As women, we’re often flattered when we’re complimented on our beauty or makeup. “Oh, I love your eye shadow” or “That lipstick colour looks great on you.” While this is flattering nonetheless, what we really want to hear is “Wow, you look beautiful!”
As the months become weeks and weeks turn into days until the big “I do,” brides-to-be stress about everything, resulting in stress, which can ruin the condition of the skin. No matter what we do to our eyes, lips and hair, if your skin is not up to par you will not feel great. The key to beauty is having great skin and you definitely want to highlight this on one of the most important days of your life. The following are three guaranteed tips on how to get gorgeous skin and look fresh for the big day.
The single most important thing is to hydrate, hydrate, and then hydrate some more! Drink plenty of water, and not just the week before. Start doing it months before to get into a healthy habit. Dry skin is dull, and by drinking water you restore natural moisture and release toxins from your body, which results in healthy, glowing skin. Ida Cheung, a former aesthetician and counter manager for Clarins Cosmetics at The Bay Oakridge, believes hydrated skin is the most essential part of beauty. She highly recommends that all her clients, especially brides, moisturize often to help lock in moisture.
You may hear this often, but the second tip is to exercise regularly. Sure, we all want to fit into the jeans we used to wear in high school but there is a bigger picture. Exercising increases blood flow which helps nourish skin cells and keeps them vital. Anything that promotes healthy circulation also helps keep your skin radiant and vibrant. During wedding planning, stress is a key factor and when we’re stressed, the body’s stress hormones rise and cause an increase in oil production that leads to acne, oily skin and other skin-related problems. It can also cause dehydration in our skin making it look grey, dull and flakey. It’s no secret that being active releases stress. So even if you’re strapped for time, all you need is 20 minutes of movement to increase your heart rate.
“The health of your skin begins with good nutrition,” Bobbi Brown, renowned makeup artist and entrepreneur, states in her book, “Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro.” The last tip is to maintain a healthy diet. So make sure you’re eating at least 3 or more servings of fruits and veggies a day, as well look for foods that are high in vitamins A, C and E. Vitamin A helps prevent aging, Vitamin C promotes clarity and when combined with Vitamin E, it also helps protect the skin against sun exposure and the environment. For more information on diet and nutrition, seek a reputable nutritionist to help you customize a meal plan.
There you have it, three simple tips on achieving great skin that won’t cost you thousands of dollars. A few extra things that should be done for general skincare are cleansing, toning and moisturizing daily. Also exfoliating and putting on a masque once a week are recommended. Cheung always discourages brides on changing their daily cleansing regime so close to the big day, as your skin usually takes some time getting accustomed to new products and can react negatively. So with that being said, follow the above and stick to what you know to achieve your ultimate accessory – you will be radiating beauty all day and night on the big day!
Products and Descriptions
Clinique Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser
Foamy cream-mousse cleanser removes long-wearing makeup and sunscreens quickly, gently, efficiently. Comforts with botanicals. Leaves skin feeling moist, clean, fresh. Clinique.com
Neutrogena – Rapid Tone Repair Night
With Vitamin C and Accelerated Retinol SA, skin renewal is boosted to brighten skin’s tone, and improve skin clarity and radiance while reducing the look of dark spots and discoloration. Also smooths fine lines and texture. Neutrogena.ca
Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado
This creamy preparation with Avocado Oil, gently moisturizes the delicate eye area. Our unique, concentrated texture does not migrate into your eyes, while product deeply hydrates. Kiehls.ca
Antipodes Manuka Honey Mask
This award-winning face mask is luxuriously organic and will quench the driest skin. Manuka Honey is a naturally cleansing ingredient because of its antibacterial quality. CurliqueBeauty.com
Sephora Collection – Instant Depuffing Eye Mask
A mega-refreshing hydrogel mask that eliminates signs of fatigue, puffiness and dark circles. Enriched with ultra-moisturizing natural ingredient HydroSenn, this mask is a quick and easy way to look more awake, rested, and refreshed. Sephora.com
Fresh – Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment
An anti-aging lip treatment proven to repair, nourish, plump and smooth wrinkles around the delicate lip area. It is scientifically proven to repair the lips, significantly boosting moisture, enhancing volume, and improving the definition of the lip area. Sephora.com
Aveda – Tourmaline Charged Radiance Mask
Smooths and refines skin immediately for a healthy glow. Finely powdered tourmaline – energizing mineral – boosts skin’s energy, while natural exfoliants help skin gently shed full, lackluster surface cells. Aveda.com
Peter Thomas Roth VIZ-1000 Hyaluronic Acid Complex
Intense hydration in a super concentrated 75 per cent hyaluronic acid serum, which helps keep skin hydrated with an invisible veil of moisture. PeterThomasRoth.com
