By Crystal Bethea, Owner – C3 Wellness Spa
As a bride-to-be, it’s essential to prioritize your skin care routine leading up to your wedding. Your skin is the foundation for your entire bridal look, and taking care of it will ensure you shine when it matters most.
Below, I explain how you should care for your skin to look and feel your best on your big day.
Why wedding skin care is important
Neglecting skin care is always a big mistake, but it would be especially problematic in the months leading up to your wedding. The logistics of wedding planning, not to mention normal pre-wedding jitters, often cause stress and anxiety. This weighs on your gut and skin. As a result, breakouts and other problems can occur.
No one dreams of walking down the aisle covered in acne. The good news is that proper skin care can forestall issues like these. Just imagine exuding radiance when you walk into the room in your wedding gown, and your future spouse sees you for the first time, as well as your assembled friends and family. No one could put a price on that experience.
Good skin care also helps your wedding makeup go on more smoothly and last longer for a better overall appearance throughout your special day. Keep in mind that your wedding photos are some of the most important — if not the most important — pictures you will ever have taken of yourself. Over the course of your entire life, you will look at them time and time again. While photos can be touched up to remove blemishes, they can’t add the self-confident attitude that comes with knowing your complexion is flawless.
Your skin is your representative before you even speak. Let your best self shine through!
Start your wedding skincare regime as soon as possible
For most brides, the time to start your wedding skincare regime is as soon as possible after the proposal. On average, couples take a year to 18 months to plan and prepare for their wedding ceremonies. That’s an appropriate amount of time to get your skin in its best condition, since burnishing your skin entails improving your overall health and wellbeing.
This long-term approach gives you time to shift your diet to include pre- and probiotics, which are live microorganisms that benefit health in many ways. While the idea of bacteria being good for your skin may seem counterintuitive, gut health is linked to the health of your skin. Consuming probiotics and prebiotics keeps the microbiome in your gut balanced. Probiotics come from two main sources: supplements or fermented foods, such as pickles, kefir, and kombucha. Prebiotics are foods that feed the beneficial bacteria already living in your body. Examples include leeks, garlic, onions, and bananas.
An extended timeline also gives brides the option of completing a liver detoxification. If your liver isn’t functioning properly, it can cause many problems, including dry skin, premature wrinkles, acne, and facial blemishes like rosacea and eczema. Make sure to avoid dubious liver cleanses that haven’t been shown to be effective. Instead, drink lots of water, eat healthy foods, reduce sugar and lactose intake, exercise, and avoid excessive alcohol consumption to support your liver. Your skin will thank you for it!
Skincare treatments
Skincare treatments also take time to reveal their full benefits. By starting early, you can spread your sessions out and stagger visits for different therapies like microdermabrasion, radio frequency skin tightening, and VI Peels.
Microdermabrasion is a non-surgical skin treatment that uses tiny crystals to remove the outer layer of dead skin cells, improving the appearance of acne scars and wrinkles, evening out skin tone, and reducing redness. It has also been shown to help treat uneven skin pigmentation and reduce pore size.
Radio frequency skin tightening is another noninvasive procedure that uses electromagnetic waves to promote the production of new skin cells, as well as collagen and elastin, which make the skin appear plump, firm, and youthful.
VI Peels exfoliate all layers of the skin, from surface dead cells down to live cells below the surface, which makes it ideal for addressing hyperpigmentation (brown spots) and acne scars caused by acne or trauma. VI Peels also contain a combination of botanical extracts that deliver anti-inflammatory benefits, as well as antioxidants that protect against UV rays. As a result, completing a series of these addresses all the issues women face due to aging and sun damage: fine lines, wrinkles, and brown spots. It also improves the texture of your skin, which helps reduce pore size and breakouts.
Taking a long-term, proactive approach makes it easier to schedule your appointments, work around certain seasons, and keep your routine going with less drama. That said, brides can take as little as three months to get their skin in good shape for their wedding day if necessary. With this amount of time, for instance, the afterglow of microdermabrasion and a VI Peel series can lead to healthier, more vibrant skin.
Best practices for wedding skincare
Different skin issues require different skincare strategies for best results. One piece of advice applies to every bride, however: don’t risk doing anything that exfoliates in the days before your wedding or on the big day itself. The last thing you need is facial scarring.
For those who want to minimize blemishes, a daily skin regimen that includes cleanser, toner, moisturizer, and sunscreen (SPF 15 or higher) will be your main line of defense.
To improve acne, a good glycolic and charcoal cleanser can help things turn around, in addition to liver detoxification and adding pre- and probiotics to your diet.
Want to boost your glow? Radio frequency is my absolute favorite! The results are so illuminating, people will ask what your secret is. These sessions tighten the skin and boost collagen, while leaving a radiant shine.
Facial cavitation and facial lymphatic drainage can help sculpt bone structure. Cavitation helps reduce fat cells, and lymphatic drainage removes excess fluid. The result is a leaner, more elegant facial structure.
Even just wrapping an ice-cold towel around your face can tighten the skin, close the pores, and strengthen elastin for a more youthful appearance.
Invest in confidence and happiness
Making time for skincare is an essential part of self care. It keeps you balanced leading up to your special day, as well as on that day itself. By establishing a consistent skin care routine, you can help prevent problems and maintain a healthy and glowing complexion.
Ultimately, investing in your skin care routine is an investment in your confidence and happiness on your wedding day. You’ve worked hard to get where you are. You deserve it!
— Crystal Bethea is an army veteran, licensed medical massage therapist, and experienced cosmetologist. She is the owner of C3 Wellness Spa, a holistic wellness center in Kissimmee, FL, that specializes in helping people live healthy, active lives. Inspired by her family of fellow veterans, Bethea strives to evolve and serve the physical and mental needs of those in her community.