Wedding Makeup | 6 Tips That Impact Your Wedding Photos

There's nothing like feeling beautiful in your own skin. And on your wedding day, you want your skin looking it's best and you feeling your best.

Makeup and personal style are so important when it comes to your wedding day. I'm certainly not one to give advice on how to apply makeup, however, I do have several friends in the makeup industry so I can at least grasp an understanding of how a bride should prepare for her wedding day appearance. When you meet with me, I would imagine the first thing you might notice is that I don't wear makeup. Or very, very little. No foundation, no mascara, no lipstick. I'm a lip balm, nude eye shadow kind of gal.

You know if you walk into Nordstroms or Macy's and sit down to have one of the cosmeticians give you a "make over", and you're not use to wearing makeup, the feeling of foundation being smeared onto your skin, mascara's wet stickiness sweeping your eyelashes, and someone drawing on your face just doesn't quite feel right. By the time your done, you're so afraid to satisfy that itch that's been bugging you for the past half hour because you know something's going to rub off on your finger.  To top it off, you now feel like you're about to attend a mascarade party. Well. That was my experience. I'll tell yah, no one is touching my face with that stuff again. And the look I received from my friend who stood by and waited? I not only scared them, I scared myself looking in the mirror.

The day of the wedding, I walk in to take photographs of the bride getting ready and I hardly recognize the girl I hung out with a few times who's about to step into her wedding gown! And, don't get me wrong, she looked beautiful and the makeup artist did a great job. I just wasn't expecting to see that much makeup on her.

So, to the brides out there, here's a few wedding makeup tips from a photographer's perspective when it comes to your wedding day photos:

•  If makeup isn't part of your normal everyday use, don't wear it. For the love of . . . just don't do it! And I'm talking about the dramatic eye shadow, blush, lush lashes mascara, and bold lipstick. Go with what makes you feel you. If a natural look with minimal makeup is what your norm is, then that's what's going to make you feel good.
• When using foundation, use a soft matte. You won't get the shine on your forehead, cheeks, and chin if it's super bright out and your photographer needs to use their flash. And avoid using shimmery eye shadow as this can also be reflected by the flash and make your skin look oily.
• Sparkles in your hair. All glittery and shiny in the sun. As much as glittery sparkles are cool, those flecks that don't quite catch the lights reflection end up looking like dandruff in the photos.
• Using a mineral bronzer offers your skin a really sweet, sun-kissed look.  It adds additional warmth to your bust and shoulders for those going strapless. However, make sure there's no titanium dioxide in it as it can reflect the flash and give you a ghostly hue.
• There is a way to be subtle yet dramatic with your wedding day makeup. Show your stylist images of what you like and be sure to do a mock up session to get exactly what you want and make sure you still feel like you. Secondly, ask them which products they would suggest for a photo shoot. (It's your wedding day and you're going to be in front of the camera.) That's a good indication whether or not the stylist knows their makeup.
• Red lipstick can make or break the look you're going for. The shade of red is extremely important as it either sticks out like a sore thumb, making your other features recede, or if used just right can be the perfect touch.  Tread carefully though and make sure you keep the lipstick with you during the day as you'll often need to reapply it and in turn try to keep it off your teeth.

There you have it! The few most important tips from a wedding photographer's perspective when it comes to your wedding makeup.

Do you have any handy tips to add to this list for wedding makeup? Please let us know by commenting below!