If you've decided to hire a makeup artist to apply picture perfect makeup for your wedding, it’s important that you have a trial a few weeks before.  A trial will ensure that the makeup artist knows exactly how you want your makeup applied for your wedding.  Don’t be surprised if you are charged a fee for the trial.  You shouldn’t pay the same rate that you’re paying for your wedding day, but rates from $50-$150 are common.

 

Also, it’s a good idea to take a photo of yourself after the trial so you and the makeup artist have something to refer to.

 

If you're planning on doing your own wedding day makeup, make sure that you practice putting on exactly what you think you want the month or so before your wedding.  Make sure you have enough concealer, bronzer, foundation, blush, shadows, liners, mascara and lipstick in your makeup bag.  You don’t want to find out the morning of that you ran out, or don't have enough, of something you really need.

 

Makeup Guru Bobbi Brown has created a Bridal Beauty Kit, filled with everything you need to apply your wedding day makeup.  It includes:

 

• Exclusive Ivory Eye Shadow
• Black Ink Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner
• Black No Smudge Mascara
• Pink Sugar Shimmer Lip Gloss
• Short Handle Ultra Fine Eye Liner Brush
• White Cosmetic Case

The Kit, which comes in the white case shown above, retails for $75 and is available now at BobbiBrown.com, and in April at all Bobbi Brown department store counters.

 

If you are doing your own makeup, here are Bobbi's wedding day tips:

 

1. Flash photography emphasizes pink tones, so be sure to even out skin with a yellow-toned foundation. Start around the nose and mouth where there’s redness, then blend out to the rest of the face.
2. Set concealer and foundation with Sheer Finish Loose Powder to make them longer-lasting and to ensure that skin looks matte in pictures.
3. If your dress has an open neckline, be sure to warm up your neck and chest with a dusting of Bronzing Powder.
4. Use a water-resistant liner that can withstand tears; try Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner applied with the Ultra Fine Eye Liner Brush. If you prefer to line with shadow, make it longer-lasting by applying it with a slightly damp Eye Liner Brush. Finish with a water-resistant mascara like Lash Glamour.
5. After applying all your eye makeup, finish with a highlighter shade on the browbone tomake eyes pop. Rub your finger in a light matte shade and pat lightly on the outer corner of the browbone.
6. For a pretty flush that lasts, use two shades of Blush. First, apply a neutral shade on the apples of cheeks, blending up into the hairline, then downwards to soften. Then apply a brighter shade just on the apples of cheeks.
7. Neutral and pale lip colors look washed out in photographs, so choose a lipstick that’s one to two shades brighter than what you normally wear. Pinks, roses and plums are great choices for brides.
8. To make Lip Color last longer, line and fill in lips with Lip Pencil before applying your lipstick.
9. Carry a touch-up kit with concealer, pressed powder, lipstick or gloss, lip liner, tissues, mints, and a mini sewing kit (for emergency clothing fixes like a dropped hem or popped button).
10. Have fun!

So this is beauty week at From “I Will” to “I Do” and I have some fabulous tips that you’re going to love.

I thought I’d start out with one of my all-time favorite beauty tips for bridesmaids.

As you probably know, you can visit almost any makeup counter in the beauty department of a department store and the sales staff will apply not just one product, but make you up for the night. And the price for these makeovers? The cost of one product.

If you’re getting married near a shopping mall – or your bridesmaids can get to one well before the time you need them at the wedding location – send them to the mall to have their makeup done.

Each girl can pick whichever counter she likes – MAC, Prescriptives, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, NARS – and ask the sales girl to apply makeup for her. She should specify if the wedding is a formal black-tie affair or something more casual.

The cost of lipstick is probably around $20-$30 – much less than the cost of a professional makeup artist. She can always use the lipstick to reapply it at the wedding, and unlike her bridesmaid dress, she will use it again.

So you’ve picked out a beautiful gown and veil and you’re admiring yourself in the salon mirror and then it hits you…how can you walk down the aisle in this formal gown with a tattoo of Mickey on your arm?

If you’d prefer to hide your arm or back art, instead of baring all on your wedding day – maybe grandma doesn’t need to know – order the Covermark’s Tatoo Cover Kit. The $30 kit is filled with all the essential tools you need to make sure your body is as beautiful, and unmarked, as the day you were born.

You may even want to get one for your bridesmaids, so they’re body art is not seen on your wedding day, or in your wedding pictures.

Do you have a tattoo you want to hide on your big day?

Many brides purchase, or get a cute “bride” outfit to wear while they are getting ready the morning of the wedding. Whether you get a custom “Soon to be Mrs. Jones” top, a shirt that reads “Bride” or just grab something from the closet, it’s very important to wear something with buttons or a zipper.

Here’s why: After hours of stylists getting your hair and makeup just right, you don’t want – and in some cases may not be able to – pull your shirt over your head. It’ll be easier and mess-free to unbutton or unzip something. I’ve heard many stories of brides you had to be cut out of t-shirts and tank tops because pulling them off was not an option.

If you don’t have a good top to wear and want something you can wear after the wedding, pick up an Ankh hoodie – available in black, white and pink. And you can even get a pair of matching of cotton pants or shorts – great for pre and post-wedding workouts, and the flight to your honeymoon!