Bride Beauty - DOs and DON'Ts for your Wedding Day

Having worked in beauty for a TV shopping channel, fragrance for a Japanese high fashion company, skincare for a luxury global brand, and for a family run perfume house – and having been bridesmaid 3 times – I wanted my first blog post to be beauty tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way.  So here are my learned-the-hard-way DOs and DON’Ts for your wedding day: 

DO

DO invest in an industrial deodorant!  -And try it out in the weeks leading up to your wedding to ensure it works for you and your skin type.  Look out for key words on deodorants like ‘stress control’ or ‘sports strength’.

DO shop on QVC (online, of course!  Who has time to teleshop these days?!) for great beauty deals on gifts you and your wedding party.  Big brand products are on average 25% cheaper at QVC than on most other websites.  This combined with their constant turning offers (todays special value, one time only, buy more save more, introductory prices, anniversary prices – the list goes on) along with many favourable and flexible delivery and payment options (many products are offered with free p&p + optional payment plans), make QVC super advantageous to shop with.  NB I don’t, nor have I ever, worked for QVC, but I have been at the opposite side of the table from QVC buyers arguing for knockdown RRPs or value bundle sets to always ensure their customer get the best deals – they are brilliant negotiators and ALWAYS get their way to compete for the best RRPs on the market!  Brands are happy to make zero profit working with QVC purely for the marketing advantages.

DO book a few free consultations at different department store beauty counters to build up your confidence and to gather knowledge ahead of your make up trial.  –it’ll help you decide what you really want. 

DO take advantage of your local Avon rep; use their expert training to your advantage, and use their at home service to try out colours and looks. 

DO ask your makeup artist for the lip colour and brand that worked during your trial, so you can buy one to have in your maid’s bag of tricks to reapply on the day as needed. 

DO wear white eyeliner on the inner waterline of your eyes to make eyes pop.  This enhances your eye colour and makes your eyes appear bigger.  You’re likely to be emotional, so there is also no gamble with white eyeliner that it will smudge below the lash line!  This was a trick made famous by Marilyn Monroe in Hollywood, but is still an insider tip used widely today in stage and screen.  Play with the width, length and angle of the white liner to suit your eye shape. 

DO consider a smoothing BB/CC cream for your arms and body, depending on your dress.  This will be a slightly different colour match to the skin on your face.  Like your makeup, try this out well ahead of your wedding day to ensure it works for you.  Foundations are too heavy for your arms and décolleté area, so stick to BB/CC creams for a lighter but good coverage. 

DO ask for a sample size of your wedding perfume to try it out ahead of the big day (possibly the same day you do your hair and makeup trial, so you don’t get the smell confused with other emotions or events) to test its staying power and to check your skin type doesn’t react to it.  –definitely do this before investing in a larger version. 

DO buy an Eau de Parfum (EDP) rather than an Eau de Toilette (EDT) – it’ll last much longer on your skin throughout the day and you will notice the quality in the scent. 

DO buy a travel size rather that a full size EDP (if available) to have handy whenever you need.  Your wedding fragrance is unique to your wedding day, so it won’t be quite the same wearing it on any other ordinary day after your wedding –so don’t buy a litre of the stuff and let it go off sitting in your bathroom.  Also EDPs are expensive, so a travel size will more than suffice through into your honeymoon. 

DO buy a matching shower gel and body lotion if available – it’ll make your fragrance last longer.  This is also a neat trick if you can’t quite afford and EDP.  This was recommended in a beauty interview I read recently with Jo Malone herself – Jo Malone and Jo Loves both have contemporary scents to die for that all come with matching scented body products.  

DON'T

DON’T shave your underarms until the morning of the wedding, so you are smooth and silky all day and night. 

However

DON’T put deodorant on straight after you have shaved – the skin is raw.  Avoid nasty rashes, pimples, and ingrown hairs on your honeymoon by waiting at least 2 hours after shaving before applying deodorant. 

DON’T use all completely new products on your wedding day!  As fun as it might be to buy into everything new and shiny for the big day, this is a big no no!  You’ll have up get used to using and applying them, as well as letting your skin adjust to them – let alone find out if your skin has any reactions to them! 

DON’T switch up your routine entirely the week before your wedding – if you want to incorporate new products or a longer routine, try this 2 months before as a minimum. 

DON’T go for a facial the week before!  Although decadent and luxurious, facials encourage all the dead skin cells to the surface and breakouts are common in the week immediately after having one.  The oil imbalance also temporarily confuses your skin. 

DON’T try to treat skin conditions (e.g. eczema, rosacea, etc) with over the counter skin care or home remedies.  Visit your doctor a minimum of 2 months before your wedding to get something of super strength prescribed to ensure you’re rid of it in plenty time before the big day comes.  I would also definitely recommend seeing a specialist dermatologist if you’re worried about your skin in any way, but your local GP is an extremely effective solution should you prefer to spend your pennies on your honeymoon instead!   

DON'T use any products on your face on the day that contain an SPF – it will ruin your photos!  SPFs reflect terribly in professional photos!  Try a google image search on ‘SPF photo flashback'!

DON’T use black eyeliner on your bottom lids!  This is too heavy for your wedding day.  There’s also the major issue that your bottom lids are not a reliable area of your face on your wedding day to secure your eyeliner all day!  Especially if you’re going to be emotional – which you definitely are! 
 
Some of these may sound obvious, but you'll have so much else going on nearer the time it sometimes helps to have a reminder!  In the end, common sense and preparation is key!  

Lx