Hold a date

Clean bridal beauty · Hudson Valley

Your skin,
only softer.

Natural bridal hair and makeup with Maren, fragrance-free and made for real skin, at your door from Rhinebeck to New Paltz.

Bride $350 · $125 holds your dateHold a date

The kit’s jars and a brush on a linen cloth by a window
The kit · fragrance-free
A bride in a blossoming orchard in Rhinebeck, soft waves and fresh skin
Orchard, Rhinebeck · May
Close-up of a bride with dewy skin and a peach lid
Dewy skin, peach lid
A bride walking into a wildflower meadow, a low bun
Low bun, wildflowers
  1. 01Skin first, twenty minutes of it.

    Warm cloths, a light balm and time to sink in. Makeup sits better on skin that has been looked after.

  2. 02Fragrance-free, every jar.

    Nothing scented touches your face. The ingredient list for every product comes before your trial.

  3. 03Your freckles stay.

    Thin layers where you need them and none where you don’t. You should look like you, rested.

Maren’s hands pressing balm into a freckled bride’s cheek
Skin prep, before anything else

Brides

Simple, and priced plainly.

  • The bride$350

    Skin prep, hair and makeup on the morning, at home, the inn or the barn. A touch-up pouch for the evening.

  • The party$140 each

    Bridesmaids, moms and grandmothers. Six or more and my friend Tess comes with me.

  • The trial$110

    Ninety minutes in my Kingston studio, two to three months before. We patch-test anything new.

  • The small wedding$275

    Elopements and city-hall mornings: the bride’s hair and makeup, ready in under two hours.

Skin-prep visit the week of, $85. Fresh flowers pinned in, no charge if your florist sends them. Lashes on request, glue-free.

The morning

A slow morning, on purpose.

For a two o’clock ceremony with four in the party. I build yours backwards from your first look and send it the week before.

Maren, seen from behind, doing a bride’s makeup by a farmhouse window while two bridesmaids talk on a sofa
A farmhouse in Stone Ridge · 8:50 AM
  1. 7:30
    Coffee and warm cloths

    I set up by your best window. Everyone in the chair gets skin prep first, before anything goes on.

  2. 8:30
    The party

    Moms and bridesmaids, one at a time, each about forty minutes. Tess joins for six or more.

  3. 11:00
    Your hair

    Soft, pinned to last, flowers tucked in if you have them. Your florist and I talk the week before.

  4. 12:15
    Your face

    Last, so it’s freshest for the photos. Balm on the lids, cream on the cheeks, a stain on the lips.

  5. 1:30
    The last mist

    A final look in daylight, your touch-up pouch in your bag, and I’m out of the way.

Clean kit

What’s in the kit, and what never is.

I read every label before a product comes near a bride. You’ll get the full ingredient list before your trial, and we patch-test anything new to you.

Wooden brushes, amber jars, cream blush, dried lavender and pearl pins on linen
Amber jars, wooden brushes, pearl pins

Always in

  • Fragrance-free balms and creams
  • Mineral pigments for cheeks and lids
  • Stains and tints, not heavy lipstick
  • Brushes washed after every face
  • Pins and combs, no aerosol near the face

Never in

  • Fragrance of any kind
  • Talc and heavy powders
  • Anything that flashes white in photos
  • Glitter that ends up in the cake
  • Products I haven’t worn myself
Maren Holt, the artist behind Bare Bloom, in her kitchen garden
Maren in her garden, Kingston

About

Hi, I’m Maren.

I grew up in Saugerties and trained as an esthetician in Kingston, which means I spent my twenties looking at skin up close and learning what it likes.

In 2014 my sister got married under a tent in Accord. An hour before the photos, the foundation she’d been sold broke her out in red welts along her jaw. I took it all off with a warm cloth, put on a little balm, a cream blush and a tinted lip, and she looked at the mirror and said, “Oh, there I am.” That sentence is the whole business.

I started Bare Bloom in 2017. Every product I use is fragrance-free and one I’ve worn myself. Skin prep takes twenty minutes, not two. And nobody leaves my chair looking like someone else.

For six or more, my friend Tess comes along. She does hair like a gardener does roses.

Maren

  • 300+Hudson Valley brides
  • Licensedesthetician, New York
  • Zerofragrance in the kit

Journal

A year of Hudson Valley brides.

  • Peony bun, sheer rosy lip, A barn in Accord, June
    A barn in Accord · June · Peony bun, sheer rosy lip
  • Half-up waves, Sunflowers, Saugerties, August
    Sunflowers, Saugerties · August · Half-up waves
  • Every freckle showing, Woodstock, July
    Woodstock · July · Every freckle showing
  • Dewy skin, peach lid, Rhinebeck, May
    Rhinebeck · May · Dewy skin, peach lid
  • Mother of the bride, soft blowout, Hudson, September
    Hudson · September · Mother of the bride, soft blowout
  • Undone braid, terracotta cheek, A stone wall, New Paltz, October
    A stone wall, New Paltz · October · Undone braid, terracotta cheek
  • Low bun, berry stain, The river, Tivoli, December
    The river, Tivoli · December · Low bun, berry stain

In their words.

  • “I have rosacea and I didn’t flush once, not even during the toasts.”

    Leah · Rhinebeck, June

  • “My husband said I looked like me on a really good day. That was the whole brief.”

    Sam · New Paltz, October

  • “Nothing smelled like anything. My mom gets migraines from perfume and she was fine all day.”

    Clara · Hudson, September

5.0 from 94 reviews

Hudson Valley

I come to you, wherever you’re getting ready.

Inns in Rhinebeck, barns in Accord, your aunt’s farmhouse in Stone Ridge. Trials are in my small studio in Kingston’s Stockade District.

  • No travel feeKingston, Rhinebeck, Woodstock, Saugerties, New Paltz, Hudson, Tivoli
  • $1 a mileBeyond 25 miles: Beacon, Cold Spring, Hunter
  • A quoteThe Berkshires and New York City
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Kingston and the Hudson Valley No travel fee within 25 miles of Kingston Open the map

Questions

Things brides ask me.

I have sensitive skin. Is that okay?

It’s most of my brides. We patch-test at the trial, you get the ingredient list beforehand, and if something isn’t right we change it then, not on the morning.

Will natural makeup show up in photos?

Yes. Thin isn’t the same as invisible. I build cheeks and lids in layers so they read in a photograph and still look like skin in person.

What about breakouts or texture?

We cover what you want covered, only there. Spot concealing looks better than a full mask, up close and in every picture.

Can I bring my own products?

Please do, especially anything your dermatologist gave you. I’ll work them in.

Do you travel?

Within 25 miles of Kingston there’s no travel fee. Further out it’s $1 a mile, and the Catskills, the Berkshires and New York City are a quote.

How do I hold my date?

Pick it below and pay the $125 deposit. It comes off your total, and the rest is due on the morning.

Hold a date

$125 holds your morning.

Saturdays from May to October go about a year ahead. Pick yours, and Maren texts you within the day to say hello and set up your trial.

A barn in Accord · June
  1. 1Service
  2. 2Date
  3. 3Details
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