Bridal Makeup and Skin Care with Kelley Maddison

As a bride, it's natural to want to put your "best face forward" on your big day. But weddings are notorious for bridal breakouts and blemishes! What can you do to make sure your skin is healthy and beautiful for your friends, family...and photographer?

Consult an expert! I'm so happy to know Kelley Maddison, a fellow member of the Indie Beauty Network (and a Twitter friend). Kelley is a licensed aesthetician who has had her own skin care practice since February of 2006. Involved in the fashion and beauty industry for over 12 years, Kelley had been doing bridal makeup for over 6 years before deciding to go to school for her aesthetic license. Earlier this week Kelley launched her new company, PRIIA Cosmetics, featuring a line of natural mineral makeup and skin care products. Kelley was generous enough to answer some of my questions about bridal makeup and skin care.

What can a bride-to-be do in the weeks or months prior to her big day to improve the condition of her skin and (hopefully!) prevent breakouts?
First, a bride should really consider professional skin care. A properly trained skin care professional can help a bride-to-be get her skin in tip-top shape BEFORE her big day. Preventing blemishes can sometimes be just the “luck of the draw”. Unfortunately, blemishes seem to rear their ugly heads at the WORST moments; especially in times of stress- good or bad. This is where a trained makeup artist comes in and can help properly hide any facial imperfections. I HIGHLY encourage all brides to invest in a good aesthetician and/or makeup artist because the ultimate goal that day is for a bride to look her most radiant and beautiful. Plus, a bride ALWAYS wants her pictures to be stunning and a well-trained makeup artist can make this happen.

Lots of brides want that sun-kissed look, but is tanning worth it? What do you recommend to give brides that "healthy glow" without tanning?
Well, I’m an aesthetician first and foremost, so I’m really against the whole tanning thing. It’s so damaging to the skin. There are many alternatives to a tanning bed such as a spray tan and face and body bronzers. Personally, I love face and body bronzers the best. I’ve seen some spray tans that turned out to be an awful mess! You can’t go wrong with a beautiful face and body bronzing powder that’s not too shiny or sparkly.

With so many of us on tighter budgets, lots of "DIY" brides will be going it alone for their makeup. What are some of the biggest mistakes you think people make when they do their own wedding makeup?
Some of the biggest wedding day makeup mistakes I’ve seen include makeup being applied way too heavy, false eyelash nightmares, the wrong colors being applied for the time of day for the wedding (this is super important), fake tans that were splotchy and uneven and the worst thing was seeing an obvious line of demarcation on the face and neck. The bride’s face was orange and her neck and décolleté were white!

How can brides avoid making the same mistakes?
I really feel a bride needs to set aside a budget for makeup. Even if she takes a lesson from a makeup artist beforehand and then does her own makeup for the wedding, it’s well worth the monetary outlay, which really isn’t that much in the grand scheme of things.

For those brides who are still "on the fence," what are the best reasons to hire someone to do your bridal makeup?
See mistakes above! Plus, a bride has enough to worry about on the biggest day of her life. She doesn't need to be stressed out over applying her own makeup.

What about brides with acne or other skin conditions? Should they think more seriously about hiring someone to do their makeup?
Absolutely!! There’s really a knack to being able to cover a blemish or other skin imperfection properly so it looks like it never was even there!

What do you see as the recent trends in bridal makeup? Want to make any predictions for the future...?
I actually see more mineral makeup being used on brides because it’s so much healthier for the skin. There are so many options with mineral makeup plus you just can’t beat the pigment colors. They make a bride look so radiant. I haven’t noticed specific color trends for brides per se because again, the makeup colors being used need to coordinate with the time of day the event is being held. If there are trends, I don’t follow them for that reason.

When you're choosing someone to do your bridal makeup, what do you look for?
A bride should look for a qualified licensed skin care professional first. But more importantly, the aesthetician should have experience working with brides. If they’re not an aesthetician, then the person should be able to supply the bride with examples of their makeup artistry such as a portfolio. The makeup professional should be asking the bride specific questions such as what time of day is the event taking place. This is a very important question because it makes all the difference as to what colors should be used on the bride.

In my practice, I schedule a trial run with the bride-to-be first. There is a fee involved for this. Then, if she likes my work, she will give me a deposit for her actual wedding day makeup in order to book and hold that date. I also have her sign a professional contract. A bride should expect these things when working with any wedding professional.

I mentioned that I follow you on Twitter, but where else can we find you online?
My blog is called The Mineral Makeup Coach Blog and I am also on Facebook. On March 15th, I launched my product line, PRIIA Cosmetics!

I'd love to know more about your products!
My line consists of natural mineral cosmetics and results-oriented skin care. The loose mineral foundations I offer are actually wonderful for brides because they DO NOT create a reflection for the camera like most mineral makeup brands can - my foundations have been used on High Def photo shoots for companies like Frigidaire!

I have many other mineral cosmetic products such as lip glosses, lipstick hybrids, natural eye & lip liners, shadows, blushes, oil-control powder (excellent for brides!), brow crèmes, face concealer, under eye concealer and so much more. All of my products are natural and do not contain parabens, petroleum-derivatives, sulfates, bismuth oxychloride, nanoparticles or any other questionable chemicals. My line of cosmetics and skin care are also certified by PETA as cruelty-free, which I’m very proud of!

Thank you, Kelley! Visit Kelley's blog to see even more of her skin care and makeup tips, and PRIIA Cosmetics to learn about her new natural products.

Please let me know if you found this information helpful. Leave your comments below!