Things you need to consider when hiring a makeup artist for your wedding

Getting everything all together for a wedding can be overwhelming, I am totally with you. I want to share some inside tips about how to look for a MUA for your wedding, hopefully it can help you.

• Portfolio 

Checking the artist’s portfolio is a great way to know the artist’s style, it’s also a great way to know the quality of the artist’s work. (Thanks to all the photographers, all the wedding photos look good. A good MUA can actually help a photographer to minimize retouching😊) But you want to see these real close shots of the makeup look that were not retouched with software, filter, or app like Facetune, these third party tools can smooth the skin, alter and twist the original makeup and make it appeal better. For example, nobody is pore-less, even people who have beautiful skin still have fine lines and pores. So if you see it’s super smooth under the eye area, around the nose and cheeks etc, it’s likely the photos have been retouched. Nothing is wrong with these retouched photos, but it’s not what you should look for when you need to check the makeup artist’s work. You need to check the original and real work, and check wether the foundation is cakey, if the eyeshadows is blended well, Etc. That is the quality of work I’m referring to. We want to look good in photos, but also we want to look good in person. 

• Punctuality 

It’s so important. Even if the artist is amazing, but if she/he doesn’t show up on time, or does not show up at all, it can literally ruin your day. 

I had at least 4 brides in the past book with me at the last minute because the artist they originally booked with stopped responding to them or cancelled them at the last minute. It is so sad to see that. So definitely you want to make sure the artist you hire is reliable. 

Ask around, check their reviews, and having a written contract will also help. 

(as to the reviews, read these detailed ones as these will help you to find information you need. Of course simple reviews like “she is amazing” is helpful too, but even bad reviews, you want to see if the person is just being difficult or it’s based on facts)

• Quality of makeup your MUA uses.

You want to check/ask what kind of makeup the MUA has in her/his kit. Is it long lasting? Is it water proof? Is it latex free? It doesn’t always have to be high end, but it needs to be good quality. 

If you are wondering what makeup brands we  use, please feel free to check out our website, we have all the information in the FAQ section. 

I’m a makeup addict, I definitely have experimented with lots of makeup. So I know what brand has which makeup items that I like.  (I will share my favourite makeup with you in the future) 

• Sanitary 

Does the makeup artist keep her/his makeup kit clean? Does she/he periodically check the expiry date of her/his makeup and only keep good ones in her/his kit? MUAs use makeup on many clients, and your skin is directly exposed to makeup, so you definitely want to make sure they sanitize their makeup well and not use expired makeup on you. 

• Professionalism

Of course if you can find someone that does  an amazing job and also has a great personality you like, that would be amazing. 

But the bottom line of it is professionalism. You don’t have to make friends with your artists, and you don’t necessarily have to like the artist’s personality, but you want to make sure she/he is approachable and professional. 

• Pricing

Everybody has a different budget. You want to work comfortably within your budget. But if you can splurge a little bit, definitely invest in a good MUA. Trust me, you get what you pay for! It’s NOT necessary, the more expensive, the better! 100% that’s not true. There is a marketing strategy where businesses overrate their service/products on purpose to make people think their service/products are the best. Meanwhile there are some amazing businesses that have underrated themselves to make their brand more approachable. 

When you evaluate the MUA’s pricing and consider it to be reasonable for you, you want to consider all the factors that I mentioned earlier including the quality of the MUA’s work, the quality of makeup they use, the punctuality, you also want to consider the experience of the MUA (how long has she/he been doing wedding makeup) and market price. 

At the end of the day, what we can keep is memories and photos/videos, so make sure you look fabulous for your photos and videos.