Makeup gurus, i need feedback

So I want to start by saying you look stunning in my opinion. That being said, if you're not in love with it, definitely change it! It's your wedding day and you should feel gorgeous.

This happened to me when I did my engagement photos. It wasn't a trial run and not my wedding H/MU artists, I just went to a place that was open on a Saturday and could do my hair and makeup... I was not impressed. Here's what I'm thinking regarding your statements:

1. Skin types react differently to different foundations. There's a brand that I bought recently that looks so good on for an hour and then my skin begins to get a little oily and it looks really cakey. I'd guess the foundation she used doesn't mesh with your skin. I'd look into airbrush. It's usually not too much more expensive, but more light weight, and supposed to photograph better.

2. I'm no professional but personally, I think the contouring color matters more than the highlighter. It's not really colored so all it should really be doing is highlighting and adding a little shimmer.

3. Did you show her a photo of what you wanted? It looks like she did a smoky eye which is usually super heavy. I had this done for my engagements and I was not a fan for the same reasons. The white/black contrast was way too much for me. Maybe look into more brown toned inspo? Something like this:

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the feedback!! Actually: she DID airbrush! But I think you’re right that the foundation formula she used w the airbrushing didn’t work well w my skin. And yes I did show a picture. Here is what a I showed her. This picture doesn’t have the white eyeshadow so not sure where she got that.

I'm a BB cream kinda girl too and I feel like foundation and heavier makeup never looks "flawless" or "like skin" in real life. However, it shouldn't look cakey. I'm not a makeup expert, but I've watched SO MANY makeup YouTube videos and tutorials and have been trying out a bunch of different products since getting engaged, so I feel like I have a much better idea of how makeup is supposed to go but still know what it's like to be a "no makeup" girl on a daily basis.

Using the right primer can make a HUGE difference in how your makeup sits on your skin. I have large pores, and if I put on foundation without any primer at all my skin literally looks like it has craters on the surface. I still haven't found the perfect primer for my skin, but I know a good primer makes a difference.

The other thing I would say is that all of your liquid products are supposed to go on first, followed by powder products. Once powder of any kind is applied to your face, if you put a liquid product over it it will tend to cake (I'd say the one exception is just some light setting spray at the end). So for example if your MUA puts on a liquid concealer and sets it with powder and then does a liquid foundation over it, it will tend to cake, or if she does powder contouring products and then applies a cream blush over it, you get the idea.

Airbrush makeup should never feel heavy, so if you don't like the way it feels or the texture then I think it has been applied wrong or it just doesn't work for your skin.

I love your hair and do think the makeup looks good, but I think if she used warmer tones for the eyes it would flatter your skin better. I think some of the ashiness is a result of using a silvery/white color on the inner corners of your eyes and it just looks a bit harsh. It does NOT look bad, but if you want a more natural look I think some warmer tones (a champagne or gold-taupe instead of that silver) would look glam but also more natural. I think the first photo looks better because the white balance of the overall photo is warmer, whereas the light in the second photo is much cooler, and so in the first photo your eyes "blend" a bit more whereas they look more intense in the second.

Hi! You look gorgeous in your picture you posted!

I totally understand where you're coming from. I felt like my engagement shoot makeup was SO dark and caked on. But I had a MUA friend reassure me before I went that there was a reason (she wasn't the one who did my makeup). She explained the reason it felt like SO MUCH and so dark was so I didn't look washed out in professional lighting. I had told the MUA who did my makeup that I typically wore a natural look so the fact that it looked like I had so much on didn't sit right...well we got our engagement photos back and the 3 week panic attack I had was for nothing. You couldn't even tell I was wearing much eye makeup (and when I say it was dark, it was DARK. It was taking me back to my emo/scene kid days in high school). Cell phone lighting for pictures is SO different from the professional/sunshine lighting that your photographer uses.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for the feedback! Did you have contouring make up as well? I don’t mind the dark eyeshadow on me one bit actually, but I don’t like the stark contrast of the white. And I really don’t like the contouring on my face. So to your point: dark shadow is good w me.

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I did! When I say my makeup was dark, I mean like....my whole face felt dark and caked on. But as you can see by the pictures, it looked fairly natural. I was trying to find the picture I took with my phone during my paranoia but it looks like I deleted it because it was making me feel crazy. Haha.

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Your engagement photos are super cute and I LOVE the pups!

Play Feel the first picture it's a much nicer look on you. Has more of a nice and soft luck which will be great for your day.

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Thank you!!!! They were very uncooperative that day. Haha.

View Quoted Comment Wow! That’s good to know bc you can’t tell you’re wearing contour at all. Thanks again!

View Quoted Comment Thank you for the feedback. I agree!

View Quoted Comment Thanks so much for all the info. I should have paid better attention to the order that she applied stuff. I totally don’t remember now if she did wet/dry or vise versa. I messaged her w a mix of the things I loved and some of things I hoped we could tweak. She hasn’t responded yet so I hope I didn’t offend her . I tried to make it sound even, bc there were things I liked too.

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We're including our pup in our wedding ceremony (mostly to take advantage of some family photos with a professional photographer, as we didn't do an engagement shoot). Fingers crossed he's on his best behavior!

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Yea she definitely didn't do a bad job at all and it photographed well in natural light. The whole point of a trial is for the client and artist to have an opportunity to tweak the makeup prior to the event itself, so I think she should be receptive, especially if you point out all the things you liked. Best of luck!

I personally hate airbrush makeup. It isn't meant for my skin. I have dry skin, with some acne scarring and some pitting, and it's normal for me to have a breakout or two all the time. So airbrush makeup just seemed to cling to my imperfections & make my dry skin more obvious (especially around my mouth & nose). I've seen people get airbrush makeup done who have way better skin than me and they looked beautiful so it just depends on the person. I think you look great but the second picture shows kind of what I encountered with airbrush (I was a bridesmaid when I tried it). In my opinion, the more moisturized & healthy your skin is prior (so this requires skincare prior at home & professionally), the better your makeup looks. I did dermaplanning prior and my makeup went on so well. But I would recommend asking her to do another trial if you can with conventional makeup. I posted a picture below, it's a weird picture but it's an unedited one close to my face.

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Good luck! With our boy, some photo shop had to happen because he got "excited"! I still laugh thinking about it!

I remember you posting your trial pictures the other day and you looked beautiful. The pictures did not show what you're saying and they still do not.

As someone who loves make up.... I can tell you this from personal experience... anytime I've had my makeup professionally done, it looks beautiful... then I look in the mirror and like you I see this THICK layer of makeup. It freaks me out. So... I've since learned to avoid having my makeup done professionally. I don't think every artist is this way, but it sure feels that way.

I live / die by Estee Lauder's double wear foundation. I've been using it since I turned 20 something ... I'm 40 something now. I find that it perfectly suits my skin type and it looks flawless 24 hours later (if I've had a late night)... I also use make up primer to add that base layer. I know EL hates me because my subsciption can never be filled timely... the longest amount of time says 6 months, but a bottle lasts me about 9 months (if that tells you how much makeup I actually use) and I do my make up daily including weekends and even vacations. Basically I live in makeup, LOL....

If you have a friend that does makeup well, I'd asked them to help you apply your makeup. or look for another artist who uses a different type of makeup that makes you feel more natural.

Hi Marie!


I am a professional makeup artist that specializes in bridal and I’d love to share my thoughts coming from a makeup artist’s perspective
1) I always let each one of my bridal clients know that you lose about 30% of the color saturation in photography. I highly would recommend to go a little deeper of a tone on your eyes and lips just to compensate for this. Your every day “natural” makeup will probably not be enough, but your artist definitely could’ve toned the eyeshadow on top down just a tad!
2) If you were not 100% happy with the first trial, I would definitely recommend doing a second trial with her or at least send her an email telling what you did and didn’t like. If I ever had a client that did not like the outcome of the trial whether it be in person or later throughout the day, I would definitely appreciate the honesty just so it makes the wedding day less stressful. I personally haven’t ever had a bride not like what I did for the trial, but I have had brides change lip colors.
3) I naturally gravitate towards more warmed toned shadows for brides and other clients in general because I feel it’s less likely to wash people out and also compliments most people’s skin tones a little better. I tend to shy away from cool toned shadows and blacks to be honest (I feel it makes the eyes look really heavy and closed off). It’s also hard to pair pinkish/nude toned lipsticks with smokey eyes because it can definitely go into drag queen makeup very quickly. Normally the colors you like wearing on an every day basis are your favorites because you’ve discovered what looks best with your skin tone. You are correct in that more warm toned eyeshadows and highlighter are the way to go.
Hopefully this helped!! Also, feel free to ask me anything about what I said and I can definitely answer any questions from my perspective I’ve also included some makeup pictures that I did on some of my brides and what they looked like in pictures.

I am planning on doing my own makeup and sticking with minimal face makeup. If you're not used to wearing it, and don't like it looking cakey, just tone it down. Unless you have major acne or red skin, etc, you don't need heavy full coverage even for wedding. I would use your normal BB crème and add a powder so it stays on