We all want to look as beautiful as possible on our wedding days, and that often means going all out on the beauty treatments. A word of caution: there are some beauty treatments you will want to skip close to your big day because they may make things worse, not better!
1. Crash Dieting or Other “Lose Weight Fast” Treatments
Whether it is a juice cleanse, a body wrap, or an extremely restrictive diet, right before your wedding is a bad time to try to shed those last few pounds.
First of all, it is extremely unhealthy, and you can end up fainting or needing other medical attention. Second, body wraps and similar treatments only help you lose water weight, which means that you will end up dehydrated without having lost any actual fat. Third, any last-minute weight loss means that your dress will have to be taken in, and if the fear of health effects doesn’t bother you, the stress of last-minute alterations should.
Finally, your wedding day is kind of like a marathon. It is an extremely long day, and a lot is expected of you. You need to be energized and hydrated to be able to get through it in one piece. Leave the hospital bed weddings to “Grey’s Anatomy” and make healthy choices before your (LONG) big day.
2. Drastic Haircuts
Never ever make a drastic change to your haircut right before your wedding. First of all, if you have already figured out and done a practice run with your hairstyle, you will have to start all over. Even scarier is, if the haircut doesn’t come out the way you want, you may be stuck with it (or another unflattering cut to “fix” the first one), and that is not what you will want to remember about the biggest day of your life (nor what you’ll want your guests remembering your wedding day for!).
3. Hair Dying
Along the same lines, never dye your hair right before your wedding. However, there is a caveat that if you frequently dye your hair, you can use the same exact dye and colorist that you usually use. After all, you also don”t want to have gray hairs or visible roots either. Still, get it done at least a week before your wedding so that if there is an unplanned issue there is time to fix it.
4. Tanning
Whether spray tanning or UV tanning, you should avoid trying these right before your wedding. UV tanning is not only unhealthy and increases your risk of skin cancer, but also it can make your skin burn, dry out, and flake. (Not attractive. Even on a bride.) Spray tanning is not something to attempt for the first time (or even second or third) right before your wedding either because you may end up a shade between John Boehner and Donald Trump, and that’s not a good look for anyone. Also, spray tanning right before your wedding can leave unsightly orange stains on your dress. Just… no.
5. Facials
Facials are so relaxing and are a fun way to bond with your bridesmaids, but stay away from them the week before your wedding. While they can make your skin glow, they also can bring impurities to the surface causing a breakout, which is the last thing you need to worry about.
Facials can also irritate the skin. Microdermabrasion and chemical peels are even harsher on the skin and essentially burn away the top layer of skin leaving your skin red and irritated. Save the red face for your embarrassment at the best man’s speech and stay away from harsh skin treatments.
6. Waxing
Waxing is a great way to remove unwanted hair, but it is also irritating to the skin and can cause red bumps for the first few days immediately following the treatment. You will want to get any waxing done a bit in advance of your wedding so that the irritation has time to calm down. This goes double for bikini waxes, Brazilians, or any other waxing that gets near especially delicate skin.
7. Botox
You may think that your wedding is a great excuse to splurge on trying Botox for the first time. Think again. Some of the effects of Botox are not immediate, and like other injectable treatments, it is impossible to know beforehand how your body (and face) will react. Also, any slight error in placement could have unintended effects, and a lopsided smile is probably not the look you are going for.
8. New Products
This is especially important for people with sensitive skin, but all of us could potentially have a reaction to something new. New products of any kind should not be introduced the week before your wedding because unknown irritants can cause all sorts of unpleasant reactions. If your make-up artist is using his or her own or brand new makeup, make sure you leave your makeup on for the whole day after the trial run to make sure that you don’t have a bad reaction to it.
Remember that your future spouse wants to marry YOU, not an airbrushed version of you. (Or a red faced, razor burned version either.)
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