Mel from Beautylivery
Needless to say, wedding makeup and hair have a great impact on the final look of a picture. They are even more important when talking about the bride’s styling. As a wedding photographer, I have to say that I am over the moon when I have the opportunity to collaborate with talented wedding makeup artists and hairstylists like Mel and her team! We worked together for a destination wedding in Capri and I am happy to share the interview about wedding makeup and hair with all the brides.
Hi Mel! How did you get started?
Hi! Thank you for this interview!
Well, where to start…
I’m originally from Stockholm, Sweden and I have been in the field of beauty/spa business for more than 12 years now. After a few years of work experience abroad, I finally ended up on the beautiful island of Capri in 2007. I started working in various hotels on the island and during my last position from 2012 – 2014 as Spa Manager at J.K. Place (a five-star luxury boutique hotel) which was when I first got introduced to client wedding plans. The J.K Spa was not very big and therefore we did not offer hair
and makeup services at that time in our hotel spa. So when we had events/weddings, I came up with the idea to organize external services for hair stylists and makeup artists (not hotel staff) that were hired only on demand in order to cover these services and offer them to our hotel guests as well. Immediately I realized that I loved working with weddings & events and also the whole back office part; organizing hair and makeup staff, creating bridal mood boards and last but not least, dealing with people on one of the happiest days of their lives. The following year, 2015, I left the hotel spa business completely and decided to run my own business – thus Beautylivery was born!
The Beautylivery Team
I love the name of your company, Beautylivery: where did it come from? And what is the philosophy behind the brand?
The name Beautylivery was actually invented by one of my best friends, Alessandro Ruocco who runs an amazing vintage clothing & accessories boutique in Capri. We were playing with various potential company names and then he geniously dropped ”Beautylivery” and that was it! Like love at first sight, you know! Beautylivery is a mobile beauty service where we want to take the stress out of getting ready, in comfort and privacy. Our professional team will travel directly to your location and provide you with the certainty of achieving a unique and unforgettable day.
What kind of services do you offer to your clients?
We are a 24-7 mobile beauty service with a focus on hair & makeup but offering other types of beauty services such as nails, eyebrows, and lashes as well. We are based in Capri, covering the beautiful Amalfi Coast too, but we are also available throughout the rest of Italy and worldwide. We offer beauty services for many various occasions such as destination weddings, elopements, engagement pictures, photoshoots, editorials, gala dinners, and events. Basically whenever you need a trusted and professional beauty artist to create your perfect look and to cover you anytime, anywhere.
What are the most frequent requests from the brides? And what do you think they should care about the most?
When we request inspirational pictures of hair and makeup from our brides, we often tend to receive similar looks from them. There are a few ”popular” bridal hair and makeup pictures circulating the internet and we frequently receive these ones from our brides. We consider every bride unique and we love to create a personalized look for each one of them. Therefore our responsibility is to offer our expertise in suggesting looks that are best adapted to the bride’s specific features and colors in order to enhance her natural beauty without transforming her to look like someone else.
If you could give a piece of advice, is there a specific thing that a bride shouldn’t miss for her wedding? (beauty related, of course)
A great piece of advice and life-saver to all the brides would definitely be to bring along a small touch up kit with the most essential makeup/hair products on the wedding day. Remember that this will be the day you, as bride, will get photograped more than any other day and naturally you want to look fab all the time, don’t you? Therefore don’t forget your SOS touch up kit – or another great option is for you to hire our team at your disposal during the whole day to make sure you are picture ready all the time! Also, bring flat sandals or comfortable shoes to change into later on as you will want to dance the whole night!
Beautylivery styles are featured on the best wedding and fashion magazines
How do you relate with future brides? Do you send them some inspiration for their looks, based on actual trends, or do they usually have clear ideas about what they are looking for?
As I mentioned previously, we always work on creating a total look for each one of our brides. Therefore, we warmly recommend our brides to send us pictures of themselves (with good visibility of hair & face), their wedding dress, accessories, bouquet color and veil. Furthermore, to also send us pictures of hair & makeup looks they envision for their big day in order to understand the requirements. From there we give our suggestions and create a personalized mood board where the bride can already envision her bridal look from a distance. Our artists bring along the mood board to the trial run or wedding day in order to discuss all the further details on site.
Do you work on personal projects?
When the great wedding season calms down around January/February we continue working on creating new things with our team, and for the last two years we have created a personal Look-Book for Beautylivery.
The Look-Book is divided into two categories, Bridal and Beauty.
Our team look into the latest hair and makeup trends in the Bridal and Beauty industry, collect ideas, book models, photographers, retouchers and then we work our magic! The Beautylivery Look-Book is a way for our team to express our artistic side and be creative, followed by transmitting inspiration to our future clients.
What inspires you and your work?
I get inspired by many things and various people. It can be a photographer, a makeup icon, colors & shapes, or just a book I read. It is hard to say specifically what inspires me as it changes constantly, but I usually take inspiration here and there and personalize it to Beautylivery. And I get most inspired and come up with new ideas during the night time for some strange reason! When it comes to inspiration and our services, we frequently follow the latest trends, products, and beauty techniques as we serve an international crowd including celebrities visiting Capri and the Amalfi Coast.
Could you share a beauty tip with all the brides that are reading this interview?
My best advice is to take care of your skin and hair before your big day! It is such a cliche’ but plays a big role for your bridal hair and makeup on the day of (thank me later haha). For your skin care, you should have a good home-care routine starting a few months before the wedding day so your skin gets used to the products and no last-minute surprises will appear on your face, such as pimples or an allergic reaction.
Apart from cleansing, toning, peeling, and mask; it is important that your skin is well hydrated. And in this case, it doesn’t matter if you have normal, dry, oily, or mixed skin type, as all skin types need good hydration.
So why is a hydrated skin so important? Well, when it comes to your bridal makeup, a good hydrated skin will help the makeup products to blend more naturally and you will achieve a flawless finish. Whereas a dry or sun-burned skin can enhance the dry areas and leave a spotty/cakey finish. And trust me, no bride wants to look spotty or cakey on her big day! Facials (suggested for your skin type) on a regular basis is also highly recommended. As for the hair, make sure you find a shampoo & conditioner suited to your hair/scalp. Also, add deep conditioner, hair oil, and heat protection to avoid hair damage. As per the rest, just sit back, relax and we will work our magic to achieve your personal bridal glam!
Thank you so much Mel for this great interview!
Thank you Gabriele, it was my pleasure!
If you want to know more you can head over to the BEAUTYLIVERY OFFICIAL WEBSITE or you can follow BEAUTYLIVERY INSTAGRAM PAGE
Need more inspiration and advice for your wedding? Then you can have a look at these articles!
Why choose Amalfi Coast for your wedding
The importance of wedding florals
10 of the Best wedding Venues in Italy
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Pics in this article by Gianni Di Natale / Pippa Mackenzie / Yukiko Magliulo / Roberto Rigillo
