Everyone keeps asking me if I’m SO EXCITED about my wedding that’s like tomorrow (OK, it’s really on the 24th, but it feels like tomorrow). That question is always emphasized with LOTS of exclamation marks!!!! (Can you tell I am terrible at being the center of attention??). Wellll….the answer is yes, YES I am ecstatic that I will be marrying this man I love so much. But am I currently excited and happy about the wedding? Eh....I am currently extremely stressed and worried about each and every detail big and small: what have I forgotten, who will be judgy about my super casual rehearsal dinner, who is upset because we are getting married in the time of Covid, my dress is super tight because I had my appendix out and couldn’t do the whole bridal-working-out-all-the-time-thing, will the music hit just right, and will I ugly cry so much I can’t get my vows out? You get the picture. I know this stress will lift by the time of the actual big day, but when you don’t have a wedding planner, the stress can be immense. And stress takes its toll on your emotions, your body, and your skin
Extreme stress, or a bout of acute stress, causes those furrowed brow lines, can cause breakouts, dark under eye circles, and dry skin. Why are stress and skin so closely linked? I did a little research on the skin part, and here’s what I found:
I found an article where dermatologist Dr. Dennis Gross explains that, as humans, we are wired to either fight or flight in threatening situations. Even though the stress we are talking about is not life-threatening, the same primitive fight-or-flight response still occurs when we're faced with a stressful situation, triggering a series of internal reactions. "What happens in your body is that your blood pumps through your vital organs — lungs, heart, brain — to help you make that decision….It's not going to your skin because it's not a vital organ."
So not only do you get a decrease in circulation, but you also get an increase in adrenaline and cortisol that negatively affects both our immune system and our skin by slowing down the production of collagen, antioxidants, and natural moisture.
OK, so how to help all this?
Collagen production: Absolutely use your Alpha Ret or your prescription retinoid. This helps skin cell turn over and collagen production. It will give you a healthy glow that even stress can’t mess up. A Skin Pen treatment is perfect too, as it creates controlled injuries to get your body to heal itself, producing new collagen in the process, resulting in smoother more pliable skin.
Antioxidants: Skin Better’s Alto is perfect for stressed skin. It is an antioxidant with C and E vitamins, but also has 17 other antioxidant ingredients, including turmeric, that help repair environmental damage and reduce redness and inflammation.
Restoring natural moisture: Triple Lipid Repair is the perfect product for this. It restores essential skin lipids you probably didn’t even know you had: ceramides, natural cholesterol, and fatty acids; improves skin fullness and texture; helps the skin self-repair. And it smells heavenly.
And always, always get a Hydrafacial before any big event, particularly a wedding! It cleans out your pores, exfoliates, hydrates, and infuses antioxidants deep into that freshly cleaned skin.
If you can, have some Botox too. It not only smooths your lines but it makes the skin more pliable, meaning it appears more plump and youthful.
With these product and treatment suggestions, you may be stressed, at least you won't look it….at least I HOPE that will be true.
For the BEING stressed….meditate and go to yoga. Drink a lot of water. Hug your daughter and your fiancée. Watch Seinfeld and laugh. And as our officiant said, “The hard part is over,” he said, pointing to my fiancée. “You got him. He’s got you. All we need to do is put some music on, walk down the aisle and say I do.”