Understated Elegance: The Makeup

Written by: louise

When deciding on make up looks I take my lead the style of the wedding, not just the colour palette, as my starting point when it comes to finalising my ideas on make up designs. Once I had seen the understated wedding dress (a gorgeous strapless number) and the mantilla style veil that was going to be used on our model, Klara, for this look the hair just had to be kept loose and in unstructured waves and the make up could be nothing other then simple, clean and fresh looking. Think girl next door gets married in a quaint little village in France, Spain or Italy... I know gorgeous right?!

If the weather is warm, a primer is key to holding everything in place for the duration of the wedding day. A primer is applied after your skincare and prior to your make up application, to create a thin film on the skin that prevents your make up from sitting into pores and fine lines, making everything look more flawless. This will mean minimum amount of touch ups throughout the day, leaving you picture perfect for longer. My go to primers are ones from Laura Mercier as they carry several, for different skin types from Oil Free for oily/combination skins to Radiance Primers for normal/drier and more mature skins.

Next I recommend a dewy finish foundation for this look, here I've used a Sheer Glow foundation by Nars as I like the coverage and durability of this one even though it looks super light when buffed in. Nars also do a Sheer Matte version for those who prefer that, especially if their skin has oilier tendencies. I would then conceal very lightly over the top of your base and under eyes only where needed to give a more natural finish and then set it all lightly with a loose translucent powder using a powder puff. Dust off any excess with a big fluffy powder brush and that is the complexion side of the make up complete.

When doing a natural look there has to be an area of focus to make it a little more than an every day make up. This can be achieved usually by emphasising the brows or lashes or by using a slightly brighter pop of colour as a blush. I decided to work with the models naturally dark brows and make them the focal point leaving the eye make up very soft and emphasising the lashes with a couple of coats of a volume mascara. On the eyes I used a medium grey shimmer cream shadow by Chanel on the lower lid. A Chantecaille gel eyeliner pencil blended out to give a hint of definition and then a Nyx charcoal black pigment powder over the top on the outer corners and blended upwards to give a soft smoky effect. I finished off with a dab of Vanilla pigment by Mac which gives a really pretty sheen when used with a small rounded brush to blend with.

I then applied a soft pink blush and added a MAC mineralise powder to highlight on the nose, the temples and above the cheekbones to add to the glow factor. I finished the look of with a creamy lipstick from Tom Ford that again gave shine and dimension to the lips making them look fuller without using a full on colour.

{clockwise from top}

Nyx pigment chrome shadow in black // C hanel cream shadow in no.83 Illusoire // Nars Sheer Glow Foundation // MAC Blot Powder in Medium // MAC Mineralise Skin Finish Powder in Soft and Gentle // Tom Ford Lip Colour Shine in 02 Smitten // Chantecaille Faux Cils Mascara in Black // Chantecaille Gel Eyeliner Oencil in Hematite // MAC Pigment in Vanilla

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Categories: b.team, diy, styled shoots, the style guide · Tags: ana ospina, beauty, contemporary, destination wedding, make up, makeup tutorial, natural makeup, romantic, style guide, understated elegance