With a bridal season that runs year round and much more style choices than were available to our own Moms, decisions of which way to go can be overwhelming to say the least. Makeup extraordinaire Redah Misbah has some super helpful words of wisdom to share with all you beautiful brides-to-be from her own experience as a bride as well as from her expert years as a makeup artist and understanding of products and colors in line with the Masarrat Misbah makeup line.
“Times have obviously changed; gone are the days when the Rukhsati was the main event of a wedding, now the only function everyone seems to be attending is the Mehndi. My own Mehndi was more like a party! So why is it that the bride still goes with absolutely no make-up? With the yellow and orange clothes, the yellow paranda, all the yellow lights and no make-up, the bride just looks like someone who fell out of bed and is suffering from a severe case of jaundice! What makes it worse is that everyone standing around her is dressed to kill. I’m just saying a thin layer of foundation, some brown or gold eye shadow, no eye liner, mascara and peach blush on, is necessary when there are ten thousand guests invited.
Take your time; this is a very important day. Instead of experimenting and wasting time on the day of your wedding, have a proper consultation with your make-up artist before, where you can tell the artist your preferences and they can suggest their ideas and get familiarized with your features. Something I always encourage brides to do is have a different look everyday when it comes to make-up; all I ever hear is “can I get smoky eyes?” for the love of god! I will not let you have smoky eyes everyday! On stage with the heavy bridal outfit and the very intense lights, any strong lines when it comes to make-up just really hardens your features and ages you.
For some unknown reason brides are expected to have “natural glow” about them on the Valima, I really don’t know if that’s medically possible or how and when this rule started and for me I would expect the bride to be dosing off to sleep on stage from staying up the night earlier combined with the exhaustion! So anyway if you’re not “glowing” there’s always a hydrating facial and it only takes 45 minutes.
Spring is already here and summer is coming fast so lots of peach, shades of pink, ivory and brown, a color that looks good in every season are the order of the day. For the eyes you can simmer down on the black and try a gold metallic shade to really soften the look. I recommend the MM Perfect Wear Eyeliner in Goldstone. It is long lasting and gives excellent beaten gold color. It is the perfect accessory to enhance your natural eye color. As a makeup artist here are my go to makeup must haves for the Mehndi occasion: MM Silk Foundation matched perfectly to your skin tone gives full coverage and remains matte through out the occasion. MM Stay on Blusher in Satin Apricot, a fresh peachy tone paired with MM Ethereal Glow in Illuminious for the ‘Natural Glow’. Do your eyes with MM Eye Varnish in velvet mocha (a soft brown) and velvet sun (a yellow gold), finish your eyes with a darker crease powder, the MM Perfect Wear Eyeliner in Goldstone and a full volume mascara.
Don’t forget your brows! For a pretty pout you can go glossy with MM Lip Varnish in Uptown Girl (nude peach) or Afghan Rose (nude pink). Keep the darker colors for your Barat and Valima. Here are some words of wisdom for all Brides to Be!
1. If your Dupatta weighs a ton, which is usually the case, what I did was put a small joora hairpiece on my hair, which holds most of the weight.
2. If you plan on wearing painfully heavy earrings, this is not just for brides but every woman; there is nothing better than ‘Emla’, available from any pharmacy. I cannot explain how much my life has been made easier after I discovered this! It numbs your skin so unless you’re wearing an elephant on your ears you won’t feel anything.
3. Pre-bridal services you should not skip: body scrub, massage and hair protein treatment.
4. Don’t be conscious; it shows and you end up looking constipated in the pictures, just try and relax. This hopefully just happens once in your life and its only three days so enjoy the attention!
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