Wedding make up... advice, please!

Where on earth do people learn to apply make up?!

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to knowing what kinds of make up I should wear and what shades would complement my best facial features, I took a trip to Boots last week to get some advice as I'm considering applying my own make up for my wedding. All the make up artists I've looked at are very expensive, and I'm concerned that they might slap loads of make up on which definitely isn't the look I'm going for. I don't generally wear much make up so I don't want to look like a totally different person on my wedding day... all I wear on a normal day is mascara, blusher and pressed powder!

I do make more of an effort in if I'm going out... I stretch to adding foundation and eyeshadow on these occasions!

This is about as made up as I ever get...

Although I don't want to look totally different on my wedding day, I obviously want to look nicer and more 'radiant' than I would on a normal day. I also want to make the most of my best facial features and need to make sure that the make up I choose complements my red hair rather than clashes with it. I think my best facial features are probably my blue eyes and my good skin... I'm not very good at coming up with positive features for myself so it took me a while to come up with those two!

On my visit to Boots, I decided to visit the No7 and Max Factor counters. I've heard nothing but good things about No7 products (and I love their nail varnish ranges), and I'd read some great reviews on Max Factor products recently too. I bought the following...

Max Factor FaceFinity foundation

Max Factor pressed powder

Max Factor blusher

Max Factor eyeshadow trio

Max Factor Clump Defy mascara

No7 Instant Radiance Highlighter

Nivea Soft Rose lip salve

Everything I bought came within budget and it's a great investment as I can use all the make up again and again. I'll obviously be practising a LOT before the wedding and will do plenty of trial runs... I'll also have bridesmaids on hand to help on the day if needed!

I loved the look of the foundation and you can still see my freckles through it. Believe it or not, I actually like my freckles. The Max Factor lady tried a few different shades out on my skin and we concluded that the shade I usually go for is actually a little too pale... the one I've bought for the wedding looks perfect! It's a 3 in 1 primer, concealer and foundation so I shouldn't need to put much else on my face. Luckily I have good skin so I shouldn't need to cover up any blemishes. Let's hope that the stress of the wedding preparations doesn't make my face break out for the first time ever!

I'm not sure if I'll need the pressed powder on the wedding day itself as the foundation's coverage is so good, but it'll definitely get used as I wear pressed powder every day. It's quick and easy to apply and just gives me a bit more colour, so I've been using it every day on its own for years. 

I needed a new blusher so this haul was well timed. The Max Factor blusher I've bought is much better than the 17 product I'm currently using, so that's another bonus. I had considered trying a creme blusher but the overall effect looked too... clown-like. I'm very pale so can't go too overboard with blusher!

I won't want to wear too much eyeshadow on the day, but I will want some colour just to add some definition to my eyes. The Max Factor lady suggested that I should use the lighter shade all over my eyelid then blend in the darkest shade from the outer corners of my eyes. She tried the shades out on my eyes to double check and the overall effect was subtle but effective. 

I love mascara and have to wear it every day due to my very fair eyelashes, so this was definitely a good investment. I do dye my eyebrows and eyelashes every two months or so (perils of being a redhead), but mascara still helps to thicken my eyelashes and to define them a bit more. I always go for black mascara for the maximum effect... I'm hoping for great things from this mascara!

I've read lots of great reviews on No7's Instant Radiance Highlighter so I thought this would be a good investment. It's been suggested that I apply it underneath my eyebrows, on my cheekbones and possibly in the inner corners of my eyelids. One blog post I read suggested that you should apply this highlighter on any parts of your face that are shadowy when you look down at the floor... I might use that tip!

Lastly, I bought the Nivea tinted lip salve as I'm allergic to all lip products apart from Nivea's range. I can't use lipstick, lip gloss, lip balms or lip crayons... this is not great news for the wedding photos but I'm hoping that the tinted lip salve will add a bit of colour on the day. I can't risk trying to use any fancy products on my lips just for the wedding or they'll flare up just in time for our honeymoon!

The one product I didn't buy was eyeliner as the Max Factor lady suggested that I shouldn't wear it on the wedding day if I never usually wear it. However, I do think eyeliner really makes the eyes stand out so I would like to learn to apply it before the wedding day... what do people think? I've also read that you should either accentuate your lips or your eyes on your wedding day, and obviously I can't do anything with my lips so perhaps I should focus more on my eyes. 

All thoughts on my wedding make up in general would also be most welcome... do you think I should apply my own wedding make up? Should I wear eyeliner? Can you recommend any other products for me to try? Let me know!