I’m planning my wedding for spring and it’s made me think about how I want to look on my big day and, in particular, how I want my skin to appear. My photos are one the most important components to me since, after all, they’re one of the few things I get to keep (aside from the memories and dress, of course). With all of the planning and spending, I don’t want dull skin, blemishes or dark under eye circles to ruin my hard work. Now that I’ve realized my wedding is only seven months away, I’ve put together a treatment plan. Some of my skin concerns are fairly common, so I’ll share my wedding skin care plan first before offering a roadmap for treating other skin conditions prior to saying, “I do.”
My Pre-Wedding Skin Preparation Plan
My skin conditions include occasional breakouts, fine lines and oily skin, which results in enlarged pores and blackheads. To address these concerns, I’ll be doing laser skin rejuvenation and microdermabrasion with extractions as part of my bridal skin plan. Not only do both treatments have major benefits alone, when combined together, they resurface congested, dull and lifeless skin. Best of all, laser skin rejuvenation and microdermabrasion are completely pain free and have zero downtime. What more could a girl ask for?
I’m obsessed with laser skin rejuvenation, also known as Laser Genesis, and owning a Vancouver laser clinic obviously has its perks when it comes to daily access to amazing technology and experienced technicians. I’d highly recommend the procedure to anyone who wants to reap its benefits including shrinking enlarged pores, disinfecting blemished skin, reducing the appearance of acne scars and fading away fine lines. Laser skin rejuvenation stimulates collagen regrowth and results in youthful, healthy skin. It can restore your glow by targeting:
- Wrinkles
- Large pores
- Uneven skin texture
- Diffuse redness
- Rosacea
- Blemishes
- Acne
- Scars on the face (or other parts of the body)
So, when should you start laser treatments before your wedding? Since I struggle with monthly blemishes, I’ll do three to six sessions of laser skin rejuvenation at one-month intervals. The skin generally takes three months to fully resurface, so I’ll begin six months before my big day and in between I’ll commit to using my skin care products to speed up my desired results.
My oily skin gets congested every two to four weeks, which means I need to decongest! My all time favorite treatment for decongestion is microdermabrasion. It vacuums away dull, uneven skin and blackheads, smoothes skin’s texture, evens out the complexion and adds a beautiful, healthy glow. It also allows for effortless makeup application so you can be picture perfect! If you have a lot of blackheads, or they’ve been around for several months, I’d suggest adding extractions to your microdermabrasion facial. The procedure really brings skin to life while reducing imperfections and promoting the growth of healthy skin cells. When combined with other anti-aging treatments, you’ll see maximum results and an immediate improvement in skin tone and texture. Microdermabrasion can be used to treat:
- Acne scars
- Hyperpigmentation
- Dehydration lines
- Acne and blemishes
- Dull and congested skin
- Uneven skin tone and texture
- Enlarged pores
There’s always the question of when to start microdermabrasion before your wedding and what I’d recommend – and what I’ll be doing for myself – is beginning a series three to five months before the big day to fully decongest and resurface the skin. For super congested skin, I suggest doing about three sessions at two to four week intervals. A microdermabrasion treatment is a must one week before your wedding day too to help polish the skin making it the ideal canvas for makeup.
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Bridal Skin Care Tips and Products
If you’re on a tight budget and can’t commit to laser facial treatments than the best advice I can give you is to try and facilitate smooth, more even skin with high quality skin care products. Start using them three to five months before your weeding. Here are my must-haves!
- Exfoliate twice a week using an at-home microdermabrasion exfoliating scrub like Derma MD Micro-Peel Crème. Its tiny crystals combined with olive oil and soybean oil exfoliate dead skin cells, hydrate and soften skin and improve texture. It also contains astaxanthain, a natural red algae that minimizes redness and helps with acne scars and inflammation from breakouts.
- Use Derma MD Pink Silk Face Firming Rejuvenator, a powerful serum, in the morning and at night. It’s my absolute favorite product ever! It’s made with caviar and astaxanthain. Like I mentioned before, astaxanthain is a natural red algae that reduces redness. It also contains antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties making skin look vibrant and youthful. The product decreases the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, improves the skin’s texture and makes it more luminous.
- Use a product with vitamin C. The vitamin is the food our skin needs to produce new and healthy skin making it my number one anti-aging and bridal skin care product.
Wedding Skin Preparation: Roadmap for Other Skin Conditions
Everyone’s skin is unique, so while fine lines and occasional breakouts may plague me, you might have other issues you want to get under control before your wedding. Here are a few common ones and how to deal with them:
- Sun Spots: If you have sun spots or dark spots on your face, chest, shoulders or hands, IPL could be the answer. It does an amazing job of permanently getting rid of pigmented spots in just three to four sessions. You’ll want to start laser treatments for sun spots six to seven months before your wedding and space sessions about one month apart. You’ll generally need three or four session for mildly pigmented spots, so it will take three to four months for a complete makeover. You’ll want to be done with the series a few months before your big day.
- Armpit Hair: Avoid the five o’clock shadow and ingrown hairs in your armpits, especially if you’ll be wearing a strapless or sleeveless wedding dress, with laser hair removal for the underarms. Don’t get caught with your arms up without having those hairs permanently removed! Start laser hair removal nine to 10 months before your wedding. Six to eight sessions done a month or a month and a half apart are generally required. Other areas to consider are the upper lip, face, arms and legs. I know that in photos, facial hairs sometimes stand out and prevent foundation from going on correctly. I also know that most of us react poorly to waxing, threading and shaving, so keep that in consideration to avoid breakouts on your big day.
- Rosy Cheeks or Chest or Red, Pigmented Acne Scars: IPL is a powerful way to get rid of redness and strengthen the skin, making it awesome for diffused redness on the cheeks or chest and red acne scars. It can work in just three or four sessions. Start treatment six to seven months before your wedding and schedule sessions about one month apart. Since mild pigmented spots and redness typically take three to four sessions to fix, you’ll be able to finish your treatments about two months before your wedding.
As you can see, I’m a planner and I’ve put some thought into the treatments I’ll do to whip my skin into shape for my wedding, along with the timing of them. Timing is key since you’ll want to give any treatments or products enough time to work and produce maximum results. Ready to try our Vancouver microdermabrasion or laser skin rejuvenation treatments to get gorgeous skin for your wedding? Schedule a free consultation at NuAGE Laser today and we’ll customize a plan to your skin’s needs. I hope I was able to shed some light on pre-wedding skin care prep to help you look and feel amazing on your big day!
