It was my honour and pleasure to put makeup on this beautiful bride Justine and to do her hair for her bridal trial. Her actual wedding is in February. She has wonderful skin and big brown eyes. She will be wearing a fully-lined, deep red long lace Reiss dress on the actual day with patent nude coloured heels. She will have a red and cream bouquet of roses. So I am going to do a neutral Italian bridal look, Dolce and Gabbana style, with defined brows and Chanel rose red lipstick.
When to have a trial?
The trial needs to happen a few weeks before the wedding so as to allow for change of mind. Here is the finished trial which takes about 2 hours to 2.5 hours:
Above is the finished side view showing the bride’s fantastic profile, contouring and Art Deco hair decoration. The bride will not be wearing this decoration for the wedding, but it is to get an idea of what will suit her hairstyle and dress. There is some trial and error and I can help you style the look too.
What happens at a trial?
1. During a trial, we discuss your skincare routine and how to make sure your skin will be in tiptop condition, no matter your age. This is the most important stage as without great skin, the makeup will not look good. We discuss face shapes and features and flaws. The 3 Fs. During the discussion, I will take photos and we will talk about them. We talk about your expectations. It is all very relaxed as my aim is to make you happy and confident. After all, you will still need to look like yourself.
2. The second most important thing is the dress. The colour, fit, design etc will affect the hairstyle and the makeup. If there are accessories you will be using, we will also go through them and what would suit the hairstyle.
3. Thirdly, we talk about the photography. Makeup has to be heavier for photography as it is bleached out by flash and by reflectors. If there is black and white photography, we will also discuss that as there has to be high contrast makeup. There must not be sunscreen for makeup as it will reflect in the photography.
4. Fourthly we talk about the groom and what makeup needs to be done. Obviously light makeup but we need to make Mr. look good!
5. If you haven’t already got changed, at this stage you need to change into a wide neck top or a button front top because we don’t want to spoil the hair and makeup when you get changed later. T shirts would be a no-no. Unless you are getting married in your T shirt.
6. We start doing the makeup and hair once we are in agreement of the above. Then I would keep stopping, stage by stage, to take photos to show you, especially what you can’t see, like your back and your side profile.
7. When we talk about hairstyle, we go through the different sized curling tongs, which I will show you. There are pros and cons of different equipment. Generally, hair up is more ageing than hair down.
8. Don’t waste the makeup and hair after your trial. Have a wonderful date with the Mr and go somewhere nice to show off.
