Gold Wedding Makeup: Wedding makeup is one of the last (and most important!) touches of your bridal look. Planning makeup to pair seamlessly with the dress, accessories, and theme takes time, but it’s the best opportunity to highlight your beauty. And what better way to highlight that natural radiance than with gold?
“Using gold tones has always been a staple color for me to use when creating bridal makeup looks for my clients,” says professional makeup artist Tara Dowburd. “Whether creating elevated looks from luxe, natural chic to soft, modern glam, we’re always incorporating a pop of gold somewhere on the face. It’s not about gold glitter or gold all over the face; it’s about subtle pops of gold that are light-reflecting. That helps bring out our clients’ eye color and can also give their lips, face, and/or body a luminous glow.”
Tara Dowburd is a professional makeup artist with over 20 years of experience in the industry. She is the founder of Make-Up Therapy, a Southern California beauty collective.
Gold Wedding Makeup, Gilded hues look beautiful on all skin tones and add a warm glow that only amplifies that coveted bridal aura. Moreover, gold makeup has no rules, so the options are endless. And when it comes to photographs, you’re, well, golden. Gilded makeup photographs beautifully whether it errs on the natural side of the spectrum or offers a more intensely pigmented look.
Ahead, take inspiration from 10 gold makeup ideas for your special day.
1. Undercover Gold
Gold Wedding Makeup, Gold makeup doesn’t have to take center stage to make a lasting impression. Its shimmery pigments can be deftly used to sustain a natural luminosity that’s simply out of this world. Mix a few pumps of liquid highlighter with your favorite foundation to amp up the glow without sacrificing a barely there look. “You can also mix in just a hint of a sheer gold liquid, cream, or gel highlighter with your moisturizer or face primer to subtly illuminate your skin,” adds Dowburd.
2. Divinely Diffused
Gold Wedding Makeup, Alternately, you can apply liquid highlighter to a bare face—after nourishing and perfecting the skin with moisturizer, of course! Then blend foundation on top to achieve a diffused glow. The combination will leave you beautifully beaming all day long. “I feel that gold makeup looks are absolutely timeless and stunning, and meant to be worn all year long to help give you a radiant glow,” says Dowburd.
3. A Subtle Eye
Gold Wedding Makeup, Natural compositions and barely there approaches to bridal makeup are on the rise, and we couldn’t be happier to see it. Just because your lids may not have an organic gold tint to them doesn’t mean you have to forgo the shade. This light-handed dusting of gold all over the eye paired with a soft brown crease for definition is anything but overdone. “The biggest mistake we feel a bride can make when wearing gold makeup is if they were to overdo it and be heavy-handed with the application,” notes Dowburd.
4. Warm Golden Glow
Gold Wedding Makeup, The wonderful thing about gold is its generosity. It lends its intrinsic warmth to any look. Heighten that warmth by adding a smudgy brown liner and bronze, sun-kissed contour for a tropical vibe. Dowburd mentions Charlotte Tilbury’s Filmstar Bronze & Glow and Smashbox’s Cali Contour Palette amongst her favorites for creating such a look.
5. Monochrome
Gold Wedding Makeup, “After coming off of years of wearing much less makeup, I feel metallics have made a comeback more than ever and can definitely be worn year-round,” says Dowburd. “My favorite metallic is all shades of gold, and the best part is regardless of how fair or dark your skin tone is, there are so many gorgeous options out there that everyone can wear.” This monochromatic gold look couldn’t be more spot on with a creamy, sunburnt blush and matching lip.
Apply lipgloss over lipstick (or on bare lips) for a fuller look.
6. Lined in Gold
Gold Wedding Makeup, A gold eyeliner makes a fun makeup statement and can be added to almost any eye composition. Use a neutral eyeshadow, then choose a metallic liner with a hint of sparkle to coat the upper lash line and add definition to the eye shape. The rich and creamy texture of the eyeliner will intensify the muted shade on your eyes.
7. Bright-Eyed
Gold Wedding Makeup, “Some of the most popular ways to use gold hues in bridal makeup are using pops of gold shimmer shadow on the eyelids, inner corners of the eyes, and/or under the lash line before applying mascara to open up the eyes,” says Dowburd. Adding a hint of sparkle right at the inner corners of the eyes not only offers a brighter, more wide-eyed appearance but also gives a mesmerizing appeal to the look. This bride added a touch of gold to an otherwise neutral composition for a regal vibe that matched her princess-approved accessories.
8. Golden Arches
Gold Wedding Makeup, Lids and lashes typically get all the glory, but it’s the brows that truly frame the face. Give those arches the attention they deserve by bathing them in gilded light. Sweep your favorite gold hue from the lids all the way to the brow bone to achieve the look, adding deeper colors for crease contour if you prefer. Remember, the goal is to add luminosity—not necessarily color saturation—here.
9. A Bridal Flush
Gold Wedding Makeup, Highlighting sky-high cheekbones (or using a bit of gleam to create lifted cheekbones) is one of the most popular uses of gold makeup. It can also be layered on top of blush to take it to the next level. “Shimmer and shine look best when they are placed in specific areas so you can see the radiance, without looking too shiny (which can make you look like you’re sweaty) or seeing the shimmer particles sitting on the skin,” advises Dowburd.
10. Allover Radiance
Gold Wedding Makeup, An allover gilded look is not only cohesive but assumes the heavens themselves opened up and showered you with gold. In lieu of looking like you’ve put on a metallic mask, have your makeup artist tactfully apply the hue in places that the sun would kiss: the highest points of the face like the tip of the nose and tops of the cheekbones. “Apply a powder highlighter on your face either at the tip and/or down the bridge of your nose, across your collarbones and cheekbones, and a bit on your brow bones,” adds Dowburd.
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