I’m a Beauty Editor, and This Is Exactly How I Prepped for My Wedding

In the right hands, though, neuromodulator injections can work wonders (and on average, cost about $300 to $600 per area depending, yet again, on who your injector is and where you live). I’ve previously been treated along my brows and forehead to help visually open up my lids, which are naturally hooded. Still, my face is shaped as such that when I smile, my cheekbones lift and my eyes crinkle in a way that they disappear almost completely. Since I would (hopefully!) be doing a lot of smiling in my wedding photos, Dr. Alexiades used botulinum toxin in an area I’d never had it before: the bunny lines across the nose. “By releasing these muscles with botulinum toxin injections, I was able to reveal your beautiful big eyes, smooth your facial skin while smiling, and ensure a lovely elevated brow,” she says. (This is probably a good time to mention that you should always see a board-certified dermatologist for any treatments that go into or past the skin barrier, Botox and its peers included.)

At home, I diligently applied the same types of skin-care products I’d been using for years. My job is to test the latest and greatest, yes, but in the weeks before my wedding, I revisited my old-reliables: It was not the time to try a new peel or see whether or not a cayenne pepper-infused gloss really can plump your lips.

My morning routine looked a little something like this: I cleansed my face in the shower using a face wash with gentle exfoliants, like iS Clinical Cleansing Complex. After the shower, I applied La Mer The Treatment Lotion, a hydrating essence. Then, I used Macrene Actives High Performance Face Serum — with dark spot-reducing vitamin C, arginine, and amino acids — to amplify the effects of the Genesis laser. Finally — and most importantly — I’d apply sunscreen. EltaMD UV Clear SPF 46 is moisturizing and never leaves a white cast.

Macrene Actives High Performance Face Serum

At night, I used a cotton pad soaked in Bioderma Sensibio H2O micellar water to take off my sunscreen and makeup. Every other night, I used a liquid exfoliator like Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 or Eighth Day The Resurfacing Tonic. Then, I applied the same Macrene Actives High Performance Face Serum I used in the morning followed by Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Contour Cream Supreme (which targets dark circles) and SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 moisturizer (with skin barrier-strengthening ceramides).

Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Contour Cream Supreme

Everything was going great. I had achieved skin nirvana! But then, just a couple weeks before the wedding, it happened: I got a pimple. (I suspect this was due to a combination of hormones and stress over things like napkins and seating charts.) Dr. Alexiades squeezed me in for cortisone injection, which helps calm inflammation. She also told me that if I was worried about breakouts, I could start a low-dose antibiotic — 40mg of doxycycline daily — as a layer of protection for these last two weeks before the big day. (I opted out since when I break out, it’s usually a singular, cystic eruption.)