BD
beautyDispatch

things to do (and not to do) and when to do, before "I do."

The enhancement of skin, hair and body takes time, and needs to fit into a pre-wedding timeline in a thoughtful way. Build your beauty action plan using common sense and these tips for a wedding day that presents you at your most confident, beautiful best.

Galumbeck Beauty, a Virginia Beach, Va beauty business that includes Spa Phoenix of Virginia Beach, VA, board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Matthew Galumbeck and Skin Amnesty skincare, offer guidelines for wedding prep for the whole bridal party.

From Botox for the mother of the bride, to groom's grooming and the Bride's own skincare needs, Galumbeck Beauty's experts have recommendations to help make your wedding day your proudest red carpet moment.

”You wouldn’t get a powerful glycolic acid peel the day before your wedding,” advises Matthew Galumbeck, MD, board certified cosmetic plastic surgeon whose beauty resume includes owner/Medical Director of a medi-day spa and creator of Skin Amnesty® skin care system. Here are other dos and don’ts from Dr. Galumbeck.

3-6 months before the wedding:
• With a licensed esthetician, begin a facial treatment series to improve problem skin.
• Considering breast implants or a breast lift (particularly if you’re playing the strapless gown card)? They look most natural and feel their best 2-3 months after surgery.
• Working with a personal trainer or joining (and using) a gym will help you get into shape - and can have help relieve pre-wedding stress.
• Maybe you prefer simplicity and don't regularly visit a spa or salon. That's great. But for your wedding day, don't shortchange yourself. You need to greet guests feeling comfortable but at your best. Make a few exploratory trips to stylists in your area. See how the basic you can be enhanced, and learn how to work with someone else to get what you want.

1-2 months before the wedding
• Body shaping by laser liposuction can be done as near as one month to the wedding, immediately re-shaping problem areas that aren't’t honeymoon or gown ready. Surprised? With less invasive laser-assisted procedures, healing is quicker.

• With a reparative skin care system like Skin Amnesty® (with anti-inflammatories and anti-oxidants), best results come with 6-8 weeks of use.

• Restylane and Botox? Stress – the kind induced by wedding planning and reception bar tab worries – takes its toll on wedding members’ faces. These injectables immediately give a more relaxed and youthful appearance. Restylane also takes over the job once done by collagen – plumping lips and improving their profile.

• Blepharoplasty will fix the Father of the Bride’s sleepy, drooping eyelids. Since most men aren't’t comfortable hiding the little bit of post-procedure discoloration with makeup, allow 3-4 weeks healing for a no-tell improvement.

1-2 weeks before the wedding:
• Women of the wedding party - meet with your hair stylist and make-up artist now. They’ll create your look and record the “recipe” for day of wedding application. The last minute is no time to experiment with style or hair color, or to fret over the matching of foundation to skin tone.

• Get the groom to a spa/salon. The non-negotiable items on his checklist for ceremony and honeymoon: manicure, pedicure, and hair cut. Elective procedures (you know who you are) include unibrow shaping and back waxing.

2-6 days before the wedding:
• No body waxing or facial waxing unless you allow two days for potential redness and irritation to heal.

• No facial peels this close to the wedding.

Day of the wedding:
• Hair and makeup are done according to the recipes The Bride has created weeks earlier with her stylists and makeup artist’s assistance at the salon.

She looks beautiful, with glowing skin, romantic hair and an improved shape. The red carpet is waiting.

looking for a spa or salon in your area ? a great source for top spa information is ISPA (the association that the world's leading spas belong to); locate a board-certified plastic surgeon through plastisurgery.org; since there are so many salon choices, ask a friend whose look you like where he or she goes!