Photo: Lauren Methia Photography
Summertime brides have the added challenge of trying to keep their makeup fresh for hours of celebration in a hot, sticky environment. Many brides complain that their makeup slides right off their faces. Or that they wipe off all the beautiful (and expensive) cosmetics their makeup artist applied, wiping sweat off their faces throughout the evening.
For some lower-maintenance brides, the solution is to wear less makeup on your wedding day. But when you’re spending thousands of dollars on photography and videography, most brides want to look their absolute best regardless of the temperature.
I went on a quest to figure out which hot-weather makeup products my brides were using, and what they were happiest with — it’s easy to tell from the late-night wedding pictures whose makeup held, and whose did not. The freshest-looking brides and bridesmaids attributed their success to using mineral-based cosmetic products, instead of a liquid foundation.
It turns out that Bismuth-free mineral makeup is great on hot humid summer days, because the powdered application lets skin and pores actually breath, versus liquid foundation that just leaves a bride’s face feeling hot and uncomfortable.
Heather Lins, the co-creator ofSweet Minerals, an all-natural makeup company, explains that mineral-based cosmetics seem to stick better in hot weather because the powdered application binds to the oils in your skin, giving it a natural water resistance. And it’s easier to refresh your look with a mineral product’s layering process, because you don’t have to go back and start from scratch when you make repairs.
“Mineral makeup is so easy to touch up and blend throughout the day versus your traditional foundation. Repeatedly blotting perspiration of your face throughout your wedding can leave your skin looking grey and uneven,” Lins says.
Additionally, most mineral-based cosmetics give you natural sun protection, because they’re rich in Titanium and Zinc Oxide. For a sensitive-skinned bride with daytime wedding events, the built-in sunscreen means you don’t have to add yet another layer of goop to your face on a humid day.
Experts agree that if you’re planning to switch up your cosmetics for the wedding, you should figure out which products you want to use and start wearing them a few months ahead to make sure they flatter you, and agree with your skin. It takes a month for our skin to renew itself if you don’t respond well to the new makeup, so it’s best to start experimenting months in advance so you’re not dealing with skin problems at your pre-wedding showers and parties.
Several of my brides swore by their go-to, stay-on lip color to get through wedding events, but for those who dislike the dry feeling those can give you, there are lines of mineral-based lipsticks, glosses and pencils with better staying power than most traditional cosmetics.
See More: 7 Tips for Long-Lasting Summer Wedding Makeup
Sandy Malone is the owner of Sandy Malone Weddings & Events and author of How to Plan Your Own Destination Wedding: Do-It-Yourself Tips from an Experienced Professional. Sandy is the star of TLC’s reality show Wedding Island, about her destination wedding planning company, Weddings in Vieques.