makeup, planning ahead and day of (including advice from a makeup artist that can do your makeup acne safe in the bay area!) best decision i made makeup-wise was to do a trial run well before the actual wedding day. i highly highly recommend doing this! my adorable and talented makeup artist, isabel macias, suggested we do the trial run and i agreed, without realizing how valuable it would be. i showed isabel the photos from pinterest i had found and liked - i thought the photos i shared were natural, yet defined enough to look good photographed. she did a great job mimicking those looks, but i learned the look i thought i was going for required wayyyy more makeup than i expected. from far away it looked great but up close it was too much for my taste. so, this realization made it so that the day of i was able to articulate what i did like and what i thought we could do differently for the ceremony. we ended up using non-acne safe makeup because i wussed out - i didn’t want to be needy or bridezilla-ish with the makeup artist. i brought all my acne safe makeup and thought i had given myself enough pep talks to voice what i wanted... but the day of, i didn’t have it in me to be nit-picky and didn’t feel like micromanaging the artist was the right thing to do. plus, i saved myself stress the day of and just went with the flow. my makeup was perfect, i couldn’t have been happier - but it did break me out afterwards. so i had a few months of pesky breakouts from the cloggy products we used. though, i have no regrets! but i wish i had the advice of bay area makeup artist rachel rockwood, who has been a skinSALVATION client since 2015. not only does rachel personally understand the stress that goes along with having acne, but she also works for youngblood, a makeup company that makes most of the acne safe makeup we carry at skinSALVATION. (please note that some but not all of their makeup offerings are acne-safe!). rachel has four basic tips for the day of the wedding:

1. exfoliate beforehand (like with regular peels!) so that makeup application is even and doesn’t look cakey
2. moisturize face, including eyebrows, to avoid flakiness when combing and grooming
3. avoid sunscreen that's over spf 15 because it can bounce light back in photos and make you look ghostly
4. use a primer so makeup stays put through the kissing, hugging + tears

ok so now feast your eyes on rachel’s professional product recommendations and application advice below! helpful hint: apply products in the order laid out below! side note: only acne safe products that we would recommend to clients are clickable links. primer - youngblood mineral primer or kasnoff tinted primer if you don’t want to wear foundation but want to even skin tone a bit concealer under eyes - choose a color a half a shade lighter than your foundation and blend from the inner corner of the eye down the side of nose and out towards towards the cheekbone in a V like pattern. this will also add a highlight to the cheek bones. too much product will settle into creases so go sparingly and pat it quickly. many sS'ers like using illuminare liquid foundation in the concealing formula for this! concealer for breakouts - rachel loves the illuminare concealing formula we carry at skinSALVATION. set with youngblood loose foundation using a small eyeshadow brush. foundation - youngblood loose foundation or illuminare's moisturizing liquid mineral foundation for a more dewy look (or on drier skin). eyes - pick eye colors that are complementary to your eye color. (for example green eyes pop in warm browns and rosy reds. blue eyes sparkle next to rose golds as well as cooler greys. brown eyes look great in purples and golds). tarte brand shadows and alima pure's loose shadows are talc free. consider using individual lashes instead of the lash strips. you want them to blend in with your natural lashes! finish with mascara. (or get lash extensions!) blush - apply a little more blush on than you think you need. blush tends to fade fast, but remember to blend evenly!! alima makes a wide array of acne safe blushes and a few bronzers (just choose the loose powders, as their pressed formulas are cloggy). highlight - only the cheekbones, bridge of nose and cupids bow. you don't want to look sweaty because you put highlighter everywhere! rachel likes the youngblood lunar dust in moonbeam. some of us at skinSALVATION (including me!) have been using fat and the moon highlighter and love it. alima also makes a few loose powder highlighters that are safe. lips - pick a hydrating lip color. rachel doesn’t recommend long wearing lip color because they are so drying and they look dry on. she prefers the old fashion way of (1) sponging a base foundation on the lip line, (2) powdering, (3) lining the lips fully and (4) applying your color. finish - youngblood rice setting powder or youngblood minerals in the mist. this step is a must to lock in the makeup and finish your look. their loose powder is nice for a natural look, but the pressed is easier to keep in your purse for touch-ups. refresh - youngblood minerals in the mist or rosewater spray. when makeup moves throughout the day/night, spray again and buff with a powder brush to refresh the makeup. according to rachel, bottom line is that healthy skin is essential for a good makeup application. her best beauty tip that won’t cost money: smile and laugh!! here is a link to rachel’s bridal portfolio: http://www.rachelrockwood.com/portfolio/#/bridal/ stay tuned for next week's acne safe wedding blog "easy ways to keep stress low: flowers, table settings, wedding favors, cake, vows" all wedding photography done by heidi zumbrum