Five tips for fabulous wedding make up

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It’s time to start envisioning your wedding look. Whether it is a smoky eye or a natural dewy look or a red lip, here are some tips for making sure your wedding make up is better than you ever dreamed it would be. This is a guide to finding the right products, prepping your skin and refining your look.

1. Know your skin. Some products are going to glide onto your skin and sit there like they were made for you. Some products will clump, separate or just look bad, not because they’re bad products, but because they may not be compatible with your skin. My first recommendation? Samples. You want to be trying products before you invest, so you know how they work with your skin. It’s easy to read reviews and find a dream product and drop a large part of your make up budget on it, but what if you get the product and it doesn’t work with your skin? Try products from every price range, because some less expensive products can really impress. If it works with your skin and brings you closer to that newlywed glow, then it doesn’t matter what the brand is or where you bought it.

2. Treat your skin. Listen, compatible make up can only go so far if you’re not taking care of your skin. Look at our previous post, 4 Ways to get your skin glowing for your big day, for some skincare guidelines. To recap that post: wash your face consistently, get a quality moisturizer that is compatible with your skin type and mask, mask, mask. Great skin is attainable, but it takes consistent effort. If you can create a skincare regimen for yourself and stick to it, you will most likely need less make up on your big day and the make up you do wear will sit better on your skin.

3. Try things. You never know until you try. Recently, I discovered the world of exfoliating moisturizers. My skin has never been softer, but it wouldn’t be if I hadn’t tried something that sounded a little off-the-wall. Always read reviews and the product description to make sure the product will be compatible with your skin type. For example, if you have skin that airs on the oily side, make sure you’re avoiding heavy moisturizers and stick to more intense cleansers. If you have dryer skin, avoid heavy duty cleansers in favor of light cleansers and heavier moisturizers. Get samples and order minis so that you can try a little of everything. Figure out what works best for you specifically; don’t gamble on what works best for everybody else.

4. Research and experiment. Find make up looks that you like and watch tutorials on those looks. Find make up artists and beauty bloggers you trust and let them teach you their technique. Find artists with similar skin types to yours and you’ll be able to glean some recommendations for products to try as well. Try different looks with different products you like, but keep an open mind. Maybe that one highlight wasn’t great on its own, but looks really good when layered with another highlight.

5. Test runs. Try out different looks. You might have an idea of what you want your make up to look like, but you want to try a few variations to really hone in on what you want. Take pictures with good lighting of each variation and write down what you did differently and what products you used with each look. This way, you can compare the variations side by side and decide what makes you look as fierce as possible.

Even if you are hiring a make up artist, it doesn’t hurt to be able to tell them what products you like and specifically what look you want. A make up artist may be able to take the looks you created and bring them to the next level. A make up artist can only work with the skin you bring to the table, though, so make sure you are taking care of your skin and pampering your skin in the months leading up to the big day. It doesn’t matter if you are doing your make up yourself or hiring a professional. You want your skin to be at its very best, so the most important part of wedding make up is to be consistent with your skincare.

Make up, Skin care, Wedding make up, weddings, tips, how to