Doing Your Own Wedding Makeup - Dos and Don'ts
Photography by Jo Hastings PhotographyEveryone has different priorities when wedding planning, so if you've decided to spend your budget elsewhere, want to have full control over your final look, have skin allergies or whatever other reason you may have if you’ve decided to do your own wedding makeup, this article is here to be your guide. With so many women's beauty tutorials and amazing products out there, if you enjoy doing your own makeup, then it's perfectly achievable to get a gorgeous long-lasting look by yourself. We’ve got insider advice on doing your own wedding day makeup. We also break down different bridal beauty looks and how to achieve them with easy-to-follow makeup routines from iconic brands like Charlotte Tilbury, Bobbi Brown, Hourglass and more.
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How To Do Your Own Wedding Makeup With Simple Dos and Don'ts
Dos of Doing Your Own Wedding Makeup
1. Hydrating Skin Prep
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, all good makeup starts with good skincare. Use something hydrating and soothing on the morning of your wedding (not forgetting SPF, of course). This will ensure a smooth and hydrated base that will allow your makeup to sink in rather than settle and promote long wearability.
2. Trial and Error
Finding the right products for your wedding day should begin months before the actual wedding. Just because you’re doing your own wedding makeup, it doesn’t mean you should skip a makeup trial. Use your tried and true or invest in some new beauty products but don’t try them out too close to the wedding day. It’s important to make sure every product works in harmony with each other.
3. Leave Yourself Enough Time
Take your time on the morning of the wedding to allow each layer of makeup to sink in and blend together. The morning of the wedding should be stress-free, so make sure you leave plenty of time for you to do your own wedding makeup.
4. Find Your Perfect Shades
While makeup artists have a huge kit to always make sure they’ll have your perfect shade, you’ll have to research and experiment with your foundation, concealer and contour and blush shades to ensure you have the right shades for your skin tone. The same applies to your eyeshadow, lipstick and brow pencil.
5. Invest In New Beauty Tools
Not a necessity, but we do recommend that you purchase some new brushes, sponges and/or powder puffs. The application and technique is half the battle with getting your makeup products to look as they should and sometimes a new brush can completely change your perspective on a product.
Don'ts of Doing Your Own Wedding Makeup
1. Try Out New Products
Similar to the point above but we just wanted to reiterate it. Do NOT try out any new products on the day of the wedding. Don’t borrow your maid of honour’s bronzer or use your bridesmaid’s setting spray. If you’re doing your own wedding makeup, your trial should become a kind of ritual you know like the back of your hand, so you don’t face any disappointment on the day.
2. Skip Out On Steps
Doing your own wedding makeup isn’t an excuse to be lazy. Don’t miss out on essential steps like setting spray or primer. You’ll be surprised by how much a good product can make a difference and makeup artists do these steps for a reason, they’ll help your makeup last all day and through all weather conditions.
3. Use New Skincare
Don’t risk trying a new face mask, moisturiser or any other step in your routine so close to the wedding day. Skin irritation, redness or blemishes may be an unexpected reaction to new products you haven’t used before. Just wait until after the day to try anything new.
4. Forget To Bring Touch-Ups
You won’t have a makeup artist on hand throughout the day to offer touch-ups, so it’s important to have a wedding day emergency kit to powder your nose, swipe on the lipgloss or add one more spritz of perfume. The key to a flawless base all day long and looking fresh is touch-ups!
5. Use Too Many Products
On a similar note to skipping steps, try to avoid the trap of falling into using too many products for things you don’t even need. Your wedding makeup routine doesn’t need to be 50 steps long. It’s about finding the right balance of products that work for you to achieve the look you want without being too cakey.
How To Do Glowy Makeup
With Charlotte Tilbury & NARS
These are our must-have makeup products from the two brands we think do glowy makeup the best. With Charlotte Tilbury and NARS, it’s about coverage while still having that ‘lit from within’ healthy glow. Try these products…
Charlotte’s Magic Serum
How To Use
This serum isn't called a magic serum for no reason. Start with this serum to hydrate your skin with it's clinically-proven ingredients. It is a magic matrix of ingredients, expertly blended in a high-performance elixir to give your skin a magic boost!
How To Use
This lightweight medium-to-full coverage foundation encourages a lit-from-within luminosity with a natural-looking finish. Dispense 1-2 pumps of the weightless liquid foundation, then use a brush, blending sponge or fingertips to apply.
NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation
Hollywood Flawless Filter
How To Use
The Hollywood Flawless Filter primes, blurs and highlights the skin with a healthy-looking glow. Using the applicator, apply the Hollywood Flawless Filter on the desired areas of the face and blend in using a brush or sponge for a seamless finish.
How To Use
The contouring duo are essential to carve out killer cheekbones & give yourself a candlelit complexion. Glide the magic cushion applicators across the skin and blend in seamlessly with a large flat-top head is perfect for blending in across cheekbones, temples, forehead and chin.
The Hollywood Contour Duo
NARS Blush
How To Use
An award-winning powder blush with a new, upgraded formula, designed to provide up to 16 hours of colour. Gently buff onto the skin using sweeping circular motions.
How To Do No Makeup Makeup
With Hourglass & bareMinerals
If the clean girl minimalist makeup look is for you, these brands are all about accentuating your natural features with their products.
Hourglass Veil Hydrating Skin Tint
How To Use
Blending groundbreaking active ingredients with innovative technology, Hourglass' make up must-haves deliver powerful pigments and seamless coverage... all housed in luxury-designed packaging. Apply on the centre of the face, chin, and forehead. Blend with fingertips, a foundation brush or a sponge.
How To Use
Drench lips in sheer colour, all-day juicy shine and 24-hour hydration with this cushiony, non-sticky solid gloss balm. Apply a lip liner or top with a gloss to tailor your look.
bareMinerals Dewy Lip Gloss Balm
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bareMinerals Original Loose Powder Foundation
How To Use
Made with 5 clean, vegan ingredients, this lightweight, talc-free mineral foundation provides sheer-to-full coverage and promotes clearer, healthier-looking skin over time. Swirl the foundation onto a brush, tap away the excess and then buff in circular motions onto the skin to activate the minerals into a silky cream. Repeat until you have the desired coverage.
How To Use
If you're looking to break free from your favourite falsies, this lash-grabbing wand is your one-way ticket to intense length and lift. Although not waterproof, this mascara provides that instant lift we love.
Hourglass Unlocked Instant Extensions Mascara
Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil
How To Use
The key to no makeup makeup is enhancing your natural features. Define and fill in sparse areas of your brows using small hair-like strokes to give you an effortless sculpted brow.
How To Do Makeup That’s Like Skincare
With ByTerry & Clinique
Perfect for any skincare fanatics or lazy girls who want their makeup to double up as skincare, these makeup products are ideal. With serum foundations and soothing lip balms, your makeup can feel like a total pamper routine.
Clinique Even Better™ Light Reflecting Primer
How To Use
A makeup-perfecting, skincare-infused face primer without silicones that illuminates skin for a radiant boost and locks in makeup for 16 hours. Apply a thin layer over the entire face and allow it to dry before following with foundation.
How To Use
Infused with radiant rose stem cells, this illuminating primer blurs imperfections, evens out the skin tone, and neutralises redness. It’s an all-in-one colour corrector, skincare serum and primer!
By Terry Brightening CC Serum
By Terry Hyaluronic Serum Concealer
How To Use
Meet your all-in-one concealer: conceal dark circles, blur imperfections, correct puffiness, fill fine lines, brighten dull complexion, reduce signs of fatigue, sculpt contours, and deliver 24-hour hydration. Using the foam applicator apply directly to the undereye area, focusing on the inner corner. Apply 1 dot for light coverage, 2 for medium, and 3 for full coverage. Leave to dry naturally or set with a powder.
How To Use
This skincare-infused mist hydrates the skin for up to 8 hours while also priming and setting makeup for up to 16 hours to be totally smudge-proof and transfer-resistant. You can use Hyaluronic Glow Setting Mist anytime and at any stage of your beauty routine.
By Terry Hyaluronic Glow Setting Mist
Clinique Almost Lipstick
How To Use
Not quite lipstick, not quite gloss – its texture is more like a balm you can easily layer and comes in two 'your lips, but better' shades. We recommend the viral shade, 'Black Honey'.
How To Do Bold/Dramatic Makeup
With Pat McGrath & MAC
If a bold smokey or glittery eye look with a heavy wing liner or even a dramatic lip colour is your vibe, the queen of pigment Pat McGrath Labs and the creativity of MAC make them the perfect brands for these looks.
MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation
How To Use
MAC's iconic matte foundation has now been remastered with a soft-matte finish, with lightweight coverage that feels breathable on the skin. First, apply Studio Fix Fluid to the centre of your face and blend out using a tapping and swirling motion for a natural, photo-ready finish.
How To Use
This soft matte bronzing powder adds warmth and depth. Apply onto the face or body for natural-looking warmth and sun-kissed colour. Blend and build to desired coverage and look.
MAC Skinfinish Sunstruck Matte Bronzer
Pat McGrath Labs Mothership VII Divine Rose Eyeshadow Palette
How To Use
Make your eyes stand out with this iconic McGrath palette. Its ten vibrant shades include glittering golds, pretty pinks, gilded peaches and spectacular bronzes to structure, shape and define your eyes. There’s no how-to for this one, embrace your creativity!
How To Use
This is the ultimate rich black liquid eyeliner that combines long-lasting wear with a precision line. Follow tutorials to help you nail your wing or use this to line your lower lash line too.
MAC Liquidlast 24-Hour Waterproof Eyeliner
Pat McGrath Labs Mattetrance Lipstick
How To Use
Each must-have shade from Pat McGrath Labs captivates with a flawless finish and a weightless, cushiony feel. Wear it all day and seduce with every smile, pout, and kiss. Start with a lip liner and add this for an eye-catching finishing touch.
How To Do Bronze Wedding Makeup
With Bobbi Brown & Makeup by Mario
Want to be a bronze goddess? Bobbi Brown and MAKEUP by Mario are two brands we instantly thought of when it comes to achieving a bronzed look since these two makeup products are known for their stunning neutrals!
MAKEUP By Mario Pro Volume Lip Gloss
How To Use
A super-comfortable universal lip gloss by the makeup artist icon with a multidimensional shine that looks gorgeous on its own or layered over lipstick or lip pencil.
How To Use
A cream eyeliner pencil that offers up to 24 hours of pigment-rich wear. To create a winged eyeliner look, draw a line slightly past the outer corner, then swipe your finger gently along the bottom of the line to extend into a sharp flick.
Bobbi Brown Longwear Cream Liner Stick
MAKEUP By Mario Master Mattes Palette
How To Use
This is the only palette you'll ever need for neutrals. These are Mario’s ride-or-die mattes, uniquely shaded and inspired by human skin tones from light to deep.
How To Use
Become an actual goddess with cult favourite highlighting powder. Dust on the cheekbones, décolleté–anywhere you want to add a glow.
Bobbi Brown Highlighting Powder
MAKEUP By Mario Soft Sculpt™ Shaping Stick
How To Use
The creamy formula is blendable and buildable and works well for all skin types. It creates a soft, natural-looking definition and dries down to a natural matte finish. Apply to cheekbones or just above them and tap in and blend upwards and outwards.
How To Do Pink Wedding Makeup
With Too Faced & Rare Beauty
Feeling more of a youthful look? With Rare Beauty’s incredible blushes and Too Faced’s iconic lip plumpers and mascara, you’ll nail that youthful sun-kissed glow.
Rare Beauty Positive Light Liquid Illuminator
How To Use
With a botanical blend of white waterlily, gardenia and lotus, this liquid highlighter works to nourish and soothe the skin. It is packed with light-reflecting pearl particles to provide a luminous finish to the skin. Long-lasting and lightweight, it is easy to layer over other creams, liquids and powders without disturbing makeup. Apply one or two dots and blend out.
How To Use
This iridescent, sheer plumping lip gloss, promotes a fuller-looking pout perfect for that youthful bridal look. Apply directly to lips or over lipstick.
Too Faced Lip Injection Maximum Plump
Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme Lip Shaper
How To Use
Plump up your lips with this lip injection lip liner from Too Faced. With 10 hour wear, the demi-matte liner is designed to create a plump lip shape that works perfectly with their plumping lip gloss we included above!
How To Use
If you want to look healthy and radiant in seconds, turn to Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush for an irresistible pop of colour on your cheeks. Place 1-2 dots on each cheek. Pat and blend with your fingertips or a brush.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush
Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof Mascara
How To Use
This water-resistant mascara enhances hold and adds volume, while conditioning lashes for a fuller, fluttery look. Waterproof mascara is a must for any wedding for those happy tears!
Find Your Makeup Style With Our Expert Product Recommendations
We asked the top makeup artists from our Recommended Supplier directory for all their best wedding makeup tips along with their ultimate ride-or-die makeup products. So, if you’re looking for more makeup advice, we’ve got you covered. Plus, take a look at our dedicated advice on making your wedding makeup last all day!
