How to Adapt Your Makeup for Your Wedding Day

Your every blush, smile and kiss will be recorded on film, so your bridal makeup needs to be picture perfect. It should cover any imperfections and highlight your features, while appearing subtle and pretty. Venue and event time play key roles; you'll want to adjust your makeup for day or evening and for indoor or outdoor lighting.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Face Powder
• Makeup Kits
• Waterproof Mascaras

1. Flip through bridal magazines and search for pictures that capture your ideal bridal look. Keep these pictures on hand for guidance.

2. Consider having your makeup done professionally. If you decide to do it yourself, have a free professional makeover before the wedding and ask for detailed instructions on how to achieve your desired look.

3. Choose the most lightweight foundation possible while still getting the coverage you need because heavier foundations will look more obvious.

4. Wear waterproof eye makeup so that tears of joy or the heat of summer don't make for streaks or smears.

5. Use various shades of shadow to add definition to your eyes, then add a hit of liner for drama. Resist the temptation to go for bold lines, bright colors or glitter, unless that's your usual look.

6. Curl lashes for length and definition but skip the false eyelashes. You don't want to risk having them peel off or rotate throughout the day.

7. Stick to a soft and delicate tone for lipstick, as bold or dark colors might be overpowering. Remember to match the hues in your blush to those in your lipstick.

8. Contour your face with blush or bronzer, even if it's not part of your daily routine. It will give your skin a healthy glow and subtly define your features.

Tips & Warnings

• Pluck your eyebrows or have them waxed the day before your wedding. If you or a makeup artist play with them the morning of the wedding, they might appear red or blotchy in your pictures.
• Consider a lipstick that has staying power. All those kisses and sips of Champagne will leave you little time to reapply.
• Opt for a foundation that contains sunscreen if you plan to have an outdoor wedding.

on 7/18/2006 You'll want to wear more makeup than usual to hold up to the flash of the cameras. Wear less for the ceremony and put on more makeup directly before getting your pictures taken.

on 12/19/2005 I would highly recommend the Lasting Lip colors at Victoria Secret. I was very weary of their claim, but the color looks great all day long and it comes with a gloss. I would stay away from the frosted colors as they look unnatural. But overall, this is a great product.

on 11/22/2005 If you do use these new lipsticks (which I do recommend because they do last all day), be sure NOT to use Chapstick to replace the moisturizer. Petroleum-based products like Chapstick are, in fact, the only thing that will work to take the stay-put lipstick off. If you do run out of the moisturizer, use non-petroleum products like Softlips. Chapstick DOES work very well to get the stay-put lipstick off at the end of the night, though, as well as regular Vaseline.

on 11/22/2005 Be careful when choosing colors of the new all-day lipsticks. If you choose a color much darker than your natural lip tone, if it wears off even a millimeter or two from the inside (as tends to happen), it can leave your smile less than perfect. You will end up with an uneven inner lip line, and with these lipsticks, you can't reapply another coat without fully removing the first or it will flake. So, stick to colors that compliment your own, rather than anything extreme. I do recommend the one made by Cover Girl.

on 11/22/2005 I just discovered Cover Girl's long wear lipstick which comes in 2 separate parts; the color and the moisturizer. This stuff really does stay on! Try your color out well in advance of when you need it, because if it's on your lips for even 30 seconds you will have it on for the day. You'll just have to reapply the moisurizer throughout the day or chapstick or something.