Bridal Beauty: Perfect Lips and Eyes

The best way to amp up your wedding day make up is with a killer lip or eye look that will not only look great in person but also fab in photos. As someone who deals with various eye and lip products day in day out, expert hair and make up artist Camilla J Collins has some definite favourites, and she's here to today to tell us all about them. 

When it comes to wedding day make up there have been some staples in my make up kit that have been with me for years and have never let me down, I honestly do try to branch out but as the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

So in the lip department, 2 of the most popular shades I use on brides are both from Mac, one is called “Cosmo” and is in lipstick form and the other is called “Ample Pink” and is a gloss.  

Mac have such a huge range of lipstick shades and they are more affordable than some other high-end makeup brands. This makes them a really great staple in my kit for brides to then go out and buy their shade for their wedding day without breaking the bank!  

What I love about “Cosmo” is that it gives a lovely and subtle shade which makes your lips look done, but not overly so.  

Lipsticks come out differently on everyone depending on the pigments in their skin so if “Cosmo” is a little too dark then I would suggest trying “Ample Pink.”  This gloss is a really lovely shade of subtle pink which is ever so slightly creamy and can compliment your makeup look beautifully, especially if the accentuation is on the eyes.

Both these shades I would use Mac lip liner “Dervish” with.  It’s so important to use lip liner as it will last a lot longer than your lipstick or gloss and will tide you over until your next bathroom trip to touch up your lippy!  

For those of you looking for a more neutral and nude shade, my favourite has to be “Shy Girl” also by Mac - I absolutely love this colour and so do my clients!  And the Mac lip liner “Nice ’n Spicy” compliments it well.  Another nice nude and a little more on the orangey side is “Freckle Tone.”  Speaking of Orange, a popular choice for mother of the brides as well as brides as well is “See-Sheer” also by Mac.  So if you’re passing a Mac store definitely pop in and have a play around with these shades!

Now onto finding those perfect eye shadows.  I, like most of the population these days, LOVE using the Urban Decay Naked Palettes! Urban Decay have created some really lovely shadows that blend perfectly and have wonderfully high pigments to ensure that the colour lasts.  Before applying any eye shadow I always use their eye potion primer in “Eden” to ensure the powders stay on and are as bright as they can possibly be.  “Eden” is the lightest colour primer in their range and even if working on darker skin I will still use it to ensure that the colour goes on true and remains bright.  There are lots of eye primers on the market that I have tried including the Mac paint pots but Urban Decay wins hands down!

For a natural bridal look, I almost always opt for warm, neutral tones such as cashmere, browns and gold as opposed to silvers and greys as they match skin tone a lot better and generally look softer.  For brides wanting a bit of shimmer for their wedding day my favourite eye shadow shades from Urban Decay  are “Chopper” “Sin” and “Smog” I also like to add a bit of “half baked” on the centre of the eyelid to really make them pop!

I try not to use too much black in a bridal makeup and would prefer smudging a little dark brown or black into the lash line as opposed to any kohl or liquid liner which can look a bit heavy.  If you are after a classic vintage look however then this is a different story.  I’m a fan of Illamasqua’s Presicion Ink in “Abyss” which glides on beautifully and dries in a way that it can be peeled off so easy to remove if you make a mistake without smudging it all around your face!  If you wanted something a little less harsh than a solid black line then Estee Lauder’s Double Wear Eyeliner in “02 Brown” is truly lovely and has a little bit of a sparkle in it as well - it too can be removed easily if you make a mistake.  

I tend to prefer working with ‘pens’ over gel liners and Smash Box’s liquid liner pen in jet black goes on perfectly with ease and it is exactly that - jet black!  To soften any liquid liner or cover up any jagged edges then running a bit of black eye shadow over the liquid liner on an angled brush can help blur the line and create a slightly softer smokey effect. 

Hope you’ve found this useful, just a few suggestions for you to try.  If you have any wonder products that you absolutely love then we’d love to hear about them in the comments below!