The Reality of the "Natural" Makeup for Brides

There is often a huge misconception, that brides who want a natural looking makeup for their wedding day should have it cost far less than say a bride who would like a more dramatic wedding day makeup look.

This is something, many of us Bridal Beauty vendors seem to hear a lot of, or see posted in the bridal forums, from brides who aren’t aware of what’s involved in a basic natural bridal makeup look. Many assume because the look isn’t heavily applied, or using “darker” color schemes that it must be easy to achieve and that “less” makeup is used.

The reality; Wrong!

A “natural looking” makeup application, is a skill set all in itself, that unfortunately many artists may not possess. There are artists out there that spend YEARS Perfecting this particular application technique!

It’s often far more time consuming to achieve, AND uses the same amount of product, if not more in some cases! The products used are often the same, and overall they still cost the same to purchase and use.

The more natural looking an application is, the more attention is need to the finer details.
It’s more so now about perfecting the look of the skin as a main focal point, with extra attention paid to sculpting the features of the face with contour and highlight so it doesn’t fall flat for pictures.
Then into any adjustments to further camouflage areas you don’t want to see, dark circles, blemishes, etc. and ensuring the right tones are used.

Extra attention will also be turned to the brows, to help sculpt them in to frame the face, filling in any sparse areas for a balanced yet natural looking brow.

The softer looking a makeup style is, the more focal point areas there is for someone to view, over say someone who might opt for a bolder smoky eye style to draw direct attention right the eye area as a main focus and/or away from any problematic or areas of concern.

A secondary thing to understand is now the photos itself and how it translates…

You can often lose about a 1/3 of what you see looking in the mirror when it’s then translated in your photos. Those bride’s with set-ups that are outdoors under the glare of the sun can fade out even more in some cases!

It’s about knowing where and how to place the makeup on the face to give a beautiful natural look.
Yes, of course you want to look naturally beautiful in person but let’s not forget the thousands of dollars you’re spending on photography for your wedding day too. At the end of it all, this is the only thing you get back and what becomes your last memory of the big day. You want to make sure you’re looking your very best!

Often that soft look you see in photos, is far darker and more involved when face to face, Your hired artist, will blend both areas to accommodate what not only fits your needs and ideals, but what will photograph beautifully too.

It’s not simply about putting less makeup on your face; Naturally with the same amount of time spent during application, products being used, etc. this is why you won’t find huge price differences, as often its far more intensive.

So remember at your bridal makeup trial when you ask your makeup artist for a “natural look”, be clear on your direction with reference images and know just what’s involved to get you looking naturally fresh and beautiful with that “no makeup” style look!

Thank you to Felicia Bromba from the Vancouver Bridal Hub for this information!!