Bridal Makeup Tips
The makeup, after the dress and the hair, is one of the most crucial elements to consider when planning your wedding. A lot of brides leave their face considerations to the bottom of the to-do list, when really, it should be on high priority alert.
Why?
Because all that will remain after your wedding (besides the marriage!) are the photographs you keep around the house, as a reminder of the great day you spent getting hitched. And when you consider that every photo has you in it, don’t you want to have the proof that you looked spectacular on one of your most important days of looking beautiful?
Here are some bridal beauty tips to help you prepare for the big day:
1. Be yourself!
If you’re a girl who doesn’t like to wear a lot of makeup, why do so on your wedding day? Granted, if your face is always flush in the shade of tomato red, then perhaps it might be wise to forgo your usual "no makeup" policy, and tone that red down with a lightweight foundation. Strive to compromise (you’ll be getting used to it anyway when you’re married!)…embrace the less-is-more mantra, but realize that there is great power to transform in those little compacts and tubes.
2. Tan if you must…but go easy!
It baffles me why a girl who has gorgeous, porcelain skin wants to hole herself up in a little booth for weeks in order to get "some colour for my wedding". Guess what---you already HAVE colour! And your colour may be lilywhite, but it’s your colour! This is a common sense rule, but believe me, I’ve had those panicked calls on the day of the wedding "I went for a tan…and now I’m a lobster! Help!" or "I went for a tan…and now I’ve got tan lines! Help!" Remember, makeup can be a miracle when you need one, but don’t rely on it to cover up your tanning disasters. If you must tan, make sure you go for your last session a week before the wedding. (Don’t let me hear you say you got burnt the day before…you‘ve been warned!)
3. Wax…but not the night before or the day of your wedding!
Good grooming is a must for any bride (no pun intended!). Clean up that unibrow, wax off that moustache…just don’t do it within two days of your wedding! When you wax, you are pretty much ripping out the hair from its roots, and what does the wax do? It takes off a layer of skin at the same time. It actually changes the texture of the area you waxed…making it so that nothing wants to stick to it! So if you want to have two little red stripes above your brows, or a red stripe above your lip, then wax after waking on wedding day. But if you want to stay hairless and look great…wax a few of days before your wedding.
4. Waterproof…waterproof…waterproof!
I know a lot of you don’t like to wear waterproof mascara, because it’s so hard to get off. But that is exactly why I recommend it for the wedding day! Unless you have a heart of stone, you’re going to shed some tears, and the last thing you want is to look like a raccoon on the big day! Waterproof isn’t just limited to mascaras…you can find waterproof formulations of eye shadow, eyeliner, foundation, blush--you name it! So if you want to have a long lasting look for the day, waterproof is the way to go!
5. Dab…don’t rub!
The diva of makeup dictum. When you start to cry, especially if it’s an "ugly cry", keep your makeup looking beautiful by gently dabbing at your eyes with a tissue…don’t be putting your fingers, palms or hands anywhere near your eyes!
6. Appoint someone on "lash duty"
A lot of brides are going for full-out drama on the lashes, and that means the addition of false lashes to the look. Nothing beats falsies for glamour, length and thickness (just look at any mascara ad--fake, fake, fake lashes!). Lashes are applied with glue, and aren’t meant to be put on and slept in for days. They are, like Cinderella’s ball, a limited time offer. Sometimes, after a lot of tears and dabbing, lashes can start to lift at the inside or outside corners. Don’t fear, you can either take them off altogether or keep a tube of glue close by for a quick reapply. The important thing is to appoint a bridesmaid on "lash duty", so she can inform you if you have lift-off. Go the extra mile and have her practice putting them on you before the wedding, and then you’re completely covered.
7. Talk to your photographer and makeup artist about lighting and exposure!
When you do your makeup day-to-day, you aren’t really that concerned about the lights or how you’ll look in photos. These are important considerations when choosing your makeup for the wedding. Did you know that some powders can actually reflect light, and make you look whiter? Or that certain frosted eye shadows can make your eyelids look white instead of natural? Talk to the professionals about what choices would be best suited for the camera’s all-seeing lens…remember, the makeup only lasts a day, but the photos last a lifetime!
8. A picture is worth a thousand words!
It can be frustrating as a makeup artist to encounter a bride who has absolutely no idea what she wants to look like. In the case of your wedding, "do whatever you think would be nice" just doesn’t cut it. It’s amazing how brides will have clear ideas about the dresses they want, the flavour of cake to have or the colour of the tablecloths, but when it comes to their own faces---clueless! I strongly recommend leafing through some magazines to get an idea of the kind of role makeup will play in your wedding ensemble. Start a collection of "tear sheets" a few months in advance, of pictures or articles you enjoy. This will go a long way at the makeup trial to determine your final look. It shouldn’t take you two hours of putting on and taking off makeup ideas on your own face to figure out the look you want, when there are already thousands of examples pre-packaged in a fashion magazine.
Written by: Michelle Tomlinson
