So a couple of months ago I did my second bridal makeup and I got some piccies back yesterday. The photographer was kind enough to e-mail me some digital images of me working on the bride and the mother of the bride. So heres me at work.....excuse my slightly scary concentration face. This is probably a good time to say that all photos are courtesy of Richard Cadge...thanks Richard for taking them :)
Jane (the bride) asked for my help because she wanted to look gorgeous for her wedding but never usually wore makeup and didnt really know how to apply it or what products to use. I find natural makeup to be the most challenging because it's all about enhancing the brides features whilst keeping it as light as possible so that it doesnt look obvious. Plus, since she wasnt used to the feel of makeup on her face, I didnt want it to feel heavy for her. It was very different from my first wedding job, this was a lot more natural and no bridesmaids to make up and overall a lot more relaxed.
Jane was a very nervous bride so I had to try out my calming down skills and I hope I did an ok job. I suggested turning on the radio which seemed to help slightly as it was so quiet.
So here is Jane looking gorgeous, I think youll all agree. Im really happy with the makeup, it did make a difference but barely looks like shes wearing any which was what I aimed for.
Because it was such a natural look I opted for Max Factor Second Skin Foundation in a colour mix which matched Janes skin perfectly. I concealed any blemishes and dark circles using a concealer palette I got off ebay and Im not sure I like it, Id prefer something slightly creamier and easier to blend. I actually used a slightly coloured powder rather than translucent as in the trial the translucent powder appeared very pale in the photos I took at the trial. I added some contouring to give the appearance of cheekbones and added a light blush to the apples of the cheeks. For the eyes I actually used 3 different colours in various neutral tones from my smashbox palettes. I lined the eyes with a brown kohl pencil which I smudged with a q-tip and used a brown mascara rather than black as I thought black would be too harsh for such a natural look. I defined the brows with a light brow powder ( I always define the brows, it completes the look). On the lips I used a lipliner which closely matched Janes lip colour and UNE tinted lipbalm in 1 shade darker than Janes natural lip colour. I actually LOVE the UNE tinted lipbalms for brides. They have such a lovely texture and just add a hint of colour to the lips and once applied have a nice glossy finish. They last fairly well but I always provide a touch up pot for the bride. So far I have had 2 brides who dont like wearing lipstick but have really liked the tinted lipbalm and I think it works well for such a natural look.
I also did makeup for Janes mother and I'd never done makeup for a mature lady before so this was quite a challenge but one Im glad I took on. The trial went terribly as I was completely unprepared, wasnt really sure what foundation would work best for her etc but it gave me a really good chance to assess the clients skin type and decide which products I needed to buy or experiment with before the big day. The trial also gave me the chance to see what ideas about colours she had and actually we ended up using a few of her own products such as lipstick and mascara as she preferred to keep these with her throughout the day (I dont provide touch up kits for anyone other than the bride so this was a good idea).
I specially bought a MAC eyeshadow in a smokey grey colour as the metallics we tried in the trial really werent working and I prefer to use matte shadows on eyelids with a lot of loose skin. During the trial the mother had a lot of redness in her face as older women sometimes do and during the trial I actually took so much redness out of her face she looked far too pale so it was a completely different approach I took on the day of the wedding. I mixed a bit of green concealer with a primer and used that on the reddest areas. This provided enough green to counteract the red without taking all of the colour out of her face and Ill definitely be using this technique again in the future as I felt it worked rather well. I concealed as much as I could but I didnt want to use too much concealer as it tends to sit in the creases. (sometimes less is more when concealing around the eye area and especially with mature skin sometimes there is only so much concealing you can do)
Janes mother was fairly clued up on makeup and had a range of products she liked to use but she was similar to Jane in the sense she didnt wear much usually.I also bought some MAC face and body foundation specially for this job and I was glad that I did. The colour worked really well and because this product sinks into the skin really well it didnt sit on the skin or gather in the wrinkles like some foundations do. It didnt provide as much coverage as I would have liked but it was enough. Again I used a slightly coloured powder rather than translucent and went for a bare brownish coloured blush rather than red/pink as the redness was what Id taken out of the face so I didnt want to put it back in. I feel that brown blush works better on older women as an alternative to red. I would put a "before" picture up but Im not that cruel so heres just the "after" picture of me just adding some shape to the lips.
I used a neutral ivory coloured eyeshadow all over the lid and contoured with the grey in the socket. I defined the brows although she wanted this to be barely noticeable. I also gave her some shape to her lips as they were very thin and applied her choice of lipstick. I was dreading this after how badly the trial went but Im really happy with the result.
I hope I havent just rambled on and that Ive actually made an enjoyable post even if you just looked at the pics, thanks for looking :)
