Ems doing my make up

Is it the season for weddings?…it’s always the season for weddings according to my good friend, Emma Dennis, make-up artist extraordinaire! Ems did the make up for my wedding in Dec last year and I have to say I had a lot of great comments about my skin and the lovely natural look she created so she comes highly recommended. Ems is going to guest blog on this site for me with make up tips, ideas and real life examples of her work from recent weddings so hopefully you can get some inspiration from her and some of the pics.. this is a long post but a good one if you want to pick up some top make-up tips.

As she says…..

And I was lucky enough to have attended two this year in Europe, so great excuses for a couple of vacations! The second in Cognac in France was extra special and I was doing the makeup for the beautiful bride.

Laura Mercier Tint

I had already done the trial in London a few weeks back. Of course brides want to look their best and therefore on the makeup front usually less is more as it were, why mask their natural beauty and happy glow. You want them to shine through not be hiding behind heavy foundation and crazy eye colors! And in the French heat you certainly don’t want cake melting down their cheeks!

Under this I also used the Laura Mercier oil-free primer which not only smoothes the skin and creates a good base onto which to apply the rest of your makeup, but really helps it stay put during your day. I applied a touch of concealer round her eyes to cover any slight dark circles, not that she had any though really! Finally a dusting of light powder to set.

Brow brush

I then filled in her eyebrows a little, she is blond and therefore her eyebrows aren’t very dark. Eyebrows really frame a face so this is an important part of her ‘look’. You have to make sure though that you get the right colour, a light brown matt eyeshadow works really well, stroked in with a MAC 208 eyebrow brush. It has slanted, short, firm bristles which makes it easy to use.

Then for her eyeshadow, I used a very light brown, taupey colour swept over the whole lid, this gives a bit of colour and evens out the skin of the eyelid. Make sure before applying any eyeshadow the lid is well dusted with powder, this will ensure the longevity of your shadow and reduce creasing. Alternatively you can use eyeshadow primers, MAC and Screenface do them. I lightly lined her eyes with dark brown shadow for definition, shadow is less harsh than kohl and can be blended out so you don’t get such a sharp ‘line’.

Next I gave a good sweeping of mascara, sometimes you might find that actually a mascara in dark brown is better on blondes than black, it looks a little less showy and brash, which we don’t want for a bride!

Benefit Hoola

Her cheeks were almost made to look like she was flushed…I blended a pinky rouge onto the apples of her cheeks, NARS Multiple in Portofino is a great colour, a really natural rouge and its great to apply, very smooth…you can blend it in with fingers or a foundation brush.

I then used a little light bronzer, Benefit Hoola is a great matt bronzer, too much glitter and you look over St Tropez! I dusted this lightly under her cheeks bones and a little on her t-zone, i.e. over the forehead, browbone, then down her nose. She had a tan anyway, so this was just to slightly enhance this.

For her lips I suggested going a little darker than she would normally choose to wear. Making the lips stand out a little looks prettier and in photos a pale/beige gloss can disappear. I used a little lipstick just a shade darker than her natural lip colour and then gloss over the top, not too much though, you don’t want your vale or your new husband getting stuck on your lips! Not just yet anyway!

Emma Dennis make up artist - the end result!

So bride done! I then had her sister, her mother, her mother in law, and her two sisters in law to do! What a day, I only just made it to the wedding myself!

With thanks to Franck Prignet the wonderful photographer who have sent me this gorgeous sepia photo and captured the magnificent beauty of the day. You can check out more of my wedding and fashion make up at my site emmadmakeup.