30 Natural Wedding Makeup Looks and Tutorials for Minimalist Brides

February 16, 2023

By: Caitlyn Martyn | Makeup.com by L'Oréal

A bride with blonde hair pushed back with a thick white headband wearing natural makeup with pink blush and lipstick

Choosing your makeup look for your wedding day can be challenging, especially if you want to take a more subtle, toned-down approach instead of a traditionally glam aesthetic. For a natural makeup look, it’s all about defining and highlighting your best features with neutral tones and complexion-enhancing products.

If you’re in need of inspiration, there’s no better place to look than YouTube and Instagram. And ahead, we’re sharing 30 of our favorite wedding makeup tutorials and look ideas for the minimalist bride.

How Do You Do Natural Wedding Makeup?

Before we dive into the inspo, we’d be remiss not to share a few of our own tips on creating a natural wedding makeup look. Remember, a natural look will be slightly different for everyone, but the key is going for nude or neutral tones and lightweight textures that let your skin and features shine through. Full-coverage, overly matte formulas could emphasize skin texture and look harsh, so try opting for buildable formulas that are lightweight and offer dewy, soft matte or natural finishes instead.

Natural Wedding Makeup Tutorials

Pretty and Defined

YouTuber Kelechi Mgbemena documented her whole wedding journey on her channel, including her makeup and hair details she did herself. The result? A simple and chic look from head to toe. To replicate her gorgeous matte skin, try the Maybelline New York Fit Me Matte + Poreless Liquid Foundation.

Soft Glam

In this tutorial, vlogger Elanna Pecherle details how to DIY a soft glam bridal look with a neutral smoky eye, flushed cheeks and a glossy pink lip. To replicate her pout, we suggest using L'Oréal Paris Infallible Pro Plump Lip Gloss in Flush.

Lashed and Ready

The focal point of this flawless look is the eyes. Vlogger @adalinebeauty used neutral eyeshadow and a black eyeliner along the top and bottom lash lines. The finishing touch is fluttery false lashes. For a more subtle look, opt for individual falsies to add volume and lengthen your natural lashes.

Simple and Defined

Vlogger @davienna created this tutorial for brides who are doing their own wedding makeup. If your goal is to create a subtle contour, achieve thick, groomed brows and tightline the eyes, this is the tutorial for you. For a cream eyeliner pencil that will last in your waterline, we love the Lancôme Drama Liqui-Pencil Waterproof Gel Eyeliner.

Not Too Natural, But Not Too Glam

For a look that’s somewhere between natural and dramatic, vlogger Brianna Fox has got you covered. In this in-depth video, she shares her best tips and tricks for creating a subtle pink-toned look that’s universally flattering.

Natural Wedding Makeup Looks

Dewy Skin

Glowing, dewy skin gives off more natural vibes than an overly matte complexion. Look for primers and foundations with a luminous finish and add highlighter to the high points of your face.

Rosy Pout

In this look, the makeup is largely understated, from the light dusting of blush to the neutral eyeshadow. The focus is a rosy pink lipstick with a slight sheen.

Subtle Smoky Eye

When you think of a smoky eye, you probably picture a dark, heavy eye makeup look. But smoky eyes can be subtle, too. Opt for a brown or bronze eyeshadow.

Sun-kissed

Matte bronzer on the cheeks and forehead gives this bride a fresh-from-vacation sun-kissed complexion.

Shimmery Eyeshadow

Natural doesn’t mean you can’t indulge in a little bit of sparkle. Shimmery eyeshadow in a nude color palette is so pretty for a wedding. We love the Giorgio Armani Beauty Eye Tint Long-Lasting Liquid Eyeshadow for its range of neutral shades and subtle metallic finish.

Groomed Brows

Gorgeous groomed brows frame this natural makeup look, which is complete with tightlined eyeliner and feathery lashes.

Blotted Lips

Few things are as pretty or romantic as a perfectly blotted lip look. Use a pink matte lippie with buildable pigmentation to try it for yourself.

Winged Eyeliner

Let a dramatic yet classic flick of winged eyeliner steal the spotlight by balancing it with natural, dewy makeup. We love the NYX Professional Makeup Vivid Matte Liquid Liner for creating a wing.

Defined But Natural

This makeup look is glam-adjacent, with the defined brows and dark eyeshadow wing. But the rosy complexion and soft lashes keep it natural.

Freckles

We love how a lighter coverage foundation allows this bridesmaid to show off her stunning freckles and natural complexion.

Rosy Cheeks

A generous amount of blush in this photo gives the client a rosy, lit-from-within glow. For a similar look, we suggest reaching for the Valentino Beauty Eye2Cheek Blush and Eyeshadow in Born in Roma 01. The lipstick shade matched to the blush pulls it all together.

Shiny Eyelids

The eyeshadow in this look is very sheer and minimal, but the effect is a lovely, slight shine that makes the model’s skin look so fresh.

Red Eyeshadow

A wash of red-toned eyeshadow makes this otherwise minimalist makeup look stand out from the crown.

Understated Lips

Let your natural lip color shine through — all you need is a clear balm or lip gloss to get this lip look.

Gold Eyeshadow

Gorgeous metallic gold eyeshadow makes this bride’s eyes pop. Pair it with clean, simple skin and lips.

No-Makeup Makeup

As the makeup artist explains in the Instagram caption, she kept the complexion understated, just covering up some hyperpigmentation and adding in some warm tones.

Satin Skin

The satin skin effect in this post falls somewhere between dewy luminosity and matte. The look is completed with matte lips and eyes.

Bronzed Skin and Eyes

This gorgeous look works so well because the metallic bronze eyeshadow and sun-kissed skin complements the bridesmaid’s hair color.

Nothing But Mascara

If eyeshadow isn’t your thing, that’s not a problem. Just a few coats of super pigmented, lengthening mascara is all you need to make your eyes pop.

Glossy Lips

In this picture, the makeup artist achieved an unbelievably shiny, glassy lip look using the NYX Professional Makeup Fat Oil Lip Drip in Supermodel.

Champagne Accents

Champagne shades complete this beautiful, festive bridal beauty look.

Brushed-Up Brows

Full, brushed-up brows look natural and effortless. The sheer complexion makeup allows the model’s gorgeous freckles to shine through.

Rose Gold Soft Glam

Rose gold eyeshadow is a great way to bring a glam element to a natural makeup look without going over the top.

Sculpted Cheekbones

A bit of contouring sculpts this bride’s cheekbones and brings out the natural angles of her face.

Matte Lips

It doesn’t get more classic than a matte lipstick in a nude shade. The one in this photo has peachy undertones. For a similar look, we suggest the Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Uptight.

Photo: Elanna McGowan, @ellepearls