Some say this skin care regimen and illustrated timeline is the best wedding skin care survival guide, not only for June brides but for bridesmaids too!

If you’ve been following the top bridal trends for June brides and plan to wear a backless, strapless, or knee-length cocktail style dress, relying on a last minute visit to your makeup artist to conceal any imperfections in your skin and create that coveted airbrushed look isn’t going to cut it – not anymore. You’ll need to start thinking about a good skin care regimen well in advance of your big day.

Gone are the days when professional wedding photographers would carefully stage everything to create a picture perfect scene. Photojournalism is the current trend in wedding photography, where much like a newspaper reporter or TV crew, your photographer will capture the defining moments of your ceremony and reception in real time by snapping candid shots of you and your guests. While this makes for a more authentic wedding album, it also means that if you happen to have tan lines, blemishes from stressing about wedding details, or dark circles under your eyes from a sleepless night of anticipation, these will show.

Your wedding photographer can, of course, correct many of these issues with a generous dose of Adobe Photoshop… for a price. But keep in mind that your photographer won’t be the only one taking photos during your big day. Friends, family, distant relatives, your bridesmaids’ families and many other attendees will likely also be snapping photos of you and your new husband-to-be throughout the day. Most of your guests will not have access to photo editing software like Photoshop. They will, however, have access to Facebook, and other social media sites.

Most of your guests will not have access to photo editing software like Photoshop. They will, however, have access to Facebook

Thanks to social media, 21st century brides no longer have the luxury of choosing which photos friends, family, and distant relatives get to see. There’s a good chance that many of your wedding guests will have smartphones and be able to upload their photos of you and tag you instantly. So if they happen to be so focused on your smiling face that they fail to notice the rather unsightly, red pimple on the back of your left shoulder which just so happens to be in equally sharp focus. You finally head home or back to your hotel room after a long, fun but stressful day only to find your Facebook news feed filled with photos of you… and your pimple. Not good!

WEDDINGNot to scare you….

While there isn’t much you can do to prevent the syndication of unflattering photos of you online once such photos have been taken, there’s plenty you can do in advance of your wedding to make sure you have flawless, airbrushed-looking skin for your big day and prevent unflattering photos of you from being taken in the first place – because you’ll have such gorgeous skin no angle could possibly be unflattering!

Skin care regimen tips for the June bride

There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” The same can be said about your pre-wedding skin care regimen when you replace 20 years with six months to one year. Many dermatologists, to include renowned New York City dermatologist Dr. Jody Levine, agree that six to twelve months before your wedding date is prime time for getting your skin into its best condition of your life. But even if you’re past the six to twelve month mark it’s never too late to start taking better care of your skin. We’ll share our suggested pre-wedding skin care timeline later on but first here are the top 5 pre-wedding skin care tips you can do anytime!

1. Increase your Antioxidants

FACE CREAMThe experts at Today.com recommend increasing your intake of antioxidants and vitamins, especially if you’re planning an outdoor or beach wedding where you’ll be subjected to the harsh UV rays of the sun. The ultraviolet rays of the sun can cause damage to the skin and the production of free radicals in as little as 20 minutes of exposure without protection. Free radicals oxidize your cells over time much in the same way that repeated exposure to water oxidizes iron, resulting in rust. When “rusting” happens inside your skin cells the results can range from simple sunburn to premature aging and even skin cancer in cases where the skin has been subjected to decades of sun overexposure without protection. Maintaining a diet rich in antioxidants such as berries, grapes, and citrus fruits will help neutralize free radicals before they can cause oxidative damage. You may also wish to try applying antioxidant-rich skin care topicals directly to your skin, such as this antioxidant facial mask and/or avocado ADK eye cream.

2. Increase your H2O

“Keeping your skin hydrated will help keep your skin glowing, so in addition to drinking lots of water, look for foods with high water content. That could include leafy greens, melons and tomatoes,” Dr. Levine said in a Huffington Post article on pre-wedding skin care tips. Celebrities including Beyoncé, Jennifer Aniston, Cindy Crawford, and Gwyneth Paltrow also recommend drinking lots of water for beautiful skin according to nymag.com.

3. Exfoliate

One week before a Zanzibar girl marries she will undergo what is known as a daily Singo of the skin, a ritual spa-like treatment during which a natural scrub is prepared in a local Kinu blender. The bride-to-be lies on a traditional mat to enjoy a full body exfoliation and massage with the scrub while drinking herbal tea. The Singo will be repeated for several days until her wedding day so that her skin is soft and shiny as silk.

I’ve always had a fondness for natural spa treatments like Dead Sea salts, and have come to believe that some of the best skin care advice someone can give a soon-to-be June bride is to stay out of the cosmetics aisle at the store and treat yourself to time-honored pampering skin care traditions like this soothing African ritual scrub. I personally would recommend using a Dead Sea salt scrub on your back, neck, shoulders, arms, and legs (if you’re wearing a short dress) and any other area of skin that will be exposed when you’re in your wedding dress save for your face. Facial skin is far too delicate for a salt scrub, and instead I would recommend you use a natural sugar scrub such as this Coffee Cocoa Scrub made with a patented anti-aging coffeeberry®.

4. Get a Facial

FACIALIf you haven’t had a facial in a while, your facial pores are probably clogged with dead skin cells, dirt, grease, and toxins from the surrounding air. Weekly facials can help detoxify and deep cleanse your facial pores of all this junk, thereby making your pores less visible so you can have that flawless, airbrushed look on your wedding day. Glamour.com recommends brides get at least three facials prior to the big day.

When choosing a mud mask for your facial, I recommend you go with a Dead Sea mud mask. Authentic, 100% pure Dead Sea mud will not only deep cleanse your skin but also feed it with 20+ natural minerals, which can help counteract the ill effects of all the artificial substances that are added to your water supply and put into your skin on a daily basis. Maintaining the perfect balance of minerals in your skin, to include ample quantities of calcium, magnesium, and potassium, is the key to avoiding breakouts of acne, eczema, psoriasis, and itchy skin.

I especially like Tre’Yours Dead Sea Mud Mask because it is 100% pure, authentic Dead Sea mud scooped up from the bottom of the dead sea along with the optimal amount of dead sea brine (the waters of the Dead Sea) to keep the mud preserved in its natural wet state so it won’t dry out, and maintain the perfect balance of the Dead Sea’s 20+ minerals so every last drop of mud is as good for my skin as the first! It also comes in an airtight jar to prevent the oxidation of the mud’s nutrients. If you’re under 30 however, or you have sensitive skin, you may be better off with a sensitive skin clay mask or Dead Sea mud facial soap.

5. Get Plenty of Sleep

SLEEPYour skin regenerates at night just like the rest of your body. The average human requires seven to eight hours of sleep every night for optimal health and beauty. If you find yourself tossing, turning, and worrying about wedding details every night you may want to try cutting back on or even outright eliminating caffeine before bedtime and eating a healthier diet. Also, as hard as it may be, try to stop all wedding planning an hour before you go to bed. If sleep still eludes you, try treating yourself to a massage (either from your fiancé or a professional.)

Your personal 12-month pre-wedding skin care timeline

Remember when we said we’d share our suggested pre-wedding skin care timeline for June brides a little later? Well, it’s a little later and here it is! Now that you know the top five pre-wedding skin care tips that you can (and should) do anytime, it’s time to put a few of the more specific tips in the best order for an outdoor June wedding. So if you’ve been wondering…

  • When should I start getting pre-wedding facials?
  • When will my tan lines disappear?
  • When should I start seeing results of my long-term skin care products?

… the infographic below should help clear up many of your remaining pre-wedding skin care questions.

Wedding Skincare

The key to having perfectly flawless, glowing skin on your wedding day is planning so feel free to print out our wedding skin care regimen and survival guide for June brides and take it with you wherever you go – you may need it! Be sure to share this with your bridesmaids and other guests too as sunburned, blemished bridesmaids and guests don’t photograph any better than a sunburned, blemished bride!