Pakistani Bridal Makeup for Wedding (Updated 2024)

Weddings in Pakistan aren’t like weddings anywhere in the world. We, as Pure Pakistani, know how to make most of the wedding season. From dresses to makeup to food and décor, our weddings are lavish and exceptional. If you have been to a Pakistani wedding, you will know exactly what I am talking about. The whole thing circulates around the bride and groom, but between the two of them, it’s more about the bride than the groom. From the day they have set the date, to the actual day of Barat, there is so much a bride is worried about; her dress, her hair, her jewellery and especially Pakistani bridal makeup. The dress is one thing the family can look after, but it’s her makeup that needs precision. There are hundreds of guests attending the wedding from far and wide; they come to look at the bride and give her their blessings. The bride needs to be the epitome of perfection that day.

The Bride (Dulhan) and Her Makeup

The minute she enters the venue, and walk towards the stage, all eyes are on the bride. Everyone has their attention on her dress and makeup. This is the reason why every bride is so worried about her looks on her special day. She doesn’t want people to remember her as “the bride with horrible makeup” but as “the prefect bride who looked nothing less than a princess.” With hundreds of guests attending all the functions of the wedding, it’s essential for the girl to look gorgeous at all her events, and believe me there are many. These days different hijab styles are getting popularity as well which are becoming part of bridal costumes. If you are confused as to what look should you go for in all your events, here’s all the inspiration you need for all the events.

Dholki Night Makeup

Long before the actual day, the bride gathers her friends and cousin for Dholki night. They dance and party all night. This is a very casual event that doesn’t need much makeup, but the look does need to go with the theme of the night. The theme can be anything; you can have a pajama party in any of the best lawn brands clothing, disco night, variety function, etc. It's best if the bride goes with light makeup, bare face with liner and a light lip color. Nothing flashy because there will be a lot of functions to go flashy in the future.

Mehandi Makeup

Mehandi is the start of formal functions. You invite people from the groom’s family as well as other extended families. Most of the time the bride, with her cousins or the groom, makes a grand entrance. A function like this needs the bride to look simple yet extraordinary. The makeup always reflects the colors of your dress, so you should always go for colors suiting the event. For Mehandi choose light colors that aren’t too overwhelming. You can go for either matte or glossy makeup, both will look good but avoid glitter altogether. Keep glitter for heavier clothes as it balances that pretty well. Popular combinations that you can go for as your Mehandi color are yellow and green, pink and yellow, pink and orange; these are the kind of bright yet soft colors are the favorites of Mehandi dresses. A combination of green, yellow, pink, and blue is all you need to make your Mehandi dress a hit. As for the makeup, keep things simple and subtle. Don’t go for a Smokey or heavy look. Keep the eyes light with a good bit of liner and keep the lips light as well. Your handmade floral jewelry will more than make-up for your light makeup. You can choose one of the good hairstyles for girls if you want. The bright colors of the dress, your heavy floral jewelry as well as your hairdo will balance the light makeup look and make you look fresh and bright; this is what you need on a Mehandi event.

Read more: Bra Brands in Pakistan

Bridal Shower Makeup

Compared to all other functions, this is a very light and casual event that is arranged by the friends of the bride. Most of the time, the family isn’t invited to this small affair, and the bride wears western attire to match the theme of the party. For such a small event, it’s proposed that the bride goes a little soft on her looks. However, she can choose to go either way as it will only be her friends attending the event and no one else.

Barat Makeup

Barat is the most important function of all; every eye on the venue is always on the bride. They watch all her moves and scrutinize her makeup to no end. This is the day and the look that ever bride frets about all her life. First thing’s first, once you have a date in mind, made sure that you start searching for your look and your salon way ahead of time. This will save you from any mishap as well as last moment panic. Good as well as popular salons are always pre-booked, and near the wedding season it’s hard to get their appointment so, made sure you get the appointment out of the way as soon as possible. Since it’s your big day, you should make sure that you have seen the work of the artist as well. Do not leave anything on chance. Have a word with the artist, let her know what kind of look you are looking for if you have pictures for reference show those as well. Your makeup and wedding mehndi design is the reflection of the colors of your dress; show the artist what you have in mind regarding your dress. There are rules to balancing the makeup, mostly heavy eyes and heavy lips don’t go together, but on a Pakistani Barat day, all rules are ignored. The dress is heavy; the jewelry weighs a ton so should the make. Make sure the artist contours and highlights your best features. This is the beauty of heavy makeup; you can conceal and highlight all the features that you like according to your taste. However, not all artists can do that, so makeup sure you choose the right one along with the nail art designs for brides. The Pakistani bride’s skin should look flawless and chiseled to perfection. The makeup should be extremely blended with no harsh lines. With heavy eyes and equally heavy lips, the bride should look picture perfect. Between the eyes and the lips, the cheeks should be light and rosy with a touch of highlighter. False lashes should accompany the heavy eye makeup to give it a clean look. Red, gold, silver, green, and maroon are the favorite colors of Barat look. To make the eyes look heavy, always go for dark colors, glitter, and false lashes. You can also shape your brows with to give your eyes a wider look. Red is the most favorite color of all brides in Pakistan. It’s a festive color, and it’s also very prominent. If you don’t fancy red, you can go for any dark color you like. Dark blue, bottle green or gold are preferred choices apart from red and maroon. With a heavy dupatta, packed hair, and a heavier dress, your heavy makeup will look exceptional.

Read more: Pakistani Bridal Dresses for Barat

Walima Makeup

The walima bride is always seen as a glowing and bright bride. To achieve that look, stay away from dark colors. Even if you are going for a Smokey look, make sure the rest is light and glossy. The dress is drastically different from the Barat dress, which means your makeup will follow the lead of your dress and will be very different then what you went for in Barat. The red is either replaced by glitter or with Smokey. Don’t go for the same colors on both days. Change is the key to make both the looks work. The rules that we followed on Barat don’t apply for Walima, so you can choose a light color for your Walima to achieve the glowing and fresh look. The two days are drastically different, and so should the makeup be. You can talk with your makeup artist and work out both of your looks to make sure they are different and perfect according to the occasion.

Tips To Make Pakistani Bridal Makeup (Dulhan Makeup) Gorgeous

There are many do’s and don’ts of makeup. If you want your makeup to hold throughout your wedding day and the Walima you will need to follow some tips and hack. Heavy makeup of the walima, as well as Barat, can crease and have laugh lines, to avoid these little mishaps here are some tips to follow.

For flawless makeup, always make sure that you are following the colors of your dress. Experimenting with contrast in your wedding day isn’t a very smart move, it can pan out great, but there is an equal chance that it will be a total disaster. Stick to the safest option and play with matching colors to make the look flow perfectly.
Prepping your skin the sanest thing you can do to make your skin look flawless on your wedding day. Start as early as possible; we don’t mean early on your wedding day, but before. Start a month early to moisturize your skin daily, nourish it, drink a lot of water for the glow as well as stay makeup-free to keep the skin healthy. Also, get regular facials, it will help with the glow and softness of your skin, and it will also keep your skin hydrated. Don't forget hair treatments by using authentic and organic hair care products or have a look at the best sulfate free shampoo for hair growth to look smarter and beautiful with long hairs.
Prime your face before your makeup. Ask your artist repeatedly whether she is going to use a primer or not. Primers are brilliant inventions that make your face a blank canvas, and it will also make your makeup last for longer, (which is a huge need in Pakistani weddings). Normally the brides get their makeup done around noon or evening, and the functions go beyond midnight; hence a primer is extremely important.
If you have breakouts or spots that don’t add to your looks, make sure they are concealed properly. A professional makeup artist will be able to take care of that without any issues. Taking care of your skin before your wedding month will also help you get rid of or lighten these spots.
Don’t go too heavy, in old times, makeup used to be extremely cakey and heavy. Unfortunately, many salons are still doing that. Avoid cakey makeup; the cakey foundation shows in all pictures and videos. Many light foundations can work as good as heavy ones. You can select from the best face foundation brand in Pakistan.
Don’t go for any drastic changes. Be yourself; follow your normal features. Don’t go too heavy on contouring and highlighting. Following your own face shape will work in your favour more than another way around.
Avoid crash diets; brides are always worried about their weight and fitting into their gowns. There are a lot of dieting suggestions from friends and family. You will lose weight with the cash diet, but you will also lose all the glow of your skin. What you rather have, glowing skin or skinny body? Dieting is great, so you should always go for healthier options to dionsiet that will not only help you lose a pound or two but also retain the glow of your skin.
False lashes are great, but if they make your eyes irritated, you are better off without them. Opt for waterproof and dramatic mascara instead. That will do the trick and make your eyes look bigger and more prominent.

Beauty Expert Conclusion

Wedding days and all the events surrounding it are important and auspicious for any bride. Her look is no less. It’s important for a bride to understand that her look will be the most prominent thing of the day, and it should look flawless. So, she should start as early as possible with her search for the best look, best salon, best ladies shoes brand as well as the best artist. The two days of Barat and Walima should be tackled beforehand, and nothing should be left to chance. Makeup can go drastically wrong if even one thing goes amiss. Make sure the worst doesn’t happen to you and keep our advice in mind before making any decision.