Every bride wants to look radiant, youthful and glowing on their wedding day, F A C T ! The best kind of glow is one that comes from within, rather than layers of illuminating primers, strobe creams and highlighting powders. But healthy, youthful, radiant skin doesn’t have to be just for your wedding day, you can have it every day! In this post, I will share my skincare regime with you, of products that actually work and give genuine, visible results that will transform your skin into the perfect canvas for your makeup artist on your wedding day, and give your skin that healthy, youthful, radiant glow every day. No part of this post is sponsored and I buy all of my own products.
Image source: Shutterstock, edited by Blossom Bride
1. Beauty Sleep
I know it can sometimes be difficult with kids, a job, family, friends, sports, hobbies and a social life, but you need to get lots of sleep – there’s a reason it’s called beauty sleep; everyone looks better after a good night’s sleep! I try to get a good 8 hours sleep and have done since my teens, I think it makes a huge difference to the skin.
2. Drink Water
We all know this one, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to drink lots of water. Try drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning, before the tea and toast, or coffee. Keep a bottle of water around the house or at your desk, to sip throughout the day. Alcohol doesn’t count, it actually dehydrates you and your skin; the less alcohol you drink, the more your skin will thank you for it. And smoking, the same goes for smoking.
3. SPF
If you want to protect and look after your skin, you absolutely need to be wearing SPF on your face; and by face, I mean face, neck and décolleté – that’s the standard area for all “facial” skincare. Whether it’s a stand alone facial SPF, or if there’s SPF in your moisturiser or foundation, but it needs to be in there. Yes, even my Irish brides! I’ve previously used Murad’s Invisiblur Perfecting Shield SPF 30, and more recently Thank You Farmer Sun Project Water Sun Cream SPF50 {review here}.
4. Double Cleanse
If you wear makeup and/or SPF, you need to cleanse your face, twice in the evenings. The first cleanse removes your makeup, and the second cleanse cleans your skin. Balm or oil cleansers are best for the first cleanse as the oils really break down the makeup, mascara and SPF – they are also great for giving yourself a facial massage. My favourite and the best in my opinion, is Emma Hardie’s Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm {review here} which I get from Cult Beauty. l It’s got a pretty “luxurious” price tag, but it’s definitely worth it – especially when you try the cheaper alternatives and then realise how great this one actually is. Next, use a good cream cleanser to act like a conditioner for the skin, like Soap & Glory’s Hot Cloth Cleanser, The Ultimelt, {review here} but for goodness sake don’t ever use a foaming cleanser – it’s not good for your skin and dries it out. If budget is a concern, use a balm/oil cleanser twice, even if you have oily skin, like the Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter from The Body Shop {review here}. A double cleansing duo favourite of mine is Pestle & Mortar’s Erase & Renew {review here}.
5. Exfoliate
To be perfectly honest, the best way to get that healthy glow is through exfoliating dead skin cells away to reveal the youthful, radiant skin underneath. But don’t reach for your Clarisonic, or heaven-forbid the dreaded St. Ive’s Apricot Scrub! The best {and kindest} way to exfoliate your skin is with acids, and I mean the skin-friendly AHA’s (glycolic & lactic acid) and BHA’s (salicylic acid). I wrote a post all about skin care acids which you can read here. To fight the signs of aging, improve an uneven skin tone, smooth wrinkles, reduce dullness and breakouts you need to be using a good acid toner every day which will remove the dead, dull, dry, flaky skin cells to reveal the fresh, youthful, radiant-looking skin underneath. If you have particularly sensitive skin, start by using an acid toner in the evenings and build up to twice a day. My favourite is glycolic acid, Pixi Glow Tonic which I use each morning and evening straight after cleansing. A lactic acid alternative is January Labs Daily Brightening Tonic. For the next level of acid toning, I use Alpha H Liquid Gold neat on my face every other night – don’t use it in the morning and for best results, don’t apply moisturiser afterwards. All of which are available at Cult Beauty.
6. Facial Masks/Peels
A continuation of the acid exfoliation process is another of my favourite products that gives me great, visible results every time, the Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask. This is a powerful triple-action treatment that exfoliates with pumpkin enzyme, peels with AHA’s and polishes with aluminium oxide to reveal brighter, healthier skin that is literally as smooth as a baby’s bum and I find it really evens out my skin tone too! For those with particularly sensitive skin, don’t massage it into the skin so much, just let the acids do the exfoliating work. I use it once or twice a week, some may find their skin a little red afterwards, but nothing alarming. My advice is to be brave and only apply a small amount, with little/no massaging and leave on for 2-3 mins to begin with until you get confident enough with it and know how your skin will react. Another one of my favourite masks which is great for breakouts and evening out skin tone and complexion is the Indie Lee Clearing Mask. Review coming soon.
7. Retinols
You can get retinols in serum, cream or oil formulations. Personally I prefer them in oil form and my favourites are the Pestle & Mortar Superstar Oil and Sunday Riley Luna. Retinol is Vitamin A, think of the A for Anti-Ageing. Just as acid’s work on the top layer of the skin, removing dead and dull skin cells, Retinols work on the deeper layers of the skin, reversing the signs of ageing, encouraging skin cell renewal deep down, unclogging and minimising the appearance of pores. It also boosts collagen production and evens out skin tone and discolouration, as well as smoothing and softening the skin. It can help visibly increase the appearance of firmness, diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles and smooth and refine the surface of skin. However, you need to take it slowly with retinols. I’m a huge fan of little and often. Some retinols can cause rednesss, irritation, sensitivity, peeling and flaking of the skin. Essentially, dermatitis!
8. Facial Oils
These are great to combat dry, dull and dehydrated skin, even if you have combination/oily skin. Oily skin is actually dehydrated skin which can’t regulate itself, so it overproduces sebum (oil) in an attempt to hydrate itself. Check out this post on how to determine if your skin is dry or dehydrated. There are some ridiculously expensive oils such as Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum. You can layer oils too, my favourite combination is Replenishing Nutrient Complex by Tata Harper with the Midnight Recovery Concentrate Oil by Kiehl’s. I put this on at night time, alternating with my Alpha H Liquid Gold or retinols. You need just a few drops, press it into the skin, then seal it in with a good moisturiser if you don’t like the oily feeling on your skin. Rosehip oils such as the Tata Harper Replenishing Nutrient Complex and Sunday Riley Flora are great for really dry and dehydrated skin types without clogging your skin and causing congestion or break outs.
9. Hyaluronic Acid
I’ve banged on about this a lot on the blog, but hyaluronic acid really is a must-have in any skincare regime to keep your skin hydrated throughout the day, every day. You can read my post about it here. I use a moisturiser with hyaluronic acid in the ingredients. Two of my favourites are NIOD’s Multi-Molecular Hyaluronic Complex and Pestle & Mortar’s Pure Hyaluronic Serum, both fantastic products! If you’re on a budget, Boots are exclusive stockists of Hydraluron by Indeed Labs. Apply hyaluronic acid on your face each morning and night, just before your normal moisturiser, any moisturiser. It’s great for dry skin, dehydrated skin. Any and all skin types!
10. Moisturiser
And finally, to top all of that skincare off, you need a good moisturiser. You don’t need to spend huge money on your moisturiser. Your money should go on whatever you use as your second cleanse, and your serum/retinols and facial oils. Three of my favourite moisturisers are Dragon’s Blood by Rodial, and Sunday Riley’s C.E.O. which contains vitamin A and Sunday Riley’s Tidal which is loaded with hyaluronic acid by Sunday Riley. I’ve tried others but these are my favourite, especially the ones from Sunday Riley. I can notice a visible improvement and difference in my skin when I use them. Essentially a moisturiser is used to seal in all the goodness of the other products you’ve layered on your skin.
I know this is quite a long post, but I really wanted to give a fully-rounded skincare regime that will actually work and give real, visible results. If you have any questions, please comment below and I will answer them as best I can.
You might also be interested in this post about skincare acids, how to tell the difference and determine which ones are best for your skin type
Or this post on the difference between dry and dehydrated skin, so you don’t spend money on the wrong products
*Please note this post contains some affiliate links, which means I get paid {a very small} commission on products you purchase through my links. This in no way affects you, the price you pay or the way in which I write about products featured on this site. My content is not influenced by advertisers, affiliate partnerships, brands or PRs.
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