I get asked an awful lot about mother of the bride makeup, or mother of the groom makeup. It seems that mums can feel a bit apprehensive about having their makeup done for their child’s wedding day. Sometimes they are afraid of being caked in heavy YouTube style makeup by a professional MUA (which I absolutely do not do to anyone), and other times it is because they really like to stick with what they know and do it themselves. These are both very valid feelings. But I also feel that a child’s wedding day is a very special occasion, and it is important for the mums to feel pampered and relaxed right along with the wedding party!
As Mother’s Day is right around the corner, I want to share my top tips to these mums about how to be their best beautiful on this very important day!
1. Preparation is everything. Whether you are having your makeup professionally done, or you are doing it yourself, you need to make sure your skin is looking it’s best. Drink plenty of water, and get into good skin care habits by cleansing and moisturising morning and night. I love squalane oil as a night time treatment because it naturally plumps up lines and doesn’t leave a greasy residue.
2. The night before the wedding, use a hydrating sheet mask enriched with hyaluronic acid. I particularly like Charlotte Tilbury’s Instant Magic Dry Sheet Mask. You will look like Hannibal Lector whilst using it, but the results are totally worth it. If you have sensitive skin or rosacea, test any skin care or masks out weeks before the wedding just in case you have a reaction.
3. Use a smoothing primer under your foundation. There are so many on the market, it is impossible to choose an absolute favourite. They tend to contain silicone that will smooth fine lines and larger pores. Again, I will plug Charlotte Tilbury here, her Hollywood Flawless Filter is smoothing, evens out skintone, and gives your skin a stunning candlelit glow.
4. If you are hearing your hair up, make sure your ears match your foundation. Ears are always paler because they don’t catch the sun. Just run your foundation sponge or brush lightly over them to add a hint of colour.
5. Use a highlighter strategically placed under the arch of your brow to create an instant eye lift. You can use a matte or light shimmer that is a couple shade lighter than your skin tone. Boom, instant age reversal!
6. Instead of a heavy eyeliner pencil, use a small eye shadow brush and a dark brown or grey shadow to define the eyes. Smudging it softly into your lash line will make your eyes stand out without looking heavy, and can be less tricky than using a liquid or pencil.
7. Avoid frosted products, or bright blues. These do not photograph well, they will enhance wrinkles, and just look dated. Opt for nude shades in browns, peaches, or pinks that do not have heavy shimmer. Much more flattering.
8. Wearing the right style of lashes makes you look brighter and polished. If you haven’t worn them before, or if it has been many years since you have worn them, try them out before the wedding day. You don’t want to spend such an important event feeling uncomfortable with irritated eyes.
9. Lightly apply an apricot shade of cream blusher to the apples of your cheeks. Follow this with powder to set, and then a soft dusting of bronzer under the cheekbones. This will define your features and give a natural glowing from within look to your complexion.
10. And finally lips! We all lose the pigmentation around our lip line as we get older, so use a lip pencil to define the shape of your lips. Apply your lipstick with a brush, blot, then hold a ply of tissue against your lips and powder with a transparent setting powder. Follow this with another application of your lip colour. This helps set your lip stick, stop it from bleeding, and make it last longer.
I hope my tips have been helpful! I am always happy to chat with unsure mums about having their makeup done, so feel free to
Check out my Wedding Hair Styles to Go with Hats over on The Liverpool Wedding Blog!
And Happy Mother’s Day to all of the lovely mums out there!