The Email I Send to Brides Looking for Pre-Wedding Skin-Care Advice

Then I Met You’s Living Cleansing Balm and Dr. Loretta’s Hydrating Cleanser are two ofmy favorite cleansersin the entire world. Both are super gentle, hydrating, and brightening. The balm is better for taking off makeup and the hydrating cleanser is a bit more nourishing on the skin. I recommend using them together (balm first to take off makeup, then gentle cleanser to clean your skin).

Thesetwo productstogether are just so intensely plumping and hydrating and will make your skin so glowy — wedding skin in a bottle, in other words. After you wash your face, apply a few drops of the toner, then pat it into your skin (warning: It’s mildly exfoliating, so don’t use it with any other exfoliant). Then apply a few drops of theessenceand pat that into your skin. Before weddings, you’re at a big risk of using too many products while trying to make your skin look perfect (over-exfoliating is the worst thing you could possibly do pre-wedding), but these are both incredibly gentle and insanely effective.

A really magicalhyaluronic acid serumthat’s so wonderful for deeply moisturizing your skin. It’s expensive, but genuinely so worth it if you can afford it. Apply this after the toner and essence above.

People all the time ask me, “Do I really have to use avitamin C serum? I don’t see it doing anything!” Well, the answer is absolutely yes, you should be using a vitamin C serum daily — especially if you’re trying to get extra-bright skin for your wedding day. And for any skeptics, this serum is here to prove you wrong. It’s an extra-potent vitamin C serum (35 percent), and you justwillnotice a change in the brightness and overall radiance of your skin if you use it daily. This will help lift any dark marks or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (the spots left behind after zits), making sure you’re a clear, super-watt light bulb for your wedding day. If you’re sensitive to vitamin C, you might prefer something a little milder, likethis serumfrom Klairs.

So this is like …the“It” creamright now. There’s tons of insane science behind it’s magical, skin-healing properties, and every celebrity in the world endorses it. It’s intensely thick and a tiny bit goes a long way — don’t overdo it. Just to be completely transparent, I know people who love it and I know people who don’t really like it (itcanmake you break out), but it’s the kind of thing where if it does work for you, it’s absolutely insanely game changing. Like take your skin to the next level vibe. If you have a while before your wedding I would maybe try it and see if it works for you because if it’s good, it’s really, really good.

This is my personal go-tomoisturizer(and the one I’d use if you don’t want to spring for the Augustinus Bader). It’s really moisturizing but not greasy and heavy, and it’s really helped my skin a lot this winter.

Wearsunscreenevery single day! On top of sun safety, there are so many anti-aging benefits and also can make sure your skin looks as bright as possible on your wedding day. This won’t break you out. Also it even protects you from BLUE LIGHT from your computer (!!!).

My favorite pre-eventsheet maskever. It fits wonderfully, feels great and cooling, and my skin just soaks up all the amazing plumping and hydrating treatment instantly. Do thisonyour wedding day. It’s so brightening and hydrating and makeup goes over it perfectly.

This is one of my favorite fixer-upper masks when I’m dealing with breakouts or when myskinjust generally looks all-around bad. This is kind of a DIY situation — the mask comes as a powder and you mix it with equal parts water (in a cup or in your hand if you’re lazy) to create this black charcoalmask. Throw it on, hang out, then hop in the shower (I find it’s the easiest way to wash it off without making a complete mess). My skin looks glowy, less red and irritated, and ultrasmooth afterward. Use this one about every two weeks leading up to the wedding if you have dry or sensitive skin (once a week if you have oily skin).

As far aseye creamsgo, I always recommend the very inexpensive Snail Mucin Cream to use as a daily treatment. However, when I do want to splurge on my problematic, sunken eyes I love this eye mask from Joanna Vargas. These eye masks are packed with wonderful ingredients like hyaluronic acid, chamomile, hexapeptide-8, and algae extract, all of which help lift, hydrate, and brighten up yourunder eyes. Use them for the five days leading up to the wedding (including before the rehearsal dinner, and on day of after the Colbert sheet mask).