Wedding Skincare Timeline for a Flawless Big Day

Wedding skincare starts with a clear timeline, whether you have a month or a year before the big day. Looking and feeling your best matters most in photos that last forever. But how and when to get started? Many brides and grooms ask dermatologists for wedding skincare advice as they get ready for the big day. In this blog, Dr. Laurel Morton outlines a recommended wedding skincare timeline to prepare your skin for your wedding, plus AAD skin-care basics for daily routines. And, while extra time helps you reach your aesthetic goals, some treatments can start even closer to the big day.

Wedding Skincare 12 to 18 Months Before the Wedding

Decide on your skin goals

Healthy, clean skin is a goal for most, but you may also have other concerns that include:

• Specific concerns such as forehead wrinkles, prominent tear troughs or a prominent jaw muscle, which can be addressed with injectable techniques.
• Skin discoloration like signs of photodamage or rosacea. These can be improved with lasers, peels and a topical routine.
• Physique contouring such as the remedy of unwelcome cellulite or improving the look of stubborn bulges at the abdomen, hips or thighs.
• Scarring such as that from acne or trauma. These interventions typically require a series of monthly treatments, which can be planned in advance.
• Tattoos If you’ve changed your mind about a tattoo, removal requires months and several sessions for best results. Start treating tattoos as soon as possible.

Book a beauty consult

Meeting with a cosmetic doctor can be a useful way to prioritize your concerns and set a customized treatment timeline that fits your budget. This can be done at any time during the planning process.

Prioritize healthy skin

There are numerous persistent skin conditions that can affect the confidence an individual has in your appearance. Serious pimples is a popular challenge and others may have rosacea, eczema, psoriasis and more. Working with your dermatologist and finding an effective health care program – in advance of the stressors of a wedding begin – is critical.

Start a simple wedding skincare regimen

Topical treatments are an essential way to keep healthy, youthful skin, but several need time to show benefits. Consider fine tuning your wedding skincare schedule to include: high-quality moisturizer and SPF, antioxidants such as vitamin C, hyaluronic acid products for a dewy skin texture and retinols/retinoids if tolerable.

Wedding Skincare 6 to 12 Months Before the Wedding

See your aesthetician

As the wedding ceremony draws nearer, your aesthetician can help you form a game plan to build hydrated, photo-ready skin with steady wedding skincare. The following are just a few of the services our aestheticians offer:

Address body concerns

Beauty interventions such as Resonic for cellulite, Coolsculpting and TruSculpt for undesired body fat and TruFlex for muscle firming need several treatments and 3-6 months for best results. Considering dress or tuxedo fittings, start addressing any of your body concerns early on. Body contouring treatments are best completed sooner rather than later.

Treat scars and use lasers for smoother skin

Laser and resurfacing techniques that rebuild collagen take time to show results. Starting treatment for acne scars or traumatic scars early will allow time for your skin to respond and your collagen to remodel into final results that are as sleek as possible. One of the best devices for this kind of problem is the well-known Fraxel Restore laser, which can be tailored to your goals.

Keep

Keep up your wedding skincare and fine-tune topicals for your skin type while your dermatologist handles any medical concerns. For flakes and tightness, see our dry skin relief guide.

4 to 6 Months Before the Wedding: Lasers and Injectables

Consider laser interventions for skin discoloration

Discoloration such as redness from acne breakouts scarring and rosacea or unwanted freckles from solar publicity, can be treated in the months leading up to your big day. A series of treatments is usually needed for best improvement.

• Pulsed Dye or Excel V lasers handle redness and blood vessels.
• Dual Fraxel and other pigment-distinct lasers such as the Ruby or Enlighten are beneficial for brown discoloration.
• Clear + Brilliant laser suits those with only mild pigment issues who may also benefit from overall brightening and improved pore size.

Consider injectable treatments

Botox, Dysport and hyaluronic acid fillers are reliable for specific concerns such as wrinkles, tear troughs, . Even so, they may need touch-ups over time. Start these no later than 6 months before a wedding to allow plenty of time to fine-tune treatments to the desired effect. Some people may well opt for to commence these quicker depending on their concerns.

Stay Consistent

Continue your wedding skincare program and visits with your aesthetician. There is still time to visit your aesthetician even if you haven’t had a session yet.

Final 3 Months: Extra Care Before the Wedding

Give Your Skin Extra Tender Loving Care (TLC)

In the final weeks leading up to your wedding, be sure to give your skin extra wedding skincare TLC.

• Keep the skin hydrated by drinking plenty of water, limit salty foods and get plenty of rest.
• Keep strict sun protection with SPF, hats and sun-protective clothing.

Finish planned laser treatments

4-12 months before the wedding, end any laser courses such as those for scarring, discoloration or tattoos. You need to give your skin ample time to fully recover.

Plan your last injectable treatments

If injectables are part of your plan, complete any injectable treatments with Dysport/Botox or Hyaluronic acid fillers at least 4-6 months before the wedding. Ideally, this should not be your first time having such a procedure. You want to know what to expect for results and healing time.

Consider a HydraFacial-dermaplaning treatment

This two-step procedure, performed by aestheticians, combines dermaplaning, which gently exfoliates the skin, with a classic HydraFacial, which cleanses and nourishes skin. This should be done 4-7 days prior to the big day. It gives makeup artists a clear, smooth palette, which leads to superb photographs. We recommend trying this “Hydraplanning” treatment for the first time before a wedding shower or bachelorette party to make sure you know how your skin will respond.

Keep It Going

Continue your wedding skincare regimen.

Even though you may not need all these treatments, planning ahead for even the most basic daily skin care routine or minor aesthetic procedure is the key to feeling your best on your big day.  Now that you have a timeline and know when to begin each treatment, you know when to get in touch with your dermatologist or visit your aesthetician to get your skin glowing on time for your wedding through steady daily skin care. For product ideas, browse our anti-aging daily skin care picks.