I do wedding makeup across the Costa del Sol, mostly in Marbella, Mijas, Fuengirola, Benalmádena and Málaga, and at weddings anywhere in Andalusia. I always go to wherever the bride gets ready, whether that is her home, the hotel or the venue, and the trial takes place wherever she chooses too, never in a studio, so she does not have to travel and can try her makeup somewhere she feels at ease.
Almost every bride asks me for the same thing in different words: to look beautiful and still look like herself. That is where every makeup look I create begins, and everything else is decided with each bride: the finish, the intensity, the shades and the way it is set so it copes with the heat here and with a celebration that starts in the morning and ends at night.
Should wedding makeup be natural or full glam?
There is no single kind of wedding makeup, and the answer is rarely in a photo. Some brides want a natural finish, with skin that looks like skin and colour built up gradually; others prefer full glam, with defined lines and sculpted features that read well from a distance and under evening light. Almost anything fits in between, from a soft, luminous soft glam to a fuller base that still looks natural.
What decides the makeup is not this year’s trend, but you: your skin, the dress you have chosen and how you want to feel on the day. That is why I start from the photos you send me in the months before, although none of them works as a template, because each one was taken of someone else’s face. At the trial I adjust it as many times as it takes, until the makeup is yours rather than the one in the photo you brought.
Will my wedding makeup last all day, through heat and tears?
A wedding here runs from the morning until late at night, and much of it happens outdoors. It starts with the ceremony, sometimes with tears, moves on to drinks in the sun and ends on the dance floor, and the makeup has to keep up with all of it. That is why I begin with your skin: I prepare it with a massage and a skincare routine, and give it as much time as it needs depending on how it is that day.
Then I work in fine layers, mattify the areas that tend to shine and set the makeup with water-resistant products that protect it from sweat, from the humidity of the coast and from almost every tear. I say almost because I would rather be honest: no makeup is foolproof, and a tear carries salt, not just water. What it does achieve is that, after a day like that, all that shows are small details, such as a little shine on the forehead or a blush that has faded after so many kisses.
For those details you keep a touch-up kit with the lipstick and blush used on you, in the shades chosen at the trial, plus powder and blotting papers. A couple of minutes between the ceremony and the drinks reception is enough, and in the photos on the dance floor your makeup does not give away the time.
How long does wedding makeup take?
Your makeup takes about an hour. Skin preparation comes before it and takes more or less time depending on how your skin is, and if I am doing your hair as well, that adds another hour. Once you are dressed I place your veil, which takes about ten minutes more. The timings are generous on purpose, so that you do not have to watch the clock that morning.
When I start depends on the ceremony and on how many people are getting ready with you. I count backwards from the time you need to leave: your own time, your mother’s or your sister’s if they are having their makeup done too, half an hour on arrival to set up, and some margin at the end so you can get dressed and have the first photos taken without rushing. Usually I get the bride and two more people ready, and when the group is larger a team comes along, so I stay with you while everyone else is looked after.
How does wedding makeup work, from booking to the wedding day?
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At booking
The first conversation
The wedding, the getting-ready location and whatever worries you most about the day are gone over together.
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One or two months before
The bridal trial
No clock: the result is looked at in daylight and adjusted as many times as it takes, until the bride recognises herself in the mirror.
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The wedding morning
The wedding day
Arrival at the getting-ready location with everything needed and the timings already worked out, so the morning unfolds without rushing.
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That same day
Guests
Mothers, sisters and bridesmaids have their makeup done too, each one with her own moment.
What does wedding makeup include, and how much does it cost?
The bride’s service starts long before the wedding morning. It includes the first conversation, the trial, the touch-up kit and advice throughout the year, so you can write to me whenever a question comes up: about your skin, about a treatment someone has recommended or about some photos you love.
Prices are in the dossier I send when you ask about your date. The total depends mainly on two things: where you get ready, because travel is charged by the kilometre from Fuengirola, and how many people have their makeup done with you. Your wedding date and venue are all I need to reply with the dossier and my availability for that day.
