Bold or Subtle? What wedding make-up look are you going for?

Haha, the "dark glam" look is the same picture I took a screenshot of for my wedding-day MUA's reference. I also like the "soft glam" look too.

I like the soft glam look.

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I am actually, a friend of mine is a MUA and she's doing my make up for the day.

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Are you using a MUA for the day? Sometimes the most beautiful, natural looks that make all your features pop perfectly is actually a full face that took an hour to do... haha! But I hear you, everyone needs to be comfortable, first and foremost. If you feel like you're overdone, you won't shine with the confidence you should have on your big day.

I think as long as it's not too crazy, bolder make-up won't ever be "out of style", but that's why I want to do some trial runs, I want to make sure nothing looks 'clown-ish', or too dark/heavy on my features.

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This looks great! And totally proves my point about going bold (or colourful)... in this picture I can hardly tell you've got coloured shadow on. But that's okay! It's not too much, but glimpses of your photos will catch it. Obviously you can see it in person, but the camera needs a little more than a basic, soft look to make it pop.

I love the colours for a summer wedding!

I'm going for subtle and very soft. I don't wear make up on a regular basis anyway and I think at my wedding I just want to be myself, not this alien version of me. I just want to highlight and bring forth my blue eyes, that's what my FH likes best anyway.

I think ultimately that you need to think future, fashion trends vary constantly so think about what your future self will say about your wedding photos 20, 30, 40 or 50 years down the line. Will you regret having super dark/bright colours or will you still think it was the best choice? Sure the wedding is ONE day, but photos last forever haha

Also, what are you comfortable with and what does your FH think of your idea? I know that it is ultimately your decision, but some times his opinion should be valued as well, I think.

I’m doing very bright and vibrant colours. Nothing soft or dark about it 😅 I don’t know if you can tell by that picture or not. I have lashes on so it might look a little darker. But I have like electric teal and orange and purple I believe.

Soft natural look for me!

I really love the soft glam look!

View quoted message Yeah it's a nice pop of colour.

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I agree! Even now, I think I'll be doing white for my dress, so I want it to compliment it, not look super heavy with such a bright colour.

I loooove the red lip. I feel like I always second guess it, but every time I see someone with it, I think how awesome it looks.

I like the second photo you posted best.

I went for a mix of subtle and bold. I don't wear a lot of makeup normally so I wanted a quite natural look but with a bold red lip to fit in with my colours.

I'm loving all the different looks people are going for! I can definitely see more people leaning towards a softer look, but that's what I was expecting. I hope everyone feels fabulous for their big day

I will be going very subtle. I don't wear much on a day to day basis and I don't want to look different in all my photos

I'm going for a natural look overall.. more than I normally wear though. and NOTHING on my lips.

I am looking to do a soft glam, I usually do really simple make up for my daily look

More of a dark glam for me but with a slightly lighter lipstick than the one in your picture!

Aiming for pinks and purples with some gold highlights or liners to accent!

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I've been adding little bits at a time to my collection. I love that we now have a sephora in our city!

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Over time, I have adapted all of these techniques, and I know they help. It's definitely an improvement. Now I think I'm needing to look at the products I'm using. Many of them are good, but I know there are a few I should upgrade that will be worth it in the long run.

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It's all in the primer you use and the setting spray and how you prep your skin before hand. Make sure you use a facial scrub to rid of the dead skin build up anywhere on your face. Also let your moisturizer set into your skin for a little bit before applying anything else. Do the same thing with your primer.. let it melt into your skin, then apply your foundation. Use a warm damp beauty blender in dabbing motions around your face. If you do decide to add a powder over top to set the foundation only lightly dab the powder onto your face. Afterwards, finish off with a setting spray. It will help everything blend into your skin better and take away the cake-y, chalky look.

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Ohhh, testers. That's a good idea! I notice my biggest issue is looking kinda chalky, or cakey. So I will need to look into more luminous finishes.

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For sure! You don't want to be looking back on big events where professional photos were taken and end up hating how your face looks!

I went to sephora to get samples of good foundation for the day so I can narrow down to one that will last the longest with the least amount of touchups... and one that won't settle into my old lady lines on my face lol

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Haha, if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. If you were good at what you do (which I assume you were), I can definitely see it being frustrating when someone you would be paying doesn't live up to your expectations.

My sister is wonderful at make-up, and one of my step-sisters is a hair stylist, but I don't want anyone in my family worrying about anything other than themselves that day. I'm fortunate all my bridesmaids are talented with their make-up, I'll just tell them the look I'm going for and leave them to it.

I don't go out much where there would be cameras, haha, but I was definitely thinking of getting it maybe for a girls night, or family function... I feel like if you do it for your bridal shower or engagement photos, and you don't like it, you're kind of hooped.

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Those are great points. I completely agree, you have to work with your natural features, and try to enhance them with the correct shades, or you'll end up looking overdone or like a clown.

I usually don't wear make-up out of laziness at work, but I have lots of it, and do it for the weekends and nights out. So my scale goes from bare faced to full glam. I have an olive skin tone, so bold lips and smoky eyes are totally in the realm of possibility for me. I'm wanting to enlarge the look of my eyes, with a winged, smoky shadow, and the lips, I want them to be bold and rich, not necessarily dark.

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I went for a trial for my engagement photos and actually left there and went home and washed my face right off. They always tell you to do it on a big night where you'll be around a lot of cameras but I disagree with that! Get it done on a night that you and the FH are going to go out on a date or even a girls night. Take some photos, see how it wears, and then decide from there.

Because of that trial I decided to just do my own makeup. I used to work as a makeup artist so I'm unsure as to why I even went for a trial lol. I absolutely hate when anybody else attempts makeup on me because it NEVER looks good, in my opinion haha

In order to make the decision, I would say it depends on few factors. First, do you usually wear makeup on daily basis or not. Second, which features in your face do you want as focal point. Third, do you have cold, warm or neutral skin tone. Everyone is different.

For me, I usually put little eye shadows, blush and lipstick on daily basis. I rarely go out without any makeup. For my wedding, I would go for dark glam cause I want my eyes to stand out and be the focal point. And since I have warm skin tone, the color of lipstick you have on the dark glam would suit me very well and it will brighten my skin.

The soft glam will look good on cold skin tone ladies. But for warm skin tone ladies, it will make them look too pale. Cold skin tone ladies will look bold on the dark glam but will be pretty and stand out. Very dark glam is not for cold skin tone ladies cause it will be scary. That's my personal opinion.

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For sure! I'm definitely not wanting to end up looking pageant-y or like a clown... haha. I just know that I do my own full glam make-up sometimes, and go to take a selfie and it looks like I'm wearing barely anything!

My cousin never wears make-up, and she got her hair an make-up done, she was definitely verging on clown make-up... you could even tell in her photos she had a lot of make-up on. She got married in Mexico, so the resort included hair/make-up, but of course, she never did a trial. I think that's what got me scared about putting my face in some one else's hands... haha.

I think most people do a more glam/bold look for evenings out, so it makes sense to go in that direction for an evening wedding.

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Oooh I love that she did so many looks for you! Sounds fun, a day of glam!!

I loveeeee the dark glam look. I'm also having an evening wedding but will still likely end up going with soft glam. I don't want to look too over done. The whole point of the day is to look like yourself, just dolled up a little more. If you normally wear a lot of makeup then I would go with one of the bolder looks but just not too over the top.

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I love the idea of trying them out yourself, and using engagement photos as another "trial" of sorts. I am not good with makeup at all, especially when it comes to eyes, so if you're able to test them out in advance, I think that's a bonus. My MUA did show me several options throughout the trial, so we tried two different eye looks and three different lip colours on top of the base. Have fun, I loved doing my trials!

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I'm not doing the make-up myself day-of, but I am able to create these on my own before hand. I think I'm going to try a couple looks, and photograph them, and see what I'm leaning towards and do that in my trial.

I'm also going for a softer look for our engagement photos, which will most likely be in the summer, so I can see if I feel its too soft or not.

I would say in general people would say I don't wear much make-up, but it's more that I don't bother with it unless I'm going out or doing something. So I do go full glam, but only when it's worth it.

I think all three are wonderful for a wedding. I don't do a lot of makeup on a daily basis so I chose a soft glam look. I love the look of the other two as well, but it would have been way too much for me and maybe unrecognizable. Go with what you like and at the trial (or if you are doing it yourself) you can test out the different looks to decide which to go with.