Bridal Beauty: Makeup For An Indian (Night) Wedding - Tips & Tricks (Part 1)

Tips & Tricks For Doing Your Own Wedding Makeup (Night Ceremony)

India is a country of diverse cultures and hence observes myriads of traditions and practices... One that I am going to talk about today is the time of the wedding ceremony... From the night time festivities of North Indian weddings, to the early morning ceremonies seen in the Deccan region, to the early evening celebrations in the North-East, our country sure knows how to do weddings any time of the day!

And lucky for us, I got this brainwave to do posts on Bridal Makeup for each type of Mahurat...

Today, I have done a makeup look that would be apt for a late evening/night ceremony. All decked up in major BLING and a bright Red dupatta, I chose to match my lips with my lehenga and leave the rest a little understated.

  

 

Makeup Breakup
1. Cut-crease look to make my partial hooded eyes a little defined.
2. Winged liner to elongate my eyes.
3. Fake lashes to add drama and an air of mystery
4. Heavy contouring and highlighting to aid good photography
5. Bright full lips to attract attention
6. Heavy concealing for an even skintone
7. Defined brows

Tips And Tricks For Indian Bridal Makeup (Nighttime Ceremony)

BASE

1. You need to get your base right. Especially if you are having a late evening ceremony, it is best to get a good concealer and a heavy coverage foundation. Nighttime ceremonies means a lot of harsh lighting and hence your skin needs to look flawless.

2. Always and always opt for a liquid foundation. Powder and Cream Compact foundations (such as MAC Mineralize & Maxfactor's) are not a good idea for evening weddings. Even if you have oily skin, you should get yourself a liquid foundation meant for oily skin.

3. Under your concealer and foundation, you need to apply a good and a resilient primer that will not only help your makeup stay in place but will also prevent your foundation from oxidizing and turning orange. Yes it happens, especially if you are under a lot of stress!

4. Its imperative to mention that you must powder your face once you've applied your base makeup. This not only keeps the shine in control but also gives that finish to your makeup and makes it look all professional and complete.

5. Remember to get your face bleached a couple of days prior in order to make all kinds of facial hair invisible. Of course, threading of your eyebrows and upper lip are mandatory if you want your foundation to set properly.

6. Oh and stay away from foundations that contain SPF. They give a whitish cast under flash photography.

Recommendations -
CONCEALER - MAC Pro Longwear Concealer (for heavy coverage), Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch/YSL Touche Eclat concealer (for lighter coverage)
FOUNDATION - Maxfactor Second Skin Liquid Foundation (Dry Skin), Kryolan Ultra Foundation (Dry Skin), MAC Studio Fix Fluid (Oily Skin), Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (Oily Skin)
LOOSE POWDER - Kryolan Translucent Yellow Powder

EYES

1.  First and foremost, you ned to have your eyebrows groomed... Come what may... If you want to look sharp and your pictures to come out well, your eyebrows need to be tamed, filled-in and shaped... Trust me when I say it makes a major difference to the final outcome.

2. Say a BIG NO to Smokey Eyes... How much ever you may be tempted t get a smokey eye done for your wedding ceremony, remember this post of mine and stay away!!! Of course you can go for a "smoked-out" effect but a full blown smokey eye does not go hand in hand with our Indian practices of long durations of havan and then the inevitable teary-eyed vidaai...
If you are dying to do a Smokey Eye cause you think it would totally transform you into a hottie, then I'd suggest you to do it for your reception rather than the wedding ceremony.

3. Most of our bridal attires either have golden (bright, coppery, antiqued, dull) or silver work and hence you may want to use a similar shaded eye shadow for your eyes but remember to use it only on your lids. The shimmery eye shadows should not cross the crease of your eye.

4. Use a dark colored matte eye shadow in a shade that complements (not matches) your outfit in your crease to give depth and a little vibrancy. Do make a note to ensure it is matte. For my wedding I did the mistake of using a shimmery maroon shade on my eyes and well that is one thing that I do not remember fondly about my wedding :/
Also note that when I say a complementing colour, I mean a shade that looks good with the primary color of your outfit... For example, if your lehenga/saree is Red, then a navy blue matte shade in your crease could do wonders... If your lehenga/saree is Pink/Magenta/Fuschia then an emerald green matte eyeshadow in your crease would look gorgeous... You get the drift don't you?

5. Do not forget to use a highlighter on your browbone area. It totally lifts up your eyes and makes you look younger, more regal and more put together... Get yourself a highlighter shade you are comfortable with and practice before hand... And apply the highlghter using a tapered blending brush (MAC 226) for more control, precision and avoiding harsh edges...

6. Your kajal and eye liner should be water and smudge proof...

7. Use loads of waterproof mascara and stay away from false eye lashes for the wedding ceremony... The eyelash glue melts away in the heat radiating from the havan.

8. Do go in for a winged liner as it looks extremely womanly, graceful and beautiful.

RecommendationsEYESHADOW - Faces Sparkle Dust in Gold (Coppery Golden), MAC Goldmine (Pure Golden), MAC Contrast (Matte Dark Blue), MAC Humid (Dark Green), Inglot DS 72 (Purple), MAC Paint Pot in IndianWood (Orangey golden cream eyeshadow), Maybelline Color Studio Eye Tattoo in Bold Gold (True Golden Cream eyeshadow)
HIGHLIGHTER - MAC Nylon, MAC Ricepaper

LIPS
1. Since, the eyes have been done up to not match our outfit, I'd suggest you to match your lipstick to your outfit to being as close as possible.

2. Keep your lipstick preferably matte and do the tissue trick to keep in on for long hours... The trick is to wear an opaque shaded lipstick and then kiss into a tissue, reapply the lippy and re-kiss into a tissue... Do this three times and your lippy should stay in place for the rest of the night.

3. If your lippy seems too matte or too severe, then apply a little bit of a transparent gloss in the middle of your lips and press your lips together. That's it! Don't apply the gloss all over your lips!

4. Oh yeah before I forget, getting your upperlips done is not optional but mandatory! Seriously!

RecommendationsLIPSTICK - MAC Ruby Woo, Maybelline 14 Hr Super Stay Lipstick in Eternal Rose, Colorbar True Gloss in Vintage Rose, Lakme Absolute Matte Lipstick in Classic Rose, Inglot Shade #33, Colorbar Velvet Matte Lipstick in Hot Hot Hot

CHEEKS

1. If you are getting married ay night, then you need to contour baby... Cause if done correctly, then it looks really fabulous in the pictures. It does.

2. You will need to use a lowlighter in the hollows of your cheeks, on your temples and under the jaw bone. This gives angles to your face and makes you look thinner and sharper.

3. Use a highlighter on your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, forehead and on your cupid's bow.

4. A nice rosy or a pinky blush is mandatory. Without it the harsh lighting will wash you out in the pictures.

5. For an iridescent glow, you could apply a cream blush first and then apply a layer of powder blush on top of it. This gives the face a glow and the layering ensures that the blush stays on longer.

I had done a video tute on face contouring, you can check it out HERE

RecommendationsLakme Absolute Moonlit Highlighter (for contouring), Illamasqua Powder Blush in Morale (Bright Pink), Ellis Faas Cream Blush in S304 (Warm toned blush), Colorbar Powder Blush in Floral Fucsia, MAC Dollymix Shimmer Blush, Maybelline Powder Blush in Apricot Flush

Please note that this a 2 part post. This was part 1... Part 2 will be about the stuff that I may have missed out or about stuff that you may want to cover in addition to the points I have listed out here.
S
So go ahead, ask away :)

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