'Tis wedding season and brides everywhere want to look gorgeous on their wedding day. Aside from the centerpiece gown, brides should consider that skin (both face and body), hair and nails have as much to do with looking gorgeous as the gown. Taking care of oneself is as much self-preservation as it is health and pampering. So don't be afraid to add yourself to the list of To Do's.
If you have six months...
This is the best case scenario because your skin care options are wide open. Consider starting a regiment with a skin care therapist who can recommend a series of treatments that may include glycolic peels alternating with micro-dermabrasion. If your skin is not contraindicated to these treatments, this is one of the best ways to treat many conditions such as excess oil, breakouts, hyper pigmentation, uneven skin tone and texture, and fine lines. Other options are light therapies and/or laser therapies. Starting now will give your skin time to adjust to treatments (as in breakouts while your skin purges impurities) as well as give you the time you need to see cumulative and lasting results. You'll also want to establish a good home care routine, as this will prolong and continue the results achieved during the professional treatments.
Begin treating your hair by giving it regular deep conditioning treatments and talk with your hairdresser about hair color and length for the wedding day.
Start getting monthly manicures and pedicures to strengthen and condition your nails as well as moisturize your hands and feet on an ongoing basis. Pay careful attention to your heels. In addition to the professional pedicures, you want to scrub your heels at home with a pumice or heel file ensuring smooth heels for the big day (and more importantly your wedding night).
The same goes for your body. Regular exfoliation at home will ensure that dead skin is being sloughed off, for smooth looking wedding day skin. If you'll be exposing your back on the big day, start a regiment of back facials now.
If you are thinking about waxing, facial or body, start now. This will give you time to get your hair on the proper cycle needed to achieve good, long-term results. Waxing is also a good way to exfoliate your skin. Talk to your skin care therapist about the shape of your eyebrows. If you need to grow them in and reshape them, you'll need at least six months for good results. Laser hair removal is another good way to achieve hair reduction. You may see good results if you begin now.
Get regular massages if you can - a full body would be ideal, but if you're short on time, go for a back and neck massage. You and everyone around you will be happy you did. Massages are great "bridezilla" antidotes.
If you have three months ...
For the most part you can apply the same advice as above. Clearly, the more time you have the better results you will achieve with any of these recommendations. However, there is no reason that a regiment of weekly or bi-weekly facials couldn't get you close to your desired results within this time period.
Get a good relaxing massage.
If you have one month ...
Get a facial, both for relaxation purposes as well as deep cleansing or oxygenating, but anything too extreme at this point would not be recommended. Even with a basic facial you may see some breakouts as a result of skin purging impurities. Light therapies are still a good option. Establish a good home skin care routine. This will go a long way to keeping your skin healthy and looking great with only one month to go.
It's not too late to treat your hair to several weeks of conditioning. Set up a trial hair and makeup session. It is also not too late to get manicures and pedicures and take care of your hands and feet at home. Regularly exfoliating your body at home will ensure smooth skin for your big day. You may want to play around with some self tanning creams or perhaps get a trial spray tan to get that glow that we all want for our wedding day. Keep in mind that any "fake" tan may rub off onto your dress.
If you are waxing for the first time, you may be able to get away with doing it now and once again right before the wedding. Four to six weeks is the recommended time between waxings. If your hair doesn't grow fast enough, it may be too short to wax again prior to the wedding, in which case wait and do it right before the wedding. As for laser hair removal, if you are not too hairy, you may achieve reasonable results with one treatment. Check with a professional regarding this.
Get a relaxing massage.
If you have one week, or less ...
Don't do anything crazy. Get a relaxing facial and massage but no closer than seven days before the wedding incase your face gets red or breaks out after the facial. A good option is a nice collagen mask for face as well as décolleté. This will help firm your bust line and looks good for any special occasion. Maintain a good home care routine. Get a trial makeup session if you haven't already.
Don't try to reshape your eyebrows now. If they've worked for you until now, they'll work for you for the wedding. Just get them shaped. You may have your makeup artist use some creative makeup techniques to "fix" your eyebrows if necessary. If you're going to wax any part of your face, give yourself at least three to four days to recover from any post-waxing bumps, redness, or inflammation.
Give your hair a good deep conditioning treatment, and get a trial hair appointment if you haven't already.
Wax your body a few days before the wedding so you can last through your honeymoon, and remember to keep exfoliating to avoid ingrown hairs. If you will be using self tanner or spray tan, wax first then wait about 24 hours to tan. Waxing will help prep the skin for an even coat of tanning product. As well, if you tan first then wax, the wax will remove the product.
Get a manicure and pedicure about two days before the wedding. This should carry you through the pre-wedding parties as well as the honeymoon. Use a light, neutral color in case your nails start to chip. Chipped light nails are harder to see.
Lastly, get lots of sleep, drink lots of water, and have a good time.
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