Vicky Jiggens Makeup Artist

10 Bridal Updo Ideas 👰🏻‍♀️

I’ll always love an updo for a wedding hairstyle, they’re low maintenance, versatile AND they look bloody beautiful! If you’re considering an updo for your wedding day, here are 10 different ideas for you.

1. Textured low updo
2. Big, high, messy bun
3. Cascading high bun with natural curls
4. Hair up for short hair
5. Mid-height figure of eight bun
6. Soft textured low bun
7. Messy french pleat
8. Clean low chignon
9. Modern high updo
10. Braided low bun

Looking for a bridal hair and makeup artist for your 2026 or 2027 wedding? Drop me a DM so we can discuss the look you’re after! 🥰

Natural bridal makeup with coverage 🤔🤔

You can still have an overall natural makeup look whilst having some coverage on your skin, BUT there are a few caveats!

You can’t have all over full coverage makeup, and have it look undetectable on your skin. Unfortunately that’s just not realistic. However there are ways of achieving a look with more coverage, whilst keeping things more on the natural side.

The main way I achieve this is by only applying the coverage where you need it - if you have a full face of redness you would like covered then yes, you might want to opt for a full coverage foundation. However if you just have a few blemishes or things you’d like to cover in certain areas, a more natural foundation plus pinpoint concealing where you need it might work better.

It really does depend on your skin, what you’re conscious of and if you’d like it 100% covered. This is why bridal makeup is such a bespoke service - I never view my clients as one size fits all, and will create a look based on your tastes, skin and comfort levels.

Pictured is my gorgeous client Ruth, who has a type of rosacea that causes her skin to flush throughout the day (especially with stress, heat or alcohol). She was conscious of that on the wedding day, but also didn’t want her makeup to feel too OTT. So we created a look with quite a full coverage base, in case she flushed throughout the day, but kept other elements more pared back so the overall look was still natural. It’s not a no makeup makeup look, but a level of makeup that Ruth felt comfortable wearing!

If you’re looking for a bridal makeup artist who can create your natural makeup look for you, check out my services via the link in my bio 🫶🏻

Contrary to popular belief, it is completely normal to come away from your bridal hair and makeup trial wanting to make some changes.

Your trial appointment is all about experimentation, and sometimes it’s as much about finding out what you don’t like as well as what you do.

If you come away from your hair and makeup trial unsure or wanting to make changes, here’s what you need to do….

1. Communicate with your artist… a professional makeup artist isn’t going to take anything personally, and I would always prefer a client tell me they want to change something, rather than live with something they’re not happy with. Ideally whilst you’re still at your trial, but it’s fine to message your artist post trial if it’s something you need to reflect on too.

2. Figure out what changes you actually want to make. Sometimes you’ll know exactly what it is, sometimes it takes a bit of talking things through with your hair and makeup artist.

3. Work out if you’re comfortable just making the changes on the wedding day (99% of the time this is absolutely fine), or if you’d rather come back for a second trial appointment. Some people do need more than one trial to feel comfortable, and that’s totally fine.

4. Rock the new look and feel incredible on your wedding day!

Pictured is my gorgeous bride Eleanor who married last year. We made quite a few changes to her makeup from her trial (swipe to see her trial makeup). I actually loved both makeup looks on her, but she felt more like herself in the brighter eyed, more pink toned look we went for on her wedding day!

If you’re looking for a kind, approachable hair and makeup artist to create the natural bridal look of your dreams, check out my services via the link in my bio 🫶🏻

Your hair colour can make more of a difference to the outcome of your bridal hair than you might think!

It doesn’t mean you have to have a certain hair colour for it to look gorgeous (all colours are gorgeous in their own right), however it can be helpful to bear these things in mind…..

DARK HAIR 💇🏻‍♀️

Is easier to make look super sleek, shiny and glossy - that dark colour reflects the light perfectly!

Darker hair that is all one tone, won’t show intricate details as much. Chunkier braids & twists etc. tend to look better on dark hair, as smaller, finer details don’t show up as much.

LIGHTER OR MULTI TONAL HAIR 💇🏼‍♀️

Hair that’s lighter or a mixture of tones really helps details in your hairstyle to pop - any braids, twists or texture in your hair will stand out more on lighter hair.

Light hair (especially blonde), can be a bit harder to make look as silky as shiny as dark hair tends to look.

Often lighter hair that’s bleached holds a style better - the drier texture bleach gives the hair stops styles slipping around as much.

My advice as a bridal hairstylist… if you’ve found an inspo pic you love, try and find a version of it in a similar hair colour to your own. If you still love it, chances are it’s the style for you and you’re not just looking at the colour!

If you’re looking for your bridal hairstylist for your 2026 or 27 wedding, feel free to drop me a message 🫶🏻

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Bridal hair and makeup that feels like YOU 🫶🏻

A lot of my clients come to me saying that they just want to feel like themselves on their wedding day - and if you’re not someone who usually does much with their hair and makeup, a full glam bridal look is probably not going to help you feel that way.

That’s why it’s so important to book a hair and makeup artist for your wedding whose style you actually like - if you can’t see yourself wearing any of the looks in their portfolio then they probably aren’t for you. You need an artist who is going to listen, and create a look that’s bespoke to you - there’s no one size fits all in bridal hair and makeup!

So if you’re looking for modern, natural hair and makeup for your wedding day (like my gorgeous bride Hazel’s in this pic), drop me a DM so we can start planning your perfect look!

The soft, romantic low bun is a classic for a reason!

The low bun has always been a popular option throughout my entire hair and makeup career, and this soft, textured version is one of my favourite ways to style it.

Comfortable, flattering and you can just forget about your hair for the day, it’s the perfect low maintenance wedding hairstyle.

Are you team hair up or team hair down?

These soft, brushed out, bouncy blow dry style waves were big in 2025, and I have a feeling they’re going to be popular in 2026 too!

They look simple and effortless (my fave), but getting them to last can actually be quite time consuming. Believe it or not this style took me around an hour to create.

If you want a style like this for your wedding hair, pop me a DM so we can chat!

If you’re worried about your bridesmaid’s makeup looks not being cohesive, keep reading 👇🏻

Some people want their bridesmaids looks to match, others aren’t too bothered but here are my thoughts….

Bridesmaids don’t have to have looks that match 100% for everything to feel cohesive! If you want matching, personally I think the best way to go is to give a rough brief whilst still allowing each person to feel comfortable and confident in what they’re wearing.

For these 3 gorgeous bridesmaids, the brief was natural makeup. As you can see I kept all 3 looks natural but customised things to each person’s skin tone, features and personal tastes. All cohesive, whilst still allowing each person to feel great in their own skin!

I created these looks assisting the amazing last year 🫶🏻

Drop me a DM if you’d like to discuss your natural bridal makeup look with me! ❤️

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Same high bun, 3 different hair types 🫶🏻

I created these gorgeous high buns for Jodie and her bridal party this summer, and it’s a great example of how the same style will look similar, but not identical on different hair types.

Photo 1 - Naturally wavy hair, with soft, fine strands and medium density.
Photo 2 - Naturally curly hair (that had been blow dried straight), that was slightly coarser and incredibly thick.
Photo 3 - Naturally straight, silky hair but she had a lot of it.

This means a couple of things - firstly that if you want matching hairstyles for your bridal party, we can make them look similar but not identical as everyone’s hair type and texture will vary.

Secondly, when recreating your inspo pictures it’s good to bear in mind that your hair type will have an effect on the final style. Unless your hair is exactly the same length, texture and density as your inspo pic your style will have some differences (that doesn’t mean it won’t still look gorgeous though!).

Drop me a DM if you want to chat about your dream wedding hair & makeup ❤️

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