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How to do mother of the bride make-up
Make-up must-dos to make sure you look your big day best. By Good Housekeeping's deputy beauty editor Gilliam Davies, aka 'wedding make-up artist to friends and family'.
Step 1: Prep
Digital photography means that pre-wedding skin prep is now more important than ever. Having a course of facials before is a good-skin investment and we're big fans of CACI treaments for toning and firming skin. At home try SKI II Facial Treatment Masks, £86, which do work out at a more purse-friendly £8.60 per use! And although you look like an extra from a horror film while wearing one, the advantage is you can carry on doing other pre-wedding chores (there's always hundreds) while letting the plumping and brightening amino acids, vitamins and peptides in the mask do their magic.
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Step 2: Prime
A 16 hour day (maybe more) plus hundreds of photographs, as well as seeing old friends and relatives means you don't want your foundation to have disappeared before the speeches. Applying a primer before your foundation will add to its longevity (even if it's long-lasting) and, depending on your skin requirements, it can mattify shine, add hydration, blur wrinkles or diffuse pores.
We're big fans of Laura Mercier's range which caters to different skin types, while Stila's Colour Correct, £24, contains colour correcting pigments so it's great for evening out red or shallow tones in skin.
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Step 3: The base
For a natural, matte but radiant finish I recommed Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion Make up, £40. It contains oils that evaporate on the skin leaving a really fine, satiny finish. It's long-lasting and you can build up the colour if you like more coverage.
Using a brush like Revlons Foundation Brush, £8.99, helps to create a smooth, even finish too. A light dusting of Vichy's Dermablend Setting Powder, £15, with a large, round brush keeps shine at bay and helps to set make-up.
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Step 4: Blusher & Bronzer
Blusher adds instant freshness and makes our features look more 3D, while some subtle sculpting with bronzer can help to create chiseled cheekbones and a more defined jaw. In both cases cream based products are easier to blend and add a healthy sheen to skin. Avoid anything with sparkles or glitter as this will highlight any fine lines and wrinkles.
Bobbi Brown's Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks, £19, comes in 10 wearable shades and, applied with brush on the apples of the cheeks, creates natural-looking colour. Buff a bronzer like Chanel's Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronzing Makeup Base, £32, in circles underneath cheekbones to sculpt and define. Pick a colour one shade darker than your natural skin tone for a realistic finish that won't look obvious in daylight.
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Step 5: The finishing touch
Wearing bright lipstick at a wedding is not the best place to start if you've never tried one before. However, if you have a favourite red lipstick that makes you feel confident and happy then go for it! A punchy pop of colour, on lips and nails can really accentuate an outfit and looks great in photos. While suit-all shades of blush and petal are low maintenance and natural looking.
I've used Estee Lauder's Pure Colour Envy Lipstick, £24, in Powerful and MAC's Pro Longwear Lipcreme, £18, in Overtime at several weddings and they magically make lips look plumper, and are creamy and comfortable to wear. To prevent lipstick bleeding, use a transparent lip liner like Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide on Lip Pencil, £13.50, first. One MOTB (Mother of the Bride) was impressed with Guerlains Kiss Kiss Liplift, £24, which helps to smooth lips and prevents lipstick from fading.
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