I'm doing my own makeup for my wedding
Telling those around you that you’re doing your own make-up for your wedding is typically met with a resounding "...Oh."
The message - received loud and clear - was that hiring a professional make-up artist, one with skills, and kit bags and know-how, was generally the only way one could look great in photos, and that theirs was the only skill set that would eliminate potential unnecessary stresses of the day.
Indeed, Ireland is full to the brim of incredible artists, those whose skills far surpass mine. However, following a few years of deep makeup curiosity, I have still decided to go forth and do my own. This is despite the well-meaning questions, the keen curiosity and the outright insistence that this is the wrong thing to do.
Alas, we move. Here’s why.
While working across the realms of beauty, wellness and skincare has given me Access All Areas to the ground zero of makeup artistry, facial skills and skin intelligence, ultimately no one knows your face quite like you do.
As author and model Emily Ratajkowski previously told Vogue in a Beauty Secrets video, while sharing that she regularly does her own make-up for events: "It’s the face I wake up with and go to sleep with… I’ve learned what works well on me."
While I am not working with the equivalent base layer Ratajkowski is, I decided that needn’t matter, and that I should apply the ultimate test on myself, some 16 years of semi-regularly applying makeup. Because, ultimately, I want to look and feel like myself… And if that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.
That said, I wasn’t above relying on some of the pros. Here’s where the Access All Areas comes in, so listen up if you have my same skin issues: acne-prone skin, melasma and cheeks that have somehow pivoted from chipmunk to jowls.
As per recommendation from a trusted source, Dr Emma Fanning at Le formulaire, I engaged in some Morpheus (Single session: €900) for both skin tightening and acne scar lessening reasons. On top of this, Dr Fanning also recommended a compound (€120) complete with prescription-strength tretinoin and azelaic acid to use in the run-up to the big day.
While I am using this in the run-up to my wedding, I can’t deny I’m thrilled to actually be catering to my skin’s needs rather than simply picking up something from the pharmacy and hoping for the best. On top of this, I am avoiding the sun (melasma is the most potent form of sun protection), doing my usual routine (Botox once a year with Dr George Nema) and making use of some Perfectil I got at an event.
Oftentimes, these things take weeks to work, so check back in, and I’ll let you know if I’ve turned into a goddess overnight.
My second professional was a legitimate game changer: a beauty consultation service at Brown Thomas with Head of Beauty Personal Shopping Aidan Corcoran.
Photo: Kate Demolder
Here, I got a 90-minute whistle-stop tour of my face and what suits it. This appointment, called the Bride To Be Beauty Edit, is available to the public, and while it costs €150, every cent is redeemable on products.
I learned first-hand about where to place concealer, the difference between powders, what to do about redness and the simple tricks to taking your makeup from amateur to professional. My biggest takeaways that day? Light layers are the makeup cheat code, and don’t forget your ears.
While it may sound deeply self-indulgent to begin my bridal beauty brief (to self) a year in, I’m taking this entire process as a learning curve, one which will hopefully make me feel entirely confident about my own makeup skills going forward.
For someone who once genuinely favoured concealer on my lips, this is no mean feat. It’s also given me suitable opportunities to flex my skills for the weddings and events I’m attending this year.
So far, I’m making use of a slew of products, not all unaffordable. On my base, right now anyway, I’m going with a number of products I reach for regularly: Glow Recipe’s Dew Shield (because SPF is for every day, even your nuptials) Charlotte Tilbury’s Flawless Filter (my everyday; ELF’s version is also excellent) Kosas concealer, Benefit’s Benetint, REFY’s bronzer, Victoria Beckham’s Contour Stylus with L’Oreal Paris waterproof mascara and Rimmel’s Lasting Finish Lip Liner in Cappuccino on my lips and eyes – neither of which have left my beauty bag in months.
Photo: Kate Demolder
For my T-zone and chin, which I would consider my problem areas, even though no one really notices them but me, I will dutifully dust Laura Mercier powder to secure a matte finish and non-budging liquid products underneath. Make-up artists would definitely tell me to apply a light finish all over to secure the beat for the day, but I like a little sweat-adjacent glow on my temple, so I’m going to bend the rules slightly and let my feral flag fly.
Cheeks are where I generally lose the plot, leaning into blush blindness heavily. I’m still undecided about my exact formula there, but as a person who tends to get red in the face when any eyes are on her, I may execute steps to lean out rather than in.
The ultimate finishing touch? Likely a lip balm. I may pivot to my favourite lip product ever, Chanel’s Rouge Allure in Boy, but to be honest, I’m most comfortable with a little zhush of balm on my lips. And crucially, I can’t mess that up after a glass of champagne.
My prep beforehand will be minimal, with an emphasis on a natural glow. Following a Face Yoga by Agnes workshop I attended last year, I will be massaging my face daily in the run-up – really getting in there, and lifting towards my temple, as one should – and only really focusing on hydration and minor exfoliation in the run-up.
Photo: Kate Demolder
If I can give anyone reading this one piece of advice, it’s don’t try anything new in the month before a big event. It is certainly tempting – I know, from horrendous experience – but do your trial runs several months before, if you must.
While any other advice I can give is limited right now, considering I am literally a year away from doing the deed, for any others considering foregoing professionals with their look, I can say that I feel entirely comfortable with my decision.
Getting ready has always been the best part of the night for me, and as a control freak, I like to be able to examine every element of myself and not worry about hurting someone’s feelings. (Worth mentioning here that makeup artists want you to feel like your most beautiful self, and truly don’t care about edits… but I would be very much in my head about it.)
Photo: Kate Demolder
Lastly, the makeup artists available to us in Ireland are genuinely world-class. I am not anywhere near their level, but I wanted to share this as an option for those who either can’t afford them or can’t find any for their wedding date.
Lest we forget, weddings are wrapped up in a billion-dollar industry, one that wants to sell you the perfect everything, all of which adds up to undue pressure.
In my mind, your wedding is about celebrating you and your partner, so whatever choice you make should be about you, and not what others think. Say yes to the things you want, even if that is clown makeup, a fake moustache, or no makeup at all.
As such, I will stick to the things that make me feel good, like attempting to overline my cupid’s bow, and leaning into the joy of flushed cheeks, rather than shielding them from view.
Tune back in to see if I eat my words come 2027.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
