Destination Wedding Makeup Tips | Our Dream Photos by James DeCamp Photography | Columbus Wedding Photographer, specializing in wedding, portrait & editorial photo

Destination Wedding Makeup Tips

Have Makeup. Will Travel.
Professional do-it-yourself makeup tips you can bring to any wedding location.

If paying someone to apply your wedding day makeup doesn't fit into your budget or if your remote wedding location doesn't have anyone sufficiently qualified to give you that professional look here are some do-it-yourself tips that with practice will ensure flawless beauty for any bride. Please allow 30 minutes for perfection.

Essential makeup supplies (available at your local drugstore):

Liquid Foundation

Matching Concealer

Loose or pressed powder

Three colors of eye shadow

Waterproof Mascara

Lash Curler

Flat Brush

Makeup Sponges

Contoured Brush

Eyeliner Brush

Blush Brush

Blush color

Lipstick

Gloss

Lip Pencil

Lip Sealer (if Available)

Skin Preparation:

Preparing the skin properly BEFORE you apply makeup is key to achieving the look you want.

Day of Skin Regimen:

- Begin with a lightweight moisturizer on your face and neck.

- Massage a small amount of eye cream at the sides of the eye.

- Use eye drops to remove any tiredness or redness, just one drop in each eye will do.

Professional Tip: Cucumber slices can reduce puffiness.

FOUNDATION:

Choosing the correct foundation for your skin should be done prior to your wedding date.

- For normal skin, a liquid foundation applied and blended with a sponge will give the most even coverage.

- For oily skin, use camouflage where necessary, setting with loose powder and then powder foundation blended with a brush. If you need more coverage add additional powder by patting with a dry sponge.

- For combination skin, use a water based foundation, also blended with a dry sponge. More often than not, camouflage is required to correct all skin imperfections that seem to arrive just before the big day. With expert application of a full coverage camouflage product, applied with a nylon brush, pressed with your finger and layered if necessary, will correct any problem.

Under the eyes try to blend towards the nose and downward. This technique gives you more coverage, using less product. If your skin is more broken out than usual and you do not want to look like you are wearing too much foundation, start with a small amount of concealer, then liquid foundation, and then a touch more of camouflage - press with your finger, and when all looks even and the color matches perfectly, set with a small amount of loose powder on the flat side of the brush or press with a dry sponge.

EYES:

Apply leftover liquid foundation, a touch of concealer or eyelid primer to the eyelids with your finger. Blend this thin layer until the skin tone on the eyelid is perfectly even. Use a light cream or peach eye shadow as your base shadow, blending in long smooth strokes over the entire eyelid. This is the most neutral of colors and looks great on any color eye. Adjust eyebrows if necessary with any angled brush and match eye shadow to your natural color of eyebrow. Blend in short upward strokes to fill in any spaces or accentuate your arch. Use a clean mascara spool to feather your application and this will give the perfect eyebrow. Using a small contoured brush, look straight ahead and blend a medium tone color to your brow bone area. Start under the arch of your brow, blend in a semi-circle motion, then slightly upward and outward. This will just give the eye a larger look and define your eye shape.

Professional Tip: Using eye shadow that can be applied wet for eyeliner will stay much longer than pencil on a hot day.

Using a thin liner brush, wet with a small amount of water and form a paste-like consistency. Hold your eye at the side as tight as possible and rest the brush right on the lashes from outside in, slightly thicker to thin. Then you can apply some dry eye shadow over. The bottom lash line can have no eyeliner, or just a small amount between the lashes drawn in short strokes. Never apply solid heavy line on the bottom lashes.

If you have straight lashes or ones that grow downwards, use a lash curler and curl your lashes (by holding them in for ten seconds) then release by holding the curler closer to the middle than the ends.

Grab your lashes with the length of a waterproof mascara wand and slide back and forth for lush lashes. For the bottom lashes, just tap at the root so more attention is drawn upwards. The above instructions will give you a natural long-lasting eye but you can certainly "glam it up" by looking at some great fashion photographs and trying to copy the application.

LIPS:

Try not to use a lip liner that is too dark, and choose a color that blends easily with your lipstick. This will photograph much better. Lips should look creamy and not be too dark, too bright or too light. Try a neutral lip color that brings out the color of your eyes. Combining pinkish and brown colors are very flattering, or peachy pinks for the summer months.

Professional Tip: If your lips are naturally small, the lighter the color the fuller the lips, and if your lips are too large, you could camouflage the sides with a small amount of consealer and follow the shape just on the natural line or just inside it with a deeper color ( but not too dark).

Rest your pinkie finger on your chin and draw a v-shape on the top lip, a straighter line on the middle bottom lip and connect to the inside corners. Use a lip brush to fill in the lipstick, blot and add more, then use lip sealer if available. Touch up with gloss later in the evening when the mouth becomes really dry from smiling and talking.

CHEEKS:

Begin with a neutral color and then add some pink or peach based color (depending on what suits you), or just a brownish tone if you tend to get really flushed. To apply, start at the hairline by the middle of your ear, blend forward to the front of the cheek, and then back to the hairline and upwards. Dust with some loose powder, and then apply a touch more blush to the front of the cheek.

Professional Tip: If your skin needs a little more color, add a touch of blush to the forehead, and then to the sides and top of your nose. Use more of a curving stroke to recreate a sun kissed look.

And voila - your face is now ready for your wedding day. Let the photos begin!

Our Dream Photos by James DeCamp Photography | Columbus Wedding Photographer specializing in wedding photography