On your big day, the last thing you want are puffy eyes or to feel like you’re bloated AF. These five tips will help you prevent just that — and more. Think of this advice — which I pass on to every soon-to-be woman in white (They worked for me!) — as your “something borrowed.”
#1 Cut out salt
Sprinkle it in your bath, use it to buff away dead skin, throw it over your shoulder for good luck — just don’t eat it the week of your wedding. “Sodium makes your cells hold fluids captive, causing you to puff up like a marshmallow,” says a certified health coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. You’ll notice it most under your eyes, since the skin is super-thin there.
#2 Guzzle water
Drink two liters a day if you can. It may sound weird to fight fluid retention by drinking more water, but extra H2O signals to your body that you are hydrated (i.e., “Stop retaining fluids!”). Plus, it flushes out your system, preventing dark circles, puffy eyes, and a bloated belly. To avoid shoulder issues from toting around 2-liter bottles in your bag, carry a 1-liter water bottle, and fill it twice.
#3 Skip spray tans
Slather on your faux glow instead. Spray tans are up there on many brides’ to-do lists, but these formulas are usually more pigmented to help the technician with accuracy during the application. And since exfoliating after a spray tan is a no-no (flush $50 down the drain? No, thanks!), the colorants linger on you skin. They can, and most likely will, rub off on your dress.
That’s why a gradual glow lotion (think: Jergens) is best; apply it once daily for a week (do this three weeks from your wedding to make sure you like the results, and if you like what you see, continue to slather it on). The colorless lotion will build to the same intensity as a spray tan (without making you look orange). It just takes a little longer to reach your #GlowGoals.
#4 Apply an eye mask
A makeup artist, Australian native Napoleon Perdis, promises that laugh lines would look softer in photos if you glob more than the usual pea-size drop of eye cream (enough to actually see the product sitting on your skin) underneath and at the corners of your eyes a week before your wedding. His recommendation: Ella Bache Creme Speciale Yeux, because it contains lanolin, aka sheep oil, which traps moisture and plumps fine lines like a boss. I’d apply the cream 10 minutes before I went to sleep and would lightly tissue off any remaining residue before hitting the sheets. Five years later, I still do this the week before a big event to look laugh-line free.
#5 Use a travel conditioner the night of your big day
OK, so this tip isn’t to help you prep the day of your wedding, but it will come in handy the night of. If your hairstyle requires a heavy shellacking from hairspray, condition your strands in the shower before your wedding night really begins. It’s the only way to break down the sticky bonds from the hairspray (shampoo won’t do it, trust me) — and will prevent your partner’s hands from getting stuck.
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