30 Tips for Perfect Makeup for Photography

Every bride wants to look beautiful in her wedding photos. Below are 30 insider tips on what professional makeup artists do to help you look picture-perfect.

Before Your Wedding Day

1. Your big day is not the time to try a new trend or a dramatically different style from your normal look. Choose a palette that you know from experience works well with your hair and coloring. You can use your everyday makeup - the important thing is to apply more than you normally would, as this will look better in the photos.
2. Always practice your makeup application and take test pictures several weeks before your wedding. Put on your veil, jewelry, and other accessories, and take a few snapshots under the same type of lighting you expect to have at your wedding. This way you'll be able to correct anything you don't like, and you'll have a very good idea of how you'll look in the final photographs.
3. If you're planning to have any treatments like threading, facials, highlighting, or waxing, have them done at least one or two weeks before your wedding so your skin will have time to recover from any potential irritation.
4. Avoid the tanning salon or excessive time in the sun immediately before your wedding. You don't want a sunburn on your wedding day! 
5. On the night before your wedding, use makeup remover to remove all your makeup, but don't use it again on your wedding day. Leftover residue from the remover can prevent your makeup from setting properly.

Foundation

1. If possible, apply your makeup by a window, under natural light.
2. If you can, apply a clay mask in the morning before you do your makeup. This will help your makeup set well.
3. Before applying your foundation, wash and moisturize your face well. Use oil-free products -- you want to minimize oiliness as much as possible.
4. If you're having an outdoor wedding, use a moisturizer with sunblock or apply sunblock after your moisturizer, and do not use any perfume that would attract bees or insects.
5. Next, you need to apply concealer that is one or two shades lighter than your skin color. Photos are two-dimensional, so any dark spots, lines, or wrinkles will be enhanced. You want to compensate by applying concealer makeup around the eyes, on any blemishes, and on expression lines. Use moisturized concealer or blend it with a skin cream. Treat blemishes first with an anti-inflammatory and then cover with concealer. Blend your undereye concealer into your skin very well - you don't want any noticeable lines!
6. Match your foundation color to your chin and neckline, so that your face color matches your neck. Choose a slightly thicker foundation rather than a sheer, so that your final look is completely smooth and flawless.
7. Always apply powder after your foundation, as you do not want a shiny face in your pictures. Apply a light dusting to your T-zone and sparingly to the rest of your face. If possible, choose a powder with a yellow tint, rather than translucent, since translucent powders can leave a white cast when the flash goes off. 
8. Do not use mineral makeup containing titanium dioxide, a chemical used as sun block, because it can reflect the flash and give you a ghostly appearance.

Blush

1. Do not use glitter or a shimmer blush; both of these can give the appearance of oiliness in photographs. Matte blush looks natural.
2. Smile to find the apples of your cheeks. Apply your blush on or slightly below the apples of your cheeks.

Eyes

1. If you're going for a dramatic look with your makeup, the eyes are the best place to focus. It's very important that you apply your eye makeup well - if done correctly, the person looking at your photos will be drawn directly to your eyes.
2. Again, avoid shimmery or glittery eyeshadows, which give your skin an oily look under flash. Choose a matte eyeshadow in a color you know accentuates your eyes.
3. Unless you have the eyes for it, avoid dark colors and harsh lines, as this tends to make the eye look smaller and deeper set.
4. Tweeze stray brows sparingly and use a soft eyebrow pencil or a hard-angled brush to apply eyebrow shadow on your eyebrows.
5. Apply a light-colored eyeshadow to your eyebrow bones. Use a smoky eyeshadow for the crease of your eyelid and blend well.
6. Apply your eye liner starting from the outside of the lower part of the eye and extending about ¾ length toward the inner part. You can line all the way across the upper part of your eyelid if that look suits you.
7. Make sure you choose a mascara that does not clump easily. Generally, water-resistant mascaras clump less than waterproof mascaras. 
8. Consider using false lashes - they tend to look natural in photos and gorgeously enhance your eyes. Ardell InvisiBand Demi-Wispies are recommended by some makeup artists; they have tiny hairs and are easy to apply.

Lips

1. Do not use frosted lip colors; they don't show up well in photos.
2. Choose a lip color that is at least one shade deeper than your lips, and a few shades deeper if you want your lips to be the focus of your look.
3. Use a lip liner that is the same color as your lipstick, not darker.
4. Use creamy lipstick or tinted lipgloss on the lipliner. Cream or gloss lipcolors look more natural than matte lipstick in photos.

Party-time!

1. Have a friend carry your makeup case for you throughout the wedding. You'll want to touch up as the event goes on.The most important things to touch up are your powder and your lips. Periodically add powder to avoid shine, and keep your lips moisturized (dry lips look terrible in pictures).
2. If your ceremony is in the afternoon and your reception is in the evening, you might want to enhance your makeup for a more dramatic nighttime look.
3. Use a little powder on your groom if he has a shiny head!