Wedding Blog

I’ve explained to you my philosophy of makeup: Success in makeup is about being happy with how you look, not in following makeup rules. Get professional advice when necessary. Take some time to adjust to a new style before returning to your comfort zone.

What does this mean for a DIY makeup bride?

I would tell a DIY makeup bride to give herself a few weeks to try out different styles before the wedding. Set aside time to do your makeup and snap some pics of yourself (or have your fiance take some for you). Write down what products you used and how you applied them. You’d be surprised how quickly you can forget what color eyeshadow you used where. You’ll probably want to find products with staying power, so ask around for recommendations and take note of how long they last during your trials.

OK, so you’ve talked to the friendly makeup counter gal or guy and picked out some foundation and maybe some other products, too. You’ve got time to play around and you’re ready with a pen, piece of paper and a camera.

If you have dry skin, or even if you have slightly oily skin, I definitely recommend applying a thin layer of moisturizer before you put on your foundation to help it go on more smoothly and to give a more even layer of coverage. You can even mix your foundation with the moisturizer if you find it helps to do it that way. I use the back of my hand or, when I get down near the end of a bottle of foundation, I squirt some moisturizer in and shake it up to make it last longer. I recommend Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, but you can use whatever you like.

Sometimes I finish off my foundation with a light powder to take some of the shine off my face and create a buffer between my foundation and my blush, which is also a powder and can soak into the foundation if it’s not completely dry.

Now let’s talk about color. Remember what you learned in elementary school art class when you’re working with makeup.

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Some colors play well together and others don’t. Physician’s Formula, for example, promotes using color-canceling makeup. Red and green mixed make brown, so they provide a green-tinted powder to cancel out redness. Blue and orange are color wheel opposites, too, so often an orange-y concealer is prescribed to decrease the appearance of under-eye circles.

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As in art, color in makeup is used to add dimension. Light colors will make an area appear higher and dark colors make it look deeper. When I do stage makeup, I use a brown eyeliner pencil in the natural creases of the face to make wrinkles appear more pronounced.

I don’t advise trying to work against the natural shape of the face by applying a light color in wrinkles (though there are products created to do this), but you can make cheekbones and eyebrows appear higher and more defined by adding a light color with shimmer. Dark colors in the crease of the eye add depth and can make your eyes appear bigger.

Pick a blush color based on your skin tone, just as you would your foundation. Trial and error is a good way to do this if you don’t have a good guess just from looking at your skin. Once again, the friendly department store makeup counter person can help you out if you don’t trust your own eye to know what looks good.

For your amusement, I put on makeup in front of my laptop this evening before the play to show you the way I apply it. I didn’t do anything super fancy. I prefer a very natural look, too, so if you’re looking for something more risky, you ain’t gonna find it here! As I said before, I don’t claim to be a pro. I’m just a girl with lots of experience in putting makeup on other people’s faces.

I’ll definitely be following my own advice about trying out new makeup styles in the few weeks leading up to our wedding. In fact, two of the eye shadow shades I put on in the video are ones I’m considering for our wedding day.

Oh, and I mention this in the video, but I recommend getting a blush brush. Other brushes I can take or leave, but a blush brush with a nice tight head can make a big difference in getting even blush application exactly where you want it.

My trusty blush brush has never failed me.

Do you use brushes, a sponge, or your fingers to apply your makeup? Do you find it makes any difference at all what you use?