Top wedding make up tips

Although I would always recommend a make up artist for the bride on her big day, (when else will she get a chance for such a treat!) for those brave brides who will be doing their own make up, Rebecca Clark from www.rebeccaclarkmakeup.co.uk has generously shared her top tips with me...

One of the key concerns for a bride (and perhaps groom) on their wedding day is that they look their best. No doubt you’ve sworn to lay off the carbs, taken out gym membership and started popping vitamins that vouch to give you glowing skin, hair and nails!

Whilst all these things are worthy, one area where you can have more control on the final outcome is with your wedding make-up.

For brides who choose to do their wedding make-up themselves I have outlined some key considerations and top tips when deciding the look for the day:

• Exfoliate before the wedding day. If you have old, flaky skin, the foundation will clog.

• If you have a spot on the day don’t squeeze it! Once squeezed it’s much harder to conceal. Instead dab on some anti-redness eye drops as it shrinks the capillaries and makes the spot less red. Follow this up with your foundation then concealer. The best concealer is Laura Mercier’s Secret Camouflage. Pop an anti-inflammatory if it’s a painful one!

• If you’re planning to fake-tan adjust your foundation accordingly. Trial the fake tan before the wedding to ensure the product suits your skin.

• Apply your make-up in natural light or by a bright lamp.

• Look for a foundation that does not contain talc – this will appear ghostly white in photos.

• Avoid using light reflecting highlighters, such as Touché Éclat, around the eyes as this reflects rather than conceals and creates panda eyes in photos.

• Use a primer under foundation to provide a smoother surface and longer lasting make-up. Laura Mercier does the best primer I’ve found.

• If you are prone to an oily t-zone apply a mattifying lotion over your moisturiser and under your foundation. Number 7 does the best one on the market - Shine Free Make-Up Base.

• Set your base with a loose translucent powder. MAC’s Transparent Finishing Powder is great.

• If you don’t normally wear make-up and aren’t comfortable in it this won’t change on your wedding day! You should look like ‘you’, but more polished. Consider using tinted moisturisers instead of foundation. The Laura Mercier tinted moisturisers are excellent.

• Decide which feature you want to highlight – it’s better to go for lips OR eyes, not lips AND eyes.

• If using an eyeliner, opt for a gel (most premium brands do these). They’re very hard wearing and won’t budge with the first tear. You should also use waterproof mascara for the same reason.

• Highlight underneath the arch of the brow with a light cream/ white matt shadow to lift the brow and make the eyes pop.

• Highlight in the corner of your eyes to make your eyes appear more wide apart.

• To make lipstick last longer, line and fill in lips with lip liner before applying the lipstick.

• Add a touch of highlighter above the cupids bow to make the lips appear fuller

• Make sure you pack key make-up in your bag for touch ups - lipstick, mattifying papers and an eyeliner (you can vamp up your eyes for the evening).

• Finally, the wedding day itself is not the day to experiment with new make-up or new looks. Make sure you trial your make-up before the day, even if you’re doing it yourself.