Weigh in: Should you hire a bridal makeup artist for your wedding?
One of the regular readers here (hi Marithe!) asked me what makeup she should use for her wedding as she doesn't plan to hire a makeup artist. I promised to help her with a tutorial, but I think there's an underlying question here that needs to be addressed: should the bride do her own makeup, or should she hire a professional?
I think there's a lot of women opting out of pro MUAs as they find their services too expensive, and some people too "pushy" or uncomfortable to work with. It's just makeup, they think. Why do they have to shell out P5,000 up to P75,000 for a few hours of a makeup artist's time? They suspect that MUAs charge a lot more only because it's a wedding.
What some might not understand though is that makeup artists have done the time and invested thousands of pesos on their gear. They usually have the experience of doing countless of faces, in different lighting, using different products to suit the requirements of the clients while thinking of the weather conditions. There are so many things to learn and do in order to be a capable makeup artist! If you've heard of her (or him), it's only because she was tireless in starting from the very bottom doing shoots that paid nothing up to the time that she can command a fee for a wedding.
Makeup artistry is a tough business to be in. There's a lot of costs involved as with any freelance service-oriented job. The MUA has to invest in training, research, products, gas (or commute), toll, and the actual time spent on the venue with you. That's including the consultations and subsequent calls you make to each other in preparation for the actual event! It's a lot of work. Many of them charge way below than what they're worth just to get more referrals and photos for their portfolio.
On the other hand, young women getting married today grew up during the explosion of the Internet as a valuable source of information and means of communication. There are YouTube gurus sharing amazing tutorials - some are gifted amateurs, while some are celebrity makeup artists with decades of experience. There are beauty bloggers reviewing products in detail so you know what works and what doesn't. Information on how to do wedding makeup plus which products to use can be had in just a few clicks! The only difficulty would be the amount of information you have to wade through to get to the really useful stuff.
We're also now at a point when there are lots of innovative, fairly affordable products that perform well. You can step in a Watsons or SM Beauty Store right now and you can find products that will suit an event such as a wedding. Of course, I would still recommend you invest in the good stuff just because they feel better and work better overall. I'm just saying that if you can't splurge, then saving is most definitely an option.
If you're the type of future bride who is interested, even skilled in makeup artistry after some time researching it online, then I do think you should do your own makeup. You would have already known a bit beyond the basics and are on the pulse when it comes to the latest developments in the beauty world. You probably also have a solid makeup collection at this point and may even be ready to invest now that it's going to be for your wedding.
I think it's more practical to do your wedding makeup if that's the case. You already know what works for you - you just need to acquire a few more things, research more, and practice more for the day itself. I believe that if you don't need it then you don't need to pay for it! When my wedding day comes, I'll definitely do my own face.
However, if you're completely clueless about makeup and aren't particularly interested in learning it, then hire a professional. If you don't want to worry or feel pressured about doing your wedding makeup even if you know how to, then hire a professional. You'd save yourself a lot of grief for (comparably) not a lot of money! In the end, it's really up to what you feel confident about doing. Don't think about saving money - think about what will make you feel happy and comfortable during one of the most special days of your life.
Weigh in! Will you hire a pro MUA for your wedding? Why or why not?
