A Chit Chat with Arabia Weddings: Egyptian Makeup and Hair Artists Dee and Dal
Dee and Dal are British-born Egyptian twin sisters, beauty bloggers, and professional hair and make-up artists specializing in bridal beauty in the UAE. Since the launch of their brand ‘Make-Up By Dee & Dal’ in 2012, they have quickly become regional favorites for brides of all nationalities and ethnicities.
Their western upbringing and Middle-Eastern heritage, combined with over 10 years of experience in the region, means they have perfected bridal make-up and hair styles from across the globe, with the unique ability to interpret their brides requests with cultural sensitivity and understanding.
With a true passion for their craft and their clients, Dee & Dal’s fun loving and easy going nature quickly puts even the most nervous bride at ease, to truly enjoy the process of getting beautified for their biggest day.
- What are the makeup trends and colors for the fall/winter?
Trends vary from culture to culture, but the make-up trends for fall/winter 2015 from the runways, are rich in plum and mauve hues.
The trend is also leaning away from contouring and bringing the fresh faced looked back in, with a focus on highlighting and brightening the complexion with a more natural look. It’s important to remember when you are selecting your bridal make-up style that your wedding photographs will last a lifetime.
We always recommend that our brides choose timeless, classic looks, with a nod to current trends, instead of anything too controversial or overly fashion forward.
- How should a bride prepare her skin for her wedding makeup?
It’s important to start your bridal skin preparations, months before your wedding day. If there is a facial routine or treatment that you have tried before that works well for you, stick to it.
If you are going to try anything new it should, again, be tried months in advance to see how your skin will react and how long it will take to settle. It is also worth trying out a good hydrating facial treatment early on and seeing on which day after it your complexion looks at its best.
Then you know how many days ahead of your wedding you should do that treatment to get your best results on the day. Keeping your skin hydrated is of utmost importance. Drink plenty of water, stay out of the sun and moisturise twice a day for the weeks leading up to your big day.
We always recommend that our brides choose timeless, classic looks, with a nod to current trends
- How does bridal makeup differ from makeup for other occasions?
When applying make-up it’s important to bear in mind the function of it. If it’s for a photo shoot, with studio lights and for a short duration, it needs to be heavy enough to show up on camera under strong lighting, and only needs to last for the allotted time of the shoot.
For everyday make-up, it needs to look perfect in real life, when you walk up to the person and see the make-up on her face, so it can’t be too heavy or dramatic, especially under normal daylight lighting. Wedding make-up needs to be multi-functional and fulfil a combination of contradicting situations - so requires a longer process with specific products for specific functions.
It needs to look flawless on camera, last for a long amount of time, be non-transferable, look great under varying lighting and weather conditions, and also look perfect in real life. We use a variety of preparation, layering, setting and highlighting techniques and the right combination of iridescent and matt products to achieve this.
Always do a trial! That’s the number one piece of advice
- What makeup advice can you give brides-to-be?
Always do a trial! That’s the number one piece of advice. Also, stick to the timeless classic looks that in 20 years, when you are looking at your wedding photos, you would still love. It’s ok to step out of your comfort zone and try new things, but don’t try a look so drastic that you might not like it in a few months’ time when you get your photos given to you.
Use your make-up trial to test new ideas, and listen to the consultation and advice given by your make-up artist. We have done every look, on every type of bride, and know the common pitfalls and mistakes that brides make when choosing their look.
- What hair advice can you give brides-to-be?
You need to factor in the logistics and location of your day when choosing your hairstyle, as well as how your own hair responds the best, what styles suit your face, and what accents your dress and neckline the best. If your venue is outdoors and your hair tends to frizz, don’t fight nature by trying to leave your hair completely loose.
Even with setting curls to cool and every product you could use, nature will always win out over products and styling, if the duration of being outdoors in the humidity is long! The same goes for if you know that your hair is fine and tends to flatten – choose an up-do for both of these hair types, so that you keep the style, volume and look, no matter what weather conditions and natural hair-tendencies you may have.
If you are having a long day, in a variety of locations, and plan to dance all night, then you know that a loose style will, again, be lying flat (or starting to frizz) towards the end of the evening. All of these factors need to be thought of when choosing your hairstyle. Always book a trial for your bridal hairstyle, and take your head pieces/veil/accessories with you to see how it will all work.
