Curating your bridal makeup can be both exciting and nerve-wracking; simultaneously! This makeup look will be immortalized in your pictures, and those pictures will be the most lasting memory that you get to look back on to remember your wedding day! While trends come and go, there are some looks that are timeless. The one thing you don’t want to fall prey to, is choosing a highly stylized look that is on trend; cue the gold/silver glitter cut crease with sharp winged eyeliner.
These looks can be fun to experiment with, but for a timeless look, that you won’t regret, we’ve got some ideas you should try! [Hint: this is why your bridal makeup trial is so important!]
*This is not meant to be a criticism of anyone’s preferences; merely suggestions that help you to find inspiration, and think “outside the box.”
All Matte, neutral Eyes
Keeping your eyes matte make for a beautiful sculpted look, and also photographs beautifully! If eyeshadow shades are kept in the neutral family, it can almost look natural, but still give definition to the eyes. Contrarily, you can go darker, for a smoky look, that will stand out, but still photograph well. You can go as dark or as light you want, with a gradient, or you can still have a cut crease if you’d like, so make no mistake, matte, and neutral are NOT equal to natural. You can, if you like, choose to keep it natural, with shades that match your natural eyelid color, opting only for a contour shade in the crease for definition.
All matte eyes, with lashes adding definition.
No eyeliner
Hear us out…You can absolutely have a subtly defined eye look, without the use of eyeliner. Sometimes eyeliner can be harsh, and take away from the softness of a look. There are two ways to add definition without using eyeliner:
(1) Using a dark shade of eyeshadow to smudge along the lash line.
(2) Mascara and lashes are a must. (Lashes do not have to be dramatic. Even a simple, natural pair of lashes will give immense definition to the eyes.)
Even without eyeliner, there is so much definition with the use of false lashes, which are not dramatic at all.
Brown eyeliner
If you must have eyeliner, even opting for a brown liner can give you definition and soften your look way more than black eyeliner. Brown eyeshadow (the shade and depth of shadow depends on your complexion shade) can be used to give soft, smudgy, sultry definition to the eyes.
One-and-done eyeshadow
We’ve all been conditioned to think that an eye makeup look is not complete without a whole arsenal of eyeshadows, liners, and brushes. What if we told you…that is a gimmick. You can achieve a chic, effortless eye makeup look with no more than two shadows, and even better, just one. Eyeshadows that are available in liquid, cream, and pencil form are some of the easiest to give you an effortlessly undone look. Be sure to blend out the edges where you’ve applied the product, and complete the look with mascara and lashes.
One-and-done nude, matte eyeshadow, with a dark brown powder eyeshadow used in place of liner, finished with mascara and lashes.
No eyeshadow with bold lips
Bold lipstick is a statement all on its own; it does not need competition from your eye makeup look. That being said, “no eyeshadow” might not think what you think it means. Here, what we mean, is that you are using either concealer, or a matte eyeshadow, to even out your natural lid color. This should look like your eyes, but better. All you need are mascara, and lashes, and a bold lipstick shade to achieve this look.
Bold lipstick takes center-stage.
Renaissance-era beauty
While Queen Bey is magnificent, in this instance, this is not the aesthetic we’re referring to here. Imagine for a second, that you’re in an art museum, viewing works of art, portraits of women specifically, from the Renaissance era (14th-17th century). Rosy cheeks, and lips; a monochromatic look, where lips and cheeks match, in varying depths. Eyeshadow is notedly absent from this aesthetic, because blush and the lips take center stage. Mascara and lashes are still a must; more on that later. This look works best with complexion that looks natural, but still enhanced; i.e. foundation, and concealer, but not heavily contoured. It is youthful, and fresh-faced, with flushed cheeks and lips that are the same shade as the blush, but sheer, and not heavy.
Sheer washes of color on lips and cheeks.
Champagne eyes
A little (or a lot if you like) of sparkle, makes for a magical touch to an otherwise simple bridal makeup. Even without darker shades in the crease, and eyeliner, a swipe of a glitter eyeshadow, like the Urban Decay 24/7 Moondust Glitter Eyeshadow, will take you from subtle to ethereal. Hint: the shade “Space Cowboy” works a charm on light to medium and medium tan skin tones, whilst “Wild Dipper” has the warmth that works beautifully on tan and darker skin tones .
Lashes
Yes, lashes are a must. Lashes and mascara do so much for the eyes; so much so, that lacking any other eye makeup, you instantly look more awake, and eyes look defined, with simply these two items. Always apply your mascara before your lashes. Falses lashes are already curled, voluminous, defined, fluffy, long, etc. When you choose a style of lashes that you like, essentially you are choosing to have these lashes achieve all the things you normally do not achieve with just mascara on your natural eyelashes. These lashes are already manufactured to look enhanced, and thus, they do not need mascara; adding mascara can clump false lashes, and ruin the look. We’ve emphasized lashes and mascara for every look mentioned above, and for good reason. Unless you have been blessed with the kind of lashes that the rest of us use serums, mascara and falsies to achieve, your lashes will not photograph well. When photographed, natural lashes (yes, even with that TikTok famous mascara you bought because you saw someone rave about it online) can look sparse, or straight, clumpy and not full. Falsies help to give you definition, and this applies to simplest, most natural pair you can find. Even if you are doing the most natural, no-makeup makeup, a good pair of lashes will incredibly improve the outcome of your appearance in photography. Keep in mind, that whilst this post particularly is referring to bridal makeup, and wedding photographs, these tips and ideas will work for other situations too. Here, we are simply emphasizing how important lashes are to your bridal makeup because of how it will photograph.
No matter what you look choose for your bridal makeup, ultimately, ensure it is something you are happy with; it should be a look that makes you feel like your best self, confident and radiant. Drop us an email if you have any questions, or want to schedule your own trial to experience any of these looks!
With love,
Anaarita.