Wedding day skin emergencies…noooooo!
Your wedding day is one of the most special days of your life—the last thing you want is for your skin to react and ruin your photos.
Unfortunately, though the time leading up to the wedding can be filled with joy and excitement, it can also come with a good share of stress.
Stress and excitement can negatively affect your skin, leaving you with breakouts, redness, flushing, and more.
We’ve got some prevention tips below, as well as some last-minute solutions so you can look your absolute best on your wedding day.
Wedding Day Skin Emergencies: Prevention is Best
When you’re under pressure—even if that pressure is for a positive thing, like your wedding—your body releases cortisol and other stress hormones. These can trigger oil production, increase inflammation, and make your skin more reactive, leading to breakouts, dehydration, and dullness.
To keep your skin in check, be sure to adjust your daily skincare routine in the weeks leading up to the wedding. You want a routine that addresses the additional physical and emotional impacts of wedding preparation.
Increase Hydration
Stress can dehydrate your skin, leading to a dull and tired appearance. If you notice your skin looking dry, boost hydration by incorporating a richer moisturizer or hydrating serum into your routine. Our CV Skinlabs Calming Moisture helps replenish and retain moisture, while helping to tame inflammation at the same time.
You may also want to use a hydrating mask once or twice a week. Look for ingredients like aloe vera, hyaluronic acid, and ceramides to help plump up skin.
Strengthen Your Skin Barrier
Stress can weaken the skin’s outer barrier, making it more susceptible to irritants and inflammation. Make sure you’re using a gentle cleanser that won’t strip skin of its natural oils. Avoid harsh exfoliants or cleansers with strong detergents.
Then incorporate barrier-repairing ingredients into your routine. These include ceramides, fatty acids, and antioxidants. Again, our Calming Moisture has these ingredients and more to tame irritation and help maintain a healthy barrier function.
Tame Inflammation
Inflammation is at the heart of many skin conditions, including redness, breakouts, dullness, and more. Get ahead of the problem by incorporating inflammation-reducing products in your daily routine.
Our Rescue + Relief Spray is a great option as it instantly soothes and calms stressed skin. With natural anti-inflammatory ingredients, it’s excellent for reducing redness and discomfort at any time. You can use it as a toner, or spritz at any time of day when your skin needs a refresher.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is critical to your skin’s health and appearance. Unfortunately, you may be missing out in the weeks leading up to your wedding. If so, step up your efforts to get a good night’s sleep. Make sure your bedroom is dark, cool, and quiet, and keep all technological gadgets out, including your phone, tablet, and television.
Next, do your best to get to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Have a before-bed routine that includes shutting down most of the lights at least an hour before bed. Do something quiet and relaxing like reading or taking a hot bath before turning in.
Wedding Day Skin Emergencies: 10 Wedding-Day Fixes
Sometimes, even your best preparation efforts don’t work and you wake up on your wedding day with one of the following problems. Try these quick fixes.
1. Breakouts
Start by cleansing your face with a gentle cleanser. Next, apply a spot treatment containing salicylic acid directly onto the pimple. If you don’t have a spot treatment handy, a dab of toothpaste (non-gel) can help dry out the pimple.
Next, wrap an ice cube in a clean cloth and gently press it against the pimple for about five minutes. This will help reduce the swelling and redness. Next, apply Calming Moisture to the area. It will help reduce redness and inflammation and promotes healing. Repeat these steps if needed later in the day.
To hide the pimple, apply a primer first (makeup artists often use our Calming Moisture), the use a color corrector. Green helps neutralize redness, making the pimple less noticeable. Next, apply a full-coverage concealer that matches your skin tone to cover the pimple, and finish by applying your foundation as usual, blending it carefully over the concealer (be careful not to disturb the concealer).
Set with powder if needed—use a fluffy brush to avoid a cakey appearance. Use a setting spray to help the fix last all day.
2. Puffy Eyes
Start by standing under a warm shower for a few minutes. Allow the warm water to pulse over your closed eyes. When you emerge, pat dry and apply a cold compress to your eyes for 10-15 minutes.
Next, apply our Rescue + Relief Spray to cool down the skin around the eyes. (Always close your eyes before spraying.) Finally, use an eye cream with caffeine to help reduce swelling.
3. Dry Patches & Flakiness
Gently exfoliate the affected areas with a mild scrub or chemical exfoliant. This can help remove dead skin cells and rejuvenate the area.
Next, apply a rich moisturizer. If the skin is severely dry, try our Restorative Skin Balm as a quick rescue. Otherwise, use our Calming Moisture. Both will help hydrate and repair the skin barrier, helping to combat dryness.
4. Redness
Start by applying a cool compress for five minutes or so, Then spray our Rescue + Relief Spray on the affected area. It is designed to help tame inflammation, reduce redness, and calm skin. Next, apply our Calming Moisture.
To hide any redness before you walk down the aisle, apply a green-tinted primer before your foundation. Green counteracts red tones, creating a more even complexion.
5. Oily Skin
Stress frequently causes the skin to overproduce sebum (skin oil). Begin your day with our Calming Moisture, as it helps balance oil production and keeps your skin hydrated without being greasy.
Use blotting papers to absorb excess oil throughout the day without disturbing your makeup. Before the ceremony, use a mattifying primer to control shine and create a smooth base for your foundation.
6. Allergic Reactions
Stress can make your skin more reactive to anything that touches it. If you’re unlucky enough to experience an allergic reaction, start by taking a common over-the-counter antihistamine to help tame your body’s histamine production. Apply a cold compress to the affected area until it calms down a little.
Next, apply our Rescue + Relief Spray to help soothe the itch and reduce inflammation. If needed, use an anti-itch cream on the affected area.
Finally, use a green-tinted moisturizer or concealer to hide any redness before you apply your foundation.
7. Uneven Skin Tone
If your skin shows up on wedding day with an uneven tone or blotchiness, start by gently cleansing, then tone with our Rescue + Relief Spray. Apply our Calming Moisture to help skin feel more balanced.
Then use a color-correcting primer to even out the skin’s appearance. A peach or orange-toned primer can help neutralize dark spots. Finally, apply a full-coverage foundation and blend well to ensure a natural look.
Conclusion
Your wedding day should be a day of celebration, love, and happiness—not a source of skin worries. By following a consistent skincare routine and managing stress in the days leading up to the big day, you can reduce the risk of suffering from any emergencies.
If those emergencies do occur, try to stay calm and apply the tips above to look your best. Remember that a radiant smile is your best accessory, so take care of your yourself and enjoy every moment of your special day!
How do you manage wedding day skin emergencies?
Featured image by Marius Muresan via Unsplash.