Abby's DIY Wedding Day Makeup

Who says you can't be your own  makeup artist on your big day?

Ah, February– the month of love! And oh how I have had so much fun with all of the Valentine’s-themed posts (like my 5 minute chocolate caramel cup recipe!), so I thought what better way to end this month than with a post about my wedding day– and how I did my makeup. 

Wedding Day Makeover

I got married the weekend after Thanksgiving. I had hired a makeup artist to do my makeup the morning of the wedding, so I hadn’t brought much makeup other than what I wear on a normal day along with me – just my travel basics: foundation, finish powder, In-the-Buff Eyeshadow Stacker with the shades  Soft Touch, Life of the Party (this was limited edition, but you can use  Golden Taupe for a similar look), Optimist (this was limited edition, but you can use  Champagne for a similar look),  Golden Glam, and  Whisper,  Ebony Black Mineral Eyeliner Pencil,  Black Magic Natural Mascara, and my essential go-to  Natural Glow Mineral Bronzer (I use this Every. Single. Day.and not just as a bronzer…), my  Deep Earth Brow Powder, and a couple of lipsticks. That was it.

Do my own makeup - on my wedding day?

Which is honestly the perfect amount for traveling– but when my makeup artist canceled on me the MORNING OF my wedding… I definitely freaked out for a minute when I looked in my little travel makeup bag at my modest stash and thought to myself– well, I guess I’m going to have to go it alone! 

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Tried and True and Well Loved

I only had about thirty minutes (30 minutes!!) to do my makeup at that point before I absolutelyneeded to be out of the door– so I jumped right in, and just followed my routine. At that point, I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I felt that I had these tried and true, and oh-so-well-loved products with me. I realized that the reason I travel with them is that they are my favorites, and they perform so consistently and so beautifully for e each and every day– why should my wedding day be any different!

The Wedding Artistry

I spent the most time making sure that my foundation was buffed into my skin perfectly, and then on my brows. Those are the most important elements for me to get right, and there’s no way to “cheat” around them– in pictures, I knew how important having beautiful foundation was, but also how foundational my brows are to a strong, clean look that will transfer well to camera. Shaping my brows and making sure they came out well was definitely not something I could speed through– I didn’t want to get my wedding pictures back and havetwo totally different sized/shaped eyebrows…! (LOL!) For my eyeshadow I went very simple. I used Optimist (as Optimist was a limited edition holiday color, you can sub a simple light & shimmery shadow likeChampagne for a similar look) all over the lid, and Soft Touch as my crease color. Then I lined my upper lash line, tight line, and water line with my Organic Ebony Black Mineral Eyeliner Pencil to give my eyes a defined look, and thenpacked on the mascara! If I had more time (or all of my makeup, LOL!) I would have used some wet powder liner to create a more dramatic cat eye, but I think the simple liner turned out pretty and I have no regrets. (I had all the drama I could ever need the next day for my Indian wedding ceremony as you can see below, so the simple look for the first day actually worked out perfectly :) !)

Dramatic Indian Ceremony Look

Final Touches

My last step was adding in some color to my cheeks, and lips! I used my all time fave cheek color (seriously,Natural Glow Mineral Bronzer is my ride or die– if you haven’t tried it yet, it will change your life!), and then on second thought blended a little extra onto my eyelids in the crease with a fluffy blending brush as well. For my lips, I used a dark burgundy lipstick that I sheered out with my fingers a bit after applying because since the rest of the look was so natural I didn’t want to overpower it with too strong of a lip. Plus, the theme was pretty boho/hippie-chic, so I was happy with a natural lip :) At that point, I had to run out the door! And I should add that I actually drew the eyeliner onto my upper lash line after the ceremony before we came out for pictures because I literally did not have enough time to draw a steady line on each eye before I ran out (or my then finacé/now husband came and dragged me out… haha!) the door for the ceremony. 

You Can Be Your Own Makeup Artist

In the end, I’m happy that I did my own makeup on my wedding day! It actually gave me a lot of confidence to be able to say that I had done it myself– plus, it was kind of fun knowing that I had done my whole “look” myself since I had already made my own dress and my own flower crown.

The blessing of bridesmaids

Although, credit where credit is due, my lovely bridesmaid and wonderful friend Maddie took control in all of the insanity that morning and did my hair (which I had planned to do but had no time for once I had to do my own makeup…! And, she had only learned to curl hair earlier that week so she could curl her own hair for the wedding.) So really, Maddie was the real rockstar! Not to mention, the one who pulled everything together and helped us all stay sane in the unexpected craziness that day.

Maddie (second from the right), me, and the rest of my fab friends and beautiful bridesmaids![/caption] I’m so thankful for my friends, my husband, and my trusty travel makeup pouch. In the end, everything turned out exactly how it needed to be!

 If you want to learn more about mineral makeup (and how you can get that gorgeous airbrushed finish so crazy fast like I did in this post) check out myMineral Makeup Beauty Hacks post for some quick tips and little tricks I’ve picked up along the way! Or, if you want to see another (more in-depth!) tutorial, click on over to my sweet and soft romantic Valentine’s day look I shared earlier this month to give you some ideas about how to incorporate a little more color into your every-day (or date night!) beauty routine.

Abby is a recent UCSB alum and self proclaimed second-generation hippie with a passion for everything DIY, vegan snickerdoodles, and eco-friendly, sustainable living– in that order. She is happily married to all 6 ½ feet of her wonderful husband, and spends her time taking pictures and writing about about her life in tiny notebooks.  

Note from Lisa: Be on the lookout for a few of our limited edition colors to come in to the shop to stay - Optimist being one of them.