Top 10 Bridal Beauty Tips For A Natural Glow On Your Wedding Day

Sophie has worked with brides for over 15 years and as with every beauty look, it all starts with skincare. With that skincare, comes prep, as much prep as you can make available to yourself.  As with many of these products and procedures, it’s best if you allow as much time as you can to utilise them and have the necessary consultations in order to reap all the possible benefits.  Slow and steady wins the skincare race!

Get in touch with Sophie if you’d like to discuss your wedding skincare and or makeup details: info@sophietilley.uk

Find her at: www.sophietilley.uk and on Instagram @sophietilley.uk.

Probably the most important step in bridal skincare is your morning cleanse. If your skin and pores aren’t clean, there’s no point using the fancy skincare and treatments as they won’t penetrate.  In the morning, keep it quick and simple, a face wash and a bit of massaging in, either with your hands or a nifty tool.

For a quick and effective morning cleanse, a gentle face wash like this from Fresh will cleanse your skin without stripping, leaving you with a refreshed complexion.

I always use my Luna 3 with any face wash as it makes it so much more effective.  This vibrating facial device will work quickly to exfoliate your skin and dislodge any dirt from the pores whilst also stimulating circulation.

Another important step in getting the bridal glow is to make sure you cleanse in the evening - ideally double-cleanse. Being out and about all day, wearing makeup, SPF and your skin taking on free radicals like pollution, let’s get rid of all that before cleaning your actual skin underneath.  Do this as early as you can when you get in, so you’re not sitting around with dirty skin!

A super quick way to remove your makeup is to use a Face Halo. You just add water to this magic mitt and even eye makeup will vanish in moments.  Fully sustainable too as you can wash in the machine and re-use up to 200 times, farewell cotton pads!

A cleansing balm will melt away any impurities in the skin with ease.  In the evening and when you have a bit more time, utilise the power of facial massage too, you will feel (and see) the benefits! Romilly Wilde's Serum Cleanser is great.

The products you apply in the daytime is very different to what you apply in the evening. Daytime is all about radiance and protection. Vitamin C is a key ingredient to add to your bridal skincare regime. You’ll see a significant difference when you use it.  Then SPF, don’t always think of it as ‘suncream’, rather think of it as protection from rays; those being UVA (rays from the sun that penetrate deeper layers of our skin causing photoageing/wrinkles), UVB (they target the superficial layers causing sunburn & cancer) and even Blue Light (from our electronic devices like mobile phones and laptops) all of which massively contribute to skin ageing. 

One of the most effective Vitamin C Serum I’ve tried is by Novexpert, the content of this Vitamin C is at 25% which is pretty high, as an ingredient it will boost radiance to your skin, help to even pigmentation and generally brighten your complexion, almost instantly!

Sarah Chapman who is an incredible facialist knows how to formulate products that feed the skin whilst imparting a healthy glow. Which is why her Skin Insurance SPF50 is amazing. It is a light tint alongside full protection.

Another SPF50 that melts into the skin becoming undetectable is by Heliocare. Their Oil Free SPF50 has no stickiness or ‘whitecast’ in this full spectrum protection. At the moment they have 10% off sitewide with ‘HELIO68’. SPF is honestly one of the best anti-ageing products you can treat your skin to.  Apply after all your other skincare (before makeup) and think of it as a little shield to all the environments nasty rays, an absolute must-have in my book.  

Apply Revive Radiance Facial Oil to skin that needs a little pick-me-up to assist with dehydrated skin but that also imparts a healthy radiance. Hydration and a glow, what’s not to like?!  

I’m of course an advocate for topical skincare but I do also feed my skin from the inside-out. So I would really recommend adding in some supplements as part of your wedding beauty regimen. I’ve tried a few and these are my top picks that will suit everybody.

My favourite supplement is Symprove as I really believe in gut health.  It’s integral to your wellbeing, both for your body and it’s functionality as well as your mind and of course, skin!  It’s a 12-week programme where you take a shot in the morning before your breakfast, getting those probiotics working to improve you from the inside out!

Anatome do a fab all rounder multi-vitamin. The Daily Wellbeing + Vitamin Complex that will support your immune system, boost energy levels, optimise your metabolic and brain function as well as protect your bones.

Now and again we all need a little detox. Anatome Detox + Cleanse will support your liver, kidneys and process any toxins you encounter in your daily life.  Saint-Mary milk thistle oil, turmeric, dandelion and beetroot are amongst the cleansing and rebuilding ingredients.

Another all rounder I recommend for all brides-to-be is Together Woman’s Multi Vitamin. Amongst the many ingredients in this, one of favourites is Biotin. Biotin will stimulate the growth of your hair and nails whilst making them more shiny and healthy. This is a great one to start taking in the run up to your wedding day.

I love a skin treatment, whether it’s a relaxing sheet mask or a fancy device to contour and lift our cheekbones, these are my go-to’s.

Some great sheet masks to use in the lead up to your big day as well as the wedding morning are 111 Skin Facial Sheet Masks Face and 111 Skin Facial Sheet Masks Eyes. A leader in sheet masks, 111 Skin cater for all concerns. Rose-gold bridal glow anyone?!

If you are in the market for a non-invasive facial lift solution and want to improve your facial contour for your wedding day, NuFace Facial Contour Device is great for jawline, cheekbones and even brow lifting. The power of microcurrents are utilised in this special tool to lift and firm your facial contours. Think of it as taking your face to the gym, the more you practice, the better the results. You’ll need a ‘conductor’ before using the NuFace so use their 24k Gel Primer, which is gold standard, literally! Enhancing its performance whilst giving you a 24k glow.

I discovered the incredible benefits of LED therapy this year.  Meaning: Light Emitting Diodes, this is a skincare treatment that uses varying wavelengths of light to improve our skin, in many different ways.  Originally developed by NASA to promote the growth of plants on shuttle missions, then on to realise it can heal wounds.  We can now utilise it to soften wrinkles, pigmentation and boost our collogen levels.  Truly space-age technology. LED light therapy is a great treatement to invest in that you and your skin will thank you for on you wedding day.

Probably my favourite product on the list, is the Déesse Pro LED Light Therapy Mask. It is game changing.  The power of LED light can help with pigmentation, breakouts, irritation (even sensitive skin types) as well as promoting collagen.  20 minutes a day is all thats needed and you’ll see instant results as well as over time your skin vastly improving in tone, texture and radiance.  I believe this is the most powerful one on the market so instead of going to a salon every week, why not enjoy this and relax at home with it.

I have a very special discount code for this mask, should you wish to purchase it (they don’t really do discounts but I worked my magic) Using the above link, simply enter ‘TILLEY10’ into the coupon code box to receive 10% off.

Another way to harness the power of LED light in a more ‘express’ way is to use the Foreo UFO 2. This fancy gadget also uses sonic vibrations and cool or warm settings to give you a spa-like facial in just 90 seconds.

So with the daytime being about radiance and protection, night time is all about nurturing and resurfacing.  New skin please!  Using products that harness the power of liquid exfoliating, no harsh scrubbing required, as well as the wonder that is retinol, here are my favourites to bring your new, fresh skin to the surface.

Facialist to the elite, Teresa Tarmey knows how to create dream skin.  Lactic Acid is a gentle, liquid exfoliant that you can apply on alternate evenings to help renew your skin and it’s cell turnover. (you can then follow with retinol or microneedling, but only on alternate nights)

A buzz-ingredient in the beauty world, Retinol (or Vitamin A) is one of the few ingredients that is proven to make a real difference to the skin.  Renewing the skin overnight whilst also boosting firmness and a more even skin tone, this is a must product by Alpha H in your arsenal. (always follow with a SPF50 the following day). I would advise starting to try Reitnol at least a couple of months before your wedding day.

At night we rest, recuperate, hydrate and rejuvenate…and so must our skin.  Here are some offerings to help you achieve one or all of these elements.

This Sarah Chapman Glow Oil (limited edition) is dreamy to use and inhale it’s delicious scent to calm your mind too. This oil will give you a hit of hydration whilst imparting a ‘just had a facial’ glow.  It’s limited edition so best be quick! (Once sold out, go for Sarah’s iconic ‘Overnight Facial’)

For an overnight treatment to feed your skin as it rests, this 111 Skin Meso Infusion leave-on mask is great.  It has a gel consistency so won’t feel sticky and absorbs efficiently into the skin.  You’ll wake up with smoother, firmer, freshly hydrated skin by the morning. This is a great one to use the night before your wedding.

You can now use microneedling tools at home. The GloPro Microneedle is a device which ‘punctures’ the skin to create micro-fine channels that your topical skincare and treatments can travel and penetrate more efficiently.  A light hand is key and only a couple of times a week after cleansing.

Bright eyed and bushy lashes are on order here. Read on to see the tools and treats I rate to achieve smooth skin around the eyes, perfectly groomed brows and lashes that you’ll flutter down the aisle with on your wedding day.

The only tool I’ve ever used to pluck my eyebrows is Tweezerman Slanted Tweezers .  Honestly, when you try these, you’ll wonder how you ever dared to use anything else.  I like the slanted ones for enhanced precision to create a gentle lift to the brow arch, even the teeniest of hairs can be eliminated.

Try using Revitalash, but remember that patience is key with this product.  At first I wasn’t convinced but I persevered, every night applying it, then about three months later, I started to see a real difference.  So much so that I stopped using it as it was so effective.  Now I dip in and out as an occasional booster. So I would definitely recommend starting to use Revitalash as early as possible in your bridal skincare routine.

Susanne Kaufmann Eye Cream is deliciously rich. I use it in the evening but one you can totally use in the daytime too is. Bonus tip; you can apply this as a luxe eye mask treatment too (refrigerate for a cooling, de-puffing fix)

Perhaps those overlooked elements that you should be utilising as much as possible in this important run up to your wedding.

I slather Fresh Lip Balm every night before bed.  I even apply slightly over my lip-line so that I wake up with a juicy, plumped-up pout.

Any time, day or night, alone or over makeup and even in-between your skin care steps, a facial hydrating mist is a treat you didn’t know you needed.  Keep one in your bathroom, by your bed, next to the remote and in the car.  This QMS Facial Spritz is especially hydrating which I’m a little addicted to.  A great refresh for summer months too, or when you’re feeling a little flustered over the seating plans!

If you’re looking for a dermatologist, I would highly recommend Dr Selena Langdon who is an Aesthetic Physician. She is a calming presence and someone you’d trust your skin implicitly with. It is great if you have any concerns, or indeed if you’re looking into botox or the like. I had a zoom call with Dr Selena recently and I wish I had recorded it!  She was absolutely fascinating and had the perfect answers for all my geeky skin questions.