Christa D'Souza's mantra is usually 'less is more'. But as a wedding guest, she decided to go all out...
There is a special sort of woman, often an English woman, who always looks fabulous at a wedding. You know the type. In the perfect Marni suit, with the perfect fascinator into which Philip Treacy has cleverly incorporated a perfect piece of heirloom family jewellery...
Well, I am not one of those women, I’m too idle, too messy; but when I got an invitation to the wedding of one of my very, very best friends in the world I knew I was going to have to pull my finger out. So off I trotted to Marni to get me a suit, booked in with Jack at The Atelier to get a big fat blow-dry and Karina at Daniel Hersheson in Harvey Nichols to do my nails.
And then I thought, hell, if I’m being such a spoilt princess about it why don’t I just go all out and get my make-up done too? Although make-up obsessed as a teen, I don’t wear it much now, partly out of laziness but mostly out of the fear of looking too “done”. Amongst too many of my friends not wearing any is a bit of a badge of honour (shows such confidence going out of an evening bare-faced, and so forth) and as such I always try to keep it to a minimum: a bit of eyeliner and mascara, a bit of concealer, a bit of gold kohl on the inside lid, that’s plenty for me. Any more than that and I begin to feel a bit like a tranny, especially with a blow-dry and especially during the day. I truly feel, though, this is an appropriate time to go all out, especially with a black tie do afterwards.
Up then, turns the wonderful Amy Conway from Bobbi Brown, an hour or so before the weddings and lays out her carpet of things to get to work. Bring on the Carine Roitfeld eyes, I tell her, bring it all on, I want to go full-tilt this time I say. And while she is at it could she give me some fake freckles? The Obagi Nu Derm, sob, melted them all away.
Half an hour later we are done, and she gives me a mirror to have a look. Oh Lordy. That’s a LOT of make-up. “That’s a LOT of make-up,” my other half not very helpfully agrees as we get into the car to drive down to Hampshire. Oh dear, I panic, what shall I do, and when we stop for petrol I desperately try taking some of it off with a tissue in the front view mirror. Sunglasses. It couldn’t be a greyer day, but thank God that I brought them - that’s all I can think when I arrive at the church.
And then I see all my friends, and guess what? Not only are they all wearing big fancy hats, they’ve all had their make-up done too.
That evening, at which some people, hooray, are actually wearing ball gowns, one of those make-up hater people comes up to me and says she has never ever seen me looking better, what the hell have I done to myself? And my freckles! Have I just been away?
How Amy did it:
Skin

Step 1: Apply Hydrating Face Tonic , £19, after cleansing to calm and soothe skin before make-up.


Step 2: Prime the skin using Hydrating Eye Cream , £29, just under the eye, and Hydrating Gel Cream , £36, to the rest of the face and neck. A small amount goes a long way, so make sure the skin is hydrated with a good slip to the skin, not wet-looking.


Step 3: Start with the under eye, apply Peach Corrector , £18, to where you see the dark/grey undertones come through. Use the cream blending brush to apply. Then layer with the same brush the Warm Natural Concealer , £18, over the corrector, all the way close to the lower lash line and under eye area.



Step 4: Apply Medium BB Cream using your fingers; start from the center of the face and work your way out, using coverage only where you need it! BB cream is great to really mimic your natural skin tone and texture.


Step 5: Apply Warm Natural Touch Up Stick , £19, for extra coverage if needed - build around areas like the nose where we naturally have more redness in the skin.

Step 6: For freckles, apply Taupe eyeshadow , £16.50, sparingly across the nose and cheeks using the eye definer brush. Then apply mahogany eye shadow over the top and between the lighter freckles, using the eye definer brush. Press a sheer application of Foundation Stick , £28, over the top with a sponge, to give a sheer natural finish.
Carine Roitfeld Eyes
Step 1: First apply Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Shadow , £18, over the whole lid from the lashline to the crease, using the Cream Shadow Brush , £23. (We used the colour Beach Bronze.)
Step 2: Apply Bobbi Brown Longwear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink, £17, across the lashline. Remember there’s no need to be neat as you want to smudge it.
Step 3: Using the Smudge Brush , £23, in circular motions, blend close to the lashline to smudge the Longwear Gel Eyeliner. You will notice the liner will start to blend up creating a seamless smokey look. You can re-apply Gel Liner and re-smudge for a stronger smokey eye. We did this for my smokey look.
Step 3: It’s so important for the Lashline to be the darkest point of the whole eye - it really pops the eye colour; so use the Longwear Gel Eyeliner in the upper waterline of the eye too. It’s longwear so it will not move throughout the day, and it’s great to take out those little areas of pink skin that we naturally get under the lashes. To do this use your Ultra Fine Liner Brush , £22, and push the gel liner up into the lashline, almost like when you’re putting on mascara.
Step 4: To finish, frame the eyes with Extreme Party Mascara , £18. Apply three coats to give a great fullness to the lash.
For an evening look apply Cement Sparkle Shadow to give an elegant sparkle, and an extra coat of mascara. Then you're ready to go!