Simple Ways for Getting that Natural Look for Your Wedding

Like all brides, you certainly want to look your absolute radiant best on your wedding day. And the key to achieving that lies precisely in the words “your best.” You must still look like you! As they say, every bride is beautiful on that momentous occasion, so any enhancements you use should simply bring out that beauty…naturally. But how do you do this? Well, we’ve put together some tips for you on makeup techniques, tricks, and products that allow you to highlight your best features and downplay any imperfections. The result: a bridal look that will have your groom falling in love with you all over again!

Tips for achieving your most beautiful YOU

Image credits: 1 – Snippet and Ink; 2 – Sandra Downie.com; 3 – Christina Cleary.com; 4 – Beauty Artist 4 U

Your skin – Weeks before the big day, you should already have prepped your complexion with thorough daily cleansing, sunscreen protection, a couple of professional salon facials, nutritious meals, generous intake of water to keep your skin hydrated, and lots of rest (next to impossible, we know, for a bride-to-be!).

Then once you come to the makeup table, the objective is to make your complexion serve as a flawless base for your entire bridal look. If your skin tends to be either too oily or too dry, a good primer will correct these conditions so that your makeup will glide on smoothly and remain fresh looking for hours. For acne breakouts, skin discolorations, or dark circles under the eyes, concealer will cover these up in seconds.

Next, apply a foundation that matches your skin tone and skin type. Smooth it over your entire face to even out the color—from your hairline (especially if your hair will be pulled back away from your face) to around your jawbone down to your neck and collarbone (a must if your gown has a low-cut bodice or is off-shoulder or strapless). Finish up with matching facial powder, applied liberally yet lightly with a powder brush.

Products to try:

1. primer – MAC Prep + Prime BB Beauty Balm SPF 35 (9 shades)
2. concealer – L’Oreal True Match Super-Blendable Crayon Concealer (6 shades)
3. foundation – Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Foundation SPF 15 (20 shades)
4. face powder – Estee Lauder Double Wear Mineral Rich Loose Powder Makeup (6 shades)

Your brows – In recent years, well-defined and shaped eyebrows have been found to be critical in achieving a polished look for your makeup. You may opt to have a professional brow shaping session a few days before the wedding or simply tidy up your own brows to improve their natural shape. Once at the makeup table, there are clear brow gels available to keep the hairs neatly in place. Then, a brow liner helps to fill in any gaps and define the brows just enough so that they frame your eyes perfectly. The trick is to apply this liner with light, feathery strokes to avoid a harsh, drawn-on look.

Products to try:

1. brow gel – Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper and Hair Touch Up
2. brow liner – Maybelline Define-A-Brow (4 shades)

Your eyes – With all eyes and camera lenses on you, it’s imperative that you enhance and highlight your most expressive feature: your eyes! Since you’re going for the natural look, a sweep of eye shadow on your lids in brown tones with maybe a hint of bronze would be lovely. Then, a simple application of eye liner gently pressed into the base of your eyelashes will open up your eyes instantly. You may extend this a bit upward and outward beyond the outer lid of each eye for the illusion of lift. Plus you can apply a dot of highlighter on the inside corner of each eye and on the lid just above the pupil to brighten your look.

An eyelash curler will add further to the bright-eyed look, along with a coat or two of mascara applied to the base half of the lashes only to avoid what the experts call ‘the spidery look’! Note: Since you’re after the natural look, it would be best to avoid using false eyelashes unless your own lashes are truly sparse and you can invest in high-quality ultra-thin ones.

Products to try:

1. powder eye shadow – Shu Uemura Triple Color Eye Shadow (gypsy brown palette)
2. cream eye shadow – Maybelline Eye Studio Color Tattoo Metal (5 shades)
3. eye liner – L’Oreal Double Extend Eye Illluminator Eyeliner
4. mascara – MAC Extended Play Lash

Your cheeks – Depending on your skin texture, you could opt to add color to your cheeks with either powder blush or the cream or gel types. The points to remember are: apply the color to what they call the ‘apples of your cheeks’ (smile to make these appear!) and then lightly to points that would normally get sun-kissed (your brow, the bridge of your nose, your chin). Blend the product in with your fingertips to ensure a natural blushing glow, as opposed to a clown look!

Products to try:

1. powder blush – Estee Lauder Pure Color Blush (18 shades)
2. cream blush – L’Oreal Magic Smooth Souffle Blush (4 shades)
3. gel blush – Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush (10 shades)

Your lips – Finally, the feature that will do all that kissing and smiling from ceremony to reception: your lips! You’d like some definition, which a lip liner provides beautifully, but you still want to continue the ‘you’ look. So choose lip color in nude or lightly-tinted tones, then overlay this with a coat of clear lip gloss.

Looking for stay-on color? One option would be to look for a long-wearing lip product that promises color for hours. But do experiment with it beforehand, including drinking and eating, to see how it holds up. Or you could try a technique that makeup experts suggest: apply your choice of lip color in two coats, patting on a bit of loose powder between layers to ‘set’ them. Then, as the event goes on, all you’ll need to touch up will be the clear gloss.

Products to try:

1. lip liner – Bobbi Brown Lip Liner (12 shades)
2. lip color – MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme (18 shades)
3. lip gloss – Shu Uemura Gloss Unlimited (16 shades)

With all these makeup tips and products, we’re sure you’ll be more than ready to walk down the aisle as the naturally beautiful bride you certainly are!