Classic and Natural Bridal Makeup Tutorial with Lancôme

A step-by-step natural bridal makeup tutorial

As the bride, the key to natural bridal makeup is amplifying your innate luminosity. This means playing with soft colour palettes, glowy finishes and subtle lines to enhance – rather than overpower – your natural features.

Whether you’re crafting your own natural-looking makeup for the big day or you need some inspiration to pass along to your makeup artist, we’ve curated a step-by-step natural bridal makeup tutorial for you below.

1. Nourish with skincare

You’re going to be wearing your natural bridal makeup for many hours, so you’ll need to ensure the skin underneath is supple, hydrated and luminous.

After cleansing, apply the Rénergie H.C.F. Triple Serum over your face and neck. This triple-dose skin-brightening serum helps hydrate the skin, smooth imperfections, and boost radiance.

Follow with the Rénergie H.P.N 300-Peptide Cream to deeply nourish the skin. With an efficacious blend of hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and 300 peptides, this moisturiser improves the look of fine lines and dark spots while visibly plumping the skin.

2. Prime the skin

Longevity is the aim of any bridal makeup look, and a makeup primer is going to help smooth the surface of your skin and improve the staying power of your products.

After skincare and SPF, apply the La Base Pro Face Make-Up Primer over your face and neck. You should also allow time for your primer to sink into the skin before applying your foundation. Lancôme Australia’s Beauty Director Lara Srokowski shares her advice:

3. Lay your foundation base

If you’re not sure how to choose foundation for the big day, you can use our virtual try-on tool to find your perfect shade. As for the finish, you’ll want a formula that has staying power – without looking flat in photos.

Radiance is the basis for every natural bridal makeup look, and our iconic Teint Idôle Ultra Wear Foundation is up to the task.

If you’re chasing a dewy, wedding-day glow over a traditional matte finish, we recommend the Teint Idôle Ultra Wear Care & Glow. Powered by hyaluronic acid for hydration and mandelic acid for smoothing benefits, this medium-coverage foundation unifies skin tone and provides supercharged luminosity for up to 24 hours.

You can apply your liquid foundation using either a brush or a makeup sponge. If using a brush, dot the foundation over your face first, then gently stipple into the skin in circular motions, building up as desired. If using a sponge, ensure it is damp first, so it doesn’t soak up your foundation. Put a pump of foundation onto the back of your hand, then dip into the foundation with the sponge (like an artist’s canvas), using dabbing motions to press into the skin.

4. Conceal any imperfections

Once you have applied your foundation, you can use concealer to cover any perfections. Teint Idôle Ultra Wear All Over Concealer offers breathable, creaseless coverage and comfortable all-day wear. Natural wedding makeup should never be heavy or cakey, so you can approach your concealer application with a light touch.

We suggest dotting your concealer where you need – over blemishes, redness or under the eyes – and tapping the product into the skin using the tip of your ring finger. This ensures a gentle touch and seamless blend.

5. Warm up the complexion

Now that you’ve laid a flawless base for your natural bridal makeup look, you can warm up your complexion with blush and bronzer. For a soft, natural finish, make sure to lightly sculpt while avoiding sharp contour lines.

Take your Teint Idôle Ultra Wear C.E Skin Transforming Bronzer and softly buff along the hairline, the temples, and the tops of the cheeks. Apply a dusting of Blush Subtil along the apples of the cheeks, brushing in an upward diagonal motion.

6. Reach for neutral eyeshadows

For this step of your natural bridal makeup tutorial, you’ll want to seek out a neutral palette of eyeshadow colours to keep your eyes looking soft and dreamy. Colours like nude, taupe, brown, gold, pink, and champagne are perfect choices.

We love experimenting with romantic shades in the Hypnôse Eyeshadow Palette in ‘French Nude’. You can apply a lighter shade on the inner corner and a dark shade on your outer corner. Place a shimmery shade on the centre of the lid for a pop of iridescence.

7. Fluff up your brows

Heavy, filled-in brows risk overwhelming a soft natural wedding makeup look, but fluffy, natural brows are the perfect way to frame your face without pulling focus.

If you’re concerned with sparse patches, take the Brôw Shaping Powdery Pencil and lightly fill in those areas. Then, use the spoolie end to comb through the brows to disperse any loose product. Brush brow hairs in an upward motion, then shape in the direction of their natural growth pattern.

8. Softly line your eyes

In keeping with your natural bridal makeup look, you can approach your eyeliner with a light touch. You can either line your upper lash line to create the illusion of fuller lashes, or tightline your upper waterline to open up the eyes.

For a precise line, you can opt for the Idôle liner, a waterproof formula that delivers up to 24 hour-wear. While black is a classic liner look, we also love brown as a subtle alternative because it really complements pink and nude eyeshadow shades.

9. Coat your lashes with waterproof mascara

There are bound to be a few tears shed on your wedding day, so waterproof mascara is a must-have in your arsenal of natural bridal makeup products.

We recommend the Hypnôse Doll Eyes Waterproof Mascara, a waterproof formula enriched with nylon powders to coat every lash. This mascara promises big volume and lift, giving you the perfect fanned-out lash look for your wedding photos.

10. Apply your favourite nude lipstick

Nude lipsticks are the quintessential choice for soft natural bridal makeup looks. With so many shade options available, you can easily find one that matches your skin tone and undertone. Two of our go-to choices are in the L'Absolu Rouge Intimatte Lipstick collection: ‘First Kiss’, which is a warm-toned nude; and ‘Hush’, a cool-toned nude with pink and purple pigments. Pair either shade with a complementary lip liner colour – when it comes to long-lasting lipstick, lip liner is essential to prevent feathering and bleeding.

11. Set your look in place

The final step in this wedding makeup tutorial is to lock all of your meticulous work in place. You can apply a dusting of Translucent Loose Setting Powder over any oil-prone patches like the t-zone – that is, the chin, nose and forehead – to control shine without over-mattifying the skin. Finish with a mist of Fix It Forget It Spray to keep your complexion fresh for up to 24 hours.

A romantic wedding scent is the perfect way to complement your natural bridal makeup look. So next, explore Lancôme’s bridal fragrance ideas for your big day.