Showing posts with label make-up application. Show all posts
Showing posts with label make-up application. Show all posts

Monday, 6 May 2013

My Guide to Bridal Make-up



Since the wedding season is upon us, I thought I’d write a blog post about what I think are important things to consider when doing bridal make-up, whether it’s your own make-up you are doing or a client’s. 


Hair and make-up by Donna Harris
A wedding day is a special and exciting day for all involved. When preparing for a wedding, most women spend months planning, choosing the right dress, the perfect shoes and the right colour schemes.  In the same way, I think it’s important for the bride-to-be to put some thought into how she wants to look on her big day. If you plan to do your own make-up for your wedding it is important to practise applying your make-up. If you are having a make-up artist do your make-up, it’s important to book a trial.  A good make-up artist will give you a consultation to find out the style and themes (e.g. traditional, vintage, classic, glamorous) of your wedding and how you’d like to look.  

Most brides want to look like a more polished version of themselves, rather than looking ‘made up’.  It’s about bringing out their inner confidence so that they are able to walk down the aisle with pride, feeling her most beautiful.
Make-up by Donna Harris
 

There is a lot to consider when doing bridal make-up. For starters, the make-up must last throughout the day and look good in different lights (indoors and outdoors) and on different mediums (e.g. in professional and amateur photography and video). The time of day of the wedding will also affect make-up choices.  The way the sunlight changes throughout the day can influence the way make-up appears in photos, and therefore influence product choices. For example, a dewy foundation and shimmery eyeshadows will look too shiny and reflective when photographed in midday sunshine. Likewise, for an evening wedding there will be a lot of flash photography, which can flatten everything out in the photograph, so it is important to use the make-up to contour and add definition to the face.

The most important tip I can give about doing bridal make-up is to not be too quick to follow trends. When you look back on photographs from your wedding in years to come, you don’t want to look dated but timelessly beautiful.
Make-up by Donna Harris
 

Here is a list of some of my favourite products to use on brides:

1.       Dior Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Hydrating Make-up: this foundation gives a light to medium coverage with a lovely, slightly dewy finish that looks like real skin.

2.       A la Carte Shine Illuminator Primer & Glow Enhancer: this is a lovely, light primer that leaves the skin looking soft and naturally healthy without giving too much shine that some highlighters can give. It also smells amazing!

3.       Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream: this is a great product to use on the lips to ensure that they stay moisturised and kissable throughout your wedding day!

4.        Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush: I love using this watercolour blushes because they give a really natural finish.

5.       Laura Mercier Pressed Setting Powder: this is a great powder to set your make-up and leave you shine-free throughout the day.  If you do have particularly oily skin, I recommend also considering buying some blotting sheets, such as MAC Blot Film to remove excess oil.  You can give these to the Chief Bridesmaid to hang on to throughout the day and she can be on ‘excess oil alert’!

I hope some of you have found this blog post informative and helpful.  To those of you getting married this year; huge congratulations and best wishes. Any brides that would like my help looking fabulous for their big day please have a look at my website: www.donnaharris.co.uk
 
Make-up by Donna Harris
 

 

Friday, 6 January 2012

Must-have Make-up Brushes

Since becoming a make-up artist I have developed an unhealthy obsession, above all other things, for make-up brushes.  This should not really be surprising to those that know me well:  as a child and even as an adult I had an addiction to buying pens – I believe a pen can make or break your handwriting! A make-up brush is just a tool of a different trade and the right brush can be crucial to beautiful make-up.
Below is a photo of my make-up belt containing all the brushes I take to every job or photoshoot. It contains around 50 brushes.  I also have brush roll of 20 or so extra brushes which I take along if I am working on many models and run out of brushes because there is no time to clean the brushes in between models.
My brush belt

In this post, I am going to tell you what I think are the must-have brushes for your make-up bag and show you examples of brushes I use and love.
1.       FOUNDATION BRUSH
This is a brush made of synthetic fibres and has a flat edge. It is used to apply and blend liquid and cream foundation onto the face.  It ensures the foundation is applied evenly.  My favourite foundation brushes are the MAC Foundation Brush (190) and the Sephora Double ended Foundation and Concealer Brush, which has a concealer brush (see below) on the other end, is bright green and brightens up my brush belt!

Top: MAC foundation brush (190)
Bottom: Sephora Double-ended Concealer + Foundation Brush



2.       CONCEALER BRUSH
Made from synthetic fibres with a rounded head, it is much smaller than the foundation brush and used to apply concealer around delicate areas such as the eyes, as well as for detail work in creases, on blemishes and around the edges of the nose and lips.  I have a few concealer brushes, including a flat concealer brush from Royal & Langnickel, which I tend to use with cream concealers, and the Sigma Precision Tapered brush (P86) which I used with liquid concealers or to buff and blend the concealer in for a beautiful finish.

Top: Royal & Langnickel Concealer Brush (BE14)
Bottom: Sigma Precision Tapered Brush (P86)


3.       ANGLED BROW BRUSH
This is made of synthetic bristles that are flat with a slanted edge. This is a must have to fill in and enhance eyebrows and I also use it to create a perfect 50’s flick with gel eyeliner.
Royal & Langnickel Angled Brow Brush

4.       EYESHADOW APPLICATION AND BLENDING BRUSHES
Eyeshadow application brushes come in many different shapes and sizes.  They should be made of natural hair and are used to apply pigments and eyeshadow to the eyelid.  Blending brushes are made of real hair and have a dome- shaped head with longer bristles than other eyeshadow brushes.  It should be soft and fluffy and is used for blending eyeshadows together and softening edges. It can also be used for applying powder under the eyes to set concealer.  Both of the brushes below are from Sephora (unfortunately not available in the UK).  I love the orange, double-ended eyeshadow brush as one end can be used for application and the other for blending.

Left: Sephora Double-ended Everyday Eye Brush
Right: Sephora Blending  Brush


5.       CONTOUR BRUSH
This brush should be made of natural fibres and feel soft but firm.  It has a slightly tapered head, which enables you to apply contouring blush in the correct place by turning the brush so that the longer hairs are closer to the jawline and the shorter hairs are closer to the cheekbone.  This brush can also be used for applying bronzer, blusher or highlighter.
Left: Daniel Sandler Watercolour brush (to be used with liquid blusher)
Right: Royal & Langnickel Contour Powder Brush

I hope this gives you some idea of the tools of the make-up trade and how to use them.  It is worth spending money on good quality brushes as it will make the application of your make-up so much easier and you will get a better result. With poor quality brushes the bristles often shed heavily and feel scratch on the skin.