When Toni Gonzaga married Paul Soriano last Friday, we noticed something different about her makeup. It wasn’t just that bridal glow; she tried out a new look.
Gonzaga had booked makeup artist Krist Bansuelo as early as January, when she and Soriano got engaged, so there was plenty of time to practice her bridal makeup.
“During those times, we were already trying out several looks on her,” said Bansuelo. “I told her, ‘You know, for most brides I do, it has to be very, very basic. It has to be you, your face. Ten years from now, the Kardashian look won’t look good anymore. You shouldn’t do the superstar part of you because you are a bride.”
Rather than stick to the makeup she was used to on TV—doll eyes (smoky eye makeup and pupil-enhancing contact lenses) and heavy contouring— Gonzaga took Bansuelo’s advice.
“I asked her, what are you more comfortable with? She said, ‘I’m a very simple girl.’ And when we looked at the gown she chose, it was very simple naman.
“She’s got nice skin, so I didn’t touch it much. She woke up at 11 a.m. The wedding was at 3 p.m., so she was well-rested.”
Spare look
Because of Gonzaga’s smooth and even complexion, Bansuelo just used K-Palette Zero Kuma Concealer (P895) sparingly under her eyes and around the sides of her nostrils.
“Most brides always look so made up, but we wanted her to look [like] herself,” said Bansuelo. He set the concealer with RMK powder foundation.
Instead of using powder blush, he used a cheek tint from an Asian drugstore brand that he found in Hong Kong. He didn’t use bronzer because it would “dirty up” her skin. He also maintained that Toni didn’t need illuminators or highlighters to create that bridal glow.
He lined her lips with Ofra Long-Lasting Liquid Lipstick (P950) in Laguna Beach, which dries matte, and prevented her lipstick from running. He then filled her lips in with a lip tint, like Etude House Color Lips-Fit (P498).
The only high-end product he used was for Gonzaga’s eye shadow: rose gold and brown eye shadows by Bobbi Brown. Otherwise, for her lashes and lashline, he used Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner (P449) and Maybelline Volum’ Express Hypercurl (P335).
Later, before the reception, he attached BohkToh, a brand of false eyelashes from Bangkok, to her lashline.
“[Drugstore brands] work very well,” said Bansuelo, his preference being waterproof cosmetics from Japan. “I like them a lot because they aren’t flat and don’t really need retouching. The expensive brands don’t always work for [my] clients.”
Not for the regular bride
Bansuelo has worked with Gonzaga for the last 10 years, so he knows her skin and her face very well.
“I don’t know if her skin is dry or what, but she rarely needs retouching,” he said. “Her skin only needs minimal makeup—the right amount of makeup, so her skin can breathe.”
Unfortunately this approach won’t work if you don’t have Gonzaga’s complexion.
“For my regular brides, it’s a different story. It depends on their skin. I always check the skin first because some will require airbrush, for example, if they have freckles,” said Bansuelo.
Regardless, if you’re a Krist Bansuelo bride, you can still expect to have that bridal glow, whether or not you have good skin.
His secret is to not pile on the coverage: “I use less powder. I don’t like heavy powder. Makeup is all about light. When you have too much powder, it detracts from the light, so it looks flat.”