Imagine that it is the day before your big day.
You want to look your best so you decide to get a facial and enjoy some pampering.
You go to bed feeling relaxed and you are looking forward to your big day.
You wake up the next morning and your skin is red and blotchy.
You had some sort of reaction to the facial treatment and you are not sure what to do.
You can help prevent this by planning ahead.
Anything that changes the way that you look or any type of facial or massage should have trials beforehand.
This will prevent red, blotchy skin, allergic reactions, dehydration, a bad haircut or color and more.
Use the following timeline to help look your best for your wedding, prom, class reunion, etc.
Six to eight months before the event: * Strive for a healthier lifestyle.
This means to maintain a healthy diet and exercise on a regular basis.
This does not mean go on a "fad diet" and work out three hours a day.
You also would not want to drop a lot of weight the week before your big day.
Such a huge drop in weight will make you feel irritable and tired, not to mention that your dress or outfit will no longer fit.
You will need to find someone who will do alterations at the last-minute and this can be costly and add more stress.
You want to eat the apple instead of a bag of chips and walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
Your goal should be to change things slightly in order to better yourself.
These changes will not only give you that healthy glow that everybody wants but it will make you feel more confident.
* Take care of your hair Taking care of your hair is especially important if you have dry or chemically treated hair that you want to keep smooth and healthy.
In order to keep it healthy, you want to try to stay away from swimming in salt and chlorinated water and extended exposure to the sun.
All of these could result in split ends, discoloration, dry and frizzy hair.
You may also want to consider using a deep conditioning weekly in order to assist in reconstructing the damaged hair.
* Get a good night's sleep Getting a good night's sleep may sound cliche, but it is extremely important.
You want to get an average of seven to eight hours of sleep a night.
If you are able to do this, your overall health will improve.
Three months before the event: * Begin your facial regime, if needed About three months before your event is when you want to begin receiving facials.
You want to receive one every four to six weeks and your last one should be about a week before your big day.
By sticking to this schedule, you will ensure that you know how your skin will react to the treatment.
* Whiten your teeth, if needed Just as the facials, you want to make sure that you test any whitening technique that you will like about three months before the event.
You should speak with your dentist to find out about his/her opinions and recommendations.
If you try to whiten your teeth without their recommendations, you may end up over-whitening or you may make your teeth oversensitive.
* Take care of your finger and toe nails, if needed If you are worried about having weak nails, you may want to think about taking supplements to strengthen them.
You may also want to begin getting regular manicures (about every two weeks).
The manicure will not only assist in strengthening your nails, but it will make your skin and cuticles softer.
* Receive massages, if needed Planning any event can be stressful.
If you would like, you may want to begin a massage routine in order to reduce this stress.
These appointments could be made every month or every two weeks.
* Trial hair/make-up appointment This is extremely important for many reasons.
You do not want to ever walk into a salon the day of your wedding and spontaneously get your hair and make-up done.
You want to hair stylist to be able to "play" and make sure the hair style fits you and your face shape, veil and gown.
You want to make sure that you love it, and you do not want to have to redo it the morning of your event.
This also applies to make-up.
You want to make sure that the style reflects you, your wedding and your gown.
You also want to make sure that your skin takes well with the make-up.
You may have to go with something that is less oily or with more moisturizing lotion.
You would not want to find out this information the day of the event.
One month before the event: * Color/Perm your hair, if needed As explained previously, you do not want to leave this to the last-minute.
You want to have a chance to change it if your hair does not take well or you simply do not like it.
You also do not want to look completely different on your wedding day.
You want to be recognizable to your guests and will allow your guests to "get accustomed" to your new look.
* Receive a deep conditioning treatment, if needed As stated before, if you are worried about your hair being to dry or frizzy, you may want to consider receiving a deep conditioning treatment.
* Receive any skin treatments, if needed These skin treatments can include a chemical peel, laser treatments, alpha hydroxide treatments or anything else that will temporarily irritate your skin.
You will want to get this done approximately one month ahead of time in order to allow your skin to recover.
* Get your hair trimmed You will want to get rid of all of your dead ends to ensure that your hair will be at its healthiest.
Two weeks before your event: * Receive your acrylic nails, if needed If you want to have acrylic nails for your event, you should receive them about two weeks prior to your event.
The nail polish and the manicure can come later.
* Receive a facial, if needed A facial can have many beneficial reactions.
They improve the flow of oxygen to your skin which will improve the natural rosiness to your cheeks as well as removing any impurities and any dry or dead skin cells from the surface.
A facial will improve your skins natural moisture and it will leave a smooth skin tone.
Another benefit from a facial is that the massage can remove stress which is extremely helpful so close to your event.
One week before your event: * Receive a pedicure, if needed A pedicure will last a lot longer than a manicure and you want to make sure that it is completely dry before your event.
If needed, you may touch it up the morning of your event.
* Receive any wax treatments, if needed These treatments include, but are not limited to, eyebrows, lips, under arms and bikini area.
Any wax treatment typically lasts about two weeks before the hair begins to re-grow.
* Receive a spray tan, if needed Receiving the spray tan a week before your event will ensure that your skin will take the treatment without turning orange.
You want to have a beautiful glow on your day, and will want to have time to look at your result and change them if you need to.
* Receive a massage, if needed If you would like, you may want to receive a massage towards the end of the week to relieve you of any unwanted stress.
One day before your event: * Receive a manicure, if needed You do not want to wait until the day of to receive your manicure.
This will take up valuable time and what if it does not dry in time? You would not want to worry about smudges or getting the polish on your clothing.
The day of your event: * Attend all hair and make-up appointments You want to make sure that you being your veil or headpiece for the hair stylist and any make-up that you would like the make-up artist to use.
* Enjoy your day You have worked long and hard for this day, just relax and enjoy!