How to Look Your Best On Your Wedding Day

By Teresa Zawada
Licensed Aesthetician

Wedding memories last a lifetime, and so do the photos! From teeth whitening to personal training, rarely is an expense spared to help a bride look her dazzling best on her wedding day. Although planning is extremely important, one thing a bride cannot plan on is a skin emergency! So what’s a girl to do when it’s two days before the wedding and an uninvited guest appears front and center on an otherwise flawless face? Follow these next tips and the word “airbrushed” will never be brought up when choosing your photos. 

1. Have an emergency backup plan. You know your wedding date months in advance, so make a dermatologist appointment two days before. It’s easier to call and cancel (with prior notice) than to call and try get squeezed in at an inopportune time. This way, should you have a blemish make an appearance, your derm can inject it with a cortisone shot and within hours the inflammation should go down; 24 hours later, nearly gone. 
2. De-stress. Yes, you are going to be the go-to if ANYBODY has a question, but find your happy place. Stress can not only cause a surge of hormones that will trigger excessive sebum, thus creating pustules, but it can also hinder the body’s natural healing process. 
3. Having facial treatments such as microdermabrasions and chemical peels will leave you glowing, but NEVER have one within a week of your big day. If an unexpected reaction were to occur, there may not be sufficient time to heal the skin and you may look red or blotchy. This is also true for extractions on the skin (so don’t pick) and waxing. 
   
4. Keep an arsenal on hand. Hopefully, if you are prone to breakouts, and even if you aren’t, a healthy skin regimen instated months in advance should ensure a clear complexion. Having a sulfur based spot treatment (to dry and shed dead skin off a blemish without over drying) or tea tree oil (a natural alternative for acne) are both gentle enough to improve the look of a blemish without scabbing. But please, test an inconspicuous area for allergies before you apply to the face and treat with the mind set “less is more.”
5. IF all else fails, make up will be your saving grace. Local makeup artist Erin Root recommends NOT piling on concealer. She states “try and use as little concealer as possible that is as close to your skins natural color. Apply a thin layer to the blemish and then set with loose powder. If more coverage is needed, try and add another thin layer to the blemish and again set with loose powder. Then, go ahead and apply your foundation as needed."