What’s the best way to maintain your makeup throughout your wedding day?

Imagine just finishing up getting your makeup done the morning of your wedding and looking in the mirror and feeling absolutely gorgeous… then realizing you still have 3 hours till the ceremony and 4 hours till the start of the reception and you know that when you do your own makeup its already a hot mess by lunch.
Eek!
But this is just something that comes with long wedding day timelines and is totally normal.

Photographer: Kara Reynolds Venue: The Lakehouse San Marcos

Good news is there are things you can do to make sure your makeup stays looking great all the way through to the final send off at the end of the night!
If you hired a professional then you are going to already have a little bit of advantage as they will use long-wearing products, but contrary to popular belief that doesn’t mean your face is now completely bullet-proof, so here is what you can do to help...


#1) Hands Off!    
    The more you touch, the worse your makeup will last. A lot of people don’t even realize they are face touchers so try to be a little more aware. Every wipe of the nose, scratch of the eyebrow, and rub of the eye you are removing your makeup artist’s beautiful work. What to do instead? Try using the back of your finger (the area between your nail and knuckle) to gently pat any itch. The biggest key is to never touch with fingertips




#2)  Pat, don’t wipe    
    This goes hand in hand with the 1st point, but now I’m talking about what to do when the tears flow. Try to catch those tears before they streak down your cheek if possible. And the best way to do this is to gently pat a tissue to the corner of the eye. But please promise no matter what you do you will never rub or wipe! Long-wear, water resistant, and even water proof makeup can survive the wetness of tears but it can’t survive the combo of wet + wiping.




#3) Have the right touch up products    
    Most of my brides report back that they never had to worry about touching up their makeup, but I still let my brides know that I recommend having blotting sheets, powder, and lipstick on hand just in case. Blotting sheets will remove the oil on the surface of the skin, so if you are looking a little more than just glowing you may want to blot up some of that excess shine. Powder is key for ensuring your complexion remains looking flawless. To avoid cake face you need to remember to never powder on top of excess oil (hence the blotting sheets). The powder will smooth out your skin and blur any pesky discoloration that may start peeking through your coverage as the night wears on and you get your dance on. Lipstick is important because lip products are the first to wear off. The moment you eat something you can kiss that perfectly painted pout goodbye, unless you are extremely careful with each and every bite! It just makes more sense to give those lips a quick refresh than to deal with eating like a snake with an unhinged jaw though so just have a little lippie in your bag. Plus my brides get a full sized lipstick to keep included in my rates so they don’t even have to worry about picking out the right one- I do it for you!

If you are putting together your touchup kit on your own here are a few of my favorites that you can get on amazon...

​#4) Keep your pro on standby         
    Did you know that most makeup artists offer touch up services? If you want the celebrity treatment you can opt to pay to have your artist stay with you to keep that shine at bay and lipstick in place. Different artists will handle this differently but I find my experience on set for photoshoots is a huge benefit to clients because I've learned when I can step in and when to stay back out of the way, only doing touch ups when needed based on what I know the camera will see and what is important for in person so I am never slowing down the show. I will also personally touch up anyone who opted to have their makeup done by myself or my team before the wedding so not only will you stay looking great but your whole bridal party stays picture perfect all for a flat hourly rate.






I specifically geared this for my brides out there who may be wondering but you can absolutely use these same principles to make sure your makeup stays fresh on any long day (well besides having an artist on standby lol)​

Bride: Angeline Photographer: Westlund Photography

Hope these tips & tricks will help you look and feel absolutely gorgeous for your entire celebration! 

If you enjoyed this post then you are in luck!

In collaboration with Amy Huang Photography we are working on creating a series of posts to help  our brides feel informed about what to expect on the wedding day! She will handling some of your most frequently asked questions from her perspective from the engagement session right on through to getting your images, and I'll be handling all things beauty!

Amy Huang Photography

xoxo
​Kimm