Bridal Prep: The Engaged Girl's Guide to Skin Care

When it comes to planning your wedding, you’re probably already familiar with the carefully orchestrated lists of priorities and details essential to your big day. From the venue to the dress to the photographer to the font on your invitations—you’ve got it all planned out. But, what about your skin? Wedding planning can be a stressful time and that stress can sometimes show up on your skin. In order to look and feel your best on your big day, you want to ensure that you are taking good care of your skin throughout your engagement. Whether you’ve just started wedding planning or you’ve only got a few more weeks before the big “I do,” there’s no better time to pencil in a little skin prep. We’re sharing the routine you need—plus the products to go along with it—to get glowing skin for your big day!

Nightly Cleansing & Moisturizing

If you don’t already, start making it a point to wash your makeup off every night before going to bed. Those few extra minutes spent on your skin care routine—even when you’re exhausted—will be worth it come wedding day. To save time without sacrificing results, use your favorite cleanser with the Clarisonic SMART Profile Sonic Body & Facial Cleansing Brush. This cleansing brush cleans off makeup, dirt, and other impurities from the skin’s surface better than hands alone.

Once your face is fresh and clean, it’s time to moisturize. Kiehl’s Super Multi-Corrective Eye-Opening Serum will have you looking bright-eyed and beautiful on your big day. The serum helps to not only hydrate, but also visibly lift and firm the appearance of the skin around your eyes. For the rest of your face, reach for Lancôme’s Hydra Zen Anti-Stress Moisturizing Cream. The cream provides your skin with lasting hydrating, so it will feel soothed and comfortable and appear more radiant and fresh.

Daily Protection

Another important step in your wedding day prep is wearing a daily SPF. Sunscreen with broad spectrum SPF is the only way to prevent sun damage to the skin—read: wrinkles and dark spots that can ruin the flawless complexion you’re working towards for your big day. We love L’Oréal Paris’ Sublime Sun Advanced Sunscreen SPF 50+ Liquid Shield For Face for its weightless feel. After applying sunscreen, you can also apply BB Cream for extra protection and a little bit of color. Try Kiehl’s Skin Tone Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream with SPF 50. Its dual-action, non-comedogenic formula can help conceal blemishes while working to reduce the appearance of skin tone irregularities over time—a win-win, if you ask us! 

Weekly Exfoliation & Masks

Aside from the products you use daily, consider incorporating a few weekly products into your bridal skin care schedule. The Body Shop’s Vitamin C Glow Boosting Microdermabrasion Exfoliator can give the skin a thorough exfoliation, while ingredients like vitamin C and shea butter can help your skin reach its maximum glow potential. The Body Shop’s Mineral & Ginger Warming Massage Clay Mask is also a great once-a-week product. This weekly, 5-minute cleansing mask warms on contact with wet skin and can help to remove excess oil and impurities from the skin’s surface.

In making a conscious effort to take care of your skin during your engagement, you may not only achieve the skin you so desire, but may also develop some new skin care habits to take with you throughout your marriage and the rest of your life—until death do you part.