

Here are some of my photos. I used Alan Khan photography on the day, and these are a selection of the professional photos (we got to keep all of the digital negatives which I was so pleased about).

From the pre-wedding photo shoot - after seeing this
I knew my makeup would look good in photos

Posing!

More posing!

My beautiful family - we have a running joke that
in every family photo, just to piss mum off, I go cross-eyed.
I wasn't going to make an exception on my wedding day!

I love this photo with my sister

Can't have a wedding post without a pic of my
gorgeous husband

Finally, I had to show you the back of my wedding dress - that was the best part!

My wedding day was the best day of my life, but damn, I never want to go through that again! We followed it up with 3 1/2 weeks in Thailand and Malaysia - pure and utter bliss (and that was the point in which we started getting fat and have never recovered!!).

Happy anniversary, Brett!

Did you do your own wedding makeup or employ the services of a makeup artist. Were you happy with the final result?

Posts you may have missed: makeup, makeup, makeup

As I mentioned last week, I saw on Sara-May's blog, Makeup Utopia, that she does a recap each Sunday of posts you may have missed during the week. I thought that this was a brilliant idea so have decided to steal incorporate this idea for my blog. However, rather than recapping posts that I have done in the last week I will try to group together posts of a similar theme. This is because there will be some weeks where I only manage to achieve one post and that will look a little pathetic sitting there all on its own!

I was so excited to hear this week that Lush is releasing a makeup range that I have decided to make this week's recap all about makeup.

I will start with the huge news that Lush is releasing a makeup range: Emotional Brilliance. This is a totally new concept in makeup - makeup to suit your psychological needs. All the colours are laid out on a wheel which you then spin. The three colours that jump out at you first are the colours that you are subconsciously craving. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it! I'm not sure whether I will go by what is on the wheel or just buy the colours I love - we will have to see come July 21st when the range is released!

Some other exciting news that I have been writing about is that Sephora might be coming to Australia. I first published the rumour that they would be coming here back in Feb after I heard it from sales staff in Hawaii. This post created a lot of interest with many different people piping in with the rumours that they have heard, so I then wrote an update post compiling all these rumours so that we can assess whether they are likely to be true. I really hope so but am not too sure...

I was so surprised to hear that there was such thing as an organic makeup range, but there is - NVEY ECO! Here I review their foundation and their eye makeup.

Ever wondered exactly how makeup primers work? Well, it is all explained here. I then went on to investigate whether Face of Australia Face Base and the Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre Foundation Primer were actually identical products in different packaging.

Finally, in the lead up to IMATS last year I got the opportunity to interview some pretty awesome people. I had the most fascinating chat with Donna Mee (we skyped for over 30 minutes!) and found out that her approach to makeup is actually really scientific, then I got to pick Napoleon Perdis's brain and finally I had a talk with Elessa Jade from pursebuzz.com.


If you have any interesting makeup posts, I'd love you to post the link in the comments below!

Product review: Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre Foundation Primer versus Face of Australia Face Base Primer

I recently wrote a blog describing how makeup primers work and thought that I'd review a few primers that I have used. I read on the Vogue Forum that the Face of Australia Face Base and the Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre Foundation Primer were actually exactly the same. As Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre Foundation Primer is about four times the price of the Face of Australia Face Base I thought that I would investigate further to see if they really could be the same product.

About Each Product

Face of Australia Face Base RRP $11.95
Face of Australia state on their website that the Face Base Primer is specially formulated to apply under your foundation to improve your complexion and assist make-up last longer. Face Base Primer contains Vitamin E to nourish and hydrate skin and chamomile to smooth your complexion, leaving it fresher and brighter, ready for foundation application. The Face Base Primer fills fine lines for a more balanced surface, so that your foundation applies evenly and stays on longer for all-day flawless skin.


Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre Foundation Primer RRP $49.50
The following description was offered of Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre Foundation Primer on their website: “Not to Prime is a Crime!”. Makeup has never had a smoother landing. Get (even more) gorgeous with this gentle, pre-makeup base. Scientifically formulated to allow your makeup to “automatically” glide over the skin, Auto Pilot helps to prime and soothe the complexion for that flawless finish and helps makeup last even longer. Chamomile, Yarrow extract and Vitamin E deliver complexion perfection and instant hydration for all skin types.

The Comparison
I started with the obvious and examined the ingredients for each primer, as listed on the backs of the tubes, side by side.

Face of Australia Face Base	Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer
Water (Aqua)	Water (Aqua)
Isopropyl Palmitate	Isopropyl Palmitate
Propylene Grycol	Propylene Grycol
Glycerin	Glycerin
Stearic Acid	Stearic Acid
Dimethicone	Dimethicone
Glyceryl Stearate	Glyceryl Stearate
Triethanolamine	Triethanolamine
Tocopheryl Acetate	Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate)
Achillea Millefolium Extract	Yarrow Extract (Achillea Millefolium)
Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract	Chamomile Extract (Chamomilla Recutita Flower)
Fragrance (Parfum)	Fragrance (Parfum)
Imidazolidinyl Urea	Imidazolidinyl Urea
Carbomer	Carbomer
Methylparaben	Methylparaben
Propylparaben	Propylparaben
Tetrasodium EDTA	Tetrasodium EDTA

As you can see, they are exactly the same. As they are listed in exactly the same order, it is more than likely that the concentrations of each ingredient are the same in both products.

Consistency

I honestly couldn't see or feel any real difference in the consistency of these two primers. Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer may have been slightly runnier coming out of the tube but I did not feel a difference applying either of the primers to my face.

Smell
Even the fragrance of the two is very similar - a very stock standard lotion type smell. The Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer is the more pleasant of the two, it is a bit more subtle. The Face of Australia Face Base has a slightly cheap plasticy smell to it - though this may have come from the packaging. The smell of both primers fades very soon after application and is not noticeable on the skin.

Packaging

Both primers come in nearly identical 50ml squeeze tubes. The only notable difference, other than the branding, is that the Face of Australia Face Base comes in a tube with a flip top lid whilst the Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer has a screw top lid. The flip top lid is more convenient as you don't have to juggle a lid along with the tube when you have the primer on your hand.

Performance
If I had been blinded to the products, ie if I had transferred them to unmarked containers, to do the trial then I honestly don't think that I would have been able to tell which one was which. I had never used either primer before this test so it was a new experience for both. I trialled the Face of Australia Face Base first. I applied it to my freshly cleansed skin, without applying any moisturiser. I left it to dry for a few minutes whilst I did my eye makeup, before applying foundation on top. I don't often wear foundation and ended up being a tad disappointed with the Face of Australia Face Base primer but I think that perhaps my expectations were too high. In terms of helping my foundation last longer, it was fantastic. My skin tends to be a little bit oily and I find my foundation slides off in patches, especially on and around my nose but this didn't happen when I used the Face of Australia Face Base. Where I was disappointed was its ability to create a smooth canvas. One thing I don't like about foundation is that I find that it accentuates the wrinkles around my eyes. I was hoping that a primer would fix this problem and fill in the wrinkles, but it didn't. However, when I used the Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer the same thing happened. So, it seems that the wrinkles around the eyes might be too big a task for a primer to fix, especially as it is a high movement area. I found that when I used the Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer m foundation also lasted all day and didn't pool or slide off my nose.
Conclusions
I honestly could find no difference between the Face of Australia Face Base and the Napoleon PerdisPerdis Auto Pilot Primer) the only real difference is the price of these two products - with the Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer being FOUR times more expensive than the Face of Australia Face Base. For this reason I would choose the Face of Australia Face Base over the  Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer; however, believe that if price is not an issue then you would be equally happy with each primer.

All opinions stated in this blog are my own. I have no affiliation with either Face of Australia or Napolean Perdis. I purchased the Face of Australia Face Base with my own money and was lucky enough to win the Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre Foundation Primer in a competition on http://www.beautyheaven.com.au/.