Your top-to-toe bridal beauty guide

Every bride wants to look her gorgeous best on her D-day and also a magical, perfect wedding. Nothing makes the day more perfect than the bride herself. The joy and sunshine that she radiates in her smile make for the most beautiful and perfect wedding look, says Nikita Sawant

Even the most beautiful woman needs some fairy dust to help her out on her big day. If you’re a bride-to-be, you must be well aware that the collective stress of the days preceding the wedding eventually wears you out leading to skin rashes, dark circles, puffy eyes and a host of other problems. In this situation, the only fairy dust available to you is a healthy diet combined with skin- and hair-care products and the correct techniques to use them. This low-down on the latest beauty and make-up trends you can fall back on will make you a perfect bride. Get going.

Beauty is skin deep

Your skin suffers the most when you are under stress and wedding-related stress can be a big bummer. Skin breakouts, dryness and dullness are a given and there’s no easy way to get rid of them. According to experts, every bride has to follow a beauty routine that she will stick to for at least six months prior to the wedding. “Opt for a bridal package six months prior to your nuptials to indulge in separate as well as specific treatments for your face, body and hair. This will rejuvenate your skin, tone your body and revive your tresses with utmost care and perfection, without any hurry and hence, help you avoid making beauty blunders,” says Ishika Taneja, International Make-up Expert and Executive Director of Alps Beauty Clinic.
Dr Varun Katyal, Consultant Dermatologist and Wellness Expert at The Skin Centre, advises, “Take a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet and avoid fried and junk food. Try to stick to foods containing the maximum amount of vitamins, minerals, fibre and other nutrients. Drink sufficient water and do exercises, aerobics or yoga regularly under the guidance of an expert.”

Your bridal skin-care regime

• Make an appointment with your dermatologist or skin expert well in advance and discuss any concerns you have about acne, scars, or other skin problems. Your dermatologist or skin expert will create a skincare plan that will help ensure that you look beautiful on your wedding day.
• One of the first things that you need to undertake, as a part of your pre-wedding skin-care, is a proper cleansing routine. Use a mild cleanser for your face twice a day. If you wear make-up, remove it as soon as you get back home, with the help of a proper make-up remover. After cleansing, always use an alcohol-free and pH balanced toner.
• Follow up the toner with a moisturiser. Use a broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, every day, after your moisturiser to ensure that you don’t get that ‘cooked look’ on the day of your wedding.
• Use something more restorative for the evening, before going to bed. A common misconception about oily skin is the belief that you don’t need to use moisturisers. In fact, using an oil-free moisturiser will actually slow down the over-production of oil.
• Use a mild exfoliator recommended for the face at least once a week as this will discourage dead skin build-up which makes the skin look dull and sallow. You may also use appropriate face masks once a week.

The newest bridal beauty trends

Ishika opines, “This bridal season is screaming ‘tints of neon’. Crimson reds, oranges, lilac, lavenders, deep purples, will be in this season, while purple will be the new red for brides. Also, using accents of neon both for your pout and peepers is truly recommended. Colourful smokey remains the ‘it-thing’. This time, implementing it with tinges of neon is advised. Glitter is totally out while shimmer is in fashion again—to infuse sheen and do away with tackiness for your eye-do. Keep the pout glamorous by using bright shades of neon, like reds, oranges, etc. Use these shades after effectively applying lip-plummers in order to make your lips appear fuller. But, make sure to highlight either your lips or your eyes, certainly not both. For a radiant make-up base, use foundations with sheen to infuse a fresh glow to your face and enhance the look with face illuminators and highlighters. You may avoid bronzing completely while highlighting with shimmery colours is big this season.”

Take care of your hair

That glorious crown on your head needs some sweet loving too. Gorgeous-looking tresses need a lot of work and devotion. Washing, blow-drying and heat-styling on a daily basis make your hair dry and dull, and give rise to wisps of hair that stick out everywhere. What your hair needs, especially some months before your wedding, is a repairing routine from the inside out. Increase your vitamin B intake as this is believed to bring out your hair’s natural shine. You will get a lot of vitamin B in foods like fish, nuts and eggs, so start including these in your daily diet. On the outside, what you can opt for to get healthy and happy hair is a scalp massage and deep conditioning treatment, about four weeks before the big day. This will stimulate your hair follicles, and add volume to your hair, plus it feels really good! Ishika recommends some hairstyles that are in trend this wedding season. “Hairstyles which exhibit a lot of volume on your tresses along with similar huge accessories are a hit these days. Swarovski studded passa or pearl stringed juddas exhibit class with style and hence, are being preferred by Indian brides. Tamed hair is passé; instead the messy look is what brides are looking for, as it makes them look sexier and more sultry and not dolled-up all the time. Fusion braids—braids that combine two styles—are also a great option these days. These mix-and-match braids include Dutch and reverse French braid, four-pleated braid that bottoms fish-bone-tail, ball braids with Swarovski accents and more.”

The trial run

The most frustrating thing is to walk out of the salon on your wedding day feeling utterly self-conscious or short-changed, and not feeling like yourself. Ishika adds, “Keeping in mind the bride’s demand to look perfect, hair and make-up trials are essential. Therefore, every professional salon offers such trials, which are sometimes free and sometimes for a fee. This gives the would-be bride an idea about how she will look on her D-Day as well as an understanding of the salon’s sense of style. You can also instruct the salon to execute your make-up according to your skin-tone, face-shape, features and style. This will leave no room for mistakes on your wedding day and calm all your anxieties about your final bridal avatar!” A word of caution: Don’t make drastic changes to your beauty plans too close to your wedding. Don’t opt for any hair and beauty treatments and trends that you are being forced into by family and friends. If you believe a certain style won’t suit you, it really won’t, so don’t get bullied into going for it. With the above tips and tricks, you’ll not just glow and look gorgeous, you’ll be one hell of a happy bride!