WEDDING | Glam Bridal Beauty How-To

The Glam look is perfect for the Bride who wants to be red-carpet ready as she walks down the aisle. Here’s how to get this show-stopper look:

Intense Eyes
The eyes are the major statement maker in this bridal make-up look.

i).  Eyeshadow Primer
Always start off with an eyeshadow primer like Urban Decay’s Primer Potion, especially when you’re doing an eye that involves major shadow.  A bit of this magic potion (literally!) and your eye make-up will go the distance.  (Yes, for a girl with oily eyelids, that’s indeed magic to me!).

ii).  Gel Eyeliner
Start off with a long-wearing liner like Bobbi Brown’s Gel Eyeliner.  Using an angled brush, line around the eye (just as you did the Sultry eye).  Again, don’t worry about making this line too perfect, as we’ll be blending over it…but do make sure it’s tight to the lashline so there are no gaps between its placement and your lashes.

ARTIST TIP:  Doing your eyeliner in the very beginning  of your routine also makes it easier for when you apply false lashes later. This way you can easily push the eyeliner right into the lashline with no obstacles – this usually becomes more difficult to accomplish later, once the false lashes and glue are in your way (and especially if false lashes aren’t placed tight enough to your natural lashline – it happens, but this will help hide it!).  Getting liner right at the lashline also helps camouflage the false lash band, making sure there are no gaps of skin showing through.

iii).  Eyeshadow
Next up, the fun part…shadow!!!  Too Faced’s Naked Eye Collection is the perfect little palette of eyeshadows to get just this look.

The palette also includes 3 how-to cards for different looks ranging from natural to smoky:

For our Glam bridal look, the Fashion how-to card from the set shows us how to achieve maximum drama.

For the mid-tone shade (step 2 above), you can use either Lap Dance (a silvery taupe shimmer) as suggested or if you prefer a matte texture, use Like A Virgin (a matte taupe) with the same placement.  If you prefer something with grey, use Unmentionables (a steel grey shimmer) in its place.

The Glam look is similar to the Sultry bridal beauty look, but instead of softer browns, we’re keeping the look cool-toned – sticking to shades of taupe, grey and matte black for an intense smoky eye.

Note:  Since this is a smoky eye look, you could very well use all black (just Stiletto) on the eyelid and blend.  I do prefer to use either a grey or espresso brown on the lid as the mid-tone shade (see above left).  Using lighter and different shades with black helps to add a softness and dimension to the eyes, and that’s more difficult to achieve when you use just any one colour!  It also makes for a more friendly daytime smoky eye – something to consider for the Bride.  Using a two-tone smoky approach will help make sure your eyes don’t appear as two black holes in your daylight photos, especially for ladies like me with smaller-set eyes.

Here are some Glam inspired bridal looks with artistrhi brides – you can see the amount of black eyeshadow used varies with the shape of the eye:

iv).  False Lashes
Now, because we’re working with such dark colours, our natural lashes might seem to disappear into the background.  To help bring them out, use a set of falsies to define the eyes and bring your lashes from out of the shadows.  I love Ardell’s Demi-Wispies and Fairies for just that effect.  They’re the right amount of length without looking too fake. I use Demi-Wispies when I want more volume + lengthening, and Fairies for when I only want slight volume + lengthening.

Finish with another line of Bobbi Brown Gel Liner so that the final liner application is polished and defined.  This also hides the band of the false lashes.  For the bottom of the eyes, use a small amount of gel liner but only on the outer third of the eye and blend it.  Taking the gel liner inwards too much on the bottom part of the eye can risk the eyes looking smaller.  Shadow’s ok on the bottom lash line, as it’s a lot softer and doesn’t harshly cut off the eye.  (Again, something to consider particularly for ladies with smaller set eyes).

Keep the rest of the look soft. 
Again similar to the Sultry look, the rest of the look is very neutral.  Use a pink beige gloss on the lips and bronzer on the cheeks.  I love that Jennifer Lopez always has such glowy skin, but over-shimmered skin doesn’t always translate well on a wedding day.  A bit of highlighter is ok, like a small amount atop the cheekbones, but keep it there or else you may not like the look in your photos.  For a natural dewy effect, just watch your powder placement and don’t overdo the matte.  Instead of going to town on powder, just lightly powder on the T-zone, around the nose and under the eyes.  Use a minimal amount of powder or even skip the powder on the tops of the cheekbones – let your skin’s oils do all the work for a naturally dewy effect…and you can always touch up later with powder should you find yourself too shiny.

Fully powdered or not, get ready to shine…in the good kind of way :)  With the Glam bridal beauty look, all eyes will definitely be on you!

Will you say yes to this Bridal Beauty look?