Beauty Blog Series: Getting the Most out of Your Bridal Makeup Consultation

Your wedding day will likely be the most photographed day of your life and the main subject of those photographs will be you. Thus, determining your makeup styling for your big day is one of the most important things you will check off of your massive bridal to-do-list. You will want to make sure you get the most out of your makeup consultation with your potential makeup artist. Some consultations go as smooth as Sunday brunch with your best girlfriends and others are bit more frustrating for the bride and the artist. After years of doing bridal consults, there are some key elements that can help a bride get the most out of her bridal consultation appointment.  Here are 4 tips to help you leave your consultation delighted with the makeup for your wedding day.

Choose one purpose for your consultation

Often times your wedding planner will want you to get the most bang for the buck by suggesting you use your bridal makeup consult as an opportunity to have your makeup done professionally for your engagement session photos. However, your consultation is a time to do just that – consult. It’s a process whereby you and your makeup artist organically develop the best look for your wedding day. You should really view your consult as an opportunity to explore your artist’s palettes and how those palettes can best suit your bridal needs. If you’re unsure of what you want, you may want to try one look on one eye and maybe a variation of the same look on the other eye. Try a little more highlight on one cheek and perhaps less on the other. Furthermore, do you really want your engagement session makeup and your bridal makeup to look the exact same in your photographs? You wouldn’t wear the same makeup to a day in the park with your finance as you would wear during a special night on the town. The same goes with using your wedding day consultation appointment for your engagement session makeup. If you’re still interested in getting the most bang for your buck, most bridal makeup artists will give you an incentive for booking multiple appointments with them. Use that incentive for your engagement session makeup and wear a look for your e-session that is more appropriate for that day. The bottom line is this: the bridal makeup consultation appointment should be used for one purpose and that is to determine what you want your bridal makeup look to be on your wedding day AND to see if the artist you’re working with can help you achieve your desired look.

Bring Pictures

The number of brides who come to their consultation session with pictures is surprisingly in the minority. Nothing will help your makeup artist more than having an idea of makeup looks you like for your wedding day. The easiest way to share looks you like is to pull a few pictures from your favorite magazines and bring them with you to your appointment. I now suggest that brides create a Pinterest board for their makeup looks and share them with us online. Even if you point out to your artist that you like Jennifer Hudson’s eye makeup in one picture and Gabrielle Union’s lip color in another picture, coming prepared with pictures in hand of what you want will help you and your makeup artist have a successful appointment.

Speak Up

Brides are often overwhelmed when they see all the makeup palettes that a makeup artist has to offer them. They often trust, as they should, that their makeup artist is an expert in his or her field. But remember: YOU are the expert on you. If you know you don’t like to wear eyeliner underneath your eye, by all means, speak up! Tell your make artist just that. If you know you like really rosy cheeks you should share that with your makeup artist so he or she can adjust to your preference. Furthermore, your makeup artist should listen to your wishes. If your makeup artist is not willing to listen to your preferences and tries to strong arm you into something you’re not comfortable with, you should consider consulting another artist.

Define Natural

Most brides, and with good reason, want to look ‘natural’ or ‘like themselves’ on their wedding day. But there are a few questions you should ask yourself before telling your artist, “I want to look natural.” Namely, do you want to look natural in-person or do you want to look natural in your photographs? Or better yet, is there a way to achieve both? Because of advances in high-definition photography, you will have to push the envelope a bit more than your daily tinted moisturizer to achieve a look that, when photographed, appears both natural and flattering. With techniques such as airbrushing and light contouring, your desired natural look in photographs can be easily achieved without applying heavy foundations. The good news is that these techniques will also help you meet your goal of looking natural in-person when greeting your guests. However, you may have to be open to allowing your artist to bring out your best features a bit more than usual by using other techniques such as adding a touch more color with a deeper blush or wearing fuller lashes to achieve the natural look you desire. The bottom line is your artist can use techniques that will help you achieve your goal of looking natural in-person or in photographs. However, you’ll need to decide which side of the aisle you want to walk down (natural in-person or natural in photographs). Knowing the answer to these questions will help your makeup artist know in which direction to drive your makeup consultation.

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Carmen Harris is a Beauty Contributor for Munaluchibridal.com.  View her profile here:

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