BECOMING A WEDDING MAKEUP ARTIST

The Basics.  NEED to KNOW stuff! 

"It’s a lot easier to apply makeup to yourself, after all you know your own face having stared at it for years and can practice on your own face for hours at a time"   

When it comes to applying makeup onto someone else it’s a whole different ball game. 

Of course you may have been in the industry for a while but this may still benefit you too.  

If you are reading this then you are perhaps looking to have an edge over your competition!  

I have been on many certified courses when I started out and I continue to learn and I would advise you do too, especially if you’re serious about a career in Bridal makeup.

You may be self taught but self teaching through you-tube videos probably won't tell you further detail on the different face shapes you can get, all the different skin types, consultations, the legality of insurance and other very important aspects of doing Bridal Makeup as a career.  

Other people have different ideas than you about what looks good on them and what they think doesn't.  Go easy! 

During my professional career a millimetre of eyeliner can be the make or break of a look, sounds a bit dramatic, I kid you not! 

KEY POINT.   People come in all different shapes and sizes and not one person is the same!

You will get the brides who like to be in control and want to mess with their makeup no matter how well you consider yourself to have done their makeup. Then there are brides whose idea of natural is your idea of heavily made up and visa versa. 

Countless times I have a bride that asks for natural then shows me a photo where the model has an inch thick layer on.

There are brides who are relying on you solely to make them look good in person and on photos but they personally have no idea about makeup. 

You will also come across a lot of people who want to look like the model on the magazine! 

And I’m not just talking about wanting the models makeup, I’m talking they want to be the model and this can be tricky to deal with when - Well they are just not the person in the photo so when they don’t end up looking just like them then they maybe disappointed.  

A personal story

I can relate to this because, when I was a young 15 year old girl (with very long all one length perfectly healthy hair) but I was feeling really fed up.  I had just been dumped and fancied a change of hair style to make me feel better.   

At that time we had a mobile hairdresser to come to our house and I asked for a perm.

The stylist didn’t have perming equipment on her, so I promptly looked through her look book and chose the style I liked.  ALARM BELLS  DING DING DING.  Guess what the woman I had chose was of course an absolutely stunning magazine model and she had short cropped peroxied blonde hair! THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF ME! 

The stylist didn’t disswade me or suggest that I should just chop a little bit off first, oh no, she just went ahead and chopped my shoulder length dark brown hair.  

The result of this, I was more devastated and I cried for three whole weeks, started applying way too much makeup to try and take the attention off my most hazardous mistake.

I make mistakes too! 

At the very beginning of my career I too made a mistake when I was asked to make someone up really dramatic!   The lady actually volunteered the information that "she never does her makeup like this". 

The dramatic look was great on the model but of course the bride in question, never really wore makeup and guess what – yes that’s right she hated it and didn’t book me, I have tried wherever possible to not make that mistake again!

KEY POINT LISTEN    WHO IS YOUR CLIENT! 

Make a point to ask questions.  

Does she wear makeup on a regular basis? 

If not and she picks a heavily made up look, suggest tactfully that you like to do a toned down version to begin with (suggest a nod towards what she has asked for) and then you can always add more to the look as you progress.

"It is far easier to add than to take away"    

Having said this though – I wouldn’t go about showing her the look every 5 minutes either as this may look like your not sure what your doing, and that doesn’t give a great impression either. 

Also if you have a particularly nervous client remind them that it is only just makeup and it can be removed.  

I once had my makeup done in the fabulous shop MAC, but I too have came away feeling overwhelmed, overdone and too self conscious so much so that I have had to go home and take it all off.  

This says nothing of the people’s skill doing makeup, just a lack of consultation and understanding of whom you’re dealing with.



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