Bridal Make-up Consultations Tips & Advice by Zainab Xnb-beauty Artist

Setting a wedding date is one of the most important decisions in your life and comes with it other important things such as finding the right make-up artist!

I am going to help and provide advice on how to narrow things down and will be discussing two main areas: one being things to do and help you research prior to booking the make-up consultation and secondly things to ask for and look out for to maximise the trial potential and to help towards booking the right make-up artist.

Research, Research, Research

Your first steps in finding a good MUA will involve doing abit of research, which can be done in a number of ways, on-line, looking through magazines, or in person. In person research is when you go to weddings and pay extra attention to the bride, and brides maid make-up, if you do then approach them, to ask who their make-up artist was. This way you can collect the names and details of your chosen artist and short list the ones you will approach to book a trial with. When you get to this point you either would want to email or call them. I will always recommend emailing the artist as it will leave a paper trail of the conversations you had for you to follow up on, phone conversations are good for you to get an idea of their personality and their communication level.

Communication is Key

When emailing your make-up artist it is really important for you to include some details such as the wedding date, the services you require such as make-up only or hair and make-up, other beauty services, the number of people being made up, travel and location of your wedding venue. once you have emailed your make-up artist all the information they should be able to get to you answering all the questions you asked. It is also important to pay attention to how long the artist takes to get back to you. If they take longer or get back to you a month late then that can cause alot of problems in your wedding planning near to your wedding date. Communication is really important! once your content with the initial communication book the trial.

Be Prepared
Second part is to go prepared to the trial, take with you swatches or fabric samples of the bridesmaid dresses and your own dress that is if you don't have the actual wedding dress on you, but its best to take your dress or a part of your dress that is easiest to carry. The same
applies to the jewellery, even magazines with sticky notes on images that you like, it is advisable to make sure your eyebrows and face are groomed its nothing worst for the make-up artist to try apply make-up on poorly groomed hairy eyebrows...growing out your eyebrows wouldn't make a different on your day as they can be groomed by applying
make-up .. for you to be able to successfully book the artist you need to be able to visualise yourself as the bride as much as possible so make sure your eyebrows and face are groomed, as close to how you would want it on your wedding day to maximise the trial outcome. During the trial you can ask to look at the artists portfolio or their bridal work, you can also ask to see some reference pictures if you did not get the chance to bring any inspiration pictures or any magazines with you, additionally your make-up artist might have some published work so do ask. Its a chance to have a look at their skills and versatility.

Hygiene is number one for a good MUA
You should also pay attention to their make-up hygiene so look out for their brushes and products, if you have certain product preferences and any allergies it is wise to point that out as make-up hygiene is a big part of the make-up artist trade, it is also important to note this if your scared of germs or have sensitive skin. Always make sure the make-up artist has washed and sanitized their hands before they start any treatment on you...if they haven't do not hesitate to point it out as its an issue of health.

Its your Big Day..So speak up!

Don't be afraid to to be critical or express your preferences on make-up styles and make-up colours as its your wedding day and the make-up you feel looks good on you and what makes you happy is the most important thing. I would recommend having just the one trial or a few if you want to compare different artists, I will also recommend taking one person to accompany you to the trial who's honest opinion you trust rather then to take alot of people with you as that will cause confusion and indecisiveness.

Finally Relax
Weddings are a joyous happy occasion so make sure you enjoy all the experiences you face such as shopping , planing the different stages of the wedding, remember to delegate the tasks as its far easier to follow up on peoples to whom you have given different tasks to rather then to juggle every thing yourself, try to eliminate any stress and give plenty of time to pamper yourself, all this will add to your radiance on your wedding day.