12 months out: Make an appointment with your dermatologist, so you can get an assessment of your complexion and set up a strategy. If you’re tackling a particular area, such as acne or fine lines, you might need several months to achieve your skin goals. The same goes for laser hair removal if you decide to go down that route.
8 months out: Now’s the time to set up a meeting with a local beautician to create a schedule for regular appointments. Find someone who will listen to your goals and work with you to decide on the best treatments for your requirements. This could be a series of facials. It’s important to start this process early, as you might have reactions to new treatments, and you wouldn’t want the stress of that near your wedding day.
6 months out: Focus on your at-home skincare treatments, using a quality cleanser and moisturizer daily, and your exfoliator a few times a week. You might like to indulge in a weekly facemask at this point. Keep up your visits to the salon, too.
12 months out: Looking after your body is surprisingly easy, but it’s a good idea to get into helpful habits as far in advance of your ceremony as possible. When you’re a year out, you can simply set up your skincare routine with a nourishing cleanser and a body scrub to remove dead skin cells.
If you’re wondering how often to use body scrub, you can introduce it once a week, and then work up to three or four times a week (or stick with once a week for sensitive or acne-prone skin). Gently pat dry with a towel and apply your moisturizer straight away, while your skin is still damp, to capture that hydration.
1 week out: If you’re planning on having a spray tan for the ceremony, you’ll want to start prepping your skin a week beforehand by exfoliating. That will help the tan settle evenly, as exfoliation gets rid of dry flakes and smoothes the way. It’s also a good idea to have a trial spray tan ahead of your dress fitting, so you can see what shade works best with your gown, so get this booked in when you secure your dress fitting date. Schedule your actual spray tan for two days ahead of the ceremony.
12 months out: Stress contributes to lots of issues, including the quality of our skin, nails, and hair, and planning a wedding can certainly create its fair share of stress. So focus from the get-go on looking after yourself, to help keep those stress levels down. You’ll feel and look much better for it.
This includes getting a good amount of sleep, eating healthily, drinking water, exercising, and limiting your sugar, salt, and alcohol intake (this becomes increasingly important when you’re in the final weeks before your wedding day).
6 months out: You might choose to take a supplement of vitamins and minerals to help you look and feel your best. This doesn’t replace a well-balanced diet, though, so zone in on how to nourish your body through a range of essential food groups. Lean protein, complex carbohydrates, fresh fruit and veg, healthy oils, and lots of water are all vital for physical and mental wellbeing plus they’ll help your skin, hair and nails.
1 day out: The day before your wedding can be when the nerves really kick in, but there are lots of things you can do to help yourself get some beauty sleep, so you can wake up feeling and looking refreshed for the big day itself. Throughout the day, eat clean and make sure you drink enough water. Avoid looking at screens close to bedtime – instead, listen to relaxing music or a guided meditation.
8 months out: At this point, you’ll want to contact makeup artists to book your wedding day look. You’ll need to speak with your wedding party to find out who else will want their makeup applied professionally (some will jump at the chance, while others will prefer to do their own). This is important information to have before you contact the pros, as they’ll need to know how many stylists they’ll need to bring with them on the day. Once they have a final list, they can check their stylists availability and provide an accurate quote! You might find a team that can offer makeup and hair (more on hair in the next section).
2 months to 1 month out: If you want to have lash extensions and/or micro blading, you’ll need to arrange them well ahead of the ceremony. Arrange micro blading at least a couple of months beforehand, as your brows will need a week to heal. Around four weeks later you can get a touch-up. With lash extensions, have your first full set applied three to four weeks out, so you can see what you think and decide if you’d like to have any changes made to the look. You’ll then need to have a fill-in (and any changes made) three to four days ahead of the day itself.
8 months out: As with your makeup artist, you’ll want to get your hairstylist secured around 8 months before your ceremony. Again, you’ll need to know how many in your wedding party will want their hair done professionally, too, to get an accurate quote and availability check. Be sure to schedule a trial with your stylist of choice
6 months out: If you want to color your hair, then it’s important to plan this in advance with your stylist, with an initial color test drive 6 months out. Ditto for a new haircut. You’ll also want to limit the number of times you shampoo your hair from this point in, as too much shampooing can dull your color. Three times a week is a benchmark figure.
3 months out: If you haven’t started already, now’s the time to lavish your locks with attention. This can be easily achieved at home, with deep conditioning products or hair masks weekly to really nourish your strands and scalp.
14 days to 10 days out: At this point, you’ll want to get a color touch-up and a trim, to remove any split ends and freshen up your roots.
12 months out: Start treating your hands and your nails a year ahead of your big day. There’s going to be plenty of attention on your ring, after all. You could apply oil to your cuticles and hand cream nightly before bed. A weekly gentle hand scrub will work wonders for keeping your skin silky smooth, too.
3 months out: Every few weeks from this point, have a professional manicure to take your nail and hand care to the next level.
2 days out: If you’re going for polish, get your nails professionally done just a couple of days before the big day, to minimize the risk of chipping.
From how often to use body scrub to how often to shampoo your hair, we’ve covered a few of the major considerations in your pre-wedding beauty regimen. Put a plan in place and you can start to enjoy this special, exciting time.
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