Bridal Makeup: All About the Eyes -- Wedding Eye Makeup, Make Up Tips, Bridal Beauty

The Eyes | The eyes can be the window to the soul, so help your peepers shine on your big day with some of these tips and advice! Remember, you can do your own makeup or hire an artist–it’s all in what you want and what works best for your event. When hiring a makeup artist, make sure you know what they will provide you in a touch-up kit so that you can reapply as you need throughout the event. It is also a good idea to be able to do a test run with the artist. These are all things to look for in a good, knowledgeable artist! Oh, and don’t be shy–if you have a look you want to do or an idea in your head, don’t be afraid to tell your makeup artist what you have in mind.

Start With a Base! It is important that no matter what look you go for, if you are planning to wear eyeshadow, wear a base. Layering shadows on top of a product designed to help increase the lasting power of your eyeshadow is imperative. You don’t want to find that your eye makeup has moved all over the place or creased throughout the reception! I adore Soft Ochre paint pot by MAC as my base of choice, but cult favorite Urban Decay Primer Potion is a good choice, too.

Color? It is really important that you think about what your usual makeup style is and what exactly you want to reflect in your wedding photographs. Even though I personally wear colors from bright blue to yellow on my eyes, I know that I would want to opt for less color and something more natural/neutral. I also think that part of deciding colors is thinking about coordinating with both your dress, bouquet, and overall theme/feel of the wedding. Is your wedding a traditional church affair? If so, going for soft beiges and taupes makes a lot of sense. Going to Vegas with Elvis as your preacher? You just may want to have some fun and go for fun, glittery falsies!

Shimmer? Frost? Matte? I think light or low-level sheen/shimmer can be good to accent the lid and also the brow bone as a highlight, but nothing high in frost. If it’s too frosty, it can reflect badly in photos–especially on the brow bone (as the lid is not usually as visible when your eyes are open). One tip I can definitely offer is that using a matte color in the crease helps add dimension to your look and depth to your eye area.

To Line or Not to Line? If you’re going to line, choose something that is going to withstand tearing, both for upper lash lining and lower lash lining. One of my favorite products that I know will not budge are MAC Liquid Last Liners. These will not move a single inch without a good oil-based makeup remover–seriously, when they first came out, I tested their lasting power and swatched it on my skin, and it didn’t start to fade until 48 hours later. If you are opting for a more natural look, I do suggest thinking about using a brown liner over black, for something subtle and less bold (but I also love black liner, and I think it is quite suiting for natural looks, too!).

Tearproof Mascara! Waterproof, smudgeproof, and tearproof! One of my favorite mascaras that really holds up is Clinique Lash Power (and right now, if you test-drive it, you can get a free Lash Power Mascara to try!), which is designed to take on humidity, tears, sweat, you name it and come out on top. I’ve tried it (and put it to the test!), and I can tell you it is Temptalia approved! One quick and easy tip to minimize smudging is to avoid applying mascara to bottom lashes, because tears flow downwards more often than not and can easily make a mess of lower lashes with mascara (but again, I recommend a waterproof/smudgeproof mascara, and then you won’t have to worry at all!).

The Brows Have It! Many believe that one of the key pieces to looking polished and put together are well-groomed and shaped brows. If you have never touched your lashes (bless you!), get yourself to a professional salon/brow guru and have them find the optimal shape for you. I wish I didn’t tweeze (or have my friend tweeze) mine so thin when I was a teen, now I don’t have much to work with! For those ladies like me, I totally recommend Anastasia’s “Tweezers Anonymous” brow kit, which includes stencils, brow filler, and gel to help brows grow back.

Regardless, if you do not have naturally thick brows, filling sparse areas with product is an excellent idea. I prefer using something simple like a powder eyeshadow (love MAC Espresso and Brun) or brow kits like Benefit’s BrowZings or Urban Decay’s Brow Box (I prefer this because it has clear wax, rather than colored, for a brow kit!). If using a powder, try using an angled brush like MAC’s 266. It’s great for perfecting brows (and lining!). For those who prefer brow pencils, forge on, but I definitely recommend taking a clean, disposable mascara wand and brushing it through your brows. This helps to groom them, but it also makes sure that your brows do not look harsh from the pencil! I also like MAC’s Clear Brow Set for keeping those well-groomed and shaped brows in place.

Most products are available at Nordstrom.com and Sephora.com.