10 Tips for Preparing for Your Hair and Makeup Trial
Your hair and makeup trial is an essential part of the wedding preparation process. And yet, we find that many brides come to theirs underprepared, or don’t allow themselves enough time to decide if they actually like their look. We get it—it isn’t always easy to know what’s expected of you or what will serve you as a bride, especially if you’ve never had your hair or makeup done professionally! That’s why we’ve compiled this list of 10 tips. As beauty professionals, we know exactly what you need to do so you can arrive at your trial feeling breezy, beautiful, and bridal!
Bring 3-5 Images for Inspiration
In the lead-up to your trial, spend some time on Pinterest, Instagram, wedding blogs, or wherever you like to find inspiration! Save a few images that look like the kind of hair and makeup you’d like to wear on your special day. If you can, find images with brides whose hair color and length, face shape, and eye color are similar to yours. Then, at your trial, we’ll assess them and create a look that’s complementary to your hair texture, skin type, and face shape.
Wear a White Top
If you’re struggling to figure out what to wear to your trial, follow this tip! Pull all of your white tops out of your closet and select one with a similar neckline to your wedding dress. This will help you to envision your wedding day look once your hair and makeup are done.
Avoid wearing loungewear or “dressing down.” This won’t feel “bridal,” and may even have a negative effect on how you feel about your hair and makeup.
Take Care of Your Skin in Advance
Great makeup begins with great skin! “Cake face” happens when you haven’t been caring for your skin properly prior to putting makeup on.
If you’re worried about seeing texture in your foundation, we recommend exfoliating regularly. In addition, you can go the extra mile and get a HydraFacial prior to your trial and your wedding day. This deep exfoliation treatment will uncover a fresh layer of the skin via the removal of dead skin cells.
Take Care of Your Hair in Advance
If your hair is prone to frizz, we recommend booking a frizz-eliminating treatment prior to your trial or your wedding day. This will need to be scheduled well in advance as it tends to book up quickly, so reserve your spot with us today!
Treating your hair and scalp with regular deep conditioning and clarifying is always a good idea. And don’t forget that a great haircut goes a long way! We recommend booking a trim a week or two prior to your wedding day to touch up any layers and get rid of split ends.
Don’t Listen to Others’ Opinions
Everyone will have their own opinion on the hair and makeup you’ve chosen, but don’t allow them to make you doubt yourself. If you like the way you look and feel like a bride, that’s all that matters! This is your day.
That’s why we believe it’s best not to bring a guest to your trial. You’ll want to focus on how *you* feel about your look and what you’d like changed (if anything). In addition, this will allow for a one-on-one conversation with your artist so you can give them specific feedback without interruption.
Don’t Book Your Trial Around an Important Event
We’ve heard it said that you should book your trial to coincide with your engagement shoot, your bridal shower, or some other event in the wedding timeline. This is bad advice! If you’re on a tight timeline with somewhere else to be, it will make your trial feel rushed and you won’t be focused on your look. Plus, you’ll end up in the same full glam makeup that you’ll have on your wedding day in the photos from your bridal shower. While that may not inherently be a bad thing, it will make your reveal on your wedding day feel less special!
The bottom line: even if it feels like a “waste” of great hair and makeup, don’t follow this popular piece of advice. Go to dinner or a dress fitting after your trial instead!
Be Honest
Your artist will want your feedback after your hair and makeup are finished. If there’s something you don’t like, tell them! You won’t hurt their feelings. Everything beauty-related is a matter of opinion and can easily be changed so that you feel as confident as possible.
Post-trial, follow up with your artist about how your makeup and hair wore throughout the day, and include photos if you can! Your artist may then decide to make changes to their prep, or keep it the same so that the getting-ready process on your wedding day goes as smoothly as possible.
It’s Okay to Have More Than One Trial
A trial is meant for you to “try” out a look—it’s in the name! So, don’t worry if you don’t love the first one you try, much like a wedding dress. If booking an additional trial is what you need for peace of mind, then go ahead and do it!
Plenty of our brides also decide to completely change their look on their wedding day, even if they haven’t trialed it yet, and that’s okay too. We’re prepared for anything!
Extensions Will Be Your Best Friend
If you have trouble holding a curl, or just need more volume or length for the look you want, hair extensions are the way to go. We’ll help you figure out if extensions will get you the look you’re going for.
Lashes and Lips Will Make a Statement
Always get the lashes!! Even if you go with a pair that is more natural-looking, they’ll complete your look.
Lip color is sometimes the hardest to choose. So, if you’ve already got a color you love, bring it to your trial! We’ll try it out with the rest of your look and see what works.
We hope that these tips help you feel confident going into your hair and makeup trial! Here at Verve, we wear many hats, including wedding planning and beauty. Our on-location team, Verve On Location, will come to you on the day of your wedding to ensure a stress-free getting-ready experience that culminates in you feeling your absolute best! You can get to know us and our work here and on Instagram.
