Curating a bridal beauty regime is no mean feat. Should you get a spray tan? How many facials do you need before your big day? What the hell do you do if you get a spot the night before your nuptials?
In all the mayhem, brides all too often skip a vital step in their pre-wedding beauty regime: their lips.
“I see so many brides-to-be in my clinic who come to me for a great skincare regime to get healthy glowing skin but it’s so easy to forget about the lips!”, says skincare expert, Dr Emma Wedgeworth.
“In fact, I advise that brides need to start prepping skin and lips at least 3 months (12 weeks) before you get hitched – and if your lips aren’t in good condition, you can’t achieve perfect makeup.”
Who knew?
Well, aren’t you glad you’re reading this because Dr Wedgeworth has shared 5 simple steps to pout perfection.
1. Start early
If you want you to choose the perfect lip colour during your makeup trials, you need to start conditioning your lips well in advance. Skin turns over every 6 weeks and we aim to use a product for at least 2 skin cycles to get a good idea of how it can improve things. If you start early, you’ll be able to get an idea of whether you need a gloss or shine finish or whether a matte product would suit your look. But regardless of what you choose, having well hydrated lips is the best base you can start with.
2. Pick a product specific to your needs
We all have slightly different skin, so we need to make sure we are tailoring the products we use to our individual skin type. If you are very sensitive with extremely dry, chapped lips, try the MedPlus or relief cream. Ingredients like lanolin are excellent for intense hydration and can be really useful to keep things hydrated overnight. Shea butter and allantoin are also brilliant to soothe chapped, dry lips. Otherwise go for a daily conditioning product. Lip Brilliance is a great all-rounder – it has hyaluronic acid spheres which instantly pump the lips so is great for regular top-ups, even on the big day itself.
3. Don’t forget the sun protection
Sun can be incredibly damaging to the skin on your lips. Lip skin has lower concentrations of pigment producing cells, known as melanocytes, which are an important part of the body’s defence against sunlight. This means that the lips are even more vulnerable to the dangerous effects of UV radiation from the sun and to make matters worse, people often forget about applying sunscreen on the lips. To protect this delicate area, use a product with a high SPF regularly when in direct sunlight. You need to apply plenty of product to achieve the desired protection and you should reapply at least every 2-3 hours.
4. Beware of active skincare
Active skincare, like retinols, AHAs or BHAs can really dry your lips out, even if you aren’t applying it directly to or near the lips. In the run-up to your big day, you may be using active skincare to achieve a perfect wedding glow but often these products can spread away from the area you apply them and can have a drying effect on the lips. The lips are especially vulnerable to drying out because they contain less lipid producing sebaceous glands. So, before you apply any active facial skincare, protect your lips with a thick layer of hydrating product.
5. Get sipping
Drink 2 litres of water per day to stop your lips from dehydrating. If your body is low on water, it starts to divert hydration away from the skin. Areas like the lips are often the first to show signs of this. So to avoid, dry cracked lips, make sure you are drinking plenty, particularly in hot weather. You need to drink around 2 litres of water a day, as a general guideline. Drinking much more than that is not usually necessary (unless you’re very thirsty, it’s extremely hot or you have been doing strenuous exercise) and after a certain point, the hydration in your skin reaches a plateau and excess water is filtered out by your kidneys.
For a full breakdown of everything you need to know about bridal beauty, read our A-Z of bridal beauty.
