Everything you need to know to look your absolute best.  Written by Kritika Cerreta, bridal beauty expert & entrepreneur living in Shanghai, China.  Kritika Cerreta is a wedding guru obsessed with solving the day's biggest problems. Here are her solutions.  

10 months before the wedding

Craft an easy-going wedding schedule

Congrats on the new ring on your finger, and the new ten mile to-do list. At 10 months, stress becomes visible in your eyes, in your skin, and your messy hair. This is the time more than ever to prioritize, with sleep and relaxation at the top of your list. You’ll be tempted to cram in wedding planning sessions during your every free moment, but if you don’t take time to breathe, it’ll show.   

Promise to stick to your bridal prep plan together

The buddy system works, and a little perk of marriage is that you get a buddy for life. Put your pal to work by making them hold you accountable to taking your makeup off every night, grabbing water instead of juice, taking the stairs… it’s the little things that add up, and you’ll return the favor by supporting their wedding prep efforts as well.  

Adopt a wedding diet that adds and subtracts

Diets all too often focus on what to cut and avoid, and an extreme change could actually be harmful to your health. Make sure to adopt a wedding diet that supplies you with a healthy dose of leafy greens and antioxidant rich superfoods daily. While it is important to cut back on sugar and refined carbohydrates, focusing on what to eat over what to avoid will give you a little extra willpower to help you forge through the next 10 months.  

8 months before the wedding

Tackle the bathroom cabinet

You’re probably considering moving out so you’ll have to clean the thing anyway… you might as well start now! Throw out expired skincare products (you’re probably holding on to more than you realize) and commit to starting a refreshed wedding skin care routine. However, make sure to replenish your bag slowly, and carefully. Ask for samples at beauty stores, purchase travel size versions of the products you’re considering, and try each item one at a time before any full size purchases.   

Work up a sweat and get the party involved

When every conversation takes a hard turn to wedding planning, it’s important to get your bridal party together in a way that’s both productive and fun. You’ll also be far more motivated to stick to your workout plan when #teambride and #teamgroom are holding you to it. Get the group together for a Zumba class or video chat a DIY HIIT class together. We promise that this is all way more fun than it sounds.  

Brow down

Even Katy Perry will attest that it’s the brows that set the face. Whether you’ve mastered your pluck and fill technique or are considering a first time wax appointment, secure and settle into a brow plan now. Take a visit to the waxing or threading technician you plan to use before your wedding, or stock up on the products you’ll be using on your big day and take a night to refresh and write down the drill.  

6 months before the wedding

Craft your wedding specific exfoliation and moisturization plan

The key to a dewy, natural glow that lasts is a sustainable, gentle exfoliation and moisturization routine. Transforming your skin takes time, and a promise of anything quicker will often create damage underneath the appearance of results. This goes for both you and your spouse-to-be. Adding a LUNA 2™ to the routine goes beyond exfoliation to nudge out impurities that lie under the skin, and when you’re ready to moisturize, the device will help the products sink in deeper. Here’s a sample routine catered specifically to handle stress related fluctuations and the pre-wedding tears that are bound to happen, and wreak havoc on your skin:

• Remove your makeup. Adopt a makeup remover that breaks down the makeup for you. The more you tug at your skin, dark circles and fine lines are bound to take shape. Take care of as much as you can with gentle strokes and don’t worry too much beyond that - your LUNA 2 will take care of the rest.
• Moisten your face and spread a gentle cleanser. Make sure to avoid beads, oatmeal, any texture in your facial cleanser when using a facial device. For best results, use a foam cleanser or the Day Cleanser™  crafted specifically to support your devices efforts.
• Moisten your device, activate its Cleansing Mode, and cleanse. Glide the cleansing surface over your face in a circular motion for 1 minute. Keep a gentle touch as to allow the T-sonic pulsations™  to shimmy the dirt and grime from below the skin.
• Rinse and make sure to pat dry, pressing your face into a soft towel.
• Spread a facial oil or moisturizer. When applying either, use a soft, patting motion to apply the serum over your skin. This is a crucial step for all skin types - your body becomes encouraged to produce sebum in excess when it detects dry skin.
• Flip the device over and turn on the Anti-Aging Mode. Press the Anti-Aging side onto wrinkle prone areas for a total of 1 minute. For optimal after-cry rehab, bring on an IRIS™  to settle down any puffiness and redness.

Consult with wedding day hair & makeup professionals

This is the time to start your research on bridal hair and makeup professionals. Meet with them in person and ask that they provide references. Beyond chatting with their past wedding clients, take a look at their clients wedding photos to see how the looks photographed through the day and to detect any patterns in their work to consider how they may look on you. Make sure to also get an idea of how many people within the bridal party the stylist handled to gauge their attention to detail under stress. Don’t forget to sign a commitment and make the deposit, even if you won’t be having the trial for some time. Trust us, it’s happened, and they’re the last people you want going MIA.  

4 months before the wedding

Add silk sheets to the bridal shower list

This probably sounds like the weirdest item for a bridal beauty checklist, but trust us on this. Your pillowcase has a bigger impact on your appearance than you realize. Cotton materials tug at our skin while we sleep, leaving creases and lines that stick on our skin through the day. Even if you flip your noggin over while you snooze, the rough cotton fibers are bound to ruffle up your hair follicles, leaving you with a matted or frizzy at best look in the morning. The solution is simply a set of silk pillowcases that you can switch through often. The silk will smooth out your hair and skin and will even help with the absorption of your nighttime skincare products.  

Date night, every night

You’re in the heat of wedding planning and we know where your stress is aimed: at your fiance and your face. Fall back in love again, with them and your skin, by prioritizing relaxing, at-home spa date nights. We have the perfect equation: LUNA 2™ + wine + candles. We’re not suggesting you go Queen Mary and bathe in the wine, but a glass of red and a DIY spa facial every night? A treat for the mind and body.  

Break in the wedding shoes

If you have high hopes for wearing your new wedding heels through the night, it’s best to work at it now. The last thing you want is to be walking down the beach at your honeymoon with bandaids and blisters galore.  

2 months before the wedding

Experiment with bridal makeup looks, professionally

If you’re going to try out a new color, set of eyelash extensions, or beauty technician, this is the time to do it, and try it against white clothes. If you like what you see and the look transitions well through different lighting, book another appointment for two weeks before your wedding date.  

Experiment with bridal makeup looks, personally

If you’re not using a wedding day makeup artist or hair stylist, trial your bridal beauty products and put your skills to the ultimate test. Book a day to night outing with the girls and wake up extra early to practice your routine. Remember that you’re bound to be under a blanket of stress and emotions on top of the normal pressures of a schedule, so consider also having a bridesmaid test out and handle your look for the day. Take pictures and print out notes of every action performed to ensure not a beat is missed on the big day.  

2 weeks before the wedding

Touch up

Now’s the time for the second brow appointment, hair trim or color touch up. Make sure to stick to your routine and stay away from drastic changes. Keep the technicians you’re comfortable with and record any changes to update with your wedding hair and makeup artists. Remind your spouse-to-be to get their hair touched up now as well!  

Whiten up

An upkick of coffee and alcohol that’s bound to happen during the crunch before the wedding will dust a new shade of color onto your grin. Adopt a wedding teeth whitening plan now so that, even if you do have sensitive teeth, you can abort the process soon after your wedding. If you’re looking for a more sustainable whitening plan, switch to the ISSA™ Hybrid brush head for a deeper clean to deal with heavier buildup.  

The final wedding hair and makeup trial

Make sure to schedule your final bridal hair and makeup trials for after your spray tan. Remind your makeup artist that you’ve been bronzed so that she can bring along shades lighter and darker than your natural to ensure a proper fit the day of. Since your hair should be the same length as it is right now for your big day, you can ensure that it’ll look just as good on the date.  

1 week before the wedding

Scrub and wax 

A fully body scrub doubles as a massage and exfoliation treatment. Make sure to moisturize often and leave a week for your skin to settle. There’s a chance for your body wax or scrub to leave a tint of redness to the skin which your white dress will only work to bring out.   

Pack for the honeymoon

After the wedding madness, your skin is going to beg you for some time off. Don’t forget to pack a strong moisturizer for the plane ride and your LUNA 2™ to cut through the wedding weekend’s grime. If you’re thinking of a beachy getaway, stick to nothing but a heavy dose of sunscreen and a touch of waterproof mascara for a dewy yet sultry vibe through the week. If you’re busting through the city, a killer shade of lipstick is all you’ll need to match the energy. Take the time to enjoy one another and remember that, when it comes to your beauty routine for the week, simplicity is key.  

1 day before the wedding

Massage and Pre-Wedding Hair Treatment

And now you can relax… We’ll say it again. Relax. Splurge on a pre-wedding massage to ease the tension. Your hair’s going to be hitting some serious heat, wind and ruffling over the course of the weekend - a conditioning treatment will do wonders to minimize the damage, and that head massage will be sure to drown out any noise. The moment of silence will be sure to carry you through the week.  

Cut salt, add water

Relaxing from the pre wedding diet doesn’t mean you should jump for the french fries. If there’s any diet cut to stick to this weekend, it’s cutting salt. Patches of puffiness can easily be avoided with a heavier intake of water and a cut down on the chips. You’ll be sure to have your fill of alcohol this weekend as well, so make sure to stay hydrated. Keep your MOH on water duty to look refreshed the entire day.   

Don’t forget to eat

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably thinking that it’d be impossible to forget to eat, but it really does happen through the sheer craziness of the day. You really don’t have to take it upon yourself to illustrate the nasty part of your vows by being super hangry the entire day. Vow to really make this the happiest day of your life: tell Aunt Chatty you’ll save her a dance on the floor and grab another slice of cake.   Worried you'll forget all these tips? Here's a checklist for your Pinterest board!