Getting ready for your day to shine

Skin, hair, nails and more

By Mary Martin Niepold, Copley News Service

A wedding may well be the ultimate rite of passage for a woman. It’s the day when she wants to look her most beautiful, and the beauty rites that lead up to it have a significance like few others.

Having a stylist do the bride’s hair and makeup on the day of the wedding is simply the last step - surely not the only step. Long before the actual day, a facial, massage, body exfoliation, pedicure, manicure, waxing and the perfect hair and nails are musts. But, for optimum results, a genuine look of natural radiance, she needs a steady program of skin and hair treatments.

Many brides are consumed with worries like, what if my skin breaks out? What if my hair looks dull? Beauty experts say that the best strategy begins three months ahead of the wedding. This allows enough time, should skin be sensitive to breakouts or allergic reactions and to make any adjustments if a haircut or color doesn’t work.

For optimum care, spas offer beauty packages where you can buy a series of facials and body treatments. Many brides and their attendants — certainly those who can afford it — book beauty packages at the same spa. Spas are increasingly popular: According to the International SPA Association, visits to U.S. spas increased almost 70 percent between 1997 and 1999, bridal parties included.

Alison Libby gets ready for her wedding day with the help of her bridesmaids.
KARI HILT PHOTO

Experts offer the following beauty suggestions for brides.

Facials: At the Clairins spa in Houston, their aestheticians suggest starting facials three months ahead and continuing to have them either once a week or twice a month until the wedding.

At the Noelle Spa for Beauty and Wellness in Stamford, Conn., director Elizabeth Della Ratta explains that if a facial includes extractions (of blemishes), this should be done at least four weeks before.

Once your beauty plan is in place, maintenance at home - a daily cleansing and toning regime - is essential. Many of the most effective new products, from virtually every manufacturer, include vitamins that restore the skin while helping to remove toxins.

Chanel’s senior vice president of research and development, Dr. Jack Mausner, explains:

“Some vitamins, particularly A, C, E and niacinamide, a form of vitamin B niacin, have been found particularly helpful to the skin both when taken orally and applied topically.”

Some of the best include Chanel’s Rectifiance line with vitamins A and E; products with AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids), nutrients and vitamins in the Exuviance line by Neostrata; and the new multivitamin, three-product line from Clairins called Hydra-Balance comprised of lotion, cream and masque.

Waxing: Have waxing treatments for eyebrows, lips, legs, underarms and bikini areas about six weeks before the wedding, especially if the bride has sensitive skin. Waxing of the face should be done at least several days before the wedding.

Body treatments: Massage is the No. 1 treatment choice at U.S. spas, and it’s a particularly good idea for brides. A series of massages in the weeks up to the wedding will help to untangle all the prewedding knots. On the day before the wedding, a massage should be mandatory.

Jean Ann Karfo, massage therapist at the New York City day spa, Carapan, says, “Of all the gifts a bride might receive, a massage will do the most to help her relax, which will help her look and feel her most beautiful on the day of her wedding.”

When massage is combined with body exfoliation, skin literally glows. Body exfoliations should also be done at home; most experts suggest three times a week. A bride should also moisturize her body daily, preferably after a soothing bath soak. An excellent choice: Frederic Fekkai’s Moisturizing Body Lotion.

Manicure and pedicure: This one we all know about, but the more that pedicures and manicures are performed on a regular basis, the better the results. The Noelle Spa says that regular manicures over several months actually make nails stronger. For feet, try one pedicure a month for several months for satiny heels and toes. Dr. Scholl’s Warm Wrap Foot Mask is a great in-home product to keep feet moist.

Self-tanning: If you insist on some man-made color, be sure to test products months in advance. Don’t ever try a little self-tan on the day of the wedding. If over applied, some products result in a very unnatural orangey cast. Experiment. Or work with an expert at a spa for the best chance of an overall smooth tan.

Bronzing powders might be even better. Stilla Sun is a celebrity favorite. But forget tanning from lights - Jennifer Heath, founder of the Houston-based line of BeautiControl products, cautions, “Never use tanning beds.”

Hair: Jimmy Paul, one of New York’s top hairstylists, has styled Uma Thurman and many other Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar covers. As the stylist of choice for Clinique’s new hair care line, Paul says the biggest hair mistake for a bride is this:

“Having a hairdresser you’ve never used before do your hair.”

Instead, choose a stylist you trust, and several months before the wedding begin to work toward the hairstyle you want.

“Do not do anything too drastic before a wedding,” Paul says.

Choose a style that is natural, and if you can wear it up, you’ll have less chance of drooping and losing shape. Haircuts should be several weeks ahead - if you want a whole new look, several months ahead. Hair color should be touched up two weeks before the wedding. Professional hair conditioning in a salon should be no later than two weeks before the wedding. A wonderful maintenance product to use at home is Clinique’s Clarifying shampoo: It’s light, it’s clean and it won’t weigh down the hair.

For the best hairstyle, Paul says to consider one that’s natural: If it’s a bun, wear it low, or try a side-part, slicked-back style a la Grace Kelly or Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars. If your hair is short, Paul also suggests the slicked-back, side-part style. You want elegance not theatrics.

Hair color: If you use color, start experimenting months ahead. Get highlights one to two weeks before the wedding to allow time for the color to settle. Daniel Galvin, hair colorist to Madonna, Cher and Richard Gere, among others, predicts a return to stronger, monochromatic coloring, whether for blond or dark hair.

For best results, Galvin says to always work with a specialist you can trust and who decides on color based on the client’s skin tone and eye color, not on trends.

Makeup: The best makeup always begins with flawless-looking skin, and for that, choose concealer products to hide undereye circles or breakouts. Some of the best are the Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer, Chanel’s Concealer Duo, Calvin Klein’s Medium Coverage Foundation (in a compact) and L’Oreal’s Translucide Lasting Luminous Makeup.

Begin experimenting with makeup combinations several weeks before the wedding and use a professional on the big day. Experts at Cover Girl suggest taking a Polaroid of the hair/makeup look you like and use it for reference on your wedding day.

One of Chanel’s handiest new makeup products (that a bride can use for easy touch-ups) is Crayon Double Ecriture, a two-for-one eye crayon that has kohl at one end and a creamy eye shadow at the other end.

For luscious, natural-colored lips, outline them first with a neutral colored pencil like the Nude Lip Liner Pencil from Ulta. If you go softer in lip color, you can go with a little more color on eyes, and vice versa. As for lips, a must for brides would be nontransfer lipstick like the new LipSTICK from BeautiControl or any of the long-wearing choices from Estee Lauder.

As BeautiControl’s Heath, says, “The last thing a bride wants on the day of her wedding is to worry about retouching her makeup.”

Keep it simple, and let your inner glow shine.

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Getting ready for your day to shine

Skin, hair, nails and more

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