Beauty
Golden Goddness
The wedding day: your most glorious hour! Perfect dress, perfect eyes, perfect smile, perfect man…The flawlessness and radiance many Irish brides long for is often achieved with the help of a little artificial sun. Who can blame a girl for trying to achieve the Hollywood look?!
Following a puddle-filled summer 2007, it’s not surprising that most Irish brides-to-be go the fake tanning route. After all it’s safer, healthier and avoids the need to trawl the beach for the perfect sunny spot; when ever it decides to come out that is!
The best advice, as Beauty Editor Ailish Morkan has highlighted, is to present for fake tanning applications weeks in advance of your wedding. Many Irish brides-to-be, even if avid tanning fans, must take this very seriously in the build up to the wedding day. Tanning disasters are best avoided. Bride wanted: oompa-loompas need not apply!
So how best to avoid disaster and be a golden goddess on your wedding day? Here is some advice to help you achieve the ultimate tanning look…
You must prepare your skin for tanning applications irrespective of method of tanning. The best place to start is to exfoliate your skin thoroughly in order to remove dead cells from your skin’s surface. Visit your local beauty salon or therapist for the market’s leading products to match your skin type. If you are prone to dry skin, then find a good moisturiser that will work best for you. Regularly moisturising of your skin is a must and in the days leading up to your wedding and this should particularly be done daily for brides-to-be with dry skin. Even with the best tanning product, dry skin will result in streaky, uneven tan; in other words your worst nightmare!
Spray tanning products are revered today and this involves testing
the tan and agreeing on the depth of colour with your therapist well in advance of the wedding day. It is important to place as much emphasis on your tan tone as it is to achieve the right hairstyle – both will be recorded eternally on film…
If members of the bridal party or your wedding guests want to go the tanning route our best advice is to follow the established steps. Firstly, exfoliate skin to remove dead cells, moisturise and leave your skin to rest for 10 minutes. Then, get busy! Gloves are essential as you don’t want to look like you’ve just been digging in the garden. It’s also best to leave the usual trouble spots of ankles, elbows, toes, hands and heels until last as these areas are naturally prone to extra dryness and can absorb extra tan. Apply in even quantities using smooth, sweeping movements over your limbs. When the tanning product has been applied, you’ll need to allow an hour for the tan to dry out as perfectly before you get dressed.
Many bridal boutiques also recommend having tanning application completed before trying on your chosen wedding gown as it gives the full effect of the look as it will be on the day. Often it seems the case that a fabric colour and detail does not sit as well as your tanning tones as when you are au-naturel, so this is something to consider. All things considered it’s possible to be a golden goddess; leave it in the hands of the professionals.
