Beyond Beauty's guide to preparing for your big day!

BEYOND BEAUTY’S GUIDE TO PREPARING FOR YOUR BIG DAY!

9 MONTHS BEFORE:

Plan out a fitness regime that suits you. Eating right and exercising regularly well before your big day will not only get you looking and feeling great about yourself, but it will also give you the much needed energy and strength needed for planning a big life event such as you wedding! This combo will make your body look and feel amazing it will also keep your skin glowing and your hair shiny.

Beyond Beauty recommends getting to know your skin: In addition to eating right and keeping fit, it’s important for you to get your skin care regime in order. It’s very important to be consistent with it and the sooner you start the better! This may mean shopping around for skin care products that suit your particular skin type. At Beyond Beauty we offer a professional skin mapping service which helps to identify areas on the skin which need a bit of TLC!

Smooth crow's feet or forehead lines with Botox: Botox is an injectable that paralyzes the muscles in the face and helps iron out wrinkles. The treatment takes a few days to kick in and only lasts about six months. We at Beyond Beauty recommend going in for a trial to see how it wears on you eight months before is a smart idea. That way, if you liked your experience with it, you'll know where to get it a month before your wedding day. Try the Ultra Smooth Eye Serum* it helps firm under the eye area smoothing out any fine lines on the most sensitive skin. If you’re not keen on going down this route of treatment, there are alternatives such as the Venus Freeze* skin tightening and smoothing treatment which will work wonder for your skin. It is especially useful for both ladies and gentlemen who have lost weight and may have slight excess sagging skin. The treatment tightens loose skin, all while contouring and smoothing out fine lines and stretch marks.

6 MONTHS BEFORE:

Visit your hairstylist. Do not make major changes to your style, especially if you're trying to grow it out for your wedding day. Get your hairstylist to tidy up your split ends, to give your hair a healthy look.

Go for Laser or IPL hair removal. If you want to be fuzz-free on your wedding day (or for your honeymoon!), you'll have to start treatments about eight months before, since you'll need about four to six weeks in between each treatment and you'll probably need five to six treatment to get smooth, fuzz free skin!

Get serious about your skin care regimen. At this point the skin care regime you planned out should be in full swing and now’s not the time to be lazy with it. Many would be surprised at how fast one can see a change in their skin simply because they’ve become relaxed with their skin care regime. Cleansing, toning, and moisturizing your skin twice a day — and exfoliating twice a week! — will help keep your skin under control when/if you get stressed out from planning. Try brands like Dermalogica* (the PowerBright TRX range) that helps with general brightening of the skin. Alternatively, the Geneo 4 in 1 facial* which gives a deep exfoliation, brightens and leaves you with a smooth complexion. If you're acne-prone and suffer from congested skin, we would suggest a course of our Intense Pulse Light (IPL) Acne Treatments*. Appointments need to be made 2 weeks apart from each other, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to complete your course of treatments.

4 MONTHS BEFORE:

BODY THERAPY WRAPS AND BODY POLISH EXFOLIATION.

Treat yourself to body polish and detoxifying wraps! One sure fire way to get smooth skin would be to treat yourself to detoxifying full body wraps and body polishes. Dermalogica offer an extensive range of full body wraps such as the Enzymatic Sea Mud Wrap which intensely detoxifies and nourishes your body, leaving you with baby soft skin.

Get an even complexion. If you spend a lot of time in the sun, and want to an even & clear complexion we suggest you have a course of Intense pulse light Skin Rejuvenation* four months before your wedding. Appointments need to be made 2 weeks apart from each other, so getting your first one four months out will give you enough time if you need additional sessions.

Schedule your hair and makeup trial. By now, you should know who's doing your hair and makeup for your wedding, so call your best friends for moral support and schedule a trial run of your makeup for the big day. Bring inspiration shots of hairstyles and makeup looks so your artist has something to work around. Try out as many different looks as you can so you're happy with the final look!

THREE MONTHS BEFORE:

Give yourself a monthly Dermalogica Bioactive peel* or the new Dermalogica IonActive* facial starting now. Exfoliate your face twice a week with a gentle-exfoliating formula like the Daily Microfoliant. Chemical peels are one of the most popular professional skin care services today because they can improve the quality, texture and colour of skin. With the BioSurface Peel, you can get the same powerful results without the associated risks or downtime. In fact, your skin will look and feel healthier than ever! As part of the Professional Expert Strength category, the IonActive System and IonActive Power Treatment is a collection of products and 45-minute skin treatment.

Each IonActive product was created to target a specific skin concern including:

•Acne,

•Dehydration,

•Hyperpig¬mentation

•Skin aging.

Get your brows shaped: You want natural-looking, full brows, so it’s time to put down the tweezers, stop the DIY jobs and go see a brow expert who can get your brows in tip top shape. Remember the best thing to do with eyebrows is not to mess with them or over pluck them as this can affect growth cycle - both ladies and gents should aim for full looking, sharp clean brows for their big day.

2 MONTHS BEFORE:

Brighten your smile. On top of cutting down on teeth-staining drinks like coffee and tea, start using an at-home teeth whitening kit and brushing with a whitening toothpaste daily this may help remove surface stains and lighten up to two shades. If you want to go the professional route, you can always make an appointment with your dentist for a professional bleaching treatment.

ONE MONTH BEFORE:

Go for a facial: Do these 3 weeks before your wedding because you don't want to get your skin probed and prodded too close to your wedding day.

Get your last BioSurface peel: Two weeks before, schedule or give yourself your last glycolic peel.

See your stylist /colourist for a refresher: Two weeks before your wedding, make an appointment with the hairstylist and colourist you've been seeing to freshen up your cut and colour.

Clean up your brows: If you liked the brow expert who groomed your brows three months ago, go back to him or her, and have them tweeze or thread any stray hairs — don't get any waxing done on your face this close to your wedding day, since you don't want to run the risk of prolonged redness or worse: ripped skin and a break out.

TWO DAYS BEFORE:

Go in for a wax job: You'll want to book a bikini wax so you're all set for your wedding night and honeymoon, but you'll want to do it 48 hours before you get hitched so redness has a chance to subside. Just make sure to schedule your wax before your spray tan, so your glow remains even.

Get a spray tan: Go in for a spray tan 3-4 days before the big day, and don't forget to exfoliate beforehand for an even glow, making sure to use a gentler exfoliator on your face than what you use on your body.

Polish your fingers and toes: If you're going for a mani and pedi, make an appointment as close as possible to your big day, as you want to minimise the risk of chipping or breaking a nail before the day. To further reduce the risk of chipping a nail, opt for either Shellac or Gel polish as these last much longer than your average polish.

THE DAY/NIGHT BEFORE:

See your dermatologist for an emergency visit if a blemish crops up unexpectedly: The stress of planning something as big and important as a wedding would cause many people to break out, so maybe see your skin care therapist for tips on how best to treat unexpected blemishes. They should be able to recommend you a calming gel such as the Dermalogica’s Over Night Clearing Gel* from their MediBac range, which helps reduce inflamed blemishes while you sleep.

Go through a checklist for the Big Day: The last thing any Bride or Groom wants is to wake up and find they’ve lost important stuff they needed for their big day such as their veil or tie. If you yourself don’t have the time to go through it, delegate the task to one of your bridesmaids or groomsmen as then it becomes one less thing for you to worry about, and you know the task is being carried out by people you trust.

THE DAY OF:

Throw on an under-eye mask to minimize puffiness: Chances are you didn't get much sleep the night before. There are many eye masks widely available that reduce puffiness all while promoting collagen, giving you a nice plumpness for your big day.

Use your usual skin care regime: Again, you don't want to try any new products that your skin isn’t used to, as you run the risk of breaking out! Stick to what’s been working for you and you should have no worries!

Try to relax: If you're feeling anxious take 10 minutes aside, light some candles and put on some relaxing music and block out the last minute hustling and bustling of the big day!

Lastly enjoy the best day of your life!

*Products and treatments all available at Beyond Beauty.