Wedding Day Beauty - Perfect Skin!

Your wedding day is the biggest day of your life & you want to make sure your skin is glowing to perfection under your make-up, here are some tips I always pass on to clients -
The basis for good make-up begins with the skin, if you don't have a good skin care regime in place already make sure you do on the lead up to the wedding. Start a few months before, don't begin any new routines or start having facials the week before as this can over stimulate the skin causing an uneven complexion to your worst nightmare - spots/blemishes!
Plan well in advance, if you opt for a course of facials your beautician can recommend some products for your skin type that you can use regularly in your routine. If you have problem/oily skin & want to improve this before the wedding day, try do avoid harsh cleansers & toners with alcohol, these will only strip your skin of it's natural barrier & cause a further oil build up as well as blemishes, opt for a balancing product.
What ever your skin type whether it be dry, sensitive or combination there are many different products on the market to suit so there is plenty to choose from but if you feel a little lost with it all a good beauty salon can always recommend some great products.
Also drink plenty of water, eat well & make sure you get lots of beauty sleep - no late boozy nights just before the big day (with the exception of the hen party obviously)!

Bridal Beauty - Perfect Pout!

With wedding fever hitting an all time high what with the royal nuptials tomorrow, we're going to dedicate a few posts to our favourite subject - bridal beauty!!!
Your lip colour ideally needs to go the distance on your big day so you don't need to keep re-applying it all day long...
To begin with ensure that your lips are in great condition for the day, start wearing lip balm everyday to keep your lips soft & conditioned, especially if you're getting married in the winter (for immediate rescue, try Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream)!!
A lip primer under your lipstick is great for holding it in place, try Benefit's 'Lip Plump' (£14.50) which provides a good base for your lippy as well as their make-up sealer 'She laq' (£18.50), apply a little over your lipstick then once it's dry you can apply your lipgloss, it will keep it in place without drying out your lips, then all you should need to do is reapply a little gloss throughout the day if required.
If you want to go for a natural lip, then you could use a tinted lip balm, there many of these on the market just now & it acts as a balm but gives a light natural tint to the lips, I use Mac's Tinted Lip Conditioners (£10.50) which give a beautiful glossy colour finish. Start by lightly lining the bow of the lip with a light pink/beige lip liner or one that matches the general colour of your lips, just line the top bow as mentioned & then the central lower part of you lip, take a cotton bud & lightly blend to give a soft natural but defined lip line & lastly apply the lip tint with a brush. A light pink or beige colour works best for a natural effect, although you could just use a clear gloss with the lip line effect as above, as once the liner is softened & blended out it will give your lips defintion & colour.

Eye Make-Up For Your Wedding Day

Neutral colours are the best option for bridal eye make-up, such as light browns & beiges to stone/grey as well as lilac colours, not forgetting silver & gold shimmer tones too...
To keep your eye make-up on all day, use an eye base or primer & then apply a base colour over the lid, such as cream or light beige as well as a shimmer tone.
Definition is very important for your photos & you can do this as well as still achieving a natural finish.
Start with the socket line after your base colour is applied, shade with a darker tone into the socket line with a light 'fluff' style brush to softly blend, then use a light slightly reflective highlighter colour to highlight the brow bone, this can also be used on the inner corner or the eye, applied with a cotton bud which will give the eyes a little added sparkle!
Choose your favorite mascara & then using a lash comb make sure all the lashes are separated. However if would rather avoid a lot of mascara incase of smudging after a few emotional tears then you could opt for a lash tint & perm before the big day which will give your lashes more definition.
For the brows, ensure these are shaped as they are the 'frame' to you eyes, a week before the wedding go for an eyebrow shape & maintain this on the lead up to your wedding, ensuring not to pluck on the day itself causing any redness!

Bridal Beauty- Getting Your Blusher Right

For your big day a nice natural blush effect is best, you do not need to apply a great deal more than you would normally feel comfortable wearing as at the end of the day you are creating a natural day make-up. Using a light highlighter along with your blusher just above the cheekbone, working towards the brow bone will give a nice subtle glow & will add more definition to your cheek bones. Cream blushers give a nice natural effect & can create a barely there make-up look but still give you a 'flush' of colour on your cheeks. If you decide to opt for this wear a primer underneath & apply to an un-powdered finish then lightly powder afterwards to set, this will make the blusher last longer. If opting for a powder use a large brush & sweepgently across the cheek. For a youthful & natural look, apply blusher to the apples of the cheeks, these are the fleshy part of your cheeks when you smile. Remember that you only need to take the colour up slightly in order to see it in the photos, the flash of the camera can strip some of the colour away, but if you opt for a high quality blusher such as Mac then the pigments will still show through & give you a nice finish for the photos.

Benefit's Prettier Than The Bride - New Lippy!

Brand new from Benefit is their 'Prettier Than The Bride' Spring 08 Limited Edition Silky Finish Lipsticks, they can give a sheer finish or build up to a higher colour if required & are available in shades such as 'I do. I do. I do' & 'Bouquet Diver'!!
The rest of the new 'Love Your Look' range includes creaseless cream shadow/liner, silky powder shadow & cream blushers, check them out at www.benefitcosmetics.com, they're not out in the UK yet but if you can't wait for them to hit out counters Benefit offer free international shipping if you spend over $100 dollars, enter the promo code INTLSHIP at the checkout.

Bridal Beauty - Make-Up Tips From Chanel

I came across this very useful Video from Conde Nast & Chanel on Bridal make-up, for those of you who are going it alone make-wise for the big day it has some essential tips - defintely worth a peek!!!

Wedding Day Make-Up - Getting Your Foundation Right.

Bridal make-up should look as natural as possible, don't opt for a look you would not normally go for, you want to look yourself, for example if you're not used to wearing much make-up something quite bold or a high coverage may make you feel uncomfortable.
The best place to start is with the foundation of course & in order to keep it in tact all day long is to apply a primer underneath, this holds the foundation in place by providing a good base on the skin, also for an even & long lasting finish use a foundation brush & sponge (the brush applies the foundation & then the sponge is used to blend).
If you don't want a high coverage go for a tinted moisturiser which will give a very natural effect & will just even out the skin tone.
There are many different foundation types though, liquid foundation generally provides quite a light coverage, the best type to look for is a light matte finish as you want to minimse any shine for your photos. If you require a heavier coverage then cream foundations that have a thicker consistency & are a good option, again a matte finish is best. It's definitely worth experimenting with a few different products, shop around the different cosmetic counters & ask for samples, they'll be happy to provide you with some, then you can try out a few different products without committing to buying any first.
When testing a foundation to see if it's right for you, place a little along your jaw line & blend, don't test on your hand as the skin on your hand will different to that on your face!

Always apply foundation to clean moisturised skin & blend well (pay particular attention over the jaw line & hairline), making sure you have an even coverage. You can apply foundation to only a few areas if required, such as under the eyes, along the
T-zone & cheeks, as long as it is blended well & the colour is a good match then it will give a 'barely there' natural look.
If your worst nightmare occurs & a spot (or two..!) appears, then make sure you have a good concealer in your make-up bag. Concealers with a wax consistency provide a much better coverage than a cream, use a small brush (even a lip brush can
double up for this - providing it's clean!), using small dabbing motions place the concealer on gently until the redness disappears, it is best to apply the concealer after your foundation as if you apply it before hand the foundation can rub it away. Maybe try to apply it around the spot to cover the redness rather than the actual spot itself as some can have a lot of dry skin & can flake or even 'weep'a little.

For under the eyes a light consistency concealer is required, wax will be too heavy & too much coverage under the eyes can crease & accentuate any fine lines, also you should never drag the skin under the eye when applying concealer so gently dab & blend from the inner corners. Try to avoid light reflecting under-eye concealers too as these can reflect the camera flash & cause a 'white ring' effect around the eye area in your photographs. A light cream concealer a shade lighter than your foundation will do, however if you have problems with dark circles use a colour corrector, a little pink corrector concelear mixed with some of your foundation will cover up the dark areas as pink combats grey.
Just as this colour corrector works, if you have a lot of red pigmentation on your cheeks for example, a green corrector will balance this out under your foundation.

All foundation is best set with a little translucent powder, many people prefer not to wear any but a little should always be used just to take away any shine & make the foundation last as well, particularly over the t-zone. The powder should not
change the colour or effect of the foundation though, just give a light natural matte finish which can even work along side a 'dewy' style make-up providing the T-Zone is set.