Celebrating Carnival in Venice
I love a good party, and Carnival is really the ultimate party! Venetians don’t have a lot of balls and parties normally, the night life is mostly in small bars and ends pretty early. Carnival, though, is a spectacle.
WHEN
If you want to go to Carnival while things are very fun, but not crazy yet, come the second week before Shrove Tuesday. The weekends are typically when there are balls and people dress up, the 2nd weekend and then Thursday-Sunday of the third week (the last weekend before Shrove Tuesday). The third week is very busy and a bit more crazy. That also means tickets are harder to get and the small alleys of Venice are very full, so plan accordingly.
WHERE TO STAY
There are tons of hotels and inns in Venice. I stayed at the Ai Reali Hotel in Venice, it’s centrally located near the Rialto bridge in a kind of crossroads area where it’s easy to get to the different neighborhoods. And it has a spa! Lovely hotel with nice staff, and gorgeous Venetian rooms.
WHAT TO DO
Go to a ball! I mean that’s why you’re going there, isn’t it? There are lots of balls. I went to the Official Carnival Dinner Show and Ball. It was amazing with beautiful décor and performances. The tickets were expensive, but this is one of those things like the Kentucky Derby or going to the Superbowl. Do it the way you want, you’ll likely only have this amazing experience once. There will be lots of performers in different squares, with the official programming in St. Mark’s Square. It’s fun to just stroll and see all the different costumes, mostly on the weekends, as a lot of people come for the weekends only. Venice is also just a lovely city to wander, explore and shop.
WHAT TO WEAR
You can buy a costume, or rent one, if that interests you. There are lots of shops that do rentals, and many of them have websites. Some of the nicer ones, like where I rented, La Bauta, fill up in advance, so you may want to reserve a rental if that is the route you want to go. If you purchase one, they typically have more stock in all sizes, but that is pricey. Most of the costume shops have websites where you can peruse costumes. I like Rococo styling, but there were lots of Baroque and Elizabethan costumes, too.
Balls require a costume. The costume can’t be like a Halloween costume (although you will see those walking around in the city), but a dress costume. See the guidelines of your exact ball for specifics, for instance as our ball had a Marco Polo theme, oriental style costume was permitted this year. Otherwise, Venice in winter is mild in the 40s mostly with lots of fog, so dress light with warm layers and comfortable shoes for cobblestones! (I know you Alexandrians have these)
But you really came for the hair and makeup tutorial, didn’t you? So, here’s the skinny on my hair. I had Marie Antoinette-style hair for my wedding and watched carefully as hairdressers did it on my trial run and actual wedding. I’m a bit obsessed with big rococo style hair. It requires pretty long hair, but to get the front bump, I use a bun cheat.
I have used all my own hair previously, but the bun roll saves you some teasing and your hair can be a little shorter. Before you start, put some majorly strong mousse in the base of your hair. Rub it in your roots for lots of volume and texture. Then tease the roots of your hair a few inches up, making sure it has a lot of volume in the tease. Next curl the rest of the strand, brushing the outside bit to smooth it a little, and gently pull it back and bobby pin it in curls into one another in the top and back of your head around the bump. Be careful not to kill the oomph from teasing. Once the curls look the way you want, hairspray it till there is a thin glaze of hairspray coating the whole bathroom! (Of course, you know the white one below is a wig– I love the Rococo wigs, they are my favorite!)
If you are wearing a mask, then makeup may not be required, but typical Venetian Carnival makeup is a pale white face with bright cheeks. I did my friend’s makeup and to get the look we started with: face lotion, primer. Then we used a color corrector as his complexion isn’t as light as mine. We then used the lightest Bobbi Brown concealer/corrector that they make, and I applied it with a brush like a foundation.
Next, I used the lightest foundation stick from Bobbi Brown and applied that with a brush. I used Bobbi Brown Soft Pink blush, and a brown pencil for lining eyes and making a beauty spot. I also applied some Fenty beauty light beige shimmer eyeshadow (probably not necessary, but I liked it). Last for lips, I used a Sephora light pink lip pencil blotting the color a bit, and then a very light shimmer lipstick stick they have. It’s really about the cheeks and white face, the rest is easy to play around with. Then powder, setting spray and more powder. You can see this look on my face too, but my complexion is so light it doesn’t look as dramatic on me.
If you need any tips on attending Carnival, you know who to call!