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Dermatologist's insider guide to glowing wedding day skin
Dr. Shreya Andric is a dermatologist based in Sydney. She is passionate about skin health and her mission is to educate the public on how to care for their skin, and also clear up the vast amount of misinformation out there on this topic.
While Dr. Andric has independently chosen the products that appear in this article, she does not receive revenue from the links. Some of the links may return revenue to Yahoo Lifestyle Australia.
You're engaged! Congratulations!
So much planning to do – venue, caterers, florist, table settings, your outfit... no doubt you want your skin to look and feel its best and, while a makeup artist can certainly work their magic, why not provide them with a good base to begin with?
Here, I’ll break down what you should be doing and when in the lead-up to the big day.
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12 months to go
Lock in your first appointment with a cosmetic dermatologist or dermal therapist and come up with a plan, explaining what your goals are and what you’re hoping to achieve.
Is redness your main concern? If so, you may choose to do some vascular laser treatments.
Pigmentation or uneven skin tone? Then intense pulsed light (IPL), fractionated non-ablative laser or microneedling would be your best choices.
Lines/wrinkles? Perhaps a sprinkling of anti-wrinkle injections.
Before you embark on any of the above treatments you should start with a solid skincare routine. If you’re not already cleansing, using an appropriate moisturiser as well as a daily SPF then now is the time to begin. Pick a sunscreen that suits your skin and is at least SPF30+; any Australian-made sunscreen will be effective as we have such a strict approval process here.
And before you ask, no — the SPF in your makeup is not enough! You need a separate sunscreen. For oilier skin, I recommend the La Roche Posay Anthelios sunscreen. For drier skin, I love the Ultraviolette Supreme Screen.
Once you have the basics down pat, you can slowly introduce some active ingredients.
Vitamin C is an excellent antioxidant and can help to even skin tone, reduce pigmentation and aid in overall brightening. My personal favourite is the SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic. It is more pricey, but a little goes a long way. Apply in the mornings after cleansing and before moisturising. If your skin is oily, you may prefer the SkinCeuticals Silymarin CF.
If redness or inflammation are your main concern, then a niacinamide serum will help to reduce this. The Propaira Skin Defence Serum contains 10% niacinamide is a great choice. It can be used both morning and night.
A retinoid or retinol will help to increase the cell turnover of the top layer of the skin and stimulate collagen and elastin production to leave you feeling fresh.
9 months to go
This is the time to undergo treatments that require downtime, for example:
A deep chemical peel – this will kick the skin’s exfoliation process into gear to get the skin turning over faster, leaving you with smooth, glowing skin
A series of microneedling treatments, which can help to even out your skin tone
6 months to go
Certain skin rejuvenating treatments, like laser or IPL could be done at this time.
Laser treatments that can help boost collagen production will often take up to three months for their effects to be seen so doing them six months in advance is ideal.
If you're planning on having antiwrinkle injections done and haven’t done them before then I would advise seeing a reputable injector and starting now so you can see if you like the look. They take up to two weeks to have their full effect and last roughly 3-4 months so if you hate it, then you have enough time for it to wear off!
You can then have a top-up or two before the wedding. Make sure the top-up is at least two weeks prior to the wedding so that if you happen to have some minor bruising then it has enough time to fade.
3 months to go
Start a course of microdermabrasion now – having one per month until the big day to keep the skin nice and fresh.
I wouldn’t be doing anything too heavy-duty at this stage.
1 month to go
Avoid any intense treatments like extractions or deep peels. Use products that nourish and enrich your skin. You may also choose to reduce the frequency of your retinoid/retinol so that the skin isn’t flaky or irritated.
Have a plan in place with your doctor/dermal therapist so that you can combat any stress-induced acne or eczema should it develop on the day of.
Now that your skin is taken care of it’s time for you to kick up your heels and have the best day ever!
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