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Marianne Fidel

5 Tips to Achieve a Bridal Look You’ll Love

It’s wedding season! If you’re recently engaged or your wedding is coming up, these are my top 5 tips to consider when choosing your makeup look and booking your bridal makeup package:

1. A look you’re comfortable with

The most important thing with your bridal makeup is finding a look you’re comfortable with. I often get asked for “something natural”, “I want to look like myself” and some clients even come with requests from the groom asking to make sure that he’ll still be able to recognise his bride when she walks down the aisle.

I say rightly so! ? Ideally you’d like to feel like ‘yourself’ on the day as well as when you look back on your photos. Where to start? I’d say think of what facial features you like most and ask your makeup artist to enhance those. If you’re going for a natural look, I recommend going for the bronzes, golds, peaches, plums and nudes. Natural is classic and timeless.

2. Durability

Makeup artists are certainly not magicians but it’s definitely worth doing what we can to help makeup last as long as possible from the ceremony, photoshoot, and reception. If you’re new to makeup and want some pointers to ask for at your bridal trial/on the day pay attention to:

  1. Priming and prep products: Skin prep makes a huge difference when it comes to longevity and even how your makeup look, sits and feels throughout the day. The key to long-lasting makeup is happy, hydrated skin. Vitamin E and chamomile extracts can often be found in moisturising serums and primers to help calm and hydrate your skin before makeup.
  2. Go waterproof: I recommend going waterproof on your mascara, liquid liner, lipsticks and even foundation if you can. This way, you’ll be ready for any (happy) tears, humidity, rain (but hopefully not) and the D-floor!
  3. Long lasting liquid lipsticks: I’m such a fan of these new liquid lipstick formulas that literally last HOURS! They’re often waterproof and non-transferrable. Gone are the days that you get to the “kiss” and have to worry about smudging your lipstick.

3. The Makeup Trial

If possible, I highly recommend having a makeup trial(s). The makeup trial is an opportunity to work with your makeup artist on creating a look that you’re happy and comfortable with. Now is the opportunity to try different looks.

It can prove to give a lot of peace of mind knowing that your makeup artist will be able to nail exactly what you want on the day. It’ll also give an opportunity to provide feedback on how it wore and felt throughout the day, and make adjustments accordingly for the wedding day itself.

4. Find a makeup artist who is happy to adapt to the look that “YOU” want

Like with clothes, makeup is not a “one size fits all”. Everyone has a different ‘makeup-meter’ (the amount you’re comfortable with wearing) and also different sensitivities with features they do/don’t want to draw attention to. An important role of the makeup artist is to be able to work with you to draw out what you’re comfortable with and any of your preferences in makeup application.

Most makeup artists have a particular way they like doing things and their own makeup style. As with any artist, this is very much encouraged. For you as a client, it’s definitely a great idea to find a makeup artist that aligns with the style you’re looking for. More importantly, you need to find a makeup artist that is able to adapt to their clients’ preferences so if there’s anything you want to change they’ll be able to put first your preference before their own. Another benefit of having a trial beforehand, you’ll be able to see how adaptable they are to your needs.

5. Don’t forget mum!

In my experience thus far,  it’s often the mother of the bride’s who are the extra +1 getting squeezed in for makeup on the wedding day. I don’t know exactly why this is but I can only assume that it’s because mums are so beautiful, selfless and usually happy to make do with anything and go for something simple.

As a result, they’re often not included in the original quote and bridal runsheet but when the day comes, everyone is happy, excited and getting ready it’s decided last minute to squeeze mum in. While most makeup artists are happy to accommodate, I recommend that if time and budget permit, it would be good to treat mum and include her in the original makeup line-up. It can save any possible time pressure on yourself and the makeup artist to get everyone ready in time for the photographers and leave on time for the ceremony.

Hope you’ve found these tips helpful. If you have any more questions about wedding makeup or would like to book a bridal trial, feel free to contact me at [email protected].