The Wedding Makeup Guide – How To Look Your Best On Your Wedding Day

One thing that can act as a major dampener on your wedding day is makeup gone wrong. If your eyeshadow is a bit too smoky, your lipstick a bit too vampy, or your foundation a bit too pale, you may end up cursing your makeup artist for the rest of your life- whenever you flick through your wedding album. Here are some steps that you can take to make sure that you don’t look like a cakey, pale, or over-shimmery disaster on your big day.

1. Decide what you want – There are a lot of factors that will determine the most suitable makeup for your bridal look. These factors include the time of the ceremony, the weather, your outfit, the wedding theme etc. Once your outfit and jewellery are decided for all the functions, skim through a few makeup looks on the internet and shortlist the ones that you like for each event. Take these images with you and discuss with your MUA whether they can work with what you have picked. This is what brings me to my second point – the makeup trial.
2.  The Makeup Trial – If you have the time and the money, I will highly, HIGHLY recommend getting a makeup trial done. Try out multiple makeup artists if you are not satisfied with the first MUA you pick. Makeup trials allow you to gauge not only the skill of the MUA, but also whether the two of you can work with each other without guns being pulled out. Trust me, I have heard many a horror story of MUAs bullying brides and brides having emotional breakdowns due to the same. A makeup trial is the best time for the MUA to understand your preferences, and to add his or her professional expertise to make them more suitable for you. Take multiple pictures in different lighting, with and without flash, to figure out whether the final look works for you or not.

   

3. The Balancing Act – While some MUA’s can be bullies, most of them know their art well. So if they tell you that the amount of makeup that you are normally comfortable with will not show up at all in the pictures, nine times out of ten – they are right. If you are someone who doesn’t wear a lot of makeup on a daily basis then all the contouring, the false lashes, and the colourful eye shadows might overwhelm you, but remember, you are not a bride on most days. The lighting at the venue will tone down your makeup and your outfit and jewellery will balance it out. So basically, do listen to your MUA with an open mind, most of their suggestions will be right, however, if they insist on making you two shades lighter than you are or decide to put all the colours of the rainbow on your face, run for your life (which is why a makeup trial is important because who can run in their wedding shoes?).
4. Hair – Your hairstyle is something you might not give much thought to as compared to your clothes, your shoes, and your makeup. However, a good hairstyle can make or break your entire look. Pick a hairstyle that goes well with your makeup and outfit. This will also depend on whether you will have a chunari on your head or not, so choose accordingly.

   

5. The Venue For The Makeup – Most wedding MUA’s these days offer the option to come to your home or the wedding venue to do your makeup. However, this blessing can also be a curse in disguise. Your house or the wedding venue can be very chaotic and the environment can fluster you while getting ready. Also, the MUA could be late due to a number of reasons, which may bring out your inner bridezilla. Furthermore, the dim lighting at most hotels is quite unsuitable for getting your makeup done as you may look totally different once you step out. So unless you have a punctual MUA and a quiet, well-lit place at your home/venue, it may make more sense to visit the makeup studio, where there will be more staff, more products, and more resources in general, to get you ready on time.

   

6. Budget – Budget can be a huge determining factor in which MUA you pick but I will highly recommend selecting one that uses makeup of well-known brands. Personally, I feel that MAC products work really well for wedding makeup and are long-lasting too. If you do not find an MUA in your budget that uses MAC makeup then you can go for Lakme products instead.
7. Prepping – Your makeup will never sit right if your skin is not in good shape. You need to up your skincare game several months before the wedding to look your radiant best. Check out my bridal skincare post to find out how to take care of your skin when you are a bride to be.

These are my tips on how to get your makeup on point for your wedding day. Let me know what you want the next post of the bridal series to be in the comments below!