Winter wedding beauty guide

Walk down the aisle fresh-faced and glowing with these wonderful winter wedding beauty saviours.

Harsh weather, short daylight hours and rapidly changing temperatures as you venture from inside to out can all play havoc on your skin. In the winter, many people notice that their skin is dryer and their complexion duller. If you’re set to marry in the colder months, take note. Prep, prime and perfect your skincare routine ahead of your winter wedding. Before your big day, fill your bridal beauty bag with tried and tested hero products. Not sure where to start? Follow our winter wedding beauty guide. Ready, set, glow…

Ace your base

The first thing to note is, that hydrated skin equals glowing skin. Prepare your skin with a really good moisturiser to create the perfect canvas for your makeup. In the months leading up to the wedding, get into the routine of applying a moisturiser after cleansing your skin day and night. Antioxidant is moisture-packed, with vitamin C for a daily boost of luminosity. Use this moisturiser in the lead-up to the wedding to reduce any signs of fatigue. On the big day, before you apply your makeup, moisturise with Bobbi Brown’s Vitamin Enriched Face Base. A blend of Vitamins B, C and E, this cream not only moisturises the skin but also acts as a primer, smoothing the skin for flawless makeup application.

Scrub-a-dub-dub

Exfoliating your skin is a key step of any skincare regime, but even more important in the winter months. Gently scrub away dry, dull skin cells to help promote bright, healthy and rejuvenated skin. For a facial scrub try L’Occitane Powder to-Mousse Facial Exfoliator to deeply cleanse and clear your skin of toxins. For your body check out Noble Isle’s Willow Song Body Scrub, which will leave your skin velvety soft and radiant.

Deal with dark circles

Waking up before the break of day is hard going at the best of times, but even harder if you have a sleepless night thinking about all of the things still left to tick off on your wedding to-do list. Naturally, the best remedy for dark circles is getting a good night’s sleep. Try a calming pillow spray, like one from Ground Wellbeing to help you drift into a restful slumber. But on the days when you need a little extra help banish dark circles by using a coveted eye cream. Germaine De Capiccini’s Timexpert SRNS Illuminating Detox Eye Formula is an award-winning eye cream that treats dark circles and targets puffiness.

Pucker up!

You are sure to want plump, kissable lips on your wedding day, and while lipstick or gloss will be your go-to on the big day, we suggest you take good care of your lips in the weeks prior. Dry, cracked lips are only emphasised with lipsticks, particularly matte ones. Constantly jumping between warm central heating and cold winds can dry out the delicate skin on your lips. To keep them looking and feeling soft and supple seek out a lip balm you can wear daily. We recommend Nivea Original Care Lip Balm. Made with Jojoba oil and Shea butter, the lip balm stick provides long-lasting moisture for your lips. For chapped lips, exfoliate with a lip scrub once or twice a week. Milani Rose Sugar Lip Scrub polishes dry lips and is infused with Rosehip, coconut and Argan oil for added hydration.

Prep and prime

Before you start applying makeup products, prepare the skin with a primer. Erborian Mattifying Face Cream Blur Effect will help you achieve a matte finish and even out your complexion. Helping to hold in moisture while blurring the appearance of imperfections and pores, this primer gives a natural-looking, flawless finish. Use the primer under your makeup to help it last longer and eliminate excessive shine.

Correct and conceal

Your skin can lose its natural oils during the winter, due to the cold and drying conditions, which can lead to blotchy skin, red patches and pigmentation. Add Embryolisse Complexion Correcting Cream to your bridal beauty bag. This savour product is formulated with self-adjusting pigments, changing to suit your skin tone and even out your complexion. Super light-weight and long-lasting, a CC cream helps achieve a natural beauty look as a stand-alone product or as a layer underneath your foundation. For more stubborn areas and to target imperfections look to Bobbi Brown’s Skin Full Cover Concealer. The featherweight concealer uses technology that avoids the product creasing while providing full coverage, allowing you to smile throughout the day without the worry of your makeup cracking.

Brow Wow

Ensure your brows stay put all day with Benefit’s 24-Hour Brow Setter Clear Brow Gel. The clear gel shapes and tames your brows and holds them in place come wind, rain or shine! Pair the product with Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil for natural-looking, defined brows.

Colour me pretty

Add a flush of colour to your cheeks and lips, for your winter wedding, with a rich rouge. Bobbi Brown’s Pot Rouge for Lips & Cheeks comes in four hues, one being the sensual shade ‘Chocolate Cherry’. Blend on the apples of your cheeks or stain onto your lips. Give your skin a sun-kissed glow – essential for the winter months – with Benefit Hoola Matte Bronzer. Sweep it across your cheekbones and forehead to avoid a washed-out pallor.

Fluttery lashes

An essential for brides year-round is waterproof mascara. From teary eyes at the altar to a potential shower during your couples portraits, avoid your mascara running with a product like Benefit’s BADgal BANG! Waterproof Mascara. Achieve voluminous, intensely black, full lashes for a big impact. Your significant other won’t be able to look away!

Staying power

Once you’ve finished your makeup, hold everything in place with either a translucent setting powder, like ByTerry Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder or a setting spray, like Mac’s Fix+ Stay Over. This will help keep all of your products in place from the moment you leave to walk down the aisle right up until the end of the night after busting some moves on the dance floor.

Give them a hand

On your wedding day, your hands will be in the limelight more than they ever have been before. With guests trying to catch a glimpse of your new wedding band and your photographer capturing the giving and receiving of rings on camera, you will want your hands to look their best. Like the rest of your skin, treat your hands to being buffed with a dry body brush and moisturise them with a rich hand cream like L’Occitane’s Shea Intensive Hand Balm. Head to your nail technician a few days before the wedding for perfectly polished nails, finished with a lick of colour.

Leading up to the wedding day, keep up with your new-found skincare routine. Use the same products regularly – the week before the wedding is not the time to test out a new cream! And, if you’re creating your own bridal makeup on the wedding day, practise the look a few times before the big day arrives so that you can perfect it. Pack up your beauty bag with your winter savours and you’ll be ready to shine!

Get more gorgeous wedding beauty tips and advice here.