Wedding Wednesday: Beauty, Skincare Wellness

If you search for articles about beauty tips and treatments leading up to your wedding, you'd be astounded by how many suggestions there are and most are high-maintenance or very pricey. Brides want to look their absolute best on their wedding day (myself included) but I think a lot of the suggestions around the web (when it comes to beauty/skincare) are drastic or involve way too much money. 

On the other hand, I definitely believe that you need to feel your best to look your best so if a pricey beauty treatment makes you feel your best, then it's worth it. If a high-maintenance routine makes you feel best- then you do it. I am a firm believer in doing what you need to do that will make you feel your best- and not just for skincare or beauty but for all facets of your life.

With that said, I'm personally not one running to the medical spa or anything like that to get ready for my wedding. I have been very into skincare for a long time now and I have found that a truly good skincare routine that I strictly follow every single day. It works for me. My skin has honestly never looked better (knock on wood) and I attribute that to the daily upkeep that I do through a regimented routine. 

Today I am going to share what I have been doing leading up to our wedding in terms of all things beauty, skincare, and overall wellness. This is going to sound high maintenance, but most of this list is what I do already regardless if I was getting married or not. 

Go to the Dermatologist

I go to the derm at least once a year. Once, to make sure my skin is in good health, but also because I think it is essential to keep a good relationship going with a derm you trust because you never know when a skin issue will pop up. I got engaged in December 2019, and in March 2019, I saw my derm. I chatted with her about what I should be doing over the next year+ to ensure that my skin was in tip-top shape for the wedding and I always go through the products I am using to make sure they're all approved by her. In keeping a good connection with your derm/the office, if anything pops up during your engagement or even the week or day before your wedding, you'll know exactly who to call to get something taken care of! I'll go back to my derm again in the next few weeks for a yearly check-up and again ask her for any recommendations in the next few months leading up to our wedding. 

Keep Up With a Routine and Be Regimented 

I didn't necessarily start a routine because I've always had one going. I ALWAYS take off my makeup each night. I try not to wear makeup as much as possible to let my skin breathe. I regularly 'shave my face' aka at home dermaplaning. I do my morning and nighttime skincare routines every. single. day. I think the #1 most important thing to get your skin in its best shape is to be strict with your regimen. I have products that I know to use when I feel a breakout coming on. I have products that I know to use if my face is feeling overly dry. I also know that I do a strong glycolic acid peel at home once per week, but plan to ramp that up to twice a week as we get closer. You just need to get to know your products and your skin and I really think that's the beginning and end of a lot it. 

Pay Attention to Your Body

I've never been good at remembering to apply lotion over my entire body but for the last 6 months, I have been religious about it. I'm sure to moisturize every inch of my skin so it's healthy and hydrated. Not only that, but I have also been paying really close attention to my chest/neck/shoulders and instead of using my typical Cetaphil body lotion, I've been using Olay Regenerist as it is anti-aging and contains niacinamide. It's a little pricier to use on larger parts of my body, but I won't be doing this forever. 

Collagen Peptides

I wrote an article about the collagen peptides that I take, here. It's a few years old but it's all still true. I primarily take it because I believe it helps dramatically with my joint pain (bad knees from cheerleading). But on top of that, I love the added 18g of protein that you get from one serving. It's an easy way to get in extra protein so I drink this right after my workout. It is also supposed to be beneficial for your nails and hair. I actually find it annoying because it makes my nails and hair grow too fast! But that might be a benefit for someone that has slow hair/nail growth. 

Get Enough Sleep

You all just read about my sleep journey, here. Getting enough, good sleep has been vital in me living an all-around healthier life. I'm rested, I have more energy to put into my day-to-day life but also my workouts. Good sleep is supposed to help regulate your metabolism, your mood, and so much more. I could not recommend focusing on sleep more as a part of your wedding prep. You'll be amazed by how much it positively affects you. 

Spray Tan

I don't do spray tans unless I have a big event coming up. I never mess with at-home self-tanners, either. In the winter months, I just let myself be naturally pale and I'm 100% OK with it. I'm also wild about sunscreen and especially in the summer, so I'm never naturally that tan. I plan on getting a spray tan for our wedding but I am scheduled to get a 'trial' before our shower so I know what level of color I want. I am not really getting a spray tan to look tan- I don't want much color,  but when you get a light spray tan, it kind of acts as body makeup and can hide any slight imperfections. I think making sure you do a trial run before your actual wedding day is SO important. All I can think of is Ross in the episode of Friends where he goes into a tanning booth, ha!!! Honestly, trialing anything and everything is important- I don't plan on doing anything at all for the first time the month of our wedding. 

Getting Highlights

This is a regular for me, but I'm including it anyway. I go about every 6 weeks to get highlights but my stylist and I chatted about a plan of attack in the months leading up to the wedding. I usually only get a half head of highlights because I have no patience when doing the entire head. I have so much hair that to do my entire head basically takes a day out of my life. However, for the wedding, I want my entire head done, which we have to work up to, appointment-by-appointment. We also strategized in terms of hair cuts and what length we would keep it at for the wedding so, at each appointment, she knows when to cut. 

Nails

I plan on letting my nails breathe a lot from now until the wedding so that they can be healthy! I went all of January without a manicure and plan to let them go polish-free for as much time as possible. I already know what color I plan on getting my nails done in for our wedding, but if you don't, this is definitely something I suggest you figure out before you get your nails done for your wedding. There have been too many times where I chose a color and once it was done on my nails, I did not love it. 

Eyelash Extensions

I wrote a full post about this, here. I am getting eyelash extensions for our wedding. I currently get them done so this is nothing new.

Trials

I have my makeup and hair trials this month and next month. I am picky with both of these things, so I have already worked out with my makeup artist that I will be picking my own lip color/etc. I plan on playing with lip colors that day so I can land on exactly what I want. These are also scheduled with plenty of time before the wedding so if there needs to be a second trial, there is time. 

Letting My Eyebrows Grow Out

I haven't touched my eyebrows with tweezers or anything in a few months (they look terrible, but it's worth it) and won't touch them until I get closer to the wedding so that they can be as naturally full as possible. I don't get my eyebrows waxed or anything at all... I just tweeze them myself. 

Teeth Whitening

I already use Crest Whitestrips once or twice a year, but I'll do a strip here and there as a 'touch up'. So that's what I will continue to do! My teeth are white so they don't need much. 

Fitness

You all already know I've been doing Orange Theory. I love it so much and it's not only benefitted me in the way I look but more importantly, the way I feel. I feel so incredibly in shape right now and so good about myself and my body. I know that feeling will only increase as we get closer to the wedding. Stress also tends to age you, bloat you, and mess with your skin, so I feel as though this has kept my stress levels low, too! 

Drink Water

I have been SO good about this in the past few months. Just like sleep, there are so many benefits of being well-hydrated and it's easy to do.