Meghan Markle redefined bridal beauty with her glowing, freckled complexion and minimal makeup at her royal wedding last year, and now we have a better sense of the skincare prep that went in to ensuring she was #flawless for the big day.
Earlier this month, the Duchess of Sussex’s longtime makeup artist, Daniel Martin, shared that the then-royal-to-be worked with celebrity aesthetician Sarah Chapman to keep her skin was in tip-top shape. As it turns out, the former Suits actress had an appointment with Chapman the day before her May 2018 nuptials, and at a NET-A-PORTER beauty event in NYC on Wednesday, April 24, the London-based facialist spilled her bridal beauty secrets — including why she thinks last-minute treatments are so important.
“We do a lot of pre-wedding skin routines and regimes,” she said of her Sarah Chapman Skinesis Clinic in London’s Chelsea neighborhood. “There [are] a lot of different things that we’re dealing with, and it is about getting that plumped up, dewy, youthful-looking [and] very glowy skin.”
The facialist, who also has her own line of skincare products, explained that she starts working with brides about six months before the big day so there is plenty of time to “understand” and “change” the skin.
“We work a lot on getting the skin stronger and the structure good,” she explained. “[We’re] able to do peels, but not in an aggressive way. We want the skin to be this really beautiful balance. We do some of the work at the beginning to re-surface … and then actually work right up to the wedding.”
While she and her staff start out seeing wedding clients every four weeks, the frequency of appointments ramps up before the big day. She has a “10-day kit” that she calls “Radiance Recharge,” and it includes hydrators and glow-boosters like vitamin C, hyaluronic acid and lactic micro-peels that keep the skin looking “incredible.”
In the final hours before the big day, Chapman believes in one last treatment (à la the one Martin said she gave Duchess Meghan) for ultimate radiance.
“I would do a facial the day before or the night before a wedding,” she professed, while admitting most people are surprised by the tactic. “It’s the same with photoshoots. It’s the same with TV appearances. We’ll work right up to the day before the wedding or the event because we’ll get that incredible glow.”
Chapman explained that the final appointment is “very different” than what would be done, say, the week before a wedding or special event. “We’re really doing a lot of massaging — using a lot of oils, a lot of serums, vitamin C — and really plumping up the skin so you’ve got that kind of juicy look to the skin.”
Considering the Duchess looked like a goddess on her wedding day, there is clearly something special about the last-minute technique, but for those of Us who aren’t #blessed with a skin pro like Chapman, she has one major tip for at-home care: invest in a serum that reflects your current skin concerns.
“It’s about using your own intel on your skin and assessing what’s going on at that time and putting a serum into your routine that is super-charging what you’re doing on a day-to-day basis,” she shared. “What you’re looking for today is different than what you’re going to be looking for in four month’s time when the weather is different or you’re stressed.”
Basically, the more work you’re willing to put in to figuring out what your complexion needs at any given time, the better the results will be.
“It’s about empowering yourself to be in charge of your skin,” she concluded, “and using a serum that is actually going to change your skin at that time to give you the best look and the best sort of results that you can get.” Noted.
