The best bases for a big day, from the latest product technology to the top high-street picks
It strikes me that although bridal style has evolved significantly in the past decade, in that any dress – or indeed trousers – and makeup style goes, the requirements of a bridal foundation are necessarily the same as they’ve always been.
If a bride (or groom) does plan to wear makeup, she needs a base that will withstand a long day, much eating, drinking, hugging and kissing, and that will look fresh in photographs from morning to night. Ideally, any bride will look like herself, in her own skin, rather than one that’s clearly dispensed from a bottle.
What has changed is the product technology that makes all this so feasible. And while I hope and intend to never need another bridal foundation myself, recently I’ve been testing Makeup By Mario’s Surrealskin (£44) and found it to be perfect for the job. This thin, lightweight fluid gives great coverage should you want it without masking what lies beneath, leaving behind a luminous finish that’s just shy of dewy. It’s extremely comfortable, almost to the point of imperceptibility, and it doesn’t crack, cake or dry over a good preparatory bridal skincare regime of hydrating serum, moisture cream and sun protection. (Don’t forget the latter – weather permitting, you might be outside for hours.)
Your foundation needs to be able to withstand much eating, drinking and hugging, and look fresh in photographsTicking all these same boxes is Lisa Eldridge’s Seamless Skin Foundation (£44), only this has a more matte finish – not the often flat, lifeless look of an outright matte but a shine-free and blurry one of fine, frosted glass. This, like the Makeup By Mario one, has a large and carefully considered shade range with multiple undertones. Usefully, both brand websites feature a real person wearing their corresponding colour. (I wish everyone did this).
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Both are pricey and I quite understand if wedding budgets are otherwise allocated, and it’s true that high street foundations have improved dramatically in recent years. L’Oréal Paris’s True Match foundation (£7.99) is great, in any event, but makes an ideal choice for weddings. Application is perfect, with the satiny fluid smooshing and gliding over skin, allowing plenty of “playtime” to get it right before it sets comfortably and lastingly in place. The hyaluronic and glycerin formula affords it the flexibility to cope with hours of smiling, laughter and eating, without cracking, and it’s even sufficiently water-resistant to withstand a few tears. And at under a tenner, it leaves enough surplus cash to buy its matching concealer and powder or, better still, another bottle of fizz.
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