I’m coming up on my 29th wedding anniversary so have been reflecting back on the big day. Which of course means that I have been thinking about my makeup, and whether the look has held up in the photos.
But what I’ve really been thinking about is that as a makeup artist, doing bridal makeup can really kind of suck.
Bridal makeup artists have to have a thick skin and be super cool under pressure - and there can be a lot of pressure. It’s like doing makeup for the Oscars - it has to look beautiful on the red carpet (or down the aisle, as it were), close up and from a distance, on camera and in video and last for hours and hours in any type of climate or weather. It’s a real challenge, and was even more so when I got married in 1995 when hairspray was setting spray, the only makeup sponges were the triangle wedges from the drugstore and it was not mainstream to use an eyelash curler.
I haven’t done bridal makeup in ages, and it was never the core of my business. I always felt that it was a very high pressure job in an environment that could be very emotionally charged. I also felt so responsible for the photos that generations of the family would be looking at that it would often give me anxiety.
I once had the step-sister of the bride be so mean and nasty to the bride that it turned the atmosphere in the room to ice. Another time the mother-of-the-bride behaved in such a rude and entitled way that it became crystal clear that this type of artistry was never going to be my bread and butter. And the bride who kept me waiting for 2 hours then acted like she was doing me a favor by asking me to do her makeup, without ever even offering a simple thank you at the end, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I realized I’m just not cut out for the heightened emotions of a wedding day workplace.
So when I think about my own wedding makeup from all those years ago … I have to say that it was a job (mostly) well done. It was a second marriage for Doug and I had never had huge “bride” fantasies, so we had a small Sunday brunch event with only about 75 people in attendance. Doing makeup for me, my 2 bridesmaids and my mom, who is already gorgeous, made for a pretty mellow environment.
Back in 1995, there was no social media where you could look at an artist’s work to gauge whether they are the right fit for you. And really the only artists out there worked in department stores for Laura Mercier or Bobbi Brown (the IT brands of the time) or in a salon using some random - and probably shitty - private label makeup.
I can’t remember the name of my makeup artist now, or how I found her (I think a referral from my hair stylist?), but I can remember feeling like Cindy Crawford when she was done with me.
She didn’t do a trendy look - it was classic and simple, with a tiny dash of sexy, the way I like to wear my makeup still to this day. An uncomplicated eye but with an extra pop of drama, skin that looks like skin, and a neutral pink cheek and lip. My eyebrows were a little too dark for my taste, overplucked and slightly sperm shaped in that 90’s kind of way, but at least she didn’t make them super skinny. I do remember that she used very luxurious natural hair makeup brushes with chic clear handles which must have been Trish McEvoy, but of course the idea of using anything other than vegan makeup brushes gives me the ick these days.
The advice I always give to brides is borne from my own experiences, as a bride and as a makeup artist. Stay away from trend,, don’t decide that your wedding day is the perfect time to try a look you’ve never done before and for heaven’s sake … be sweet to your makeup artist.