Before you start meeting with potential makeup artists, and scheduling consultations and/or makeup trials, there’s a crucial step to take; you have to figure out your makeup style, and what it is that you want. Maybe you’re spoilt for choice, or, maybe you don’t normally wear makeup, and don’t know what it is you’d like. Fear no more, let’s get started, with some tips and ideas! It may be useful to grab your notebook/ planner and a pen, and make some notes here!
What are you wearing?
A crucial first step to figuring out what kind of makeup you want, is determining what outfit you will be wearing. Makeup doesn’t have to match your clothing, but it should work well together to seamlessly create your desired effect. Are you wearing a romantic white dress? Maybe a traditional red lehenga, or a Punjabi suit? No? What about a South Indian silk sari? Maybe you’re re-writing the rules and wearing a white pant suit. Or, maybe you’re throwing out all the rules and wearing a black gown! The point here is that your outfit is the foundation of your wedding day aesthetic. Once you have an idea of what that outfit will be, it is a crucial part of this whole puzzle.
What aesthetic are you hoping to achieve?
You’ve got your outfit picked out, or at least you know what kind of outfit you have in mind. The next step is to think of what is the overall look you’re trying to achieve. Do you want to make a statement, or do you want to just be a more put-together version of what you look like every day? Do you want to your guests’ jaws to drop when you make your grand entrance, looking glamorous, and unlike anything they’ve ever seen you wear? Perhaps you want your look to be soft, and romantic, so that your makeup is not necessarily the center of attention, but playing the supporting role.
What kind of makeup options are there?
When you have an idea of the aesthetic you’re going for, it is not difficult to then choose what kind of makeup will fulfill that aesthetic goal. Perhaps you’re using Pinterest, or Instagram to look up some styles of makeup and gather inspiration. Here are some styles of makeup, explained, and then you can use each title as a search phrase to look for images that you may like. Save these images, as they will be an important part of your conversation with your makeup artist. Nothing here is set in stone, and this is simply meant to help you curate your look, and have an idea of where to begin looking for inspiration.
Natural Makeup: The idea of what is natural makeup varies from person to person. Firstly, we are speaking of a makeup style, and not whether or not the makeup products used are “natural.” At it’s core, natural makeup, to any makeup artist, will mean makeup that does not feature a lot of bright, or statement shades. It is meant to look like a version of what you normally look like without makeup, but with all discolorations corrected, and your features enhanced. You will look like you are wearing makeup, but it is not meant to be obvious, and bold.
Soft Glam: This style of makeup is open to interpretation. Your idea of soft glam may differ greatly from your makeup artist’s idea of soft glam. One interpretation, is that soft glam is a step up from natural makeup. There may be some more shimmer, and glow, with enhancements that are meant to show up, but not be heavy, or bold. This kind of makeup is most often depicted without harsh, sharp black eyeliner, or bold, bright, or dark lips. When you think of the word soft, you may think of lip shades that are more nude, and include soft, muted pinks, pinky-browns, and mauves. Eye shades may include, champagnes and shimmery shades tailored to your particular shade and depth of complexion, or a palette of matte neutral shades. Eyes would not be heavily lined, and lashes would tend to be light and fluttery.
Red Carpet Glam: This kind of makeup is identified by flawless complexion, and one feature as the focal point; eyes or lips. You may have a natural eye look, with soft lashes, and a bold red lip. Or, maybe you can have a muted plum smokey eye, with a nude glossy lip. Maybe bright pink lipstick might be your signature style, and you just want to add a matte nude eyeshadow, and wispy lashes. We’ve called this style of makeup “red carpet glam” because typically, it is neither natural, nor is it a heavy, full glam. It is almost synonymous with the type of makeup you will see on celebrities…you guessed it… on the red carpet. It is effortlessly chic and almost undone.
Full Glam: If you’re thinking of glitter, and sharp, black winged eyeliner, a sleek cut-crease or even a bold, vampy lip, this is the category you’re thinking of. Maybe what you envisioned was a dark, black smokey eye; again, this is your category. Full glam makeup is truly statement-making, there is nothing subtle about full-glam. There is no mistaking this kind of makeup.
A soft-glam look to accompany a romantic white dress and updo.
When you’re browsing on social media platforms looking for makeup inspiration, you will find so many images, but you should be aware that many times, you may encounter images that have been edited and retouched. Filters are also used, so that images look more “perfect.” This is an unreal beauty standard. If you have a trial with a makeup artist, and they cannot make you look as flawless as the images you’ve seen online, remember that the artist is not necessarily at fault; you’ve been fed a slew of retouched images.
This leads to our next point: if your makeup artist cannot make you look like a poreless, smooth, doll without any texture whatsoever, it DOES NOT mean that your artist is no good. It is simply that makeup has limitations. Discoloration can be covered, but makeup does not eliminate texture, or pores, or pitted acne scars. Good makeup starts with a good blank canvas; you’ve got to take care of your skin, and follow an appropriate skincare regimen for your particular needs, in addition to smart diet choices and professional treatments.
Many times, the images you come across, are the work of content creators that are making sponsored content; i.e. they are being paid by makeup brands to create videos and images that showcase the brand’s products.
Be mindful too, of things like your face shape, eye shape, complexion shade, hair color, etc.; you may see a makeup that you quite like, but it may look very differently on you because you don’t have the same features as the model in the image you’ve found.
The Importance of Your Makeup Trials and Consultations
After you’ve chosen some inspiration images, save these, because they will be a very helpful tool when communicating with makeup artists. When meeting with, and interviewing makeup artists, it is important to have a consultation and a makeup trial. This will not only help you to pick the right artist, but also the right makeup look for you. Makeup trials are there to experiment, and figure out what it is that you like; seeing a look in a picture online, and then on yourself, are two completely different things. You may realize after seeing a look on yourself, that it’s not the bridal makeup you’d envisioned for yourself for your wedding day. No biggie! It’s just your makeup trial and you have time to change your mind! During your consultations, do not forget to let your artist know of any allergies or sensitivities you may have.
Whilst planning a wedding has its ups and downs, it can be fun! You have a whole event ahead of you, and so many possibilities! One of the most fun parts of wedding planning can be designing and curating your aesthetic and wardrobe for the big day. Hopefully these tips can be of use to you, or someone you know; helping you to breeze through the bridal makeup part of your to-do list. Happy wedding planning!
With love,
Anaarita.