Bride to Be: Steps to Take Before the Wedding Day

So, in the years that I've been a makeup artist, I've seen some pretty scary things. The liquid latex wounds and fake blood is nothing compared to a woman on her wedding day that wanted "Clarity" with "Orange" or "Chrome Yellow" with "Passionate." Now for those who are not up to speed on makeup or don't pay attention to high end makeup, those colours I just mention come from M.A.C cosmetics. They're eye shadows, which are bright aqua, neon orange, bright yellow and a mid-red tone.

Obtaining the look of a blushing bride goes way beyond what colours you use on your face. In fact, being a blushing bride goes skin deep.

I always recommend that the bride to be starts a strict skin regime at least twelve weeks before the wedding. This means you MUST take care of your skin. You'll need to remove all makeup every night by using a mild soap or some type of makeup remover (MAC Wipes or ELF Makeup Remover Pads are good). The next step would be to apply a moisturizer with an SPF of at least fifteen. In the morning you'll want to repeat the process of washing the face and reapplying the moisturizer.

I know that a lot of brides want a sun kissed look on their wedding day but PLEASE! Do not go tanning. Tanning is harmful for your skin and usually brides go tanning days before the wedding and then they end up looking like lobsters instead of having a healthy glow. If you'd like that look then please use a mineral glow powder either by ELF or Bare Escentuals.

Another trick to having beautiful skin is keeping your body hydrated. If you do not drink a lot of water then your body starts looking ragged and run down. By drinking water, you're improving your entire body and all of its functions. Breakouts will diminish; skin has more elasticity, and is soft. Remember, a makeup artist armed with the right tools can only do so much; our canvas, which is you, needs to be pristine.

If you need to have your eyebrows waxed or some other hair removed, I suggest that you get this done up to a week before the wedding. Having newly sculpted eyebrows the day of the wedding will not only look strange but you'll walk down the aisle with huge red splotches on your eyes. This seven day thing, will save you; you'll have a chance to get used to your eyebrows and no red marks!

The thing that you should do before the wedding because practice makes perfect is getting used to putting on false eyelashes, which is if you have opted to wear them. Falsies take some getting used to and even more practice to apply. I'm still not really used to false eyelashes and I've been applying them for almost a decade but keep in mind I do not wear them everyday! The best lashes that I've found are from MAC, NYX and ELF. Superb quality! I'm positive that there are many articles on Associated Content that describe how to apply these false lashes.

After the lashes go on, you'll want to apply your mascara as this takes care of any oopsies that you might make with the mascara wand and will help the false lashes bind to your own lashes. You can use clear mascara if you're going with a natural look or you can use waterproof mascara because you know on your wedding day, there will be tears. I would say any drugstore brand would work but don't go for anything that is really cheap, in the $5 and up range is fine.

The next plan of action is to apply primers. Facial and eye shadow primers help the makeup to hold better to your skin. In other words, primers give the makeup something to stick to and allow it not to melt off your face when the event is half over. Having an eye shadow primer will make your shadow last longer and resist creasing. Several primers that do the job for the entire face are MAC's entire line of primers and one most notable eye shadow primers is Urban Decay's Primer Potion. Also ELF has a product that is called Shielding Hydro-tint with SPF 15 and if you're already pinching pennies to save on your budget, I'd recommend this as a primer. It works wonders.

The next step would be to cover up spots using a concealer. You can use foundation that is two shades lighter than your skin tone if you don't have any concealer on hand. MAC again has wonderful products that cover up almost anything. ELF has traditional concealers (with the doe foot applicator), a pro-line which has several different types of concealer and finally a mineral concealer. I feel the type of concealer that you choose has to coordinate with the type of foundation that you're going to use, so liquid concealer with liquid foundation, mineral concealer with mineral makeup.

So now that you're ready to apply the makeup, you have to decide what you're going to use as foundation. Since it is a wedding day, I recommend something that isn't going to smear when you put on your dress. Because lets face it, you spent way too much on it to ruin it. I like mineral foundations. They're light which means they're not going to maximize flaws, even out skin tone and they usually blend out blemishes. The most well known brand of mineral makeup comes from Bare Escentuals, Bare Minerals. If you go into one of their stores, an associate can show you how to apply this type of makeup. If you don't want to spend that much then there is ELF's line of mineral makeup which is just as good as Bare Minerals. Of course there also is Maybelline's new line of mineral makeup.

Now that the face is ready to go, we can focus on the eyes. At my own wedding I used MAC's Shroom all over my lid up to my eyebrow, Omega on my crease and outer corner then lined my eyes with Woodwinked. This colour combination gave me a very natural look. Of course you could use any neutral eye colour that compliments each other.

The next step to becoming a blushing bride is... the blush. I wholly recommend NARS Blush in Orgasm. I know it sounds strange but this product is amazing! The NARS website describes this shade as peachy pink with shimmer. It also has been, "Consistently voted the best blush on the market by both beauty industry professionals and consumers alike. A must-have for all skin tones.". If that colour doesn't appeal to you then try Sin, Torrid, Taos and Oasis.

The final thing to do concerning the face is to set your look. Using a setting powder means that you're adding a finishing touch to your skin that will make sure you'll shine on your special day. Good setting powders are Lime Crime Makeup's Finishing Pixie Dust or the ever trustworthy Bare Minerals Mineral Veil. If you don't want to spend that much then there is ELF's Mineral Booster.

You should then line your lips in either a nude or slightly warmer shade colour lip pencil. You could use a nude or sheer lipgloss or lipstick. It depends on how pouty you'd like to look. Some of my favourite gloss is Smashbox's Lip Enhancing Gloss. Try on Expose, Afterglow, Scoop, Pop, or Candid in Sheer Colour. Perhaps you want to pack a little bit more punch than that, so swipe Pixel, Beauty, Debut or Fame in True Colour across your lips. If you're going to try the Full Colour, then use Aura.

The final thing you need to do now is SMILE... and make sure you have a hanky.