What to bring to your bridal makeup trial
A trial goes better when you arrive with four or five specific things. Here's the short list, and the reasoning behind each one.
A trial is two hours, and how useful those two hours are depends almost entirely on what walks through the door with you.
None of this is complicated. But brides who bring these things leave with a look they’re certain about, and brides who don’t often leave saying I think so? — which is a much worse feeling four weeks before a wedding.
Bring a white or ivory top
This is the one that surprises people. Whatever you wear pulls colour up into your face, and the dress is going to be pale. Trying a look in a black jumper and then seeing it against ivory on the day is a genuinely different result.
It doesn’t need to be nice. A plain white t-shirt is perfect.
Bring the photos — including the ones you don’t like
Three or four images of looks you love is the usual advice, and it’s good advice. Less obvious: bring one or two you actively dislike.
“Not this” is often more precise than “something like this”. If you can show me the eye you don’t want, I know exactly where the boundary is.
Bring your skincare, or a list of it
I need to know what’s going on your face in the days before the wedding, because it changes what I put on top of it. Retinol, acids and strong actives all affect how base sits, and some of them need pausing before the day.
| Bring | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Your current skincare | Tells me what your skin is used to |
| Any known reactions | Some brands and ingredients get avoided outright |
| Recent treatments | Peels and facials change skin behaviour for weeks |
| Your everyday makeup | Shows me where your comfort level sits |
Bring an honest sense of your comfort level
The most common thing that goes wrong at a trial isn’t a technical problem. It’s a bride who doesn’t want to say she finds the eye too heavy.
Say it. Please say it. Nothing about the trial is precious — that’s the entire reason it exists, and adjusting it takes me four minutes.
Bring your timings
Ceremony time, how many people are getting ready with you, and where. That’s how the morning schedule gets built — and a schedule built at the trial is the reason the day doesn’t feel rushed.
If you don’t have these yet, that’s fine. But if you do, bring them.
And a small thing that helps
Come with clean, moisturised skin and no makeup. Not because I mind removing it, but because the twenty minutes it takes is twenty minutes we could have spent on the look itself.
Everything else — the full list of what a bridal booking includes — is on the services section of the site. If you haven’t booked a trial yet and you’re wondering when to, six weeks before the wedding is the sweet spot.