Wedding Season is upon us! Whether you’re a bride, bridesmaid or guest, you want to have your look in check for such an occasion! Expert Stylist Jason J Dougherty of Butterfly Studio Salon, Brow Specialist Matt Shakik of Spruce and Bond, and Certified Dermatologist Dr. Whitney Bowe share their inside tips and tricks for achieving a flawless and worry free look on the big day.
(The beautiful bride, below is my niece, Mackenzie with her handsome husband, Trevor)
Hair prep:
Step 1: Evaluate your needs and wants – if you plan on wearing your hair down or half up half down, you’ll need to ensure that your ends are healthy. Book a deep conditioning treatment at your salon the week before. If you plan on an up do, save a little dirt for a better style. Your hair will hold any style better when it has a little bit of grit. You never want squeaky clean when doing any sort of up style so either shampoo as usual the previous night or prep for the wedding day and a book a blowout the morning of the rehearsal for benefits of both days.
Step 2: Perfect or upgrade your color – Color is so custom and ever-changing. Sometimes the magic happens all at once, sometimes in stages. Achieve the end goal through a couple of salon visits, over a period of time. Take a few inspiration photos and talk about how your hair pro can make it ready to wear.
Brow prep:
Step 1: Finding a tint – You want the color to match well enough to look natural, yet you want it to be distinct enough to contrast a little. People normally try to match their hair color, but our brows naturally look darker because they’re surrounded by paler skin.
Step 2: Put the tweezers down – Do not jeopardize the structure or thickness by removing hairs that might in time give you a fuller and more complete brow. Don’t take out hairs on one side to match it up to the other if it means making the brow thinner. When it comes to an end goal with your brows give them time and let them go, it might be torture but it will be well worth the wait. Tweezing is always the best option as it allows you to remove individual hairs to achieve the best shape.
Skin Prep:
Step 1: Schedule a visit with your dermatologist. Four to Six months in advance is best. If you have severe acne or scarring, getting these things taken care of in advance is important.
Step 2: Maintain healthy skin – I recommend exfoliating your skin two to three times a week to slough away dead skin cells, which would otherwise clog your pores. An exfoliating mask that contains glycolic and salicylic acids works great to clear out pores and tighten them. Dr. Brandt’s PoreDermebrasion works for any skin type making pores smaller for a better tone.
During the weather changes you need to switch out your creams and cleansers. During the winter, I tend to use creamy or hydrating cleansers, but I switch to a normal cleanser in the spring, like heavy moisturizer, creamy cleansers leave a residue of fats and lips on the skin. That’s good in the winter because you have a compromised skin barrier, but you don’t need it in the spring. Keep the three categories of cleansers in mind: creamy, foaming, and normal (non-soap, pH-balanced cleanser). Opt for normal cleanser once the weather warms up, unless your skin is especially oily, in which case a foaming cleanser can help remove extra oils. Try Dr. Brandt’s Foaming Cleanser to give skin hours of protection against free radicals while dissolving away stubborn makeup and impurities!
*All opinions my own