Skincare

If you came of age during the era of Bonne Bell Lip Smackers, there’s an excellent chance that physical scrubs were your introduction to exfoliation—and you used them a lot. Between the rough texture and yummy smell, it felt like you were doing your skin a favor, scrubbing away whatever skin issues you had back then (hello, acne) to reveal better, brighter skin underneath.

But our beauty routines have come a long way, and now we’re well aware that a harsh, abrasive scrub certainly isn’t doing breakouts any favors, to say the least. But are apricot and walnut scrubs actually good for anyone’s skin? We tapped two dermatologists, Dr. Dendy Engelman and Dr. Orit Markowitz, to find whether or not apricot and walnut scrubs are actually bad for you.

Before getting engaged, I operated under the assumption that I had reasonably good skin, mainly because I no longer suffered from breakouts. A pimple popped up here and there, but they were few and far between. I started implementing anti-aging products into my routine on a basic level: Eye creams, rich moisturizers, serums, and sunscreen — lots of sunscreen. However, with a sparkly new ring on my finger, my primary concerns over dullness, fine lines, and perpetually congested pores plagued me. Dramatic? Perhaps. But to achieve a wedding-worthy glow, I was ready to level up my skincare game. For me, that meant entering into the world of medical facials, lasers, and peels.

I saw the results my friend, Lucille Javier, achieved from treatments like Clear + Brilliant laser and JetPeel facials at Flash Lab Skin and Laser, and I knew it was the place to embark upon my wedding skincare journey. Javier quickly connected me with Flash Lab’s CIDESCO medical aesthetician Gabrielle Hope Bradley, and I set up a consultation to map out a course of action. Ahead, I break down my step-by-step wedding skincare prep.