One of my sweet friends from Auburn, Vicki Johnson, contacted me requesting that I do a blog post about natural wedding makeup since her wedding is coming up this weekend and she needs some ! Here are some adorable pictures from her engagement session. How cute are they?!
As far as strictly advice goes, I can’t put makeup advice for weddings any better than Steph can in this post, which I mentioned back in April, but here is her top advice, copied from her blog. My personal experiences/responses are in bold below each numbered section.
1. Use matte colors – Although shimmer can look great when applied properly, if you are a little unsure about what to do, it’s always safe to go with matte colors. Matte makeup won’t reflect light, making it easy to apply and easy to photograph.
Too Faced makes a great eye color palette. I used this for my wedding.
2. Fill in your brows – Even if you don’t fill in your brows on a daily basis, fill them in for your pictures. Your eyes and face will look so much more complete if your brows are looking polished. This especially goes for blondes. Blonde eyebrows will disappear in photographs.
3. Makeup will photograph 2 shades lighter – In the picture above, Mallory’s lip stick color was a seriously BRIGHT orange, but you would never guess it by look at the picture. Makeup doesn’t translate as vibrant in photographs. I recommend doing your blush, eyes and lip color a little more vibrant than you normally would.
4. Use powder – Even if your makeup is applied perfectly, if you look shiny in your pictures it can ruin your whole look. Once your makeup is complete, use a finishing or setting powder to make everything more matte. I recommend even taking some powder with you (or oil blotting sheets), especially if it’s a warm day.
5.
Wear false lashes – I have never had a bride who didn’t like wearing false lashes, even if they were hesitant about them at first. 95% of the people in my
portfolio are wearing false lashes, and they make all the difference! Once again, Mallory’s false lashes were sooo long, but in the pictures they look perfectly proportionate. If you want something more natural, buy the individual lashes and just put a few on the outer corners.
I wore false lashes for my wedding and it really makes your eyes pop in pictures! It feels freaky, but it photographs really well.
6. Apply your makeup in natural light – When you put on your makeup, sit by a window or in a room with a lot of natural light. This will give you the best idea of what your makeup really looks like, and how it will look in the pictures.
7. Wax – makeup does not adhere well to peach fuzz. Whatever you normally wax on your face, wax it before your pictures. I suggest waxing at least 48 hours before your pictures to give enough time for any redness and swelling to go down.
I did not wax. I never had before, and i didn’t have any problems with peach fuzz on my day.
8. Wear lip gloss– I, myself, never wear lip gloss. I am a chapstick girl through and through. But when it comes to photos, lip gloss is a must. I consider my lips on the smaller side, so wearing lip gloss really helps them look full and plump in pictures.
9. Wear black mascara – Some people think black is too harsh for their skin tone, but I promise that when it comes to pictures, black looks good on everyone. Wearing black mascara will bring out your eyes a lot more than brown will.
Here are some other pointers from someone who loves makeup (me)! As far as natural makeup goes, I think it’s good to wear a light pink lip at the least – not nude because it will wash you out in pictures. I also think that lining the inner rim of your eye with a nude or bright white picture really brightens up the eye in pictures.
Tarte makes a good inner rim liner. Putting a little bit of dark brown shadow in the crease always enhances the eye a lot and looks great in pictures when you are looking down. In general, keep blotting paper with you for the heat so your skin won’t look shiny in pictures. You can find these at any drug store. Even if you don’t wear foundation on a daily basis, it will make your skintone look much more even in pictures, so I highly recommend it.
Here are some pictures of great nude makeup.
Notice that she is wearing quite a bit of upper liner, but really keeps the shadow to a minimum. The bottom lashes are lined about halfway across and the top liner gets thicker toward the outer corner of her eye. I think she has some brightener on the inner rim of her eye as well.
I love this look, I think her makeup stunning. She goes heavy with the mascara, light on the shadow, and fairly heavy on the the blush, and the bronzer. You can tell she sculpted her cheekbones with the colors and put some on the bridge of her nose. The coral pink lip is gorgeous. Click the photo for a link to the original post with the products listed.
I think that this is on the very light side when it comes to liner and mascara (which I don’t love), but I do love the bright pink cheek and the matching lip. I also think her eyes really pop with the nude shadows.
This is a personal favorite. I think it’s the best of both worlds, enough liner and mascara to intensify the eye but still a nude shadow. Just a small swipe of bronzer on the apple of her cheeks and a touch of lipstick to enhance the fullness of her lips. If you click the photo it take you to a tutorial with all the products used listed.
You can see in this photo how elegant it looks to have a small amount of dark brown shadow in the crease. She is wearing natural looking false lashes as well. This is a beautiful and natural makeup look with a neutral pink lip and hint of blush on the apples of the cheeks.
This is a great natural look with a light brown shadow from lid to crease with a light shadow highlighting the brow. A small amount of blush and a very small amount of shimmery gloss, black liner on the top of the lid, along with a heavy coat of black mascara tops off the look.
Hope this helps all of the ladies (especially you, Vicki!) out there looking for a natural, but still glamorous makeup look for their wedding day. I think for Vicki, the 2nd and 5th looks would look amazing with her gorgeous skin tone. Thanks for asking me to write this post – I love special requests!! Have fun this weekend and good luck!
I’ll leave you with another pic from their ADORABLE drive-in themed e-shoot by
Leslee Mitchell.
threembride 