Wedding Makeup Tips & Tricks

Hi guys I’m David with the Sephora Pro Team and I’m here with beautiful model Megan. This article is all about wedding makeup – what not to do, what to do? Lots of tips and tricks and lots of product information.

Here are things to remember when it comes to your wedding makeup, which you really want to take into consideration – long-wear, transfer proof and right color choices. You want to make sure that not only does your makeup look good and lasts all day, but it looks awesome in your wedding photos 20 years from now.

Honestly these tips can really be used even if you’re not a bride right now. A lot of this stuff is going to be really good if you are going to an event, if you’re going to be on a red carpet situation. These are just general good ideas when it comes to event or special occasion makeup.

You can also take into consideration the option of going into Sephora and getting a custom wedding makeover. It’s a great way to go in and have somebody who is a professional makeup artist do your makeup, teach you some tricks and show you some new products.

Choosing the Right Foundation for Your Wedding Makeup

So let’s talk about skin. I recommend a matte foundation especially if you want a little bit more of a glow and have something that will last. You don’t want to have to touch up every five minutes. On your wedding day you might go with something that’s a little more full coverage, so that your wedding pictures look flawless.

The key point when buying a new foundation would be to match it to your skin type. Remember to hydrate your skin with a little extra moisturizer. We really want to pamper the skin on the wedding day. Let’s start with the First Aid Beauty product Hello Fab Coconut Skin Moisturizer. I like this two-in-one solution. It’s a moisturizer and primer that hydrates and locks everything in place. Win-win solution – pun intended 🙂

Once we’ve got our foundation settled we’ve got to think about an accessories to foundation, which is a concealer. You really want to make sure your eyes are the focus of your makeup. I recommend wearing an extra hydrating concealer, especially under your eyes.

On the wedding day you will be making a lot of facial expressions and you want to make sure that area stays hydrated with some extra concealer applied. On Megan we used two products – Laura Mercier’s Flawless Fusion Concealer. A fantastic long wear hydrating concealer, but I think the real trick here was this newer product that and I’m really excited about. It’s called the OLEHENRIKSEN: Banana Bright Eye Crème and it’s actually an eye cream that’s got a little bit of yellow to it. You put it under your eye and it brightens and combines the yellow color correcting with the under-eye cream.

Another product to take into consideration should be a setting powder. Even if your skin is dry it’s a must. It’s a long day you’re going to be sweating a lot so you some powder to take away the shine, and you wedding photographer will be grateful.

We have this new product from Kat Von D’s, which is a lock-it setting powder. It’s great for a quick pat down. Another cool product from Beautyblender called the Blotterazzi Pro. It’s so good I love it. What it does, you just press it over and it absorbs all moisture. What’s great about a product like this, you’re not continually adding powder to your skin and that’s the key.

I know a lot of times especially in an event or wedding situation, we think oh I sweat a little bit or I got a little oily. So quick solution would be to add powder but in two hours you’re literally going to have a pancake on your face.

Here is another interesting product by Hourglass – Veil Retouching Fluid. This is really interesting and I’m going to let you feel a little bit of this on your hand here. It gives coverage that’s really light and comfortable and silky. It’s not a concealer but it looks like a concealer and it’s actually a retouching fluid. Multitasking products like this can build up to give quite a bit of coverage.

Let’s say you wiped off a little bit of makeup here or a blemish starts popping through so you can use this product. It was actually designed so that you could just tap it into place and it works without creating any type of cakey look.

Special Occasion like Weddings require Special Makeup

I know a lot of people when they think about bridal makeup, they mostly going to wear what I would wear every day, just want to look like myself. There’s truth in that, you don’t want to look like a different person, but this is a special occasion. You have to think about things like your wedding photos, that’s why you need special occasion makeup.

Let’s talk about some tricks here when it comes to your defining features. Let’s start with your brows. If you have sparse brows you have to fill them in. I use Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade, which is waterproof.

As every day makeup I probably wouldn’t use on, I could just use a little powder and a pencil and achieve the same effect. But on a special occasion such as weddings, where you might be dancing and moving around, you need something a little more permanent, a little bit more locking into place. So that’s your best bet for your wedding day.

Now let’s talk about your eyes. I think eyes are where everyone focuses on when it comes to the bridal makeup. I would recommend matte eye shadows. They don’t reflect light back so if you are getting photographed with flash, you don’t get reflections from your eyes in your photos. Which according to many wedding photographer I know will distort the shape of your eyes.

Consider using mattes and neutrals because it’ll shape the eye, and it’ll sculpt it and give you a little more definition. It’s also really good to throw a little bit of a lash on because of the simple fact that enhances your look on you wedding day.

For bridal makeup I think you really want to consider defining your eyes with eyeliner because powders can look really great in real life but in a wedding photohtsphod they can just disappear. When you look back on your wedding pictures you want to go WOW I really did look like the most beautiful bride ever.

Now let’s use MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua XL Eye Pencil Waterproof Eyeliner. It has to be waterproof because you might be crying at some point, and you don’t want to smear it. I’m not a huge fan of black color, which could be a little harsh and it can feel a little strong.

I’m going to show you how simple little taupe eyeliner can go into the waterline and can give a lot of definition. It’s not going to make you feel like you’re a different person. It’s just going to really accentuate your natural eye shapes. So we’re going to go in and use the Aqua Excel from Make Up For Ever shade 50, which is a beautiful taupe.

Now we’re going to talk about cheeks. You wedding day is really a time when you want to keep it more neutral and simple. I love the Makeup For Ever that has these Artist Face Color Highlight, Sculpt and Blush Powders, where you can choose the color. You can pop them in and out for like daily use or any special occasion like your wedding day.

You really want to focus on defining the face adding a touch of color or just the softening amount. Remember that it’s going to look a little heavier in real life but in your photos, the effect will be stunning.

I like to use Sephora Pro number 59 tapered powder brush because this is a great multitasking brush. It can give a little soft contour, a little bit of a blush and then we’re going to add a little bit of highlight as well. Next we we’re going to use the Sephora Pro highlight brush number 98.

Let’s do a little bit of cheeks. I’m going to start by using some of this contour color which as you can see is not a brown per se. It’s almost has a bit of Mavi plum undertone to it. It’s actually really good because it adds a little color and it really works to cool off the area.

In general contours should be cooler in nature as you don’t want to use warm brown bronzer in that area. I’m using a loose fluffy brush because I want this to be soft. I don’t want to be carving out on the face. I just want really pretty really soft sculpting. Take your time guys really focus on the back. You can see it really just complements the skin. It’s really about defining and enhancing your features.

We are going with peach from upper apple and towards the back of the face. I would put a highlight really in that traditional area of high point of the cheek.

Now that we’ve got pretty much everything set we have one final thing that is the lips. It is really important to exfoliate your lips. You should do it for a week every day before your wedding. You really don’t want to be dealing with dried or chapped lips on the day of your wedding.

You want your lips to be fresh and beautiful looking. It’s going to create a much smoother canvas for your lipsticks. I would recommend a lipstick that will set and it will be long lasting for your whole wedding day.

In terms of colors you can go with a nice natural lip color that just enhances your lip. I wouldn’t go with something too trendy as well. You don’t want to wear something that in 10 years will look dated or out of style. Simple and elegant gives you the timeless look that you want in your wedding pictures.

We can go with Marc Jacobs Lamarck liquid lip crayons and these are really easy to apply. They’re super creamy as you can see they go right on. What I like about them they are not very matte so even though it’s a liquid you get a little bit of shine. You get a little bit of that look of nice fresh pouting lips. And this look doesn’t get any better. Again your wedding photographer will thank you for this as he won’t have to do so many touch-ups in post-production.

So there you have it some basic tips and tricks for your wedding day makeup. I hope you guys enjoyed this little segment. And remember there are no rules anymore; you can wear whatever style of bridal makeup that you want as long as it reflect who you are. Be bold and be happy. Until next time.

David / Pro Make Up Artist / Sephora

Top Toronto Wedding Photographer

Wedding Makeup Tips & Tricks by Sephora