What to expect at a trial

A trial is a full appointment and takes as long as the event makeup itself. That is deliberate — measuring the duration is one of its purposes.

It ends with a record: which products, which shades, in what order, and how long each part took. That record is what makes the event morning predictable rather than hopeful.

Judging makeup in front of a mirror the moment it is finished is the worst possible time. It has not settled and it looks unfamiliar to you.

The right assessment happens in two stages: one photograph immediately, in daylight, and a second look four or five hours later. The second one matters more — it is what tells you how the base behaves.

Three things make a trial considerably more useful.

• Photographs of what you like — and, if possible, of what you do not
• A picture of the dress or at least its colour
• Details of where the ceremony is and at what hour
• A list of anything you react to

Two to four weeks before the event. Earlier and your skin may change; later and there is no time to alter anything.

If you can, book the trial on a day when you are going out in the evening. Then you test it under real conditions rather than at home for ten minutes.

The entire point of a trial is that changing something is still possible. If you dislike it, that is not an awkward moment — it is exactly the information the trial exists to produce.

The most useful way to say it is specific: not "I don't like it" but "too dark", "too shiny" or "the eye is too strong". Each of those points directly at what should change.