Everyone wants to look beautiful (or handsome) on their wedding day. It makes a difference for how you look and feel for your special day, and of course can affect your photos. This is not just for the ladies, it’s for you gentlemen as well, you may not be wearing makeup, but you can still look your best.

Prepping Your Skin for Your Wedding Day. Photo provided by Mikki Crossley Beauty & Brow Plymouth MI

I sat down with Mikki Crossley a makeup artist and esthetician from Plymouth Michigan, to discuss how you should prepare your skin to look your best for your wedding day. Mikki has been in the industry for over 18 years. After falling in love with make-up at her first job at the Nordstrom make-up counter. She would often study fashion and bridal magazines. She said “I wanted to figure out how to look like that!”

While working at Nordstrom she gave a makeup test to a customer, who then asked if she would do her makeup for her wedding. Mikki of course accepted. As with most of us in the wedding industry our first real test to determine if this is a career or one time deal is our first wedding. A little unprepared and running late, Mikki did not have any help and still managed to get the bride and multiple bridesmaids looking their best. Mikki had passed her test and decided on her future career.

I asked Mikki how to best prepare our skin for what is arguably biggest day of our lives.

6 months before your wedding

Find your makeup artists and do a test run of your makeup. It may seem a bit far out, but you want to make sure of a few things, that you like the look, you like the artist, and most important see if you have any reactions to the makeup. If you wait until a week before your wedding to test makeup and have an allergic reaction it may show up on your wedding day. Doing your test run so far out allows you to recover if anything should go wrong. It also allows your artist to give you specific advice depending on your skin type to start a personalized skin plan. You should be wearing at least SPF 15 sunscreen from here forward whether you’re a bride or a groom.

Get a facial to deep clean your skin. You may have some underlying issues that a facial will draw out, and again you don’t want these reactions happening close to your wedding. If you have other serious issues like severe acne you should see a dermatologist at this point as well.

One week before your wedding

Don’t do any scrubs or peels. These can cause an adverse reaction on your skin. Keep to your scheduled skin prep you should have started six months prior. Touch base with your artists, esthetician or dermatologist for any final week advice or instructions specific to your skin. Not everyone’s skin is the same so following these instructions could make a big difference.

Don’t fake tan, it can cause your skin to dry out. Do get real sun on a regular basis while using sunscreen. Make sure your sunscreen has enough moisturizer, if it doesn’t you may want to switch brands or add a moisturizer to your routine. You can spray tan about a week before your big day. Make sure to do a test run a couple months before, and exfoliate your body beforehand. The spray tan can be splotchy if you don’t.

The day of your wedding

Use a mild cleanser in warm water not regular soap to wash. Exfoliate your lips to eliminate dry skin. Ask your artists if you need any additional creams, lotion or primer. This can vary depending on your skin type.

Some extra advice

Don’t forget the rest of your body. Many wedding dresses are strapless and sleeveless. Use a body firming cream for your underarms. You may also want to consider hiring an artist that also does Décolletage this is your neck, shoulders and cleavage area. You want your body to match your face.

Having good skin also helps to get your photos back quicker. The less time your photographer has to spend editing the quicker you see your photos. If they have to spend a lot of time removing acne, dry skin or freckles it may be a while before you see them.

If you have any questions about good skin reach out to Mikki at the Beauty & Brow Bar in Plymouth, MI or find her on the web at www.Mikkicrossleymakeup.com

For some tips on hiring you makeup artist follow this link.