Skin care before a wedding: which treatments to have and when

When to start preparing your skin for a wedding

Start with a cosmetologist consultation when the event is a few weeks away, or earlier if you have the time. The cosmetologist will examine your skin, ask what bothers you and advise what to do in advance and what to leave until closer to the date. That way you’ll have time for a course of treatments if you need one, and you’ll see how your skin reacts to new products.

Before a wedding, people most often want to get rid of blackheads, even out skin tone and texture or freshen up their complexion. Each of these has its own treatments, and each treatment needs its own recovery time. If you keep getting breakouts, see a dermatologist first. Acne treatment usually takes a few months, so it’s best to start as early as possible.

Which treatments to have a few weeks before the event

Facial cleansing clears blackheads and clogged sebum from the pores. Manual cleansing cleans the deepest, but your skin stays red and irritated for a while afterwards, so it’s done well in advance. It’s usually done no more than once a month. Ultrasonic cleansing is gentler and usually leaves no visible redness.

Peels even out skin tone and texture and are chosen for pigmentation and post-acne marks. Superficial peels are done as a course, one to four weeks apart. After a medium-depth peel, the skin takes a week or two to heal, and you need to avoid the sun the whole time. Most peels are planned for autumn and winter, because the skin is more sensitive to UV afterwards. If your wedding is in summer, ask a cosmetic doctor which peels you can have and when.

Injections such as botulinum toxin, biorevitalization or mesotherapy are done only by cosmetic doctors. Swelling, redness, small bumps or bruises can last several days after the injections, and botulinum toxin doesn’t work right away. So plan injections separately and in advance, and agree on the timing with the doctor at a consultation. Trying injections for the first time right before your wedding isn’t a good idea. They aren’t done during pregnancy or breastfeeding or if the skin in the injection area is inflamed, and the doctor checks the full list of contraindications at the consultation.

What to do 1–3 days before the wedding

Closer to the date, SOS treatments before an event are a good fit: express care for the face and neck in a single visit. Viva Clinic offers an alginate mask, oxygen mesotherapy, the REJUVI lifting treatment and the WOW facial. None of them involve needles, and even in oxygen mesotherapy the cocktail is delivered onto the skin with a jet of oxygen. How an alginate mask works and who it suits is explained in a separate article.

Most often, an SOS treatment is done 1–3 days before the event. The effect is short-lived, so a week before is too early. Booking on the wedding day itself is risky too: if your skin reacts unexpectedly to a product, there won’t be time for it to settle. If you haven’t had the treatment you’ve chosen before, try it for the first time a few weeks before the date. You don’t need to come without makeup, as the cosmetologist cleanses your skin before the treatment.

What not to do right before the wedding

In the last few days before the wedding, avoid:

• manual facial cleansing;
• peels, because even after a superficial peel your skin can flake for several days;
• injections, especially if you’ve never had them before;
• tanning and sunbeds, because cleansing and peels aren’t done on freshly tanned or sunburned skin;
• new creams, serums and products with acids or retinol: unfamiliar skincare can irritate your skin or cause breakouts, and a day or two isn’t enough for them to clear;
• squeezing pimples.

It’s also best to have your makeup trial well in advance. That way you’ll see how your skin reacts to new makeup.

How to care for your skin at home before the event

At home, stick to a routine your skin tolerates well: gentle cleansing morning and evening, a moisturizer and SPF every day. The sun dries the skin and makes pigmentation darker, so you need SPF on cloudy days too. Put off scrubs and home peels for a few days before the event.

Sleep and water show on your face as well. After a few sleepless nights the skin looks tired, so try to get to bed on time the night before and drink enough water. Go easy on salty food and alcohol that evening so your face is less puffy in the morning.

Contact a doctor the same day if swelling or redness gets worse after any treatment. Call the doctor who did the injections right away if your eyelid or brow droops after botulinum toxin, or if the skin in the injection area turns white, blue or blotchy or the pain gets worse after biorevitalization or mesotherapy. Call an ambulance on 103 right away if swallowing, speaking or breathing becomes difficult, you notice muscle weakness far from the injection sites, or your vision suddenly gets worse or you see double. Also call 103 if your lips, tongue or face swell.

SOS treatments and consultations take place at the Viva Clinic aesthetic medicine center at 16b/3 Kuzovkova St in Slavuta. Clients also come from Netishyn, Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi, the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne regions and from all over Ukraine. You can book by phone, on Viber or Telegram.