jacha minerals

I have been doing bridal makeup in the wedding industry for years, but now that it's my time to get married I decided to blog about the process.

The first question I am constantly getting asked, is who will do your wedding makeup?  Well I have a few artists up my sleeve, and if they can make the flight for the wedding, I just might be able to convince them to do some makeup while they are in town.   For those of you who are not makeup artists, here are a few tips on how to find a makeup artist for your big day!

1)Products:  Make sure to find out what products they use, this is very important.  You want to make sure they have all levels of foundation coverage from a tinted moisturizer to a full coverage.  Chances are your whole wedding party won't have the exact same skin conditions, so you need to make sure the artist has variety when it comes to foundation.  If you have skin sensitivities, you need to make sure you ask questions about the ingredients in the products.  Note: Hypoallergenic is just a word, and yes we all use it, but their are no guidelines as to what companies can use the word, and who can't.

2) Affordability: A red flag for me when searching for a makeup artist is the pricing, if you look at the price tag and think wow that's a deal, it's probably a deal for a reason.  I like to stick with the theory, you get what you pay for.  Keep in mind a good makeup school costs about $10,000 on average, so if someone is charging next to nothing,  I'm going to guess they either have a two week course in makeup, or they are "self taught".   No matter who you choose for hair or makeup, make sure you get a trial at least three months before hand, if you do not like the look then you can either do another trial or change artists.

That being said, the most expensive makeup artists are not always the best either.  I recently went to the Total Wedding Show in Toronto and decided that I would get a makeup trial of my own done.  I guess I expected to look like a totally different person, preferably better then I looked on a daily bases  and to be honest I think I looked like a less attractive version of myself.  Not the vision I had in mind. My skin felt heavy(not used to the MAC foundation anymore) and looked dull, not full of life and illuminated like I feel a bride should look on their wedding day.

3) Book a trial: Always book a trail for your hair and makeup, and I suggest doing a look that is a little bit out of your comfort zone.  If you always do natural makeup, try doing something a little more glamorous then you were thinking.  This way if you end up liking a look you would have never thought of trying, you are set for your wedding day.  If you don't like the look, you can just take away the aspects you didn't like.  If you book the right makeup artist, you should be able to bring along a tear sheets of looks that you would like to do.  A trained makeup artist will then be able to look at those pictures and give you exactly what you are looking for.  Keep in mind when searching for makeup pictures, you need to find examples with similar eye shapes and features, because different eye shapes call for different makeup techniques.

Last tip, book your makeup artist at least 6 months in advance, I have had to turn down four brides this week alone.  Remember,  although food is very important, it is gone within the hour, your face is being photographed in pictures for years to come, don't under estimate the importance of good makeup.