I'm not a make up artist but I did my own wedding day make up

 One of the non-negotiables on my Wedding Day Must Haves List was a make up artist. I don’t have beautiful skin – I have an olive complexion, which, in the Summer is a glam shade of bronze, but unfortunately, that same olive tone has resulted in a lifetime of acne. Seriously, I thought I’d be done with the teenage breakouts by the time I fled Catholic School, but here I am, a few weeks shy of 29, and I still use Proactive religiously. To add insult to injury, the older I get, the more prone my skin is to scarring. My cheeks seem to take the brunt of the acne abuse – and yes, I swear I don’t pick, poke or scrub myself into a nasty crater scar – it’s just my lot in life. 
So, with all of those gory details said, I insisted that I have a professional tackle this face on the Day Of. I booked a local make up artist that was recommended by a trusted source…. and then found out two weeks before the wedding that she was too high to remember me well enough to schedule a trial. Oh yeah, that happened. The “artist” had even done a trial on my (very patient and understanding) mother and yet, we apparently didn’t leave a strong enough impression to puncture the haze. 
What’s a girl to do? Cry. Call her planner in a last ditch effort to find a make up artist who was available May 25th with two weeks notice (ha ha). Call her Matron of Honor and have a break down. Check. Check. Check.
My Matron of Honor happens to have perfected the smokey/glamorous/special event eye and she happily offered to do my eye make-up. I think because she loves me (and I was hyperventilating), she also offered to tackle my skin. I kindly let her off the hook and told her I’d handle this mug myself. 
Keep in mind we are talking about my Wedding Day – the most photographed day of a girl’s life – and I was just days out. 
And then I found Maskcara
I spent hours on Pinterest searching for Wedding Day make up secrets and tutorials and I stumbled upon this Pin:
My first thought? Well, at least this girl is honest. A wet haired, no make up selfie on the Internet? She clearly doesn’t have acne scarred skin confidence issues! 
I linked over to her blog and I was hooked. I literally watched every single tutorial and studied every list of every product she recommends. Through Cara’s tutorials and suggestions, I built my Wedding Day make up bag and bag of tricks, respectively. My fave new thing to do is HAC (highlight and contour). You can read and watch the tutorial here.
Now that I’ve filled you in on how I built my arsenal, let me introduce you to my weapons of choice:
Bridal Bliss

Base
Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder: to warm the skin tone and contour color in HAC
Flush
Bobbi Brown Blush in Pastel Pink: much softer than it looks in the palate
NARS Blush in Dolce Vita: layered just on the apples for a darker tint
Brighten Up
Maybelline Dream Lumi Highlighting Concealer: ya’ll I am obsessed with this stuff – it makes your skin looks bright in all the right places. I use it under my eyes, between my eyebrows, on my upper lip and chin. This is the Highlighting step in HAC.
Bright Eyed


I built a palate from Bobbi Brown that included:
Metallic Eye Shadow in Burnt Sugar: soft contour color
Eye Shadow in Bone: easy to wear neutral
Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow in Beige: a perfect base with sparkle
Metallic Eye Shadow in Champagne Quartz: gorgeous for day or night!
Eye Shadow in Caviar: I use an angled brush and apply as liner
Pucker Up
Party All Night
Make Up Forever Pro Finish Powder: soft and translucent
Urban Decay All Nighter Make Up Setting Spray: a magic potion that lives up to it’s name!

In list form it looks like a ton of make up but obviously, this can be pared down for a day time look – and it’s easy! I can make it all happen in just 5 minutes for day.

I still can’t believe that I did my own Wedding Day make up (except my eyes – thanks Ash!) but honestly ya’ll, if I can do it, I know anyone can confidently master a few tricks that will make you feel all goddess like on Date Nights, Girls Nights or I Need to Look Better Than A 22 Year Old Nights.