Oily Brides — please settle the traditional vs. airbrush debate

Hi! Fellow oily skinned bride here 🙋🏼‍♀️ The last seven weddings I was a BM or MOH in, I did airbrush make up, and completely plan to use it for my own wedding as well. It was flawless, I couldn’t even feel it on my skin, and it didn’t budge the entire night! We are talking pre-wedding pictures, ceremony, reception, after party… and I still had to scrub it off with make up remover at the end of the night. The application was flawless in pictures!

Here's one thread where a bride shared her picture of the airbrushed makeup.

Bridal trial vs bridal day of makeup hair | Weddings, Hair and Makeup | Wedding Forums | WeddingWire

Pretty sure there've been times someone could've seen their reflection on my forehead 😅

I had traditional makeup done for my trial. I stressed that my t-zone (ESPECIALLY my forehead) gets super oily, and they made sure to use a shine control/ mattifying primer there vs a regular one elsewhere. They also hit my t-zone with a setting powder that was designed for oily skin. At the end of the day it seemed to have lasted.

If you're on the fence, you could do a trial with airbrush but ask what traditional products they use if you were to go that route, then get sample sizes of those and try them on your own to see which holds up better.

I’m going the airbrush route this Saturday for my wedding. It shows my pores A LOT less, and looks flawless. It blends together better on my skin too.

I did airbrush! I have VERY oily skin. I didn't notice it, it never budged. I wish I could do airbrush all the time! It was perfect

I used traditional and my MUA layered products (I forgot which) with slight contouring/ highlighting for a youthful look. I never looked oily on my wedding day, but my main concern was redness from cocktails. I would see what your MUA recommends for your skin at your trial, and take a test run with a night out. I guess the money I spent on a couple facials costs more than the upgrade to airbrush. But, I am an older bride (mid-40s) and wanted to prep my skin first before adding makeup on top. I also kept a humidifier in my office year round. Good luck deciding.

I am very skilled and comfortable doing my makeup, so after a botched airbrush makeup trial that I felt made me look cakey, I decided to do my own! I watched a wedding day makeup tutorial on YouTube by Painted by Spencer and bought everything he used! My day of makeup looked amazing and stayed put! I am an oily girl, but using the steps he outlined, particularly setting the creams with powder counterparts and using a translucent setting powder combined with fixing spray - not setting spray - my makeup looked amazing start to finish!

Just did my hair and makeup trial over the weekend on the same day as my engagement shoot and a dinner date — opted for airbrush and my HMUA said my skin was pretty oily when she was prepping me.


She used a setting spray and even through about 1.5 hours of our engagement shoot which was outdoors in fog, mist, and light rain, my makeup didn't budge. I wore a face mask into the restaurant a couple hours later and my makeup didn't smudge or get on the inside of the mask, and by the time dinner was over at like 10 pm (makeup was finished at 2:30pm), I hadn't had to use any of my oil blotting sheets at all. I was still matte, it was magic.
One thing my HMUA brought up was also regulating my body temperature. When she noticed my makeup changing or I was gettjng warm during the process, she had me hold up a small fan to keep me cool while she did my makeup. She told me as your body temp changes, your makeup may too before it's set. I'm actually going to be carrying a large fancy hand fan instead of a bouquet at my wedding, so I can cool down as needed, too.
It probably depends on your HMUA and the setting spray they use, but I'm convinced it's magic and I'm looking forward to my makeup being done for my wedding in a few months!