Beautiful Bridal Makeup & Words By Miss Diamond @ Gemma Sutton.
On my first meeting with Naida, the light filled the room. With her big smile, I instantly knew she was calm, laid back and just took everything in her stride. This was going to be a dream.
As an artist, it's very important to get to know your bride and to build an image the bigger picture. We looked at images, talked about colour schemes, how her hair was going to look, and I got a better understanding of what makeup Naida was used to wearing on a day to day basis. Naida was extremely keen to emphasise her eyes. One thing she wasn't sure of was her lipstick however, she was very open to suggestions and trying new things. With all this in mind, it was time to piece a look together.
Beautiful Wedding Makeup By Miss Diamond @ Gemma Sutton.
Preparing Naida's skin for her Beautiful Bridal Makeup
Before any kind of colour gets put onto the skin, it’s hugely important to prep the skin. Whether our brides have oily, dry or dehydrated skin will hugely affect the products you use. So to begin, I cleaned the skin using the Garnier Micellar water. I find that this is also a good way to relax our brides. Naida was aware that she gets shiny. To compliment this I used Bobbi Brown’s Face Base which is an oil free formula which also combines as a primer. It combines the moisturising power of Shea Butter with Vitamins B, C and E and leaves a glorious plumped up, cushiony feeling to the skin. The smell of grapefruit and geranium didn’t seem to disappoint either.
I always like to massage moisturisers into the skin for maximum affect, so with permission from Naida, this is what I did. To work hand in hand with the face base I used the Smashbox Photofinish primer just down the T-Zone of the face. This may seem excessive, but the more you prep the skin, the more amazing the foundation will apply. It all helps to increase longevity of makeup which is highly important for any brides.
Elated Eyes
Once the skin was prepped, I then moved onto the eyes. The reason I do this is to help the skin work its magic and to avoid getting eyeshadow drop down after doing a beautiful makeup base. Naida has gorgeous big eyes and she wanted to do something to enhance them as they were her favourite feature. With her stunning tanned skintone, I used a vintage/muted gold on her lid by MAC called Patina that just picked up a slight glow in certain lights. I then lightly tapped a KIKO eyeshadow called Infinity which is slightly pink over the top to just warm it up. It was not high shine to avoid being too dramatic and melted seamlessly into the warmer browns ‘Swiss Chocolate’ and ‘Espresso’ by MAC which I placed in the outer corner of the eye and through the socket line. To finish off I used a gorgeous pigment called Vanilla by MAC just in the tear duct and on the brow bone to make everything lift and pop. We used a Carbon Black eyeshadow also by MAC to press into her lash line to create definition and an illusion of thicker lashes. At the
I then lightly tapped a KIKO eyeshadow called Infinity which is slightly pink over the top to just warm it up. It was not high shine to avoid being too dramatic and melted seamlessly into the warmer browns ‘Swiss Chocolate’ and ‘Espresso’ by MAC which I placed in the outer corner of the eye and through the socket line. To finish off I used a gorgeous pigment called Vanilla by MAC just in the tear duct and on the brow bone to make everything lift and pop. We used a Carbon Black eyeshadow also by MAC to press into her lash line to create definition and an illusion of thicker lashes. At the trial we found that using black Gel liner was going to be too much of a ‘going out’ look for Nadia's wedding. The Lashes to complete were the
To finish off I used a gorgeous pigment called Vanilla by MAC just in the tear duct and on the brow bone to make everything lift and pop. We used a Carbon Black eyeshadow also by MAC to press into her lash line to create definition and an illusion of thicker lashes. At the trial we found that using black Gel liner was going to be too much of a ‘going out’ look for Nadia's wedding. The Lashes to complete were the HD lashes - FOXY. Naida has brilliant brows, so not too much needed to be done to them. Using MAC Brun eyeshadow and an angled brush, I filled in and structured her brows just a tiny bit, grooming them with clear brow gel.
Flawless Airbrushing
On her first discussions with Fran, Naida had stated she would like to try airbrushing, so at the trial we discussed differences between this and normal foundation. This was a perfect choice for her skin type as airbrush is renowned for its extra long wear and real staying power! Airbrush uses a silicone based product which sprays the finest particles on the top of your skin, leaving a buildable semi-matte flawless finish. Powder is not normally needed after the use of Airbrush, however, for later touch ups if you do worry about shine, I use Laura Mercier translucent powder which I just find gives the most amazing silky soft focus effect to the skin.
To create a slight contour to Nadia's skin, I used a MAC Mineral powder a couple of shades darker, this is a perfect way to add dimension to the face. For a blusher, I used Warm Soul by MAC to sweep across her cheekbones, and then on the apples of her cheeks I used a little bit of Mocha - a dusky pink to create a nice natural blush. For finishing touches, I took the tiniest bit of the same pigment in Vanilla that I used on Naida's brow bone and just used it on her cupid's bow and down the centre of the nose and cheekbones for a tiny bit of glow.
Stunning Couple - Bridal Makeup By Miss Diamond @ Gemma Sutton
The look was almost complete… but we then had to tackle the lip dilemma. Although very excited and willing, Naida was very wary because she wasn't used to wearing lipstick as she had never known what would suit her. This is why a trial is so great, even if it confirmed that she wasn’t going to wear lipstick on the day. Obviously on this occasion with her colour scheme being different shades of purple and lilacs and her dress having a slight dusky pink undertone, I didn’t want to use anything that would clash. I used a very sheer muted brown/pink called modesty MAC with a slightly more brown based liner. It was a winner! One happy bride.
On the morning of the wedding, despite the rain, Naida’s room was full of warmth and sunshine as she was surrounded by her 7 bridesmaids. I couldn't have felt more welcomed and was extremely privileged to be part of such a wonderful person's day.
Thank you to my Beautiful Bride Naida xx
Words by Miss Diamond
