Why is bridal makeup more expensive & what is the difference to regular makeup? Answers from a pro!

When a future bride starts to look around for hair & makeup she’ll notice very quickly that the prices for bridal services vary a lot and are way higher than other makeup services.

Why is that so?

Let me explain what are the main differences in the makeup itself and why professional makeup artists charge more for bridal work.

First of all what is the difference between bridal makeup and regular makeup?

4 main points:

Longevity

Color matching

Timeless style

Multi media friendly from head to toe

The bridal makeup needs to last all day from morning till night with minimal touch ups only and also when it is israeli summer and heat and humidity come into play the makeup must stay in place nicely.

The makeup artist needs professional products, tools and techniques to reach this result for you. Whatever your facial structure or your skin type are, the artist will taylor your makeup to your individual needs so that longevity is guaranteed and the makeup will have the same color in the face like the rest of the body.

Bridal makeup has influences of current trends but a bride should stay away from things that are too trendy for eternity.

An example for 2020 is that a bride can choose to go with bronzy colors on her lids but should stay away from crazy, bushy soap brows, especially if she isn’t naturally gifted in the brow department.

Never force anything. Look at your individual features and use makeup to enhance the best parts of your personal beauty and do not to cover it up or try to be someone you are not.

A 2020 bride can pull off subtle glass skin but she shouldn’t go overboard with highlighters and focus the shine on the right spots so that she looks glowy and healthy and not greasy and sweaty. Sweaty is never sexy on your wedding day.

I will give you two visual examples of an 80ies bride:

Do you see the difference?

Now tell me which bride do you want to be?

A good bridal makeup is balanced and timeless so that when someone looks at it they can’t put a finger on the date. As you can see same applies for hair and fashion choices and a bridal artist will consult with you in detail about what's doable and where you cross the line.

You want to remember this day as the day you’ve looked like the best version of yourself ever and not become the laughing stock in the family gathering 20 years from now and in the digital age we can’t hide our photo albums in the drawer any more. In the age of instagram and co. the internet never forgets, even if we erase content.

Lastly the makeup must be multi media friendly. What does that mean?

The makeup should look good from head to toe no matter in which light or medium you will be photographed or filmed and modern HD technology advances quickly.

The rule of thumb with makeup is: If you look at the makeup and your human eye sees something disturbing, it needs to be fixed because the camera will pick it up as well.

But a camera always sees things differently than our human eyes.

The artist needs to understand the different cameras and light settings and what needs to be done to look good in reality and in all media formats.

I will give you some examples of makeup looks which look good to the human eye but don't translate to wedding day video or photography at all:

Your bridal makeup artist will prevent you from tripping into those scenarios because he or she understands in which light you need to get ready and where makeup needs to be applied in order to reach a flawless result no matter in which media format you will be recorded on your wedding day.

I always use the trial sessions with my brides to play with products and different scenarios to figure out what works and what doesn't so that there will not be any unwanted surprises on the big day.

That means the bridal makeup artist should have a special education in anatomy, color theory, skin types, lightning and modern technology, have the professional products and tools and a certain amount of experience in doing bridal makeup on actual brides.

Now you understand the importance of professional bridal makeup and the difference to regular makeup but those points mostly also apply to any special event makeup. Correct.

So why is bridal makeup so much more expensive than other special event makeup?

The price for bridal makeup is higher for multiple reasons:

You need an artist with specific bridal knowledge and certain character traits, someone you can trust and not a newbie who might nail it or not, you need someone who runs a professional business not a hobby artist who might show up or maybe not, true expertise and professionalism come with a price tag.

The marketing towards brides is much more complicated and pricey, so the price per service climbs accordingly.

Bridal work is seasonal while the costs of running a professional makeup business are same high all year long.

A bride will block the whole day in the calendar of an artist, the artist takes extra time for the bride on the day of the wedding and also beforehand the artist and the bride communicate much more together to create the makeup look fitting to hair, dress and event.

So the extra time and more advanced marketing a bridal client takes makes for a higher price tag.

I hope I gave you some useful information so that you make an informed decision for your wedding day look and some things you should consider when planning your bridal look and have in mind when comparing prices in your area.

If you have specific questions about your bridal makeup I'd love to chat with you about it and help to answer any further questions.

Schedule a free complimentary phone consulation

See ya!