Bridal skin care and Panchakarma: what to start when before the wedding

• Book a consultation. The doctor examines the skin and hair, asks about the dates of every function, and plans backwards from the wedding.
• Start on hair fall now. Hair grows about a centimetre a month, so treatment needs three months or more to show. See hair treatment.
• Start on acne and pigmentation now. Both take weeks to months to settle, and a new mark from a late treatment is the last thing you want.
• Place Panchakarma early. A cleanse with its preparation and graded diet takes weeks, and you want it finished and the body settled well before the functions. The doctor fits it to the season and your dates.
• Settle the basics. Regular meals and enough sleep do more for the skin in these weeks than anything bought. Avoid crash diets, which show in the face and hair.

• Begin the skin series. Chemical peels and skin polishing work over several sittings, and the skin needs time to settle after each. The doctor spaces them so that the last one falls well before the final week.
• Make time to rest. Wedding planning is tiring. Shirodhara is part of the clinic’s bridal programme for that reason.
• Use sunscreen daily. Shopping trips and travel add tan that then has to be treated.

• Facials and gentle polishing for freshness.
• A make-up trial, early enough that a reaction to a product has time to settle.
• If your skin is sensitive, test the haldi paste on a small patch of skin a few days before the haldi, since turmeric and gram flour blends can irritate.
• Hair care continues as planned.

• Do nothing new to the skin: no new procedure, peel, cream or face pack.
• Keep to the products your skin already knows.
• Sleep, drink water and eat regular meals.

The clinic’s rule is simple: never try a strong peel or any procedure for the first time just before the wedding. If the date is close, the doctor keeps to gentle treatments.

The bridal programme is for grooms as well. The usual concerns are tan from travel and outdoor work, oily skin and open pores, and bumps after shaving. The same timeline applies, and so does the rule about the last week.