Exclusive: Albert Kurniawan Shared the Downlow on Ara Mina’s Regal Bridal Makeup Look

Ara Mina just got married! The 42-year-old actress tied the knot with Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) Undersecretary Dave Almarinez in a church wedding ceremony held at Alphaland Baguio Mountain Lodges Chapel, Baguio City on Wednesday, June 30, 2021.

Ara’s makeup artist of choice Albert Kurniawan shared the downlow on the actress’ bridal makeup with Stylish Magazine. “It’s really a touching experience for me. For many years, Ara tried to book me for projects but for some reason, it won’t always work out or our schedules would never match. Then her wedding date had been moved too due to lockdown. But finally it pushed through. Then she told me, ‘Maybe God intended for me to have you as my makeup artist on my wedding day’, and I got touched and teary eyed hearing that,” Albert shared.

“Ara showed me her two gowns, and they’re really regal and fit for royalty. She wanted something timeless, classy and at the same time, fresh and regal. She wanted to look like a princess. It’s her dream to look like a princess on her wedding day because as she said, she’d never worn a ball gown in events before because she was always wearing mermaid gowns or fitted skirts,” Albert shared in a phone interview.

“She gave me the freedom to create a look based on how she wanted it. I decided to have a fresh look for her that would  show her natural look or Ara Mina as herself, not the actress. Because she was wearing a grand couture with stones, a fresh makeup would be perfect for her.  I really tried to stick with my mood board which was peachy hues, so for palettes I went for peach, blush pink and coral. I know people always go for neutrals or warm browns for weddings. But I tried to stay away from the browns as I wanted to use colors that are very soft, subtle and feminine,” the makeup artist and Teviant founder shared.

“The nose part, the cheek bones and the temples– I technically put face oil on top of the makeup because I wanted to make her skin look really radiant,” he said.

“For the lips, I tried to kill the natural color of the lips first by applying concealer. And then I used Teviant’s Lip Spell Lipsticks in Ley, which is our blush pink, nude pinkish shade. Then I mixed it with Teviant’s Lip Spell Lipstick in Titleholder, which is our nude rose shade. I tried to mix the two. And then I topped it off with La Mer lip oil,” he said. “With the limitation of the colors I used, I tried to play with textures.” Both lipsticks are now only ₱612.00 each only at Teviant’s official website. 

“I did some research on her photos. They would usually brush her brows and make it look natural. Since my palettes were really soft and nude, I wanted her to have prominent brows, but still not too strong. I tried to make her brows a little bit round with soft edges, but still super defined. When you make the brows just bushy or brushed up just like the trends right now, they might look unfinished when matched with soft, peachy palettes. Since we were going for a very regal and very royal look, I wanted to have her brows to have a little bit of power especially since her gown was not a typical couture. The gown really boasted of stones.”

“For the eye makeup, I also played with textures as my palettes peach and coral were so soft and subtle. For the base, I used some colors from Teviant’s Amore Eyeshadow Palette. Then for the transition color on the crease, I used soft gold color also from Teviant’s Amore Eyeshadow Palette, instead of brown. I stayed away from brown shades because sometimes brown could look tired in photos,” he said. “And then I did a very thin smudge liner for her upperline to make it look soft and subtle. Then I added voluminous lashes for her eyes to look more alive.”

To make the eye makeup look like a little bit wet for an overall fresh look, Albert also put transparent highlighters from Teviant’s Horus  Eyeshadow Palette (₱1,750.00).

“For the inner corners of her eyes, I also used some of the Multi-Chrome colors from the Teviant’s Horus  Eyeshadow Palette so her eyes can look even more lively,” the makeup artist said. 

The makeup artist also noted that he decided for the brows and cheeks to be the prominent features of the overall look since his palettes were soft.

“It takes effort to control the intensity of the cheek colors too, as some people might think you just go for neutrals. For blush-on, I mixed three actually. For the apple of the cheeks, I used Teviant’s Florid Glow to Glass Palette, our pinkish highlighter– which as I’ve mentioned in interviews before, I created with a mixture of six highlighters for a rosy glow. For the cheekbone area, I used Teviant’s Rosette Blush to Flush Palette, which is a dupe of Nars Orgasm– for a little bit of glow and coral touch. Under the eyes, you can see the blush on is horizontal and across the face. So under the eyes and across the nose, I used the lower pan of Teviant’s Arancia.”

“I watched all of her movies to see the entire movements of her face, and I got to see all the characters she played. I really stayed away from those looks and made sure people would see Ara Mina as a woman who was having her dream wedding,” Albert added. “We wanted to do a refreshing look away from ‘Ara Mina, the actress’. I wanted her to look like a real bride. I stuck with the plan to achieve a royal, regal, feminine, very fresh look.”

The makeup artist shared that he did the makeup of the bride’s family members too, like Ara’s mom and sisters. Plus the mood board for the groom and VIPs– that he did not have time to take HD glam shots anymore. “I used my mobile phone only to take the photos as everything was so fast.”

The actress wore a couture by Filipino fashion designer Leo Almodal. Indeed, Ara Mina looked like royalty on her big day just like what she dreamed of! So stunning! Great job, Albert!