Four Wedding-Day Beauty Tips for Brides or Bridesmaids with Sensitive Skin

Whether you choose to work with a professional or go the DIY route for your big-day beauty look, there are some factors to consider if your skin tends to be very reactive.

bridesmaid doing brides makeup outside balcony
Photo: Sposto Photography

If you are one of the countless women who struggles with sensitive skin, being a bride or a bridesmaid can be very stressful. Skin care products, makeup, and even some application tools can cause reactions, and when you're planning your big-day beauty look for a day as important as your wedding (or the wedding of a family member or close friend), redness, rashes, or hives are the last things you want to worry about. If you're nervous about skin sensitivities around makeup, here are a few things to consider, both when you're working with a professional artist or handling your own beauty look.

Pinpoint What Bothers You

The very best thing you can do is determine what products or tools are causing your reactions ahead of the wedding. Not only will you be able to avoid them in everyday life, but you'll also be able to tell a makeup artist what to avoid. Especially if you're the bride, consider a trip to the dermatologist well before the wedding—they can help you get a proper diagnosis for your skin concerns or at least advise which products you should be using to soothe or ease skin troubles leading up to the big day.

Share the Details with the Makeup Artist

It's important to be clear and honest with your makeup artist at the trial, so tell them about your sensitivities and concerns when it comes to makeup. The trial is also good time to test-run products—when the big day comes around, you can feel confident that the products your artist is using won't cause a reaction. If you haven't had a trial, or if you're a bridesmaid meeting a makeup artist for the first time on the morning of the wedding, let the person handling your application know about any specific allergies or irritants you're aware of, whether it's ingredients, SPF, or certain colors. That last point is important: What you may not realize is that many women are sensitive to products with red dyes, so purples or red tones should be avoid when sensitivity is a concern. Additionally, artists will know to use fragrance-free, allergy-tested products once you have voiced your concerns.

Bring or Do Your Own Skin Care

If you know what works for you in the skin care department, it is always best to apply whatever moisturizer, eye cream, and maybe even primer you like ahead of your makeup session. Today is not the day to take a gamble, and if the artist applies something that could irritate your skin it can wreak havoc and ruin your day and your pictures.

At the very least, be sure to bring your everyday skin care essentials with you so that you have the option to apply them yourself or have the artist apply them for you..

Bring or Do Your Own Makeup

After years and years of dealing with sensitivity, you finally found a makeup lineup that works for you. Whether it's your wedding or a best friend's wedding, you may decide you want to do your own makeup to avoid any reactions. If that's the case, consider working with a makeup artist before the big day to practice and perfect your beauty look. They'll teach you application secrets for all-day wear and how to get a camera-perfect face.

The other option would be to ask a makeup artist if they'd be willing to use just your preferred products. When it comes to dealing with sensitivity, most pros will be on board—just give them the heads up in advance and bring your own products with you to a trial so they can get a feel for how each product works and perfect your look ahead of the wedding.

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