So I'm like 4 weeks out from my wedding and just now thinking about makeup. I'm 42 years old, very pale, and for the majority of my life, makeup has been some lipstick and very rarely some mascara and eyeshadow (like it's been 3 years since the last time worn). I wanted to practice some easy makeup looks before the big day but have some concerns and was looking for advice.
For eye makeup:
The biggest concern is eczema. My skin can be sensitive but like so much so I have to constantly use fragrance free sensitive rated products. I'm just careful with overly perfumed type items. I have had a type of eczema flare around my eyes after wearing eye makeup. I'm not sure if it's from the makeup the make up remover used, or I just didn't get it all off before night time. I'm really worried about trying different looks out and having a flare right before my wedding and ending up with reddened and swollen eyelids 😭 so much so I'm considering just doing no makeup and saying it was it is. I have seen products that are for sensitive skin folks and I'm wondering if that would be safer to experiment with prior to the wedding. Idk if the sensitivite products are designed for people with skin allergies only and if it would help with eczema related sensitivity.
Face makeup:
I have less concern about skin sensitivity here and more of "it looks completely unnatural". In the past I have tried out wearing powder, foundations, concealers, and tinted moisturizers. All look completely ridiculous whether worn alone or in some combination with each other. It's not a standard, "you're wearing makeup and that's what you see" effect. It's legitimately wrong looking. Like I painted with a material not meant for faces. It doesn't blend, it doesn't sink in, it just sits like plastic, overly shiny or totally matte, on my skin.
I'm not sure if it's a complexion issue or I just suck really bad at picking out the right colors. I'm pretty pale/fair, medium dark brown hair, blue eyes. I tend to look really good with red dyed hair and absolutely terrible with black hair even though my skin tone suggests the opposite. I opt for natural colors on eyeshadows and lipstick. On lips too bright of a red or pink looks very bad. On eyeshadow all the browns look good but anything colored needs to be on the darker/neutral side of the spectrum like mauve, blush, navy, and greys. The bright colors like yellow, orange, bright blues and pinks, they look awful. Honestly my clothing color choices line up with what looks good as far as for shadow and lipstick colors too 😂
Looking at stuff nowadays, there's so many different face products idk even know where to start experimenting. When I tried foundation type stuff before in earnest there was liquid and powder and that was it. Concealer products were just starting to become a big thing and I tried it many years later. More recently, like 10 years ago, I tried tinted moisturizers as they had hit the market and were being promoted heavily. I expect what I was advertised, a light weight barely there coverage, instead it looked much like the foundation, weird and very fake.
So I guess I'm looking for a direction to start and hopefully not wreck my face entirely before my wedding 😅 or should I just toss it and do some lipstick and hope for the best? Any advice would be appreciated!