To avoid looking overdone or artificial, it’s a good idea to choose either eyes or lips as a focal point feature and go minimalist with the other.
It goes without saying that you want to glow on your special day. Take a little time to play with effects in the months and weeks leading up to your wedding, checking out options for your eyes and lips. Getting some practice in beforehand will be invaluable if you’re doing it yourself the day-of; if you have a makeup artist or a friend, you’ll be able to give them expert guidance in getting the look you want.
Foundation, even if you don’t bother with it every day, will help keep your skin looking picture-perfect through hours of celebration and photo-ops. To get the shade right, dab a couple samples at your jawline in natural light until one of them disappears. (Natural light is always best for makeup choices and application.)
Choose the right formula by assessing your makeup-free face first thing in the morning to spot dry or oily patches; if you tend toward oily, choose a sheer formula, while drier skin calls for a hydrating whip. Apply concealer that’s one shade lighter first, then apply and blend with a sponge.
Sheer blush will highlight your features and enhance your natural glow. Choose a shade close to your skin tone for just under your cheekbones and alongside your nose, then smile and brush the next lightest shade onto the apples of your cheeks. Use powder if your skin is oily, cream if it’s drier, and blend with a big, soft brush. To avoid looking overdone or artificial, it’s a good idea to choose either eyes or lips as a focal point feature and go minimalist with the other:
- For fabulous eyes, start with a shimmery cream shadow a shade darker than the skin on your lids, then brush a slightly darker matte shadow from lashes to crease. Next comes an eyelash curler followed by a double coat of mascara. To get liner perfect, use a brush and apply waterproof gel from inner to outer corner. Start with dashes that get slightly thicker as you near the outer corner of your eye, then connect them into a smooth line.
- Lush lips that last and last can be achieved with an undercoat of color from your tube or compact, a layer of translucent powder, and another layer of color over that
To keep your look at its best, delegate a bridesmaid or your planner who’ll hang onto your emergency kit for the day: a custom palette loaded with a little of each product you’re wearing for touch-ups, cotton swabs, blotting paper, mini-brushes, hair spray or gel, wipes, and a bottle of cooling spray.
