“She just glowed!”—what bride wouldn’t like to be remembered that way? Along with pure excitement, of course, radiant skin will help you achieve that luminous look. Michelle Northup, an esthetician at Urban Nirvana, offers expert advice on how to ensure beautiful, healthy skin on the big day.
The skinny on skin care:
Think about revitalizing your skin-care regimen six months to a year before the wedding. Cleanse, tone, and moisturize twice a day, and exfoliate one to three times a week as dead skin cells can leave your face looking grey and sallow—as well as clog pores. • A monthly facial should start three to six months before the wedding for normal skin; six to 12 months for problem skin. Never get a facial two weeks before the event—you don’t know what it’ll draw out. • Diet is paramount! Increase your intake of water to help flush toxins and cut back on caffeine, which dehydrates skin. • A bride’s back is often neglected, yet it’s at the center of the ceremony for all to see. Treat yourself to a back facial or use a loofah on your skin. • See a dermatologist one year in advance to remedy acne, rosacea, or problems that require professional treatment. • Never try anything new on your skin right before the wedding; you can’t be sure how it’ll react.
Top Tan
If you want a little color on your cheeks, arms, and back, there are several healthy ways to attain a tan.
Sunless tanning lotions have come a long way since the streaky orange days of old. Cruise the drugstore to find a formula that works best for your skin—and always test self-tanners at least three months before the wedding to ensure the color looks natural on you.
If you don’t trust yourself to get it right, many salons offer “buff and bronze” treatments; a professional will exfoliate and then apply self-tanner to your skin.
Airbrush tans look wonderfully natural and last for around a week. Find a salon that offers spray-tanning, or try one of the new goof-proof booths—all you have to do is stand there!
Tanning beds will forever be a no-no—ditto for baking outside slathered in oil.
Tools of the Trade
YonKa’s Gel Nettoyant is a cleanser and make-up remover for oily/combination skin, $30.
Exfoliating bath cloth, $2.50.
Using Phytomer’s Rosée Visage will bring the pH balance back to your face, $25.
Cetaphil’s moisturizing lotion binds moisture to your skin, $9.
Phyto Corrective Gel by Skin Ceuticals helps calm your complexion, $45.
Daily Sun Defense made by Skin Ceuticals protects without clogging pores, $28.
Exfoliate with this purifying clay mask from L’Athene, $55.
Happy Monday, ladies and gents. First up on this week’s lineup? An adorable downtown wedding filled to the brim with beauty, sentiment, and lightheartedness. And you know it’s gotta be good when the...
We loved Chloe and Blake’s dreamy downtown wedding from our summer print issue soooo much that we wanted to feature it here on The Wedding Row, too. So gals and gents, cozy up, grab a drink and...
Cupid sure had his arrow locked and ready when Lindsay and David first met at SEWE the day before Valentine’s Day. Coincidence? We think not. Not only did they see each other almost every day the...
Wedding Wednesday is in full swing and with Lauren and Bobby on tap, you’ll see why. Even though this pair attended different high schools and universities, distance couldn’t keep these sweethearts,...
OK peeps. We may be just a little bit obsessed with this next styled shoot. OK, a lot obsessed. So get ready future bridal babes, or those just plain-obsessed with pretty, as you’re going to want to...
Smartie pants Jessica and Josh signed up for the same class during their sophomore year at the College of Charleston and that was what ultimately sparked the romantic connection between the New...
Jazmin and Andrei might have met in Boston—where they still live—but choosing Charleston as the place for them to say “I do” was like coming home for the groom. (Andrei’s family moved from Romania to...
Combine a few times crossing paths in Charleston, one meeting at Home Team BBQ during a Carolina/Clemson game where Billy second-guessed Aly’s availability (and passed up the chance to ask her...
