As every bride-to-be knows, looking and feeling amazing on your wedding day is absolutely crucial. If you want to put your best face forward, you have to put in a little extra effort with your skin. Dr. Valerie Barrett of RENU Medical Aesthetics in Stuart often sees brides who are looking to enhance their natural beauty and bring luminous energy to their faces ahead of their nuptials. Here, she offers advice on how—and when—to prep for the big day.
1 Year to 6 Months Before the Wedding:
This time frame is all about maximizing the benefits of procedures that work with bodily processes like collagen production. Since the best results are seen with multiple sittings, Barrett says it’s important to get a jump at least six months before the wedding. She recommends exploring courses of Cool Laser treatments, which employ CO2 lasers to remove damaged skin and stimulate collagen production to treat wrinkles, age spots, and acne scars, as well as tighten skin and even tone. To lift the areas that will be shown off in wedding gowns and enhanced by makeup—think the neck, décolletage, chin, or brows—Barrett touts the efficacy of Ultherapy, which uses ultrasound imaging to stimulate natural collagen and elastin production in hyper-targeted areas.
6 Months to 2 Months Before:
If you’re considering beauty enhancements like fillers or Botox, Barrett advises doing so a few months prior to wedding day so there is time to make tweaks if necessary. She notes that her patients are often most pleasantly surprised by the changes they see from filler—small amounts added to the cheekbones can bring joyful youthfulness to the face and brighten the eye area, while applications to the hairline can lift the jaw and corner of the mouth and open the eyes (kind of like the effect you get when you put your hair up in a ponytail).
2 Months to 1 Week Before:
As your wedding day draws nearer, Barrett encourages a conservative approach to skin care, opting for only gentle treatments and at-home regimens. Facials are doubly beneficial during this time, she says. Note only do they brighten, exfoliate, and enhance glow, but they also work wonders on the mind—a bonus if you’re starting to stress a little about heading down the aisle. “Getting a facial is a great opportunity to have an hour to yourself be pampered by someone else,” says Barrett. She also advises adding a medical-grade SPF 30 sunscreen to your skin care routine if you haven’t already. “Studies show that if you do nothing but wear sunscreen for a month, you will see improvements in your skin,” she says. Plus, she notes, adding a medical-grade hyaluronic acid serum or gel to your repertoire will help plump the skin instantly. And don’t forget to drink lots of water to stay hydrated.
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