Rosemarie Pomilla
N.Y. Prostyle, Dobbs Ferry
(914) 478-2684
How can a bride find a reputable makeup artist?
She can go online to a wedding website like wedalerts.com, the knot.com, or weddingchan nel.com and look under ‘local vendors’ for a list of beauty professionals in her area. Look for a makeup artist who has been certified by a cosmetology school and has a cosmetology license from the state of New York. Word-of-mouth is always good, and you can ask your hairdresser or manicurist for recommendations, too.
Once you have recommendations, then what?
Set up a consultation and bring in pictures of your gown and of what you like and don’t like. In a verbal consultation—mine is complimentary—the artist gets an idea of what the bride’s style is, looks at her features, and offers suggestions about looks that would be most appropriate. In a service consultation—usually sixty minutes in my studio for which I charge ninety-five dollars—the artist tries out different looks, does a quick application of different colors and styles, and may demonstrate the air-brushing technique.
What questions should you ask when interviewing a makeup artist?
‘Where were you trained?’ and ‘What’s the particular style you are known for?’ Some are known for dramatic looks, others for more of a fresh and natural style. And others specialize in giving a flawless look to skin—a good choice if you have acne problems. You’ll also want to go to their website and review their portfolio.
What is the best beauty-care timeline a bride should adopt?
Starting six months before the wedding, get a deep-cleaning facial once a month, making sure the last one is more gentle with no new products and no harsh chemicals used. If you want a glycolic peel or microdermabrasion, do it at least ten days before. If you want to do airbrush tanning, have a trial run two months before the wedding, and then again about two days before so your skin color will look more natural the day of.
What about eyebrows?
Two to three weeks before the wedding, stop tweezing, and have your brows shaped two or three days before; this gives time for any redness or swelling to subside.
What are some important things to consider when selecting a makeup style?
Makeup should be consistent with the style of the gown. For a traditional dress, you’d want warm tones on the eyes, and soft cheeks and lips. For a sexier dress, the eyes can be more smoky, but still soft and not too harsh, with pink or nude-looking cheeks. And for a cap-sleeved dress, which is usually a younger, fresher look, go with a soft shimmer or iridescent eyes and soft pink cheeks and lips.
Which makeup colors work best with different hair colors?
For redheads, you don’t want any blues, purples, or strong colors but warm tones, like pinky peach on lips and cheeks. For blondes, cool tones work well. Brunettes can really go in any direction.
And for eye colors?
In general, using violets or greens on blue eyes and violets or blues on green eyes will make them appear brighter because of the contrast. And brown eyes look beautiful with violets and plums.
Should the shade of your dress affect YOUR choice of makeup colors?
Yes. For an ivory-colored gown, I’d usually use warmer colors like champagne, bronze, or taupe eye shadow and brownish-pink blush and lipstick. For a white gown, I’d suggest using cool lip and cheek colors like rose and mauve.
Are more brides hiring makeup artists to stay through the reception?
If your makeup is done professionally, you should not need the artist to stay unless you don’t want to do lip touch-ups yourself. I give my brides their lipstick and oil-blotting tissues, so there’s no shine for the pictures in case they get sweaty or oily. If I do stay for the reception, I charge one hundred dollars an hour.
What can you do so that your makeup stays put if you can’t hire a professional?
Use a primer for skin and eyes and layering—layering makes the makeup last.
How long is a typical makeup application and what does it cost?
It’s about an hour-and-a-half for the bride, and I charge two hundred ninety-five dollars on location and one hundred ninety-five dollars in my studio. Bridesmaid applications take about thirty or forty minutes each; on location, it costs ninety-five dollars per person or eighty-five dollars per person for four or more. In the studio, it costs eighty-five dollars per person or seventy-five dollars per person for four or more.
let’s face it
Local Resources
Devra Bader Skin Care and
Beauty Spa
Scarsdale • (914) 725-1158
Ilise Harris
Dobbs Ferry • (914) 330-6606
iliseharris.com
Jill Imbrogno Makeup
(845) 661-7717
jkflashy.com
Joanna Rothschild Makeup
Hartsdale • (914) 320-3629
joannarothschild.com
Kenneth Lewis Salon
Harrison • (914) 381-2300
kennethlewissalon.com
Kimberly Root
White Plains • (914) 588-7854
N.Y. Prostyle
Dobbs Ferry • (914) 478-2684
nyprostyle.com
Oggi Adam & Eve
Scarsdale • (914) 472-0010
oggiadameve.com
Piera Canu
White Plains • (917) 251-8221
pieracanu.com
Valerie Guglielmo
(914) 576-8911