You CAN Do Your Own Wedding Makeup!
The Wedding industry is a multibillion dollar industry. When you think about it, that’s actually quite disappointing. Because amidst the real meaning of what you are doing - making a commitment to another person for the rest of your life - there is A LOT of money to be spent. Every step of the way, opportunities arrive to spend more money.
I never really dreamt about my Wedding Day. I didn’t think about the flowers, or the color palette, or what kind of dress I would wear. I mostly dreamt about the man I might marry and the future we would create together.
So, when it came to deciding on all the little details for the Big Day, I got bogged down with all the ridiculous minutiae. You might be aghast that I could ever speak of wedding planning in such a manner, as some women LIVE for this one day. They have vision boards filled with adorable ideas of exactly what they want the day to look like, and they want it to be just so. Luckily for me, my mom and mother-in-law became the Dream Wedding Planning Team, and they really helped make things happen.
For me, it was just outside my value prop to pay over a certain amount of money for things. Now, of course, there were items we paid for that I still thought were too expensive, but I definitely tried my best to pick and choose what we spent money on. Whether it was mine, or my Father’s.
$10,000 for flowers that literally begin to die the moment you pick them? Absolutely not. It just doesn’t make sense to me when I know I could use that money to go to Europe (yes - I will forever compare paying for anything to the opportunity to travel haha!).
So when it came to deciding on makeup, let me set the stage for you.
When I was 13, my mom took me to the Nordstrom Bobbi Brown counter to get a makeover. Bobbi Brown had always been a brand that encouraged natural beauty. My mom wanted me to properly learn how to do my make up so that it enhanced my natural beauty. I remember that being one of the best experiences as a young girl. It really gave me the confidence to be able to apply my makeup properly as I grew. Soon after that, I continued to do musical theater, where I really learned how to perfect my stage makeup. I remember one show, I taught myself how to do a smokey eye and all the makeup mom’s were really impressed. That definitely gave me a pep in my step!
I would say, if you’ve been doing your makeup for a long time, and know exactly how you prefer your makeup, then do it yourself!
Once I came to the conclusion that I was going to do it myself, I did a lot of research and gleaned a lot of helpful information from my best friends who work in the News industry. So perhaps this can be the one place you go before making the decision for yourself.
Months leading up to the wedding, I would go into Sephora after work to apply different make up to see how I liked it. I was trying to experiment with different brands to see what I might need to purchase. In doing so, I met a really nice girl that worked there, and she mentioned that she had done wedding makeup for many years and Sephora offered makeover sessions. They basically charge $1 per minute, so I booked a 60 minute Glam session with her a few weeks before the wedding. It was a wonderful experience, but in that, I ultimately realized that I really do know exactly how I like my makeup, and she wasn’t able to replicate that. Now, maybe I could’ve been way more direct with her, but in the end, I just knew that I wanted the ease of having the full morning of to do my makeup myself.
So here’s how I prepared myself:
Months Leading Up to the Wedding Day
For about 3 months prior, I used my NuFace Mini religiously. I truly believe it helped sculpt my face and give me the proper contours I wanted more naturally. I used COSRX Snail Mucin 96% Repairing Essence to help glide the Nuface over my face, all the while hydrating with the Mucin. I’ve loved this product for a long time, but Helena of BrooklynBlonde was the one who gave me the idea to use it with the NuFace. It’s a perfect combination!
Morning of the Wedding Day
The morning of the wedding day could not have gone any better. I woke up on my special day to a gorgeous rainbow in the window! The weather in San Diego had been touch and go for weeks, and we were so blessed to wake up to this beautiful sign from God! Not to mention I slept like an absolute baby the night before. I was so ready to just enjoy the morning with some of my closest family members.
I gave myself 4 hours to do both my hair and makeup. All I knew is that I wanted to enjoy the morning of my wedding day and not be stressed out about any little detail.
First I began with a coffee and my skin prep.
Skin Prep
I have extremely dry skin, so the important thing was that I put hydration back into my skin before I put foundation and powder on.
I only used Eye Cream and Serum.
When it came to sunscreen, every single review I read about wearing sunscreen on your Wedding Day all said a resounding “DON’T DO IT!”. I wear sunscreen every single day, so not incorporating this into the routine felt a little wild. But I wanted to listen to the experts when they said that wearing sunscreen in your wedding photos can create an unwanted “white cast”. So what was just one day without it?
Contouring
Before I get into exactly how I applied my makeup, I want to let you know that I barely contoured my face. The only thing I did was create the right shadows with bronzer.
I learned how to do this from the amazing Nina Ubhi:
The Order in which I applied my Makeup:
Skin Prep
Eyeshadow
Eyeliner
Curl Natural Lashes
Mascara
Fake Eyelashes
Curl Fake Eyelashes
Concealer
Foundation
Powder
Bronzer
Blush
Eyebrows
Highlighter
Lipstick
Setting Spray
Make Up Brushes
Here are the brushes I used to apply my makeup:
As shown: Concealer brush, Eyeshadow brush, Bronzer brush, Blush brush and Eyebrow brush.
Eyeshadow
Of course I used a Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow Palette. The colors I went with had a hint of purple to them, as I knew that would bring out my green eyes even more.
Here are some other great eyeshadow palette options:
Eyeliner
I’m not really sure how many other women actually do their eyeliner the way I do mine. I take a thin angled eyeliner brush, wet it, and then dip it into Bobbi Brown’s Rich Navy matte eyeshadow. Of course, Bobbi Brown doesn’t make this color anymore, but here are some other options I may look into when I run out. The Merit Midnight - Classic Navy seems to be the closest to what I have now.
Mary Kay also has a really great eyeliner option. This one glides on so effortlessly and provides amazing winged eyeliner if that’s the look you’re going for.
Fake Lashes
When it comes to lashes, there are SO MANY to choose from these days! I definitely do not remember there being so many options. It's easy to get lost and scared as to which ones you should choose. I ended up going with Ardell Naked Lashes. They seemed to be the most natural while giving my eyes a boost.
The Ardell Natural Lashes were more thick, and I put these on for the Rehearsal Dinner.
What I believe is best is to practice your make up and putting on lashes weeks before the initial day. That gave me more confidence in knowing I had warmed up the muscles to setting the lashes properly. It’s convenient they come in packs of 4 to 5!
Mascara and Eyelash Curler
I have never ever understood why some people pay $30 for mascara. Like why?! When you could grab Maybelline’s Falsies Mascara that I have sworn by for ages!
Also, it seems I’ve tried almost every eyelash curler known to man. To me, the Shiseido Eyelash Curler is one of the best. It lasts for ages and you can refill the insert at any time.
Concealer
I did not see the need to pay $32 for the acclaimed Tarte Cosmetics Shape Tape Concealer, when I had the $7 Hydrating Camo Concealer. I tried it out multiple times with the Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder, and it looked amazing for hours on end! Before I smoothed in the concealer, I made sure to allow it to “marinate” for about 2 minutes. That way, it really gave me full coverage for the day.
Powder
I got lucky when it came to Powder, because I already had the Laura Mercier mini on hand from a Sephora Gift Bag long ago. This powder truly is translucent. They brag about a 16-hour soft matte finish.
In order to achieve the airbrush finish, I applied the powder with a Velvet Powder Puff. I packed on the powder, and then brushed the excess away with a brush.
Foundation
When it comes to foundation, hands down, my favorite foundation is Maybelline Dream Radiant Liquid Hydrating Foundation. The color I go with is Porcelain Ivory, 10.
I did try Armani’s Luminous Silk Natural Glow foundation, and while I liked it initially, I ended up feeling like it didn’t provide enough coverage. Isn’t the point of foundation to “cover up” some things and enhance your features? I felt the Armani foundation was way too translucent.
Bronzer
For bronzer, I just went with Rimmel. I do have friends that swear by doing their contour with Hoola by Benefit, so I’ve included links to those as well.
Blush
To be honest, I used an old Urban Decay blush that had a tint of purple in it. They no longer make this blush, because it came with a palette they also no longer make. But on the daily, I use Bobbi Brown’s Pale Pink. Desert Pink might be close to what I used on the wedding day.
Highlighter
Bobbi Brown’s Highlighter will last you at least 10 years. They used to call it Shimmer Brick, and it lasted me forever.
Lipstick
For my lip color, I never actually found one color I liked. So I mixed and matched a few.
For years, my mom has used Cover Girl Outlast All-Day Lip Color. So she was sweet, and purchased a few for me. I put on Medium Warm as the base, let it dry, and then put Tickled Pink in the middle of my lips. This gave a nice, pinkish sheen in the middle of my lips. After it all dried, I then added Mac’s Mehr over the top. This combination gave me the romantic pinkish mauve I wanted.
Setting Spray
The only setting spray you need is the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray. Buy the travel size for better bang for your buck! The tip here is the drench your face in it. It seems counterintuitive, but that is really how you get your makeup to stay in one place for 24 hours. Happy tears don’t dare penetrate!
Hair
Yes - I did my own hair!!
Curling Iron
I’ve used this curling iron for most of my life. I guess at this point, you can see that I’m very much a creature of habit. If it' ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Hairspray
I’ve used this hairspray forever, and believe me, it works. Your hair will stay!! You do not need to go out and buy $30 hairspray, as this $4 option is amazing.
And there you have it!
Those were the steps I took to do my own wedding day makeup.
Just remember - it’s not all about your wedding planning checklist.
BE PRESENT. STAY PRESENT.
My husband and I made a promise to each other to take in the day slowly and just really enjoy every single second of the day TOGETHER. I can happily say that we really did that. The day didn’t go too fast. We soaked up every single second. And we had the absolute best wedding day!!
All Photography by Image in Love Photography
