By: Nora Zelevansky
Your wedding day is here: You have the perfect dress, the perfect site, the perfect groom and the perfect (gasp!) pimple?
No, thank you.
Sure, bliss makes you smile brightly, but, often, that coveted bridal glow is more a cultivated art than a happy coincidence. Fortunately, depending on the state of your budget, time frame, age and the manageability of your skin, Los Angeles offers several different strategies for achieving that ideal bridal glow.
Medi-spas like Kate Somerville’s Skin Health Clinic can practically guarantee perfect skin to match your perfect day. Brides travel far and wide to get Ms. Somerville’s healthy glow before their big day. Of course, a more substantial budget may be ideal for this full-fledged skin makeover (especially for older brides). But, as Kate Somerville customizes each treatment plan, budgetary constraints are certainly taken into account.
Somerville’s sweet estheticians and nurses analyze your skin under bright lights and determine an ideal strategy. Treatments can begin as far as six months (or as little as six weeks) out; and involve everything from regular cleansing facials to tone-evening red, blue and white LED lights to laser vascular treatments that literally make broken capillaries disappear to signature DermaLucent Phototherapy or Dermal Quench for plumping the week of the event. For more information on Somerville’s treatments, click here.
If your skin tends towards normal stress-related or hormonal breakouts (though they aren’t severe), regular facials starting a few months out are a must. Luckily, unlikely spots like Pho Siam Thai Spa offer inexpensive facials (starting at $35 a pop) with high-end Dermalogica products. Go for the $45 version with steam and extractions up until a couple weeks beforehand. To make an appointment at Pho Siam, click here.
And if you have fantastic skin, but just want a glowy boost for the event itself, grab an Oxygen Facial at your local clinic or, even more ideally, head to Kinara Spa for the Red Carpet Facial (Halle Berry’s go-to pre-Oscar treatment) or an Oxygenating Facial the week of the wedding. The treatment is meant to plump out wrinkles, hydrate skin and reduce any redness.
Whichever treatment you choose for the week of the event, always test it out once beforehand (a couple months out). Every individual’s skin and body chemistry is different, so there’s always the chance of an allergic or adverse reaction. Don’t wait until the last minute to find out. The same rule of thumb goes for makeup application. When in doubt, go for mineral makeup, which can actually fight breakouts. And never try any beauty product you’ve never used before the day or even week of the wedding itself.
Because you need everything to be perfect on your perfect day. You know…to match your new perfect skin.
