The Reflective Directive
a very comprehensive guide to my wedding day makeup
Hello!
On Sunday morning I opened Instagram and saw a post from Blake Lively promoting the All-In-Wonder Leave-In Potion from her new haircare brand, Blake Brown Beauty. Since launching, the line has gotten a lot of flak for its stance on not including conditioner (but having multiple conditioning hair masks and questionably named shampoos), the horrifically ugly & impractical honeycomb-looking packaging, the fact that it's already on clearance at some Target locations etc. Apparently Blake has been working on this line for 7 years and 7 years ago it may have made sense: we were not yet at peak celebrity beauty brands and at that point, Blake was known to have really good hair. Beyond the headlines, I haven’t paid much attention to the products because I have no interest in them, but I have noticed her presence, both online and in the streets of New York, has been a little…off? Well, things really took a turn on Sunday.
I thought I was being pranked. I thought I was misreading or missing something. But no, these were the professional images she was using to promote a “hero” potion that according to their website “Instantly detangles and improves combability, visibly tames flyways and fights frizz, helps prime hair for styling, helps improve the look of existing damage” as well as “imparts major shine.” As I said on Instagram and I say to you now: ?????????????????????????
Blake is outspoken about not having a stylist and generally seems to do things on her own terms, which, whatever, I don’t really care… usually. Celebrities have money and can spend it how they want, but situations like this really bother me. You have the money for a good marketing campaign, use it! Your husband has multiple successful businesses, including his OWN ADVERTISING AGENCY. Blake, please be serious. Why? What is this? Do you think anyone wants their hair to look like that? I need to stop before I get too worked up about this again.
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Few quick things:
I’ve learned that “liking” posts makes a huge difference to the algorithm and allows more people to discover my work, so please go ahead and smash that little heart icon. Thank you!!!
As I’ve mentioned, I’m going to Japan on my honeymoon in November! I’ll be gone for most of the month and it’s also Thanksgiving, so I’m trying to decide what Hotline Skin will be up to during that time. I loved having guest post writers, so I’m open to pitches, but I’m also open to other ideas. I know a lot of brand owners and beauty-adjacent people read this newsletter. Should I interview you? Give a behind the scenes look into a product you’re developing? Do community reviews? Get creative! Email your ideas to hi@joldef.com (I also am still taking Japan recs for Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakone and Osaka.)
I made most of today's graphics on Zeen, which is a new platform for visual, shoppable blogs that actually launched today. It’s like a cross between Canva and Pinterest, except you can link the images and you don’t need an account to view anything, but you’re welcome to subscribe to my feed and easily save stuff for future reference. I’m excited to see what kind of functionality they build out for amateur graphic designers like myself. I love collaging!
Today’s issue is quite long and will likely cut off in your email. Don’t be foolish, read the whole thing!
I came into the process of determining my wedding makeup with a lot of opinions about what I like on myself and about event makeup in general, convictions of which have only grown stronger. I absolutely loved how I looked and I have never felt more confident in my skin.
Before hiring my MUA, we chatted on the phone and shared philosophies, preferred brands and crucially, skin prep. Many times MUA will ask you to arrive with clean skin and do their own prep with moisturizer etc. but I obviously felt very strongly about doing my own prep, which she was fine with. I just made sure to prep my skin the exact same way at my trial as I would on my wedding day, so that we could ensure it would work. Also, most of the time they will skip sunscreen altogether, because of the chance of pilling, white cast or flashback in photos. I was adamant that my go-to sunscreen is superiorly formulated and works beautifully under makeup, so we agreed that I would wear it to my trial and if she thought it would negatively impact my makeup, I would skip it on my wedding day. Gasp, I know! But to my delight, I just wound up creating another convert.
She also asked me to bring any of my favorite makeup products that I would ideally like to use to the trial and my final look used a decent amount of my own stuff. This felt very validating and it was so cool to learn some new techniques for products I already owned. I also got to introduce her to two new favorites: the only mascara that matters to me anymore and this Valentino Beauty sleeper hit.
Below I’ve recapped my inspo, important things I communicated to my MUA and the key products she used to achieve my ideal wedding day makeup look.
THE VISION
I spent a lot of time on my Pinterest and eventually narrowed it down to a few images, each with a note calling out the specific element(s) I liked/disliked. (Very important step!) I can always count on Hailey Bieber and Camila Marrone for a makeup look I can see myself wearing. I don’t know who the other girl is, but she has a beautiful eye color.
“Pretty” over “glam” but still “wow” is something I said out loud to my MUA. It’s not my best sentence, but it did pretty accurately communicate the vibe I was after.
PREP
I say this to all of my clients and any MUA will agree that the key to good makeup is good skincare. Your skin is the canvas and with a good canvas, your makeup artist can work their magic. A good canvas means hydrated and smooth. Well-hydrated skin looks plump, bouncy, radiant and allows makeup to blend seamlessly and sit well, not disappearing into your skin. It is more important to focus on texture over tone–makeup can’t hide texture, but it can cover discoloration.
ZIIP (used this conductive gel)
Founders’ Favorite
Instant Gratification
Eyes
Jowls
Lips
Wash off gel with Sofie Pavitt Face Cleanser
Bioeffect Essence (all over)
Sachi Skin Pro-Resilience Serum (all over)
Experiment Super Saturated Serum (tiny, tiny amount, on temples & cheekbones only)
Clearstem Hydraglow Moisturizer (verrrry thin layer all over. It hurts my soul that I like this, don’t look at the messaging/marketing, blame Sam)
Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel (I’ll be honest, a very thin 2-fingers worth)
I also did the CO2 Lift Mask on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday (day before) to amp up the hydration by at least 117%.
FACE
My goal was an even, glowing complexion. I wanted my skin to be the star of the show. I work really hard on it! This meant light coverage, allowing my skin to shine through, but enough to conceal any hyperpigmentation and redness. I told my MUA that I wanted to look reflective. Be generous with the highlighter. I don’t love the look of a lot of blush on myself, so I didn’t want it to be too bright or central. At my trial, I asked to tone down the blush even more, and to keep it higher on my cheekbones, which is one of the things I called out in the video I took at my trial.
Foundation: Clé De Peau Radiant Cream Foundation
Concealer: NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer
Cream Blush: Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks in Petal
Cream Contour: Makeup by Mario Skin Enhancer Light + Westman Atelier Face Trace in Biscuit
Cream Highlight: Westman Atelier Super Loaded Tinted Highlight in Peau De Pêche
Powder Blush: Sisley L'Orchidée Highlighter Blush
Highlight: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Highlight Palette
EYES
I love my hazel eyes, which can look pretty green with the right light and eyeshadow, which I wanted to maximize. I wanted to be able to see my lids, which I feel can get easily swallowed by eyeliner or dense lashes. I told my MUA I wanted my eyes to pop and not look heavy, so separated lashes and only whatever eyeliner necessary for the lashes to look good. At my trial she used 10mm fishtail lashes, but we decided to do 8mm the day of (another thing I called out in my aforementioned video).
Brow Pencil: Valentino Brow Trio
Eye Base: Armani Long-Lasting Liquid Eyeshadow in 18M Beige (all over)
Lid Color: Armani Long-Lasting Liquid Eyeshadow in 9S Cold Copper (on lid feathered out)
Upper Eyeliner: Makeup by Mario Perfect Brown
Inner Eye & Brow Bone Highlight: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Highlight Palette
Mascara: Tok Beauty Eyes That Tok Mascara
LIPS
One of my wedding makeup rules is “it’s not the time for a red lip.” For myself this is literal, but it’s not always meant to be. What it really means is that your wedding day, likely the most photographed day of your life, is not the time to experiment with makeup you don’t normally wear. You will not feel comfortable, you will be thinking about it and that will reflect in pictures. I very rarely wear a red lip, and when I do, I’m constantly aware of it and worried about my teeth. I generally feel this way about all bold lipstick, so I opted for something familiar, a kind of “my lips but better” pinkish-nude with a hint of brown. I like glosses and balms (remember the reflective directive) and wanted to be able to touch-up without a mirror, so nothing too precise.
Lip Liner: Makeup Forever Artist Color Pencil in Anywhere Caffeine
Lip Gloss: Westman Atelier Liquid Lip in Ma Puce + Summer Fridays Lip Balm in Vanilla Beige mixed with Eadem Le Chouchou in Fig Sauce
FINISHING PRODUCTS
Any good event makeup should have longevity and be able to withstand some sweat, but I made sure to emphasize the fact that I intended to be dancing a lot.
Setting Spray: Morphe Luminous Setting Spray + Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish
Three Other Things
I have now had the opportunity to use the CurrentBody Series 2 LED Mask and despite some initial difficulty adjusting the straps, I am ready to declare it truly superior in technology and in fit. I’ll post a more formal comparison on IG soon. If you already have the Series 1, you don’t need this one. If you’re thinking “but I have the money and I want the best for my skin” get a ZIIP instead. If you don’t have a high-quality LED mask, then yes, get the Series 2.
In other skin tech news, I’ve been loving the Therabody Depuffer. It’s proprietary technology gets cold or hot in seconds and it feels so nice. We’ve also started using it in facials at my studio.
Taylor Swift has a few signature red lip products and it’s always fun (to me) when her glam team confirms one. Most recently, it’s NARS Lipstick in Morocco. Supposedly it’s been in her rotation for years, but it’s what she was wearing at the Chief’s opener. Good luck finding it in stock ever again! NARS made an entire menu item dedicated to other products in the shade.
Office Hours Reminder
Join us for Office Hours on Sunday! This exclusive weekly opportunity is available to paying subscribers.
Every Sunday at 5pm EST, I’ll begin a new thread for the week in Substack Chat, where you can ask me anything. Every Monday from 5-6pm EST, I’ll be in that chat live, answering questions for the hour. That way, if you can’t make it, you can submit any time after 5pm Sunday and still get an answer. If you can make it live, join in! You can ask questions in real time and (hopefully) interact with others in class ;)
Discount Codes
CurrentBody: JOLIECB for 10% off
Dermstore: JOLIE for 15% off (they sell Bioeffect here!)
Eadem: JOLIE15 for 15% off
Experiment: JOLIE10 for 10% off
Sachi Skin: JOLIE15 for 15% off
Sofie Pavitt Face: JOLIE10 for 10% off
ZIIP: ZIIPJOLIE for 10% off
CO2 Lift: Email hi@joldef.com They’re $100/each and I can give you a little discount on 3+.
you can find all of my discount codes here
Have a great week! Appreciate you making it this far.
xx,
Jolie
P.S. I’ve had some inquiries about offering consults for wedding beauty (working with you to develop a vision, build a Pinterest, communicate with glam teams, advise at trials etc.) I’d love to turn this into an official offering if there’s interest. Email hi@joldef.com and let’s chat.
Your commentary on Blake Lively's haircare became a topic of discussion between Priyanka and I at dinner this week - thank you for your service!
you looked beautiful! thank you for letting us in on the process and products 🥰