You must decide where you are going before you start. Study the brides face before you begin. Take a good look at her. Listen to her concerns. (Don't ignore her requests by proceeding in your own preconceived direction. She will only be unhappy with the result.) You can create a stunning, dramatic look that you think is great that still lives within the limits of the bride's comfort zone.
Once you've determined where the bride needs highlights begin your work, but be subtle. Use a cream based stick concealer with a brush in two shades: one pale vanilla shade and one amber-yellow based. Adding a touch of moisturizer to the concealer allows it to blend easily and look more natural. The amber shade is used under the eyes and on reddened areas. The pale shade is the highlighter to give strength under eyes, in the orbital bone area, at brow line, around lips, in the nasolabial folds and in the cleft of the chin. As you blend the product, notice how her face begins to brighten. Now you will find that you need less foundation base.
Unless the skin is near perfect you will need to use a base foundation, minimally. Heavy base and powder will only accentuate imperfect skin. Use a creamy stick foundation for normal or dry skin and matte liquid for oily skin.
A light dusting of a warm based powder will set the look and balance the complexion. Avoid applying the powder with a sponge. Experiment with soft highlighting techniques that will bring out your brides beauty. (It's a good idea to teach your brides to use a brush for powder re-application throughout the day.)
The new creamy luminescent shadows, blushes and highlight sticks can bring a youthful glow to a woman's face. Add these sheer highlighters to key points of the face: cheekbones, brow bone, eyelid, forehead, chin, throat, and d?collet? area. Oily skin can look shimmery by using a matte foundation and a shimmer powder. Don't forget to apply a gleaming blush to the apples of the cheeks.
The lips set the mood for the entire look. A standard rule of makeup, taken from the high fashion world, is that you must decide where your drama will be, lips or eyes, not both. If your bride has full luscious lips, you can choose a variety of colors. Don't use a bright color that will detract from her eyes. Use rich deep colors, mauvy browns, burgundies, classic reds.
Smaller lips require more effort. Start by lining the lips in a neutral pencil. Staying within the lips' natural parameters, embellish only in the upper and lower curves. This will create an effect of a naturally fuller lip. Then fill in with your chosen color, following with a gloss on the 4 key points of the lip. (Avoid blue reds on small lips, as they will make lips look smaller.)
Brows should always be shaded in at the top of the brow, strengthening that area. Use a very narrow brush with a slanted cut. (I use an angle camouflage shader brush.) To "lift" brow, go under the bulb of the brow, take out a few hairs to create space. Should your bride have sparser brows, darken them a shade or two. Heavier, denser brows should always be slimmed down with waxing, threading or tweezing. You can also use a highlighter on brow bone and lid for an immediate lifting effect.
Start with a creamy luminescent shadow, mauve, bronze-gold, or beige-white. Softly powder the creamy shadow to set. Take a deep brown, burgundy or warm color and sweep across the lid like a smudgy liner, slightly pointed up at the outside edge. Next, sweep a very pale shadow on lid toward inside of eye (this can be the same color you have on brow bone). For added intensity, line slightly under eye at outside.
Apply mascara deeper on the lashes near the base, not on the tips. (Hint: Deep navy mascara brightens the whites of the eyes.)
Finish your bride's look by highlighting the key points of the face with vanilla white for paler skin tones, an amber tone for deeper skins.
