A Year of Beauty

[Tybee]

Every bride wants to look her best on her wedding day. Aside from working out and losing weight, what other beauty preparation advice would anyone give?
Is this my excuse to get monthly facial? Okay, that might break the bank, facials every other month?
Has anyone done microdermabrasion? (you''re all probably to young to consider it!)
Most of you brides are significanly younger than I am (I''ll be 38 when we get married

)
My wonderful FI will only be 31.
Anyhow, I may be going off the deep end here, but since I have a whole year...I''m going to have to occupy my time.
I''d love to hear how you girls are preparing.
Tybee

 

[ame]

I had such bad luck with facials. IF you can find a routine that works definitely go with it. I use(d) Mary Kay Deep cleanser 3 and the microdermabrasion stuff they put out, butI don''t use the step 2 part, just the scrubby stuff. After that I use Differin and Cleocin to keep the zits away or under control anyway...then a little oil control moisturizer. I found that sticking to that was the best I could do.

If you dye your hair, keep up on it. I didn''t let roots go longer than 4 weeks. Usually I don''t anyway. But I made sure there were not obvious lines from oging to long on root touchups. heh.

I was bad about diet...I was so chubby, I swore Id lose weight...HAH.

 

[Blue824]

Here''s a timeline from weddingchannel.com

http://www.weddingchannel.com/ui/buildArticle.action;jsessionid=a2VIjUF3d51b?frmSection=bride&assetPath=%2Ftemplates%2FFashion%2FBeauty%2FArticles%2FBT.html

 

[Tybee]

Fantastic!
I''ve book marked this! Thanks Blue824.

 

[MelissaSue]

I am on a quest to find a great eye cream. I have terrible dark circles, always have, since I was a little girl. I have the bath and body works stuff, but I don''t see it doing much.. I Just ordered the clinique all about eyes.. but I am DYING to try that new Hylexin. Its $95 for a .78oz tube though!! When I was in NYC it was all over the place.. at every cosmetic counter.. and I had seen it in a magazine ad.

Other than that, I have decent skin, but I have started using some sort of Dove anti-aging cream with SPF. I couldn''t justify buying like the $50 creams, so I decided to get the Dove, for at least something.

I got a facial before my friends wedding, and while it felt really nice.. I don''t really think it helps that much as far as making my skin look better.

 

[MelissaSue]

P.S. - Tybee, you look absolutely FANTASTIC for your age. I had remembered you saying you a little older awhile back, but then when I saw your pictures I thought that I must have been wrong!! My sister is your age, and I think she looks really spectacular, but you look even better!

 

[Blue824]

Date: 7/31/2005 11:06:38 PM
Author: MelissaSue


I got a facial before my friends wedding, and while it felt really nice.. I don''t really think it helps that much as far as making my skin look better.

I think it is regular facials that make a difference. Like going monthly.
I''ve only ever had two. Nice, but there are usually other treatments I''d rather pay for before a facial. Then there is my mom that goes once a month and swears by them.

 

[Mara]

I also don''t like facials, whenever I go honestly it doesn''t seem like my face looks any better, but I am $60 poorer! I think it depends on your skin type, my GF who is a bit more oily than me needs to go regularly or else she breaks out. I have more combo/dry skin that I can care for at home pretty well.

I love massages, we got one before the wedding and I felt more relaxed. I think those should be mandatory monthly for EVERYONE (and free!).

As for the whole year before, I just was on a fitness and health kick and also I think taking care of your skin on your body is important too, aka salt scrubs and lotions etc. My mom has the softest skin ever at age 54 and I love that...hope to be that way too.

We also did the home teeth whitening for the last 3-4 weeks before the wedding, fun stuff!

But in the end it didn''t even really matter whatever I did to get ready, because the mosquitos ate me alive in Hawaii and so my photographer had to take a whole extra 2 days just to remove all the bites off my arms in the pictures!

 

[Tybee]

MelissaSue,
You are so sweet! Thanks for the compliments!
Oh, and I have dark circles too, have had them since I was a child as well. I''ve just started using Kiehl''s Cryste Marine eye treatment. I"m ready to write and add for them. Fantastic.

www.kiehls.com

Mara-
Hilarious! Thank goodness for the magic of photography!

What seems to get me is that I have fine lines, but I''m also breaking out! How can I have wrinkles AND pimples? That''s just not fair. I''ve never seen a dermatologist, think now might be the time. I''m dying to try microdermabrasion, but also a little scared. Eeks, use tiny crystals to scrape away my skin to make me look younger. How very bizzare!

 

[teebee]

Hey Tybee - I''m in the same boat trying to get all my ''stuff'' together before the wedding...

My skin... I haven''t found facials to be all that helpful for me either & can''t justify the expense for something that I can''t even detect a difference. I haven''t tried clinical microdermabrasion, BUT, I recently bought the Loreal at-home microdermabrasion kit and really love it. I can totally tell a difference in the way my skin looks and feels after I''ve done it. I think it uses the same ingredients/chemicals, but at a lower concentration from what you''ll find a dr.''s office. Recently I''ve been plagued with the combination skin that is apparently common during the 30''s - I''ve got oily sking (which I''ve always had) and the accompanying blemishes... but now I get these weird dry patches on my cheeks... it''s so aggravating, but it seems that the Loreal kit smooths a lot of the dirt, dead skin, and dry patches out.

Also doing teeth whitening. I have an at-home kit from FI (dentist) and I know he has some patients that insist on doing in-office whitening, but he says that clinically, the in-office whitening is no more effective than the at-home kits. Same exact chemicals & same exact concentration - but the take home kit is cheaper!!

 

[Tybee]

Teebee,
You will love the at home whitening stuff, as long as it''s the stuff that dentists give you. I haven''t heard any good reviews about crest strips or any of those other drug store brands. I had my teeth whitened years ago, now I just freshen up from time to time. I drink a lot of coffee, so every little bit helps!
Here''s a picture of my white (but crooked teeth) next to my white (but dirty) Penny dog. I wish that she could be my flower girl!

 

[Tybee]

Oops, I snuck in my puppy,
Now to keep things even, I must show you my other puppy, crashed out on the couch at the lake house.
She would be, of course, my other flower girl, if only I could get them both down to St. John!

 

[abradabra]

Tybee,

I love the name of the picture you uploaded of your second dog: "Sleeping Chicken." LOL!

I am doing "at home" microdermabrasion for my wedding in about five weeks. I have super-sensitive skin, so I'm careful about the number of products I use on my face, but I feel like I've noticed a difference (and more importantly, I haven't had a reaction!). My smile lines have all but disappeared and my skin looks a lot younger with a healthier glow to it. It's also the softest I've ever felt it. I've been getting lots of comments at work, so it's not all placebo!

This is what I've been doing: I started using Estee Lauder's Idealist Micro-D Deep Thermal Refinisher (evenings), Idealist Skin Refinisher (am and pm), and Future Perfect Anti-Wrinkle Radiance Lotion (am and pm). I also have this 14-day kit, the Re-Nutriv Intensive Lifting Series from Estee I'm going to use right before the wedding that does the same stuff, but is stronger. For my eyes, I've been using one of Lancome's eye creams, but I'll have to check on the name tonight because they have a lot online that all look the same. Every makeup counter I went to said it was the best product on the market. I haven't seen as much of an impact, but I also work 14-hour days (at least!) and haven't been sleeping well, so I'm not exactly giving it any help. Those types of fine lines take the most work though. I'm hoping when I slow down for the wedding, it will kick in, though.

I'd recommend the system I'm following to anyone else looking to get that healthy glow--but I wouldn't necessarily incur the expense a year out. I'd start with a solid cleanser-exfoliant (especially if you can find a good beta-hydroxy cream)-moisturizer system this far out (and maybe a really good eye cream) and start worrying about Micro-D about two months before. That way your skin will be in the best possible condition to take to the future treatment...

 

[teebee]

Date: 8/1/2005 4:07:12 PM
Author: Tybee
Teebee,
You will love the at home whitening stuff, as long as it''s the stuff that dentists give you. I haven''t heard any good reviews about crest strips or any of those other drug store brands. I had my teeth whitened years ago, now I just freshen up from time to time. I drink a lot of coffee, so every little bit helps!
Here''s a picture of my white (but crooked teeth) next to my white (but dirty) Penny dog. I wish that she could be my flower girl!

Wow - Tybee your teeth are so white I can''t tell they''re crooked at all!! Mine are kinda crooked too... from not wearing my retainer after braces...

I''ve never used the Crest Strips or anything like that - since I get the good stuff from FI (marrying a dentis has its perks!

) for free then I haven''t tried anything else. FI just thinks it''s funny that some of his patients do not want the take-home kits, which are the same exact thing as what he uses in the office, but are less expensive than doing in-office whitening... I guess they don''t believe him when he tells them that doing it at home with the stuff he gives them is just as effective as the in-office whitening... Oh well!!

CUTE PUPPIES!!!

 

[eks6426]

One thing to keep in mind is that your skin reflects your diet. So eat your fruits & veggies & drink lots of water. It really does make a difference. As a bonus, it''ll help the weight-loss plan too.