You have chosen the perfect venue, your dream wedding gown and decided on your favorite flowers. The only thing left to do: look radiantly beautiful. Skin – check; body – diet plan and gym check; hair – check; makeup – check; beautiful smile – errhh…?
Consider this – you will probably never smile more in a single day than you would on your wedding day, and get documented in photographs and videos for all posterity. Your brilliant smile would most definitely make a bigger impression than the 6-tiered cake and possibly your fabulous dress.
So let’s start the countdown in your quest for the perfect wedding smile.
Months Before: Avoid staining your pearly whites
Rich-coloured beverages such as soda, coffee, dark tea, and red wine tend to stain teeth, as do foods like blueberries, cherries, and soy sauce.
The rough rule of the thumb is – if it stains white cotton, it’ll probably stain your teeth too. But beware of white wine – all wines, whether white or red, can roughen the tooth enamel and make your smile more susceptible to stains.
Have a good rinse quickly after your mandatory eye-opener of a morning cuppa to reduce the damage. Munching an apple a day will also help you to keep the dull smile away due to its polishing action and high antioxidant content.
Three to One Month Before: Start working towards the megawatt smile
To reduce darker staining or if you are on a shorter timeframe, visit a dentist for professional whitening treatments. Though these can be pricey, they are very effective – one in-office whitening session can get teeth two to three shades lighter. You can further supplement this with a take-home kit to lighten your teeth up to five or six shades.
If you just want to brighten up a shade or two, enlist an over-the-counter teeth-whitening product. These work best when applied after a professional teeth cleaning.
One Month Before: Perfect your puckers
Smooth out the vertical lip lines and restore fresh cherry lips with the Revitalift – a deeply hydrating treatment that does not add volume to full lips.
If you are looking to define or transform thin lips into naturally soft pouty puckers, skin-identical hyaluronic acid fillers like Restylane or Juvederm will give you lips that shout ‘kiss me’.
One to Two Days Before: Exfoliate your lips
Flaky dry spots will clump up with your lipstick (read: not pretty). Exfoliate your lips gently 1-2 days before the big day using a fine granulated sugar-olive oil scrub or your electric toothbrush. Smooth on a thick layer of lip balm like Vaseline or Chapstick before going to bed for pillow-soft lips in the morning.
If you are completely new to lip exfoliation and have extremely sensitive skin, do a trial 1 month before to ensure that you do not have any bad reactions.
On THE Day: Choose the correct lipstick
Those with less-than-perfectly-white teeth should avoid lip colours with an orange hue (eg coral, salmon or peaches), as it will give teeth a yellowish cast. Conversely, the correct colour, usually the reds or pinks and especially if your skin tone can go with shades with a cool or bluish undertone, can brighten your smile instantaneously.
A creamy formula is also recommended over a matte lipstick which tends to absorb more light and make your teeth appear a shade darker. Or you can layer some gloss over your lipstick for a brighter smile.
Before the Camera: Do a quick swish
Before the camera snaps, take a small sip of water and do a quick gentle swish in your mouth or sweep your tongue across your teeth to moisten them. This will ensure commercial-level sparkle in your pearlies when the camera flash hits the film of moisture.
P.S: Make sure no food is stuck in your teeth as you go around the tables for photo-taking during the wedding dinner.
This tips would be great for those who are going to take photo too.