Bridal beauty has always been big business - but when it comes to looking perfect on their big day, a growing number of women are spending up to a year on cutting edge treatments and facials designed to get their skin "wedding ready".

It is a trend that Joanna Findlay, owner of 33 Dowanhill - a dedicated skincare studio in Glasgow's West End - has noticed over the past few years.

The salon specialises in massage-led facials which are tailored to each client using a bespoke blend of oils, serums, and balms, combined with techniques such as acupressure and lymphatic drainage which are designed to give skin a healthy, dewy glow.

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Clients can opt for additional rejuvenation treatments such as LED light therapy and oxygen therapy, or microcurrent - a device which uses low-grade electrical current to help tone facial muscles.

Appointments are in high-demand, previously selling out six months in advance until the salon switched to releasing them on a month-by-month basis only.

Brides get priority booking.

Joanna Findlay, owner of 33 Dowanhill, a skincare studio in Glasgow, said there has been a shift in demand from brides over the past few years (Image: Colin Mearns/Herald&Times)

Since she opened the business eight years ago after training as a facialist in Paris, Japan and London, Ms Findlay has offered pre-pay bridal packages of three, six, and nine months, with 12 months available on request.

A nine-month package with Ms Findlay - equivalent to nine facials, once per month - costs £999, or £640 for six, and £350 for three.

Packages with the salon's other therapists start at £285.

"We've always offered them, but I would definitely say in the last four years it's become more frequent," said Ms Findlay.

So far this year, the salon has skin-prepped 70 brides in the months leading up to their wedding.

Ms Findlay added: "Historically, most brides would have gone for the three months or maybe come in for a treat just a few days before the wedding.

"Now, six and nine months are our most common, which is definitely a change for us.

"There's a real trend towards looking perfect on your big day."

Brides want minimal make-up and a healthy, natural glow in what is seen as a shift away from heavier make up trends of the pastBrides want minimal make-up and a healthy, natural glow in what is seen as a shift away from heavier make up trends of the past (Image: Getty)

Increasingly, brides are seeking a more natural look which depends on having a great complexion with minimal make-up, and - for some - ditching filler.

"There's definitely far less filler out there than there was five years ago - a lot less," said Ms Findlay.

"I'm seeing more and more clients having their filler dissolved, and that's one of the things where we can help with muscle tone.

"And especially if Botox has worn off, and there's been a bit of muscle atrophy, we can help with that too.

"No amount of Botox and no amount of filler will give you really clear skin. They do very different things."

At Skinstitute, located a few blocks from Ibrox stadium, Jodie McLuskie is also seeing a "significant shift" among her bridal clients.

She said: "For a number of years, brides' priority would be their make up and their hair on the day.

"Now, we've been inundated with enquiries from brides who are coming to us six, nine, 12 months in advance of their big day because they want their skin to look its best.

"If your skin is well-prepped and it's in a healthy state, then your make up application is going to be much better, and your photographs are going to look much better."

Ms McLuskie - who is co-hosting a Bridal Brunch event at Skinstitute on September 8 with hair and make-up artist Laura Gray - advises an '80:20' skincare ratio, where 80% of her clients' skincare comes from products they use at home topped up by in-clinic procedures and treatments.

Jodie McLuskie said brides are spending an average of around £1000 on treatments in the months leading up to their wedding dayJodie McLuskie said brides are spending an average of around £1000 on treatments in the months leading up to their wedding day (Image: Skinstitute/Supplied)

Overall, she says most brides at Skinstitute are spending around £1000 getting their skin wedding-ready.

She said: "Brides are setting aside so much money now for skin.

"If you're looking at a combination of in-clinic and homecare, over a period of six to nine months on average, I'd say you're looking at about £1000.

"But I have got brides that have come to me a year prior to their wedding.

"Brides-to-be are are definitely willing to invest in good, results-driven skincare, rather than the over-the-counter products that aren't going to address their specific skin concerns.

"The average age of our brides this year has been between 30 and 35, and they are very much driven by anti-ageing.

"It used to be a bit older, but from the 30 age bracket they are very much wanting to invest in good skincare to reverse the signs of ageing or slow it down."

As for treatments, brides at Skinstitute are huge fans of the Hydrafacial - a patented aesthetic technique first created in California in the late 1990s.

The procedure combines lymphatic drainage massage of the face with manual cleansing and exfoliation, followed by a skin peel and "extractions" using a specially-designed wand which works like a vacuum to open pores and clear out dead skin and impurities, such as blackheads.

Beauty trends are being influenced by a 'clean girl'' aesthetic, with some brides paying £1000 or more over the course of a year to get a clear and healthy complexionBeauty trends are being influenced by a 'clean girl'' aesthetic, with some brides paying £1000 or more over the course of a year to get a clear and healthy complexion (Image: Getty)

Clients can choose to include derma-planing - a minimally invasive procedure to shave away facial hair and surface cells, which can also reduce the appearance of acne scars or pitted skin.

This is followed by a bespoke skin booster, before the therapist infuses the skin with a mix of antioxidants, amino acids, and hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump the skin.

Finally, clients are placed under a medical grade LED light therapy to stimulate collagen and elastin production.

The end result should be glowing, healthy-looking skin.

A one-off treatment at Skinstitute costs £175, but the clinic now offers a 'Hydra-Club' where customers who sign up for a six-month package of once-a-month Hydrafacials can get them for the equivalent of £115 each, plus 10% off other skincare products and treatments in-clinic.

"It's been incredibly popular with brides - it's an amazing treatment," said Ms McLuskie.

Dr Kaly Jaff credits the "clean girl aesthetic" promoted by influencer brides such as Jennifer Lopez and Sofia Richie - daughter of singer Lionel - for the current vogue in barely-there make up.

She said: "You look at Priscilla when she married Elvis and how much make up she was wearing because full-on glam was in then, whereas now you'd be lucky if you're putting a fake lash on a bride.

"The Geordie Shore, Love Island look is out and the clean girl aesthetic that's taken over - people like Sofia Richie - that 'SPF tint' look, that's what brides want now."

 

 

Dr Jaff, a dental surgeon who first came to Scotland aged six as a refugee from Kurdistan and now specialises in aesthetics at her Glasgow clinic, The Secret, is also seeing a boom in demand from brides coming to her six months before their wedding day.

One of the newest and most popular treatments currently on offer are polynucleotide injections, a Hollywood beauty treatment that has only arrived in Scotland in the past couple of years.

It may sound bizarre, but polynucleotides are purified DNA fragments extracted from wild trout or salmon sperm and incorporated into an injectable gel.

Already used to treat conditions such as osteoarthritis, more recently they have exploded in the field of aesthetic medicine due to their regenerative properties.

When injected into the skin, they revitalise the fibroblasts - the skin's collagen factories - which results in more youthful-looking skin, instantly.

Dr Jaff said: "I'm seeing a lot of patients stepping away from looking 'done'. Everyone just wants to look healthy.

"Polynucleotides is the thing that's really taken off. It's a DNA stimulator.

"When you inject it into the area of treatment - so in a bride it would be the skin on the face, neck and décolletage - you're stimulating that person's own DNA and you're reversing the age of the skin, rather than injecting something false like filler or hyaluronic acid and expecting the body to just become friends with that product.

"Polynucleotides are naturally-derived, and the results are guaranteed and immediate for every patient.

"It's the new era of regenerative medicine."

Dr Jaff said polynucleotides are set to 'overtake everything we currently have' in the field of skincare aestheticsDr Jaff said polynucleotides are set to 'overtake everything we currently have' in the field of skincare aesthetics (Image: FlatWhiteComms/Supplied)

For the best results, Dr Jaff recommends combining polynucleotides with microneedling - a non-surgical procedure which pierces the skin with super-fine needles to stimulate natural collagen production and firm the skin.

Clients buying the 'Gold Package' can currently get two sessions of microneedling with polynucleotides at a discount rate of £800 in total.

Dr Jaff said: "A lot of patients are using polynucleotides as a sort of intense facial for a wedding or a holiday or a birthday coming up.

"The brides love it, then the mothers of the bride are coming in, then it's the mothers of the groom, and it just spirals.

"Everyone wants it.

"But the best thing for brides is where you inject it via microneedling because microneedling stimulates your own collagen as a standalone treatment anyway.

"So when you're adding all the benefits of polynucleotides, it just takes the results to the next level.

"In terms of skin treatments, polynucleotides are going to overtake anything that we currently offer."