WPCNR'S THE REAL DEAL By The Wedding Jeannie, Jeannie Uyanik. July 12, 2008: How you feel about how you look on your wedding day is often the best indicator of how you actually look.  A great outfit is half the battle, but hair and makeup, especially during warmer weather is part of the overall package.  And if you think you look great, so will everyone else. 

Hair stylists and makeup artists can play a crucial role in preparing you for anything from a wedding to a big night on the town, but knowing a few of the tricks of the trade beforehand, will ensure that you are working with the right people, and getting the right look.  Next week’s column will address hair, but today we focus on the art of putting your face on, as my grandmother used to say. 

We at Cap and Gown Weddings  find, especially with brides, that 10 out of 10 women will have visited a hair salon at one point in their lives; for a blow dry, hair cut or color application; only 1 out of 10 will have had their makeup professionally done (Macy’s counter aside). 

The standard explanations for this are also the underlying demons for why getting your makeup done, when you finally need it, can be a painful experience.  The biggest reasons that most women will not have their makeup done by someone other than the cosmeticians who sell them their own products include:

1)      most women prefer a natural look and professional makeup applications leave women feeling like someone else

2)      the cost of having your makeup done for an event is not as justifiable as getting a $30 blow dry (which will generally last the next day too!)

3)      fear of the products that professional artists will apply and the premonition of rashes, outbreaks and a new set of ears

4)      distrust that the selected professional will actually do what they want and not what the client wants

The combination of all these factors leads only those who are extremely socially active at a high level and in certain arenas, and who have been exposed to the trials and errors of makeup application for years, to make the practice a regular staple in prepping for an event of any kind.  But sometimes even the regular girl needs to take it up a notch. 

A wedding is often the first time that a woman will take that plunge and has a trial run by a professional artist.  Unfortunately, this also explains why 9 out of 10 hair trials lead to success and why 6 out of 10 makeup trials do not.  For all the reasons listed above, many brides walk away unhappy; feeling that it's too heavy of a look, that the artist did what she wanted, that the cost does not justify getting it done. 

 In the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut), for a good, experienced makeup artist, the average cost for a bride to have someone come to her and do her makeup is about $350-400.  For a wedding, many aestheticians will price in a mother, one bridesmaid and a bride for about $600-700. 

This is exclusive of the cost of the trial, which generally runs between $125-200 and any associated travel costs if the makeup artist lives or works outside the wedding preparation venue.  Pricing for bridesmaids in addition to the bride will average between $125-175 and often, if you have a large bridal party, professionals will be willing to discount the costs for more than 6 of the bridesmaids. 

For special occasion (i.e. you are not a bride and the stress is less) applications, or for in salon applications by professionals, these costs are greatly reduced and usually average anywhere from $75 (for a trained professional – NOT someone who just started working in a salon) to $150 for higher end locations. 

But at the end of the day, because the trials themselves are expensive, time consuming and emotionally charged, we recommend a few ways to make sure that they will be a success the first time.

1)      Bring a picture of what you like and what you imagine your look to be. The more information the artist has in advance, the better for her and for you.

2)      Understand that in order for make up to last, either through an event OR for the purpose of pictures, it has to be seen.  If you are shiny in your pictures, it will look a lot less appealing than a bit more foundation, than to which you are usually accustomed. 

3)      Be prepared and know the difference between air brushing and regularly applied makeup.  The first is a more enduring look used by almost all professional TV personalities and print models.  The argument can be made that it looks a bit less natural than regular makeup, and while I don’t disagree with that in theory, if you have someone who knows what they are doing, it can look more natural than your own makeup applications at home.  It’s important to research the options and know your providers level of experience with air brushing.

4)      Research the person who is doing the trial.  If you found them at a makeup counter, make sure that they have SPECIFIC event experience, and if for a wedding, that they have done at least 10 so that you can look at their portfolio or get references. 

Hiring someone on the fly will never be a recipe for success for anything, but particularly for makeup; and I can’t tell you how often people hire a makeup artist that they met at the mall without ever asking about their experience.  Some of my favorites work at Bobby Brown, Laura Mercier and Mac, but weeding out the good from the bad takes some time.  Especially if your trial is free (i.e. at a makeup counter) take the time to do a few.  At least you will get some product out of it (the purchase of which is generally polite if a cosmetologist has spent her time making up your face for free).

5)      Never expect your makeup at home to look the same as that of a professional.  It will be different and that’s precisely the point.  But, if that scares you into thinking that you don’t need professional guidance and that your own look is more comfortable, keep this in mind – there is no way that your own makeup will last as long or as well for an event more than 4 hours.  Don’t get lazy and give up finding the person who fits the makeup bill just because it’s not something you enjoy.  Even our most natural and reticent brides have found makeup artists that suited their tastes to perfection.

Finally, a few side notes about how best to schedule makeup for an event and how to provide gratuities.  For a wedding, people always schedule too little time for makeup and hair appointments.  Assume at least an hour on the day of, even if the provider says 45 minutes.  If she says an hour, leave 1.5.  The more time you leave to fix something if it’s not right or to allow the provider to work at a comfortable pace, the more likely it is that you are happy with the outcome. 

Don’t rush makeup artists – there is a reason that they are called artists after all.  And for this reason, do consider giving them a little something extra when the service is finished, beyond just their fees.  A common question is whether or not the owner or the sole employee of a firm should be provided a gratuity and the answer is always yes. 

It’s an acknowledgment of their efforts, and hopefully, if the work was good, the start of a good and long term relationship.  We often recommend 20-30% of the cost of the service.  There are no rules that say you can’t have your makeup done once a month and if a few more people did, they might just find that the external enhancement provides an internal comfort.