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Bridal Makeup - Indian Bridal Makeup

Bridal makeup depends much on her sisters, sisters-in law and her friends because a bride does not decorate herself for her marriage. Nowadays it is a fashion in indian brides to visit a beauty parlour to get an expert advice. Every woman whether in india or elsewhere, therefore, must have knowledge of bridal makeup and of things required for indian bridal makeup, because beauty clinics are not available in small towns or villages.

For an immaculate makeup a soft, smooth and lustrous skin is essential, and hence a couple of weeks before the wedding day great care is taken to look after it. Home-made concoction called ubtan, and a good facial give the required softness to the skin. Blackheads can be easily removed by steaming. For a fresh look, use some skin tonic or astringent lotion.

It is necessary to decorate hands in the morning on the wedding day. Make nails soft by dipping them in lukewarm water mixed with soap and soda bicarb. Rub the nails with a filler to give them the desired shape. The dead skin on the nails can be pushed back with a nail-pusher or an orange stick, after applying olive oil on that part. Cut off the dead skin with scissors. Massage the arms with a cream. Wash hands with luke­warm water and apply hand lotion so that they get a soft and smooth look. Polish nails with nail polish. Decorate your hands with mehandi just one day prior to the wedding day.
Now, scrub the feet and apply 'alta' or mahawar. One can visit a parlour for 'manicure' and 'pedicure' one day prior to wedding, if possible.

Hairstyling

A good hairstyle can be done only if the hair are not oily. So, shampoo them before makeup. Put them in rollers when wet and then dry them. Long hair as well as short hair both can be put in rollers. Remove rollers when hair are dry. They will be
wavy, and can be set well. Now, draw forth smaller iocks and do 'back combing'. Part your hair from the middle and make waves on both sides. A bride should have parting in the middle which matches well when decorated with beni or matha-patti. After setting the front hair, tie a beautiful bun. For short hair, you can use ready­made 'switch'. Hair spray will set the hair well and lend them lustre.

Facial Makeup

Clean the face and use base cream, then foundation. If there are spots or shadows, hide them by applying light-tinged foundation or white lipstick on that pan. Do not forget to apply foundation on the neck otherwise neck will appear darker than face. Now put liquid rouge with a brush on the upper part of cheeks and rub it down gently, it gives flush to the bride's face. Apply compact powder or face powder evenly so that it does not show in patches. Apply powder on the upper part of eyelids and on lips. Powder holds mascara and lipstick properly. After face, do eye makeup: Mascara for eyelids, eyeliner on the lashes and eye shadow matching the clothes of brides. Blue eye shadow suits the bride's red dress. Green and golden eye shadow can also be used. Give shape to eyebrows with an eyebrow pencil. Put a bindi on the forehead - it could be round or according to the shape of the face. Bindi can be red, matching red dress. Forehead can be decorated with small dots above the eyebrows in the shape of half moon. Lipstick is put on last of all. Apply a light shade first followed by a darker shade. On lipstick use a lip gloss, to ensure lustre. After completing this process use an astringent lotion so that makeup is retained for long.

Clothes and Jewellery

Although a bride looks beautiful in red dress, the colours do vary as per provincial traditions. Moreover, they can be different in style; sari, salwar-kamiz, lehanga-chunni, etc. Golden decorations on red dress give it a kind of glitter. Makeup is not complete without jewellery. Beni on forehead, zhoomer or matha-patti, nath on nose, earrings, necklace, bangles, kangans, bajuband, rings, hathfool, payal and so on can be worn.

AIDS FOR BRIDAL MAKE-UP

• Cleansing milk, cream, astringent.
• Foundation, powder, liquid rouge, mascara, red and white bindi, eye shadow, eyeliner, eyebrow pencil.
• Nail polish, lipstick, lip-gloss.
• Nail filer, nail push, orange stick, hand lotion.
• Mehandi (henna), 'alta' or mahavar.
• Blackheads extracter, hairpin, rollers, switch, hair spray, etc.
• Wedding costume, ornaments and jewellery.