In a black suit, perfectly manicured red nails and matching red lips, Abigail Betz looks as if she belongs in a glossy magazine alongside her exquisite bridal gowns. In the business for more than 15 years, Betz has created some of the most beautiful wedding dresses ever made in this country. For the De Beers Shining Lights Collection, she made a 14-layer Japanese Wedding Kimono from imported silks and chiffon and this wedding season she has created something completely different.''Local designers struggle to compete with imported bridal brands because most of them produce their dresses in China," she says.''To stand out from the online offerings we need to do something new and edgy. We want our dresses to be art."With this collection she aims to capture the free-spiritedness of modern brides with a move away from traditional weddings in traditional settings.''We've gone for unusual styles with amazing fabrics and hand-beading or embroidery, but our most stand-out feature are the new colours we're using."One of the most striking dresses in the collection is a black dress that Betz says is favoured by architects, graphic designers and artists - ''The kind of girl whose mother hates me."The collection also includes a peach gown, a white column and a soft embroidery anglaise dress. Betz describes her dresses as ''not obviously sexy", but with all the sexiness in the detail, like a sheer back.''Girls want value for money now, so we often dye or alter dresses after the occasion so that they can be used for something else.''If you're going to have your dress made by a local designer they need to offer what you can't get anywhere else - it's got to be something different. After all, it's your one day to play."Contact the designer at abigailbetz.co.zaMake-up that looks beautifully naturalFACEThe make-up is all about skin - emphasising its natural beauty and elasticity.A light wash of foundation with minimum powder is applied to maintain the natural translucency of the skin and sheer pigments are dusted onto the high planes of the cheek and in the corners of the eyes to enhance and highlight. Cream blush in pale peach is smudged onto the apple of the cheek while eyes are left nude with no mascara or enhanced with a gentle stroke of liquid liner for definition. Finally the lip is painted in a plummy/wine red and excess colour removed, creating a matte, stained look.HAIRStrands of natural long hair are crimped to produce soft pre-Raphaelite curls before finishing off with volumising mist...