The Happy Balance

You want your groom to recognize you as you walk down the aisle, not to mention looking like yourself in your wedding pictures. The key is to look like yourself with a little bit of enhancement. You need a little more make-up so it shows in pictures but want to look amazing in real life - you need to strike a happy balance.

The Tone

While every bit of your makeup is important, pay extra attention to your skin tone. You’ll want to be careful it does not look blotchy or oily. You may want to start exfoliating no less than 2 months before your wedding with the goal of having smooth skin. Once or twice per week depending on your skin type, should do the trick. If you want to treat yourself, get a professional facial 6 weeks before your wedding and make sure your esthetician knows this is your pre-wedding facial. Be certain not to over-exfoliate or receive any aggressive treatments 8 weeks leading up to your wedding. Don't forget under the eyes. Make sure they are hydrated and nourished after all your hectic wedding planning! Try Palladio Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream and Palladio Pore-Refining Facial Scrub.

Prime Time

Your face is like a beautiful canvas, waiting for its masterpiece. Prime your face before you apply either liquid or powder foundation. Primer fills in pores and fine lines and you'll find your foundation glides on effortlessly. Palladio Herbal Foundation Primerhelps makeup from setting in to any imperfections. Don’t forget the eyeshadow primer! Not only does it help prevent shadow from creasing and helps it last longer, but it provides a nice, even base for your shadow. We love the shade and texture of Palladio Herbal Eyeshadow Primer. We recommend blending it into your eyelids from lash line to brow. You will love the velvety feel and how it magically conceals any veins or colorations on your lids before applying eyeshadow.

Strategically Conceal

If the inner corners of your eyes tend to be dark, add a concealer (or maybe even a highlighter?) and blend very well so it doesn't look too heavy. You may need to add concealer to the sides of your nose if it tends to get red. Concealing is also a great tool to help cover any dark areas under the eyes. And let’s hope not, but those pesky friends, “the blemishes”, tend to pop up at these important times. Palladio Herbal Liquid Concealer'scome in an array of shades - each dedicated to your concealing needs.

The Highlights

Highlighting may be a difficult concept to grasp, but it could be your best friend when you want to draw attention to a special feature, add a touch of light here or there or contour a specific area. Depending on your facial features and skin tone, there are three main areas highlighters comes in handy: the cheekbones and temples, the eyes, and the Cupid’s bow. It is important to make certain the highlighter is not too shiny or shimmery but just adds a dose of light.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As you are going through your trial makeup steps, make sure to take pictures in different lights. Yes, you need to look wonderful in real life but you will have those wedding pictures that last a lifetime. Testing out in different lights, you may notice areas you need to conceal that you did not notice in everyday light.

Feature Focus

Some brides like to follow the rule of thumb of either playing up your eyes or your lips. Sometimes, especially in pictures, having multiple makeup focus points may look a little overboard. Regardless what you select, think about the texture as shimmer and shine as it could look too 'much' in pictures.

If you choose to go with all-out eyes, be sure you are comfortable in the colors and technique you use. If you don’t usually wear a smoky eye, don’t try one for your wedding. But that does not mean you cannot wear a lovely deep or bright color. Practice. Practice. Practice. You want to make certain the colors you select bring out your beauty in person and in pictures. For lips, go for a shade or two darker you’re your natural lips.

If you choose to go with all-out lips, full lips, do so with a bright or deep color. Start by using Palladio’s NEW Herbal Perfecting Lip Liner to help prevent feathering and lip shade bleeding. Line and fill in lips with lip liner close to the shade you are wearing on your lips. Apply your lip stick or gloss over the colored liner. And if you can't decide?  These steps are paramount for keeping lip color locked in place. Palladio's NEW Herbal Lip Lacquers give you the luster of a gloss, the coverage of a lipstick and the staying-power of a lip stain! Since you are focusing on lips, keep your eyes relatively light but have enough color to provide the definition you are looking for. The key is balance.

Bow to the Brow

Subtly fill your brows with powder and groom them with a brow brush to give your overall look finish and definition. You may want to invest in a brow-shaping 6-8 weeks before your wedding and maintain them yourself by following the arch and line the brow specialist created. Try Palladio's Award-Winning Brow Gel.

Ready for your close-up

Different skin types call for different types of foundations. It is usually best to go with a matte foundation on you wedding day. Palladio’s Herbal Dual Wet & Drycan be used dry for sheer look or wet, for more of a full-coverage look. If you have very dry skin, Palladio’s Herbal Liquid Foundationprovides beautiful coverage. If a liquid foundation is too much but you need the extra moisture, set liquid foundation with Palladio’s Dual Herbal Wet & Dry dry or Palladio Rice Powder.

If you do tend to have oil-rich skin, set your makeup with a powder before you walk down the aisle. But, don’t keep over-powdering! The powder will end up building on the skin. Instead, carry blotting papers. Palladio Rice Papersare the product must for this step. One side of the Rice Paper is powdered (if you skin is normal to oil-rich) and the other side is matte (non-powdered) perfect to touch-up any skin. Best of all, they comes in a thin compact case so you (or your bridesmaid) can carry them without taking up a lot of room. They are also perfect if you are cutting up the dance floor and need a little blotting action to keep makeup in place!

Must Be the Matte 

Matte blushes are perfect for the wedding day, both in person and in pictures. Try and stay away from too much shimmer – it sometimes does not show best in photographs. You'll fall in love with Palladio's New Herbal Matte Blushes! 

No More Tears

Although you may not consider yourself a “crier”, we certainly recommend wearing waterproof mascara. If you don’t end up tearing during the ceremony, you know your mascara won’t run as you are dancing the night away. Palladio's Herbal Waterproof Mascara in Aqua Force is your ticket. 

DON’T FORGET THE IMPORTANT NOTE: Take pictures of your make-up after a trial in different lights. Needs to look good in real life but you have photos forever.

Enlist and Research

If you know a friend who really knows makeup, you may want to enlist in her help. Your maybe you have a makeup artist friend who can give you some pointers or ask her the honor of doing your makeup for your big day. Either way, practice runs a week or so before the big day area must!

Look for more Palladio Bridal Tips all month long!