Bridal Makeup Touch-up Bag

If you are not lucky enough to have your makeup artist at your beck and call for your bridal makeup touch-ups at your wedding venue, then you need to create your own touch-up makeup bag and emergency kit. 

This bag can be a GREAT PRESENT to the bride-to-be from a bridesmaid, mother of the bride or groom or a close friend.  Whether the bride or someone else creates this bag, make sure someone (other than the bride) is made responsible for carrying and using the bag as necessary.

I will list exactly what should be included in the bag, but there are some general rules you should keep in mind when creating this bag:

·        You need to balance the needs of the bride with the size, bulk and weight of the bag.  You may be tempted to create two smaller bags – big mistake – now you have two items to forget!

·        Small sample sizes of products are perfect for this bag, as they are usually cheap and sometimes free. Tell your favourite makeup store that you or a friend is getting married, they may be willing to give you some great sample items.

·        All the products should be kept in an inexpensive, zippered bag – no larger than absolutely necessary.

·        When adding products keep in mind that each item should be useful and inexpensive and that the bag and its contents can be left at the venue, forgotten or given away without any guilt at the end of the evening.

Bridal Makeup Touch-up bag contents:

(1)      Straws: These lovelies help keep the bride hydrated (if she is not fasting), without ruining her lipstick and makeup or for that matter, help protect the bridal gown from spills.

(2)      Stain removal wipes: Remember to always blot, never rub a stain!

(3)      Regular wet wipes: The alcohol-free variety, this way, if they are used on the face or hands, they be less likely to dry out the skin.  Remember to always blot sweat, dirt, tears, stains or makeup; never rub!  A small pack will do!

(4)      White tissues: Remember to always blot sweat, dirt, tears, stains or makeup; never rub!  A small pack will do!

(5)      Cotton swabs: You should pack them in a separate small plastic baggie packed inside the touch-up bag, to ensure they stay clean.

(6)      Powder puff: The powder puff can be used in two capacities: to take down shine from your face (shoulders, etc.) and to gently retouch makeup.  Remember to always blot sweat, dirt, tears, stains, or makeup; never rub!

To understand this fully, please read the following table:

What?	What use?	How to use it?
Plain, clean powder puff	Blot out any oily/sweaty areas of the skin	Pack the puff in a separate small plastic baggie, inside your touch-up bag.
Powder puff with white baby powder  **	Blot out any oily/sweaty areas of the skin and fix base makeup smears	Dip powder puff in baby powder and then carefully place in separate small plastic baggie.  Some baby powder will stick to the puff and some will seep into the baggie. When you want to use the puff, re-dip it into the baggie and then gently shake off excess powder into the baggie and then carefully blot any offending areas on the face. In small amounts, white baby powder can be used on dark, as well as light skin tones, as the powder will be absorbed into the skin.
Powder puff with powder makeup (a bit lighter than the makeup color used).	Blot out any oily/sweaty areas of the skin and fix base makeup smears	Dip powder puff into the powder makeup and then carefully place in separate small plastic baggie.  Some powder makeup will stick to the puff and some will seep into the baggie. When you want to use the puff, re-dip it into the baggie and then gently shake off excess powder into the baggie and then carefully blot any offending areas on the face. Be very careful using makeup powder, as it can dirty the wedding gown and any dress, blouse, veil in close proximity.  Makeup stains are very hard to clean!

I believe that white baby powder is the safer, and therefore better option, given that any powder that may accidently fall on the gown will be invisible.

** An alternative is to pack a small bottle of baby powder and a separate powder puff and apply powder carefully and directly to the puff.

(7)      Lip gloss: I recommend packing a colorless gloss, as it is safer for the bride’s gown and for those around her.  Also you must consider the fact that if you reapply lipstick, it may get wiped on the dress, sleeve, and worse, the color may bleed into the skin surrounding the lip and make a very unappealing picture

(8)      Inexpensive, light scented eau de cologne: This is a great item to pack and is a good freshener and mood lifter.  But remember the rule, the eau de cologne bottle must be small and light to carry and inexpensive.

Just a spritz or two on the wrists and behind the ears can be wonderful and refreshing after a long, hot pre-chuppah photo shoot, just before the chuppah and after yechud.

Be careful not to spritz near eyes, directly on gown or even in the hair (although I do this sometimes).

(9)      Blush: I am including blush in this list, as a very optional item that is important only if the bride is naturally very pale.  You can buy a very cheap, small container of blush or eye shadow in a shade close to the original blush shade used.  If you are not sure what color will be used go for a light pinky/bronzy shade.  In addition, buy a cheap blush brush.  The key here is small and cheap.

Be careful opening the container near the bride, as well as when applying the blush.  An unsure, nervous hand - yours or the bride's -can create clown cheeks that will look worse in a picture than no blush - believe me!  Place napkins or tissues around the top of the bride’s gown before applying any color!  Once again if you include blush, place it first in a small plastic baggie.

(10)  Safety pins

(11)  Sewing kit: While everyone’s first thought would be to include one of those handy small sewing kits; all that you really need is a few already-threaded needles; two or three threaded with white thread and one threaded with black thread.  You can stick the pre-threaded needles into spools of thread and pack them in your kit.

(12)  Small nail scissors: Great for cutting loose threads from gowns, shirts, etc.  Never pull threads!!!!!

(13)  Double-back tape: Great to instantly fix tears WITHOUT sewing. (Not in photograph)

(14)  Panty liners

(15)  Nail file: A jagged nail can play havoc on a gown!

(16)  Few extra bobby pins: Just in case you want to pin back a few strands of way-ward hair for your hairstyle.

(17)  Band-Aids