My dear friend Sam is getting married soon and she recently inquired about how to achieve a natural, dewy, minimalist look for her big day. She cited Kate’s (Moss not Middleton, ya’ll) recent nuptials as inspiration.
Wedding makeup is tricky business. The bride must consider lighting, photography, and longevity. Often what works on camera can look down right freakish in person. Furthermore, who can be bothered with endless touch-ups on such an important occasion?
Most brides aim for subtle enhancement to show their best selves. The approach for each bride must be individually tailored to achieve optimal results, but there are a few hard and fast rules for wedding day makeup that simply should not be ignored.
Despite what you might have learned from last weekend’s Jerseylicious marathon, a smoky eye doesn’t work for everyone. Those with hooded eyelids or smaller eyes should stick to lighter neutral shadows. A smoky eye can easily melt into a raccoon eye without proper preservation. If you insist on breaking out some intense shadow for the big day, have at it, but for the love of Aucoin please no super bright colors. Save the hot pink and purple; this is your wedding day and not a club crawl through the Jersey Shore.
Keep shimmer to a minimum. A little here and there to catch the light is fine – corner of the eyes, brow bone, a smidge on the cheek bones, a dab in the center of the lip or arch of the cupid’s bow (NOT all locations por favor). Shimmer reads prominently in photographs. If you go crazy with the highlighter all over; you’ll appear oily and shiny in your pictures. Soft matte works best on camera.
Dramatic brides may consider a red lip. Proceed with caution. Red lips are extremely high-maintenance. Gotta keep it off the teeth, off the dress, and reapply often for maximum punch. A scarlet smoocher can easily dominate the face and take over a photo. The wrong shade of red causes the rest of the face to recede. The tendency is to overcompensate with too much color elsewhere or look washed out. Consider a subtle red wash on the lips to keep features balanced.
Go easy with the foundation and concealer application. Let your skin and inner light shine through. Remember the aim of these products is to perfect the skin, not mask it. Splurge on high-end foundation and concealer, even if you go budget in other areas. Without a perfected base, the whole look crumbles.
Invest in a primer. A decent primer provides staying power. Primer is the key to 8-12 hours of longevity, so you look as good at the end of the reception as you did walking down the aisle.
Josie Maran, best known for her stint as a cheesy Maybelline spokesbitch and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, launched a “natural” beauty line with the goal of using sustainable, cruelty-free, and ethically sourced ingredients where possible.
Let’s acknowledge the obvious: natural makeup doesn’t have the best reputation for performance. Good face isn’t up for compromise. Therefore, natural makeup must be judged against the same standards as its synthetic counterparts.
When compared with other luxury brands, Josie Maran’s GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara fails to impress. For starters, the brush isn’t great. Add to that the clump of product that failed to disperse and sat on the end of the wand defiantly. Third, the formula causes lashes to stick together into little spikes. Not especially lengthening or thickening, GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara is utterly mediocre.
Josie claims the mascara contains organic, cruelty-fragrance-toxin free ingredients, however glance below – some of the components are natural, but there are definitely a few WTFs on the list.
