- Exfoliation – I make sure my skin is well-exfoliated for a good week beforehand, whatever that means for my skin. (Mr. Boyfriend and I are both using Simple Smoothing Facial Scrub. I like it! Exfoliates w/o drying me out!)
- Breathing Room – I wear makeup as little as possible for a few days before the event to give my skin a chance to breathe and lessen the possibility of last minute breakouts.
- Cleanse, Cleanse, Cleanse – Sometimes we’re lazy. I know that. We ALL are. But if you’re in “event prep mode”, be diligent about your regular skin care routine and for goodness’ sake WASH OFF YOUR MAKEUP.
- Soothe – I use as many skin-soothing things as I can get my paws on before an event. Redness and breakouts are much harder to cover and make look good with makeup than clear skin, so I use gentle moisturizers, 100% pure aloe vera, and the occasional honey mask. (Product-wise I’ve been really liking Yes To Cucumbers cleanser.)
- Spot Healing – If you have any open acne sores (…you pickers know who you are!), try neosporin or a similar product to help them heal faster and be less inflamed.
- Clarify – Clarifying shampoos aren’t that great for colored hair but are still good to use every once and a while to really deep clean and get rid of any build-up from products & the environment. I always clarify my hair before an event to “detox” a bit. (I use Suave Daily Clarifying for this because it’s cheap and works fine for this purpose.)
- Condition – This one is pretty obvious. I use deep conditioning treatments (especially on my ends if it’s been a while since my last trim!). (I really like Alterna’s Overnight Hair Rescue and Shu Uemura’s hair oil lately).
- Don’t get a facial the day before your event. Often, the intense treatments of facials, and things like extractions etc. will make my face a little blotchy and red. Plan a facial for a few days ahead of time just in case. Same goes for any facial waxing you’re going to get. God forbid you get a burn or some other unfortunate incident.
- Don’t blow dry and flat iron the shit out of your hair for a few days (I try for a week but it doesn’t always happen) before your event. Give your hair a break. You know heat isn’t good for it. ;)
- Don’t panic-treat any issues that come up. If you break out before an event, resist the urge to throw everything in your acne-fighting arsenal on it and fry your face, and don’t pick at it! It’s easier to cover up a little red spot than it is to cover up an inflamed, pissed off dried out scab where your little pimple used to be!
- Don’t try a brand new product the day of or a few days before an event. If you have an allergic reaction, find out it oxidizes like crazy/melts off your face/looks orange/is otherwise terrible the DAY OF an event, you’re kinda screwed! Save the testing for down time, not your big day (or night).