BLEMISH FREE NUPTIALS

Jackson Hole’s fresh mountain air comes with a trifecta of extremes: dryness, temperature swings, and high-altitude sun exposure. Any one of these elements can have detrimental effects on your skin—especially if you are coming from a coastal locale. Be proactive about protecting your skin with a pre-wedding skincare routine that delivers the perfect day-of glow.

Stress Self-Care
Your skin is a canvas for stress, showing it in the form of fine lines, red spots, acne, and rashes. You can mitigate these problems, first and foremost, by devoting time to pre-wedding self-care. Incorporate sleep and activity into your weekly routine. Sweating while enjoying the plethora of recreational activities in the Tetons improves circulation to the skin and flushes the body of impurities. And getting plenty of rest before your big day is the least expensive way to avoid undereye bags.

Hello, Hydration
Drinking water may be the easiest way to hydrate, but it’s not the be-all, end-all when it comes to quenching your body from the inside out. Incorporate hydrating foods into your diet, too, like watermelon, cucumbers, celery, and tomatoes. At Healthy Being Café & Juicery in Jackson you’ll find multiple water-rich ingredients in its cold-pressed juices—especially in its Skin Glow concoction. Finally, when you’re asleep, add moisture to the mountain air with a humidifier. 

Keep It Simple
Grace Mahoney, licensed esthetician and owner of Grace Spa in Jackson, recommends a simple daily skincare routine. She finds that people are too aggressive with their regimen—stripping natural oils and resulting in “rashy, flaky, and irritated skin,” she says. For the Teton climate, she recommends using a cleansing milk instead of a gel or foaming soap, both morning and night. Then, apply a day or night cream and an eye cream. The skin around your eyes is thin and sensitive, requiring extra moisture to look fresh. And sun exposure ages skin, especially at high altitude, so use a daily moisturizer with sunscreen on your face, neck, and chest. Keep a lip balm with SPF handy to avoid dry, cracked lips. Finally, exfoliate one to three times per week—but don’t overdo it.

Facial Reboot
Most brides visit Grace Spa 6 to 12 months before their wedding for monthly facial treatments. Each of these treatments starts with a skin evaluation in which Mahoney determines variables that affect your individual skin and the goals for your skincare. “We go from there,” she says, “tailoring the facial with products that will help your skin clear up, feel better, and be more moisturized.” Not only do facials gently extract dirt from the pores, these treatments also stimulate blood flow to the skin, resulting a fresh and dewy look.

Tight on Time?
As with most wedding preparations, making time to tackle skin treatment is advantageous. It’s important to know how your skin will react to different products and treatments well before your special day comes around. (You’d hate to wake up the morning of your wedding with an unsightly rash.) However, if you’re tight on time, a Hydraquench body wrap at Stillwaters Spa at Teton Springs in Victor, Idaho can give you last-minute, full-body hydration. This single treatment will buff and moisturize your skin for all-over hydration. Simultaneously, a cooling stone facial massage relieves any skin-deep signs of wedding stress. 

For Men, Too
Beards, mustaches, and other facial hair are prone to collecting dirt and oils from everyday life. This can cause acne, redness, and other skin irritations to pop up. When shaving, prevent razor burn by using fresh, sharp razors with many blades. Avoid shaving against the direction of your hair’s growth or too close to the skin. Look for beard products for before, during, and after shaving that don’t contain chemicals or fragrances. Beard Balm, made by 307 Beards (available at Mountain Dandy) relieves dry, itchy, and flaky skin while promoting strong and healthy beard growth.