Brides and Makeup

There are so many decisions to make for your wedding and thinking about make- up is one of the last things that you would want to worry about.

Make- up for your wedding day could be whatever you want it to be, but there is nothing worse than seeing a radiant bride in a beautiful dress, her hair done perfectly and then make -up fit for a halloween party!

Brides should look radiant and beautiful on their wedding day and the emphasis should be on the dress and the assets that you have. Your make- up should compliment you and not make you look like you are about to go and "paint the town red."

Classic and natural looking make- up is very tricky if you do not know what you are doing and the effect could make you look tired and sickly, if you do not know what you are doing.

Having a make - up artist do your cosmetics for your wedding day, is a great idea but you need to have a few practice rounds before you get the end result.

Pale skin needs a slight tint of colour to enhance your beauty and following these do's and don'ts, will give you an idea of what to do and what to avoid.

Don'ts

Avoid using dark eye shadows

Thick mascara and false eyelashes are a no-no for your wedding day as you will get hot and sweaty, leaving mascara to smudge and lashes to fall off or slant.

Avoid using pale colours and a dark foundation.

Do's

Use a foundation that has a sligt bronzer in it to give you a radiant sparkle.

Peach or soft rose pink blush will give you a natural glow.

Any eyes shadow will do but stick to using ones that are pastal and combine it with a darker colour, to avoid it looking harsh.

Lip colour can be any one that you choose but keep it toned down.

You are lucky because almost any colour will suit your skin!

For brides who are dark skinned there are a number of options to select but you also have to be careful with the blush and foundation that you choose.

Once you have tested foundations then you select a blush but keep it as natural as you.

Avoid using a bronzer as this will age you; instead use a pastel pink to make you glow.

Eye shadow should be according to your eye colour and if you have dark eyes, then avoid using browns and dark shadows.

Try to use beige, pearl, white and even colours that you can blend with a tint of silver or gold.

Lip colour can be what you choose but remember that if you are accentuating your eyes, lips should be a neutral colour.

Eyes shadows are in such a great colour variety that it is difficult to decide which one to use.

If you have dark rings under your eyes, you need to invest in a concealer first!

Dark eyes need a hint of colour and using browns or dark colours might not be the best option.

A hint of blue or gold could look amazing with brown eyes.

Blue eyes and light eyes can use almost any colour but to get the best effect, avoid using blues and greens.

The best way to enhance your eye colour is to use a liquid eye liner and then shade in your shadow, with the lightest colour being at the base of your lid.

I am going to give you an example of natural makeup to enhace your features and one with a bit of colour.

Natural makeup is easy to do but you need to avoid it looking to natural as this could make you look sick.

Makeup with colour can also go wrong if you do not put it on properly, or you select the wrong colours as this could have you looking like a clown rather than a bride.

Not everyone has Brooke Shields eyebrows and trying to get that effect could end up making you look foolish. Take a look at your face and accentuate and enhance what you have, without trying to get the look of someone else.

Eyebrows can be plucked but just to get rid of the extra little hairs that are in the path of your brow area. Over plucking is not a good idea as well as plucking just before the wedding.

Get a facial and pluck, remove hair etc, a week before your wedding to avoid red spots and mistakes.

Take a brow brush and shape your eyebrows.

Use a natural colour to match the colour of your brows and smudge it into your eyebrows to give it a natural enhancement. Avoid making it too dark and do not add extra shadow where there is no brow.

If you have no eyebrows then you do not have to worry because you can have them tattooed onto your skin, but this must be done by a professional and you can ask any beautician to do it.

You can either do a liquid liner or if you prefer, an eye pencil.

With a liquid liner you have to get it as close to the lid as possible but it will give you a great effect and it will appear natural, enhancing your eyes.

If you choose to use an eye pencil, avoid lining it in the eye. This will also give you a better effect if you line it from the outer lid as close to the lashes as possible.

With a liquid liner, it will last longer and it will have less chance to smudge on your wedding day.

For girls with small eyes, line your top lid as close to the lashes as possible from the outer end until halfway. Do not line the entire lid as this will make your eyes appear smaller.

For girls with big eyes, you can line your lid the entire way through from the end to the corners.

Be careful when using the liner on your lower lid as this could change the shape of your eye completely.

Use a pencil for this and shade it in. Don't make the lower lid too dark and go from the outer end of your lid to the pupil.

For the natural look, keep the shadows simple and do not over use colour.

Start with the lid of your eye and use a natural colour like gold, beige or matt rose brown.

Cover the lid completely from end to corner.

Take a darker shade and above the lid just under the brow bone, shade with a brush from the end to end.

Just under the eyebrow, use a light shade; cream or gold and with a shadow brush shade in from the end of the eyebrow to the middle. This will brighten your eyes.

Applying foundation can be tricky because if you aply to much, you will appear older and too little will look blotchy.

Once you have found the right foundation than all you need to do is apply it to your entire face and a slight bit on your neckline, avoiding the forehead.

Blend it in and ensure that your face looks even.

Matt foundations are usually the best option as they keep your face looking fresh and shine free.

Kanebo is a fantastic one too choose but if you can't afford it then go for a matte mousse.

Now that you have everything on your face, you can add blush. Pale skin can use a bronzer and for normal skin you can use a rose pink or peach to enhace your cheekbones.

Blush should look natural, so avoid putting too much on and ensure that you apply it to the correct area of your cheek.

Get a good blush brush and pull in your cheeks. You can see where the bone is and apply on the bone upwards towards the temple for an oval face and at a 45degree angle if you have a round face.

Take a big brush and blend it in well.

Natural looking makeup needs natural looking lips and if you do not have Angelina Jolie's lips then don't try to make yours look that way or you will look like a fool.

Enhance what you have and use a liquid lipliner to go over the outer lines of your lips. This should be one shade darker than the colour you will be applying to your lips.

Add some foundation to your lips to keep the colour on all day.

Take a natural rose for those who have darker shading on their eyes and if you choose to wear red or a darker lipstick, then you should keep the eye shadow natural.

For this makeup tip you can add any lip colour as the shadow is neutral and your lips can be whatever you want them to be.

A gloss is very nice but you will be kissing the groom and many other people on that day, so remember that before you decide on one.

If you wish to wear a gloss over your lipstick make it the same colour.

Avoid using multicoloured mascara's for your wedding day and select a neutral black or brown.

For pale skin and lighter tones, use a brown mascara. For blue and green eyes a brown mascara will make your eyes stand out more too.

Don't make it too thick and before you apply your mascara, take the brush and rub it onto a tissue to get the clotty bits off of the brush.

Once you have done that, apply the mascara to both your bottom and top lashes.

If you have small eyes then with your brush, add to the outer corner of the lashes by brushing outwards to extend the lash.

Use a waterproof mascara as there will be tears and you do not want to smudge your makeup.

You can use an eyelash curler but I find that these often make the lashes stick together and appear thinner rather than full.

Take a lash comb and run it through the lashes once you have applied the mascara, to make your lashes look full and thick as well as remove any clotty bits stuck to yuor eyelashes.

The eyebrows are done the same way as the natural look.

Eyeliner can be more dramatic by making the liner thicker and you can select different styles of doing it. Egyptian etc, there are many ways to make your eyeliner dramatic, without making it look cheap or gothic.

Eye shadow can be created to give you a smokey look and this can sometimes get complicated, so practice a few times before the day.

You can select many different shades of colour for your eyes as long as you have a neutral lipstick, to avoid it looking overdone.

Emphasise your eyes or your lips, but not both.

I would use a mascara that makes your lashes look thick and avoid using false lashes for that dramatic effect as you will end up worrying about them the entire day.