Fiancé has a nice ring to it! With your wedding day on the horizon, it’s never too early to start checking off those to-dos– especially when it comes to feeling the very best in your skin. Your year will be jam-packed with photo opportunities, engagement parties, bridal showers, bachelorette party, the big day, and all the exciting moments in between, so having a strategized annual game plan allows you to balance your schedule, budget, and lifestyle while you achieve the glowing skin of your dreams.
Where To Begin: Consultation With an Aesthetic Provider
You want to feel absolutely radiating with confidence on your special day and the best place to start your glowing skin journey is with an initial consultation. A consultation is the perfect way to address any concerns you have, your vision, and to create a manageable treatment plan that helps you meet those goals. Ideally, starting your aesthetic journey a year before your wedding may assist you in planning out a more relaxed timeline, giving us ample time to work with you to tackle treatments laid out in your annual plan, make gradual adjustments, and allocate downtime for certain treatments. Whether you’re planning way in advance, eloping, or meeting at the courthouse, we’ve got you covered. Here’s your perfect skincare timeline:
1 Year Out: Injectables (Botox, Dermal Filler, Sculptra)
Start early with injectables.
Injectable treatments such as wrinkle relaxers, dermal fillers, and bio-stimulators can help to smooth lines, add subtle volume, and restore lost collagen in areas of concern. Taking a proactive approach allows for personalized treatment plans that address your specific concerns, helping you feel confident and beautiful for your special day.
Wrinkle relaxers such as Botox, Dysport, and Daxxify, help to smooth dynamic lines while your facial muscles are at rest. It is an injectable treatment used to prevent and treat fine lines and wrinkles on the face by temporarily relaxing facial muscles. Common treatment areas include the forehead, between the brows (the “elevens”), around the eyes, neck, and lower face. The smoothing effects may be enjoyed for about 3 to 4 months. We always tell our clients that beginning early, you allow yourself the opportunity to treat lines before they become deep and present at rest. That’s why having an annual game plan incorporating Botox treatments quarterly, you allow your facial muscles to relax for a more youthful appearance.
Dermal fillers can be a helpful addition to your wedding day preparation, offering immediate and subtle enhancements to your appearance. When strategically injected, filler can help smooth lines, plump up lips, and restore volume to areas like cheeks, jawline, chin, and marionette lines. By booking your dermal filler well in advance to your wedding, we can gradually treat areas of concern and build volume and definition so that you look naturally refreshed. You still look like you but better!
Sculptra works a little bit differently than a dermal filler. It is a biostimulator that stimulates your body’s natural production of collagen to gradually restore the deep, underlying structure of the skin, diminishing facial wrinkles and correcting deficiencies of facial contouring. Over time, Sculptra rebuilds the skin’s structure, creating a subtle, refined correction of wrinkles. While it can take multiple sessions for optimal restoration, we recommend starting a year or more before your big celebration to allow for collagen production to kickstart, typically 4 to 6 weeks post-treatment.
9 Months Out: Morpheus RF Microneedling, IPL Photofacial
Now it’s time to focus on texture and tone.
One thing we always tell our brides-to-be (and all of our clients) is that while injectables serve their purpose, glowing and radiant skin comes from treating the quality and integrity of the skin as a whole. Our studio offers some of the most advanced non-surgical treatment options on the market including Morpheus8 Radiofrequency Microneedling and Lumecca IPL Photofacials. Morpheus is an advanced collagen-boosting and skin tightening treatment combining radiofrequency energy and collagen induction therapy to target skin laxity, jowling, texture, acne scarring, and fine lines, to help rebuild the firmness and structure we lose over time. You may hear us calling it our “spanx for your face” treatment as it helps to lift and tighten what gravity pulls down as we age! Best results are seen after a series of 3 treatments spaced 6 to 8 weeks apart. Allow yourself up to 4 to 6 weeks for new collagen to regenerate!
Lumecca intense-pulse-light (IPL) photofacial targets sun damage that presents itself in the form of dark spots and broken capillaries to brighten your overall complexion for the balanced glow that every bride dreams of! Results from this pigmentation-clearing treatment are best seen after at least a series of 3 treatments spaced 3 to 4 weeks apart. This ensures gradual improvement in skin texture, tone, and clarity.
6 Months Out: SkinPen Microneedling with PRP
We’re halfway there!
For improving skin texture and boosting collagen, SkinPen Microneedling is a regenerative medicine technology that works absolute wonders on your skin. It creates tiny micro-injuries that kickstart the body’s own wound-healing properties. By stimulating collagen production, we’re encouraging healthy skin cell renewal resulting in smoother, firmer skin. Add PRP (platelet-rich-plasma) for added skin healing and cell turnover benefits! We suggest at least 3 to 4 treatments a year spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart for best results.
3 Months Out: Botox, Dermal Filler, Chemical Peel
Perfecting your look.
If you’ve been regularly maintaining your Botox every quarter, now is the time for your final touch-up to ensure everything is smooth and balanced. If you’re considering dermal fillers for facial balancing or fuller lips, now also is the best time to have them done, allowing any swelling or bruising to fully settle.
Trust us when we tell you your makeup will lay on flawlessly after a chemical peel! Chemical peels help slough off dead skin cells, revealing a brighter, smoother complexion in about 2 weeks. Our VI Peel, BioRePeel, and Thistle GLOW Peel are great options to tackle pigmentation, aging skin, blemishes, texture, and fine lines. No matter the season you’re getting married in, we’ll help you choose the best peel for you!
1 Month Out: Botox Touch-Up
Final touches!
Schedule your Botox touch-up a month before the wedding to allow time for adjustments and for the results to settle in. Keep in mind that peak results happen 2 weeks post-treatment, so plan accordingly to ensure you look your best on your big day!
2 Weeks Out: DiamondGlow Microdermabrasion, Customized Facials
Ready, set, glow!
With just two weeks until your big day, it’s time to focus on achieving that radiant, hydrated glow that every bride dreams of. This is the perfect moment to indulge in a customized facial or DiamondGlow Microdermabrasion to give your skin the final boost it needs.
DiamondGlow is a 3-in-1 powerhouse treatment that gently exfoliates, deep-cleans pores, and infuses professional-grade serums tailored to your skin’s needs. This results in plump, smooth, and glowing skin that’s ready for the spotlight!
Looking for something a little more indulgent? Treat yourself to a relaxing, customized facial tailored to your skin’s unique needs for a radiant glow that prioritizes both results and self-care. One of our top picks for event-ready skin is the Beyond Botox Facial, a powerhouse treatment infused with potent peptides, antioxidants, and advanced dermal regeneration science. It boosts micro-circulation, detoxifies, and delivers noticeable firming, lifting, and tightening effects that can last up to five days.
Daily: At-Home Skincare Routine
Consistency is key! A customized at-home skincare regimen helps you build a solid foundation, while in-studio visits serve as an effective boost to address more specific or severe skin concerns, as well as more advanced treatments. Balancing both aspects maximizes your overall skin health and gets you closer to your goals!
Ready to look absolutely radiant and feel your very best on your wedding day? We welcome you to book a consultation with one of our aesthetic providers so that we can help create a personalized aesthetic plan and skincare regimen. We are here to support your bridal journey as you countdown to “I do!”
XO,
The Thistle Medical Aesthetics Team
