Fall Wedding Makeup Colors and Application Techniques for Brides with Light/Pale Skin

The colors of your wedding makeup palette are largely determined by the season in which your ceremony is to be held and your natural skin tone. If you just happen to be getting married in the fall and have a naturally light or pale complexion, you're in luck. Autumn, with its cool weather, light breezes, and soft sunlight, provides a beautiful background for bringing out subtle features. Bright lips, rosy cheeks, and sparkling eyes are the norm, but you can easily turn this otherwise alluring look into a garish display without the proper application techniques and just the right hues. Below are a few tips on how to make your light skin glow and your natural features shine on your autumn wedding day.

First, think of old Hollywood glamour in a slightly more understated fashion to set the mood for your wedding makeup palette. Only those with the most delicately pale skin tones can pull off this look, and they do so with envious elegance. Start your look with dove gray or gold liquid eyeliner. Gold works best for chocolate eyes, and gray goes with blues and greens normally, but try them both to be sure. Be careful to line both top and bottom lids, allowing for a bit of smudging, and create an ever so slight upturn at the outer corners.

Now, select eye shadow shades in neutrals that will give your lashes a shimmery, clean background. Lashes should pop against the eyelids, so choose natural eye shadow shades such as gold or toffee. Also, be sure that your selected shadows have just a hint of glimmer. Matte shadows used in this look tend to make eyes plain rather than allowing them to shine.

Next, select a lengthening mascara in dark black. Forget about plumping and thickening. You want come-hither eyes that are subtle and sexy at the same time, and that won't clash with your lip look later. If you wish, you can attach one or two false eye lashes at the outer corners, but extending paler lashes at the ends with a coat or two of extra mascara will do the trick as well. Of course, and most importantly, be sure that your lashes are curled before applying any mascara, and consider applying a single coat of eye lash primer first to give them just a bit of natural looking volume without clumping.

Now that the eyes have it, take a look at your complexion. If you have pale skin, every single red patch and bump will show on your wedding day, so choose skincare products and treatments beforehand carefully. Make sure that all acne and redness are treated well in advance, and give your skin at least twenty four hours to calm down after any professional treatments (or more, depending on the severity of the irritation to the skin). Select a foundation shade and formula that will blend naturally into your face and allow any freckles you may have to show through. Brides with pale skin tend to hide their freckles on their wedding day with thick powdered makeup, but fall is the season for fresh, natural looks. Be sure to let your wedding day makeup stylist know that you want a creamy foundation that will make your skin look radiant, not matte, while still being able to stand up to tears, wedding cake, humidity, and hot lighting.

On that note, keep cheeks flushed, fresh, and rosy. Light pinks and neutrals are probably what you would normally wear, but on your wedding day bring it up a notch to reds. If you select a creamy, whipped formula, the look will perfectly complement your other makeup choices. However, powder blushes when used with this fall wedding look make pale skin look dry, chapped, and irritated, rather than wind-kissed. Just a light application of cream will do. Don't be afraid to try blushes that look very dark in the container. Creamy blush formulas always go on much lighter than they appear, and they leave the skin dewy and youthful looking every time.

Finally, it's time to focus on the lips, which are the most important feature of this fall wedding look for pale/light skin tones. It doesn't matter if your lips are Marilyn Monroe voluptuous or a little on the thin side. Downplaying the eyes in favor of highlighting the lips works every time for pale complexions. Select a true red or scarlet for your lip color. True, you may fear that such a dark lip color will be too much, and with dark eye shadow it would be. However, you have made very subtle color choices elsewhere, therefore you can afford to go all out with your final color application. Line lips with a shade similar to your lipstick, and fill in the rest with your stain or cream lip color. Keep lips matte. No glosses or shimmer here. Your eyes should sparkle subtly, while your lips should entice demurely. It's the perfect combination.

When you're done your look should be bright, not overdone. Your eyes should stand out, but not all on their own. Your skin and cheeks should look fresh and natural, not sunburned or irritated. Your lips should be able to stand alone. In short, your fall wedding makeup palette should suit your best features perfectly. If you have any trouble whatsoever, simply consult a makeup stylist. Do be sure to try several different shades and formulas before your big day, and be prepared to inspire and amaze.