Weddings notoriously take time to plan. Making sure you are organised ensures the vision you have of your big day is realised. For many people, being elegant and looking the best version of themselves is a very important expectation and feeling confident in your skin is as key a factor in achieving this as the right make up and hair.
When should you start skincare or aesthetic treatments before a wedding?
Many brides and grooms to be will have a check list; venue, attire, food, hair, invites. But skin may not be placed with such priority. For those who already love skin care or have had aesthetic treatments before they will know that you need longer than you think to safely achieve your goals.
1 year before the wedding
Create a wedding-prep time line
To help you navigate this I recommend scheduling in a consultation around 1 year before your big day. A consultation will give you a roadmap as to what skincare and treatments would be best to help you achieve your wedding look. Your roadmap will likely look very different to someone else’s as a bespoke treatment plan takes into account factors such as your skin’s needs, timeline, budget, lifestyle, diet, as well as what treatments your are on board with or not. This will give you an idea of what is achievable and ensure your expectations are realistic and goals can be met.
How long does skin care take to work?
Start skincare more than 6 months before the wedding
Always remember that your skin care routine should be tailored to your skin’s needs. Products that work on the top layers of skin show effects within a matter of weeks, whilst active ingredients that work deeper down to trigger repair may only start to take effect after 8-12 weeks of use, with their healing effects building in the months after. Normally a great skin care routine peaks from 6 months of regular use.
What skin care is best for wedding skin?
Always start with the core of your skin care routine. Simply optimising your cleanser, moisturiser and spf will get your skin looking clearer, brighter and healthier. This will ensure you build a strong skin barrier as well as allowing make up to sit better or avoiding glare on the day.
In addition to your ‘basics’ consider adding active ingredients that are ‘all rounders’ for skin health such as retinoids and vitamin C will really help achieve smooth bright skin. These power house actives help soften skin texture, achieve an even and bright tone as well as reduce congestion and break outs. However, if you jump in too quickly, having not optimised your skin barrier, or ramping up strength too much you run the very real risk of significant irritation.
Finally opt for a chemical exfoliator over your trust exfoliating beads. Finding the right AHAs, BHAs or PHAs for you will further smoothing texture, brighten and balance oil but again these active can be very stripping if used too much or in conjunction with too many active ingredients.
What aesthetic treatments are great for wedding-prep?And when should I book them?
A smooth skin texture, minimising need for make up and allowing any you do use to sit smoothly are all common desires when an event (and photographs!) are on the cards.
4 months before the wedding
Start antiwrinkle treatments
The thought of being caught candidly on camera, from any angle, whilst likely laughing, crying or smiling wildly is another common concern voiced by many a bride or groom. Antiwrinkle treatments are people’s first consideration to allow them to be photographed not be concerned about crow’s feet or frown lines. When used subtly can absolutely retain movement and expression but it is always a good idea to factor in time for a ‘trial’ treatment before the big day so you can try out the results before walking them down the aisle.
3-4 months before the wedding
Bank collagen, reduce visible pores, hydrate skin
Regenerative skin treatments such as microneedling and polynucleotides are great for softening lines, minimising visible pores, balancing pigmentation and tackling effects of breakouts. Skin boosters are also very popular in the lead up to the event as these deliver a dewy and healthy glow by intensely hydrating. All regenerative treatments get best results after a course and take time to trigger repair. A course normally spans over a 2-3 month period, with the results peaking a month or so after completion.
2 months before the wedding
Profile balance with dermal fillers
Another great one for photo confidence are conservative use of dermal fillers. When used to balance key features they are great at give a refreshed look from all angles. Common areas that quickly refresh and balance the face include cheek fillers, chin and jawline fillers, lip fillers, non-surgical rhinoplasty and teartrough fillers.
1 month before the wedding
Balance oil and sweat with superficial chemical peels and treatments for excessive sweating
If breakouts or congestion are a concern then chemical peels are fantastic to kick start a skincare routine at the start of your skin journey as well as to use nearer the event to give an even and bright complexion. And for those who are concerned about warmer weather, reduce excessive sweating under the arms or reduce facial flushing with micro-tox treatments.
How to enjoy wedding-skin-prep
Whether you simply want to optimise your skin health or you book for a full profile balancing being prepared and visualising your wedding-prep time line is what will give you satisfaction throughout. Give yourself time to enjoy the process, allow yourself time to decide what is best for you, to easily ride out any down time post procedure and to wear in your new routine and look. Time and knowledge allows you to take the pressure off and look forward to your big day!
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