Wedding Season: Beauty Time Series

Since it soon will be wedding season, I have composed a series of articles dedicated to bridal beauty. These articles will be posted daily and feature tips for different types of makeup looks, ranging from winter wedding makeup, rose gold makeup, garden wedding makeup and holiday themed makeup for Halloween and Christmas...Enjoy!

Bridal Makeup: Bridal Makeup Tips

With all the planning and preparations being made for your wedding day, the last thing you want to worry about is your makeup staying in place. As the bride you should enjoy all your hard work and feel your most beautiful. Whatever direction you decide to go with your makeup, from Kate Middleton to Kim Kardashian, stay true to yourself. The makeup these famous ladies wore on their wedding day was just a polished, more glamorous version of their daily makeup.

Here are some bridal makeup tips for your wedding day:

-          For immaculate brows, don’t tweeze the day of or the day before. Get your brows in order several days to a week before the big day to eliminate redness and breakouts. This goes for any type of facial as well, if you don’t usually get them, now is not the time to experiment with your skin. Keep it simple and save the spa treatments for your honeymoon.

-          Stay away from trendy makeup looks; timeless, classical beauty (think Grace Kelly) is still referenced today by many makeup artists and “reinvented” by Hollywood icons.  When you look back on your pictures, you want to see yourself, not the elaborate trends from the time you tied the knot (think eighties wedding).

-          With light-reflecting/brightening products you want to be very careful, especially if there will be flash-photography. You may photograph too light under the eyes, distracting from the overall effect of the makeup.  This goes for mineral makeup as well. Typically what is responsible for this effect is titanium dioxide, which in cosmetics is used as a pigment, sunscreen and a thickener. It can appear white on the skin when reflected by the light of flash photography. If you love your mineral makeup and want to wear it, do some test shots with your makeup artist or a friend with indoor and outdoor lighting.

-          If you have oily skin or if you like a dewy complexion, it may translate as “greasy” in photographs. Have a mini makeup kit on-hand with blotting papers, concealer, your lip color and translucent pressed powder with a mirror. Blotting papers are great because they absorb shine without moving your makeup around.  You can also blot/powder the foreheads of the groomsmen if they are quite shiny.

-          Along with your dress consider the colour scheme of your wedding. If your bridesmaids and flowers are in the pink-lavender family of colours (cooler tones), you may want to stay away from an ultra-bronzed look with orange lipstick, which would look out of place. With a wintery wedding, with red roses and luxurious fabrics, a red lip and rosy cheek might suit the occasion.

A great way to fool proof your makeup is to have a trial. If you are doing your own makeup, do a test run. Try your look for a big night out, taking lots of pictures.

Remember when it comes to makeup, go with your instincts, comfort level and skin tone and you can’t go wrong!

Daniela is a freelance makeup artist based in Toronto, Canada.