If you love weddings or resist the eyeroll as the happy couple say their vows, attending or being in one can present makeup challenges you hadn’t anticipated. In the video, I go step-by-step on how to create a pretty wedding look. In this blog, I walk you through the key components to be aware of to look gorgeous!
As a side note, I’ve made up hundreds (yes hundreds) of brides of all ages. I think this makes me a connoisseur of wedding looks and managing the all too common craziness of expectations tied to the event. In any case, here are my key takeaways for creating a beautiful wedding look.
How to POP Your Eyes
What woman doesn’t want her eyes to pop? To create this, find a good concealer like Amazing Concealer. Concealers cover all the discoloration, hyperpigmentation, and what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas under eye circles.
Cheaply made concealers sit on the surface of the skin and can set in our crow’s feet. Yikes. Having said that, be sure you are well hydrated and use a moisturizer or eye cream to give makeup something dewy to adhere to.
For top of the line moisturizers, try Truth Treatments Transdermal C Balm, and for something more mid-range try Image Vital C Hydrating Intense Moisturizer. I’m not a fan of eye cream, so use your moisturizer around your eye area if possible. (I’ve never noticed anything special from using a separate eye cream except that I spend more money on something useless.)
If you can, use the concealer on your lid as well as in the inner corner of your eyes. If you have oily lids and need to prevent eyeshadow from creasing, try a mattifying eye base like MAC Pro Longwear Paint-Pot. They have many shades and it lasts for hours. If your mascara tends to bleed under your eyes, use a little eye base next to the lower lashes and it will help prevent or minimize that tendency.
A key point for popping your eyes is to use the concealer around your nose and down the bridge. This not only brightens up unnecessary redness but lengthens your nose and brings attention to your eyes.
And don’t forget to fill in your eyebrows! This strategy is so important for enhancing your eyes, balancing out your face, and allowing for a stronger lip shade because it brings an equilibrium to the facial structure. Never underestimate a great eyebrow!
Sheer Foundation That Matches Your Neck
Using too dark (or light) a shade of foundation that’s full coverage is the number one mistake I see women making. It can be easy to miss, as we only look at our makeup in bathroom lighting at a certain angle. Because of this, the jawline demarcation between your face and neck can be avoided by checking it in daylight. (A comment on color: most bathroom lights are yellow or warm tinted, so when you step into the blue daylight, you can look… um… weird.)
Most people’s neck area is lighter than their face, so you have to either darken your neck a bit, or lighten your face. Normally, I do a mixture of the two to find a suitable, natural looking shade. Take your bronzer with a large brush and darken under your chin and down your neck a little in order to do this.
A word on full-coverage foundations. For anyone over 50, full-coverage foundations are too heavy. I like to use a sheer to medium coverage foundation and then add concealer on any age spots, darkness, redness, etc. This way you allow your skin to show through, while covering up the naughty bits.
Pick a Theme and Go for It
For the most part, brides like a rosy lip and plum shadows. I know this sounds like type-casting, but it’s the truth and the reason why in the video I use these shades. For example, with the rosy lip look, use a pinky blush, and plum and pink toned shadow. For warm tones, try a peachy lip, blush and any shade of eye shadow that hits your fancy!
What I recommend is deciding on your theme, whether it be a wardrobe color scheme, bouquet, or nail polish, decide on it and create your makeup look around those colors. A huge error is to do your makeup and not consider these external factors.
As an example, in one wedding I attended, a woman showed up in a yellow dress and pink lipstick so pale she fairly disappeared. A brilliant blue-red lipstick would’ve looked both classic and chic with her whole look. Getting out of your comfort zone can be wonderful, scary, and transformational. In this way, getting some help can be beneficial.
Have a blast at this season’s weddings and try not to cave to the pale lipstick, cheap concealer, or (God forbid) eyeroll!
Will you be attending any weddings this year? Have you looked into makeup options? What type of makeup do you find best?
