What to Wear: Late Summer Wedding

A wedding is generally the perfect reason to get dressed up and for some reason, even more so when the wedding falls in the late summer or early fall. When planning your look for a summer wedding in the UK, there's one thing you can be absolutely confident in - the weather will be unpredictable! If you'd rather avoid spending the day shivering in a floaty dress after you’ve woken to find the weather cool and wet, have a second outfit option ready and waiting.

That said, let's be optimistic and think best-case scenario: that the bride and groom will be bathed in sunshine on their wedding day! Bonmarche has a superb selection of special occasion outfits, with many options to coordinate items so that you can slip layers on and off as the day progresses. Weddings used to break for a pause mid-afternoon, but nowadays most guests will choose an outfit that will take them through the whole day – from the ceremony through the reception!

One of the great things about wedding photos is the amazing range of bright and colourful outfits that different guests choose to wear. It makes sense to find out the colours that the wedding party will be wearing, and then avoid them. If it hasn’t been made clear on the invitation, dont' hesitate to ask the bride herself or a member of the family.

The invitation will often give you an idea of how formal a wedding iis going to be and, of course, this will influence your choice of outfit. There are also some practicalities to bear in mind – such as making sure you wear comfortable shoes. You’ll spend most of the day and evening on your feet, and if you have to walk any distance, could you do so with ease in the shoes you have chosen? If the ceremony has a religious element to it, make sure that you have something to cover spaghetti shoulder straps, like a draped blazer (which is less formal than something with structure) or a complementary shawl.

The most important thing to bear in mind when choosing a late summer wedding outfit is that while you want to blend in with the other guests, this is one occasion where you really can choose to go to town on your outfit. Unless you’re going to a particularly formal wedding, the general guideline is that any festive style goes, so make it one that you enjoy wearing!

This post was produced in partnership with Bonmarche.

Summer Salvation: Three Beauty Products You Won't Want To Live Without

With summer knocking on our doors, my just-barely-manageable beauty routine requires a minor seasonal revamping.  Steamy temps and humidity mean that all that much more skin is exposed, and these three products keep that skin looking it's very best:

• Bliss Ingrown Eliminating Pads ($38) are admittedly a year-round must for me, but with swimsuits on the agenda weekly this season, it's important to keep pesky ingrowns at bay. I apply this exfoliating and soothing pad daily to the bikini zone to avoid ingrown hair and post-waxing irritation. If budget's a concern, snip each pad in half - voila, you'll get twice the number of uses from each tub.
• Jergens Natural Glow + Protect Daily Moisturizer SPF 20 ($8.99) is nothing short of fully miraculous. Already a best-seller (and with good reason), Jergens Natural Glow has been newly formulated with SPF 20 to offer color and sun protection in one handy-dandy tube. I slather a generous amount on all exposed skin daily, and over the course of a week, a beautifully natural looking tan develops, without any pesky streaking. It's available in both Fair to Medium and Medium to Tan, but for all but the most fair among us, either shade will deliver.
• Avon Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus Picaridin Towelettes ($14) Perhaps it's because I'm just sooooo sweet, but bugs just love to eat me up - this was evidenced when I left a recent al fresco dinner with no fewer than four mosquito bites acquired in the course of an hour. Since that night, I haven't left the house without one of Avon's easy, pleasantly-scented yet effective bug-fighting towelettes - they'll take the bite out of your summer. 

What beauty products are a must for you when temps heat up? Tweet your tips at me @eye4style!

Summer Sipping: Chandon Limited Edition American Summer Bottle

Memorial Day is almost here, and as far as I'm concerned, the long weekend alone is reason to celebrate! While I'll be staying in the city, I can't imagine a better hostess gift for any impending summer barbeques than the new Limited Edition American Summer Bottle from Chandon. All dressed up in patriotic red, white and blue, the chic design makes Chandon's legendary bubby even more appealing.

To celebrate the launch, Chandon has even collaborated with Alice + Olivia designer Stacy Bendet to create a Limited Edition Romper (hellooooo, you know how I feel about a ONESIE, people!) that pairs perfectly with the Limited Edition bottle.

The Chandon Limited Edition American Summer Bottle will be available in 750ml and 187ml sizes from June 1 – Sept. 1, 2012 at www.chandon.com and select retailers nationwide. The Alice + Olivia for Chandon Limited Edition Romper will be available from select Alice + Olivia boutiques beginning June 1, 2012.

Happy sipping!

Summer Makeup: Minimal Effort, Maximum Impact

Memorial Day is coming to a close, and it's got me thinking incessantly about the beauty of summer. I don't know about you, but I can't WAIT to soak up the sun in Montauk, to ride the Cyclone at Coney Island, to picnic during Philharmonic in the Park, to eat my way through one of New York's many street festivals, etc. etc.

But just as the seasonal transition impacts the clothing we wear, it necessitates a major change in makeup as well. And after thinking long and hard for approximately 3 seconds, I've landed on my mantra for the season, namely: Minimal Effort, Maximum Impact.

I start first with a strong foundation - or in this case, Urban Decay's new Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20, which came highly recommended by the lovely Kristin from Fashion Style Beauty (and bless her for it). This lightly tinted moisturizer provides *just* enough cover, and protects my precious skin from the hellish death rays of the sun.

Next up (a step I only WISH I could skip) is Make Up For Ever's amaze Full Cover Concealer. If we're being candid, I give thanks EVERYDAY that I'm a woman and it's socially acceptable for me to wear concealer, and this is among the BEST. The full coverage formula is waterproof and sweatproof - in fact, today it lasted through a HELLISH Physique 57 class without a crease.

Next and NEVER to be forgotten is a strong bronzer. My latest love is the latest from MAC's oh-so-seasonally-approp Surf, Baby! collection, which delivers a natural looking glow SLASH nothing short of LIFE to my face.

As a Leo, I eat compliments for dinner, and one of my favorite recent comps was def "Are those your REAL lashes?" This, you see, meant that I'd done my job effectively as a woman for the day. My secret (no longer) is Dior's iconic Diorshow Mascara, and in the summer, the waterproof formula keeps me lashlicious in the surf.

Last, but never least is a spectacular bold lippie - nothing will make your face look "finished' faster. New to my makeup bag is Cover Girl's ultra-moisturizing Lip Perfection Lipstick. With 44 shades to choose from, you're BOUND to find one that you love, but my favorites for the season are easily Hot (a bright orange red) and Coquette (a bold, look-at-me pink). Best of all, these babies smell like cotton candy - one of my fave summer treats, be it at the boardwalk or the ball game.

So, there you have it, peeps - my min effort, max impact makeup routine. Which begs the question, what's in your makeup bag this season?