Hair and Makeup for the South Asian Bride

Finding the Right Indian Wedding Makeup Artist

If you are a South Asian bride, you will understand the angst and frustration involved in finding the right makeup artist for your wedding. There are two things we want to avoid with wedding makeup: First is the use of the wrong foundation (which has mired South Asian wedding makeup for some reason), and Second is the ‘bride stuck in the 1950’s’ look (not that there was anything wrong with that, but we have new trends now).

For my wedding, I wanted someone who was familiar with Indian weddings and our outfit changes. For South Asian brides, putting on the outfits is half the battle! It was important for me to find someone who knew how to dress an Indian bride and to know where to ‘pin this’ and ‘put that’. Indian weddings are an entire day, sometimes week long affairs involving multiple outfit, hair and makeup changes! I needed someone who could be at the venue the entire day, and also someone who could do both makeup and hair. This limited my search to a select few people which caused me to go into panic mode!

Photo Credit: Tomas Ramos Photography

Just when I had thrown in the towel, and decided to do my wedding makeup MYSELF (because that is really how bad it got)…I decided to give my old friend Google a try (believe it or not, I found most of my wedding vendors on Google, and was not disappointed!). With my hands shaking, my mind on a mission and my then fiance and mother looking on, worried about my mental health (well, not really, I just threw that in for extra effect)…I typed in ‘indian wedding makeup artists’ and there came my answer..Saman Ansari at Studio Sila!

South Asian Bride Makeup Tips

Working with Saman for my wedding was such a great learning experience about the art of wedding makeup that I wanted to share some tips with other South Asian brides going through the same thing:

1) Go to a Trial Session:
A trial session is extremely important because you can clearly discuss how you envision yourself on your wedding day with your makeup/hair artist.

• Bring your outfits to the trial session: this way, your makeup artist can match your eyeshadow to the color of your dress. Also with intricate/heavier outfits, you need the appropriate makeup to match!
• Bring a camera: Take pictures of your session so you remember what it looked like. A good makeup artist will know how different types of makeup appear in pictures. Luckily for me, Saman was also an accomplished photographer!
• Fake eyelashes: Before my trial session, the only time I had worn fake eyelashes was for Halloween! Saman changed it all! I highly recommend trying fake eyelashes for your wedding because when the right ones are used and put properly, they can look very natural and make your eyes pop! I loved them so much that I still wear them for parties and fancy occasions!
• Hair accessories: Bring pictures of hair styles that you like so you can discuss whether you need extra accessories or extensions. I went and bought pins for my updo for the wedding and a flower accessory for my hair for the reception which worked well with my outfits.

Photo Credit: Tomas Ramos Photography and Saman Ansari, Studio Sila

2) Make a schedule:

• Develop a game plan: Have a plan for the day and go over it with your makeup artist.
• Send her/him your itinerary: Give your Makeup Artist a schedule of the events for the day so they are ready and prepared in terms of time.
• Check Reliability: Also, make sure the person you choose is easy to reach and responsive to your questions. The last thing you want is someone who is not reliable!

3) On the day of:

• Relax! Most of the work has been done, now it’s time for you to enjoy and get pampered.
• Set a time for your makeup artist to meet you at least three hours before the ceremony.
• Try not to have too many people in the room with you. I preferred just me, my makeup artist and my photographer for getting ready pictures (which I highly recommend!). Too many people can add extra stress because as much as you value their opinion, at the end of the day, you have to be happy with how you look.
• TRUST your makeup artist. You chose them for a reason right? Don’t stress about every little detail of your makeup. Let them work their magic on you.

I was lucky enough to have found a makeup artist that was absolutely wonderful! Finding your makeup artist should definitely not be something left to the last minute. Great makeup artists usually get booked months before hand. So search early, ask the right questions, give up your frustration and hang your towel on the peace of mind that comes in knowing you are in good hands so you can concentrate on other things…like getting married!

Here are some more beautiful bride transformations:

Photo credit, Hair and Makeup by Saman Ansari, Studio Sila.

Photo credit, Hair and Makeup by Saman Ansari, Studio Sila