Bridal Skincare 101

Arpita Das, International Educator and Cosmetologist, and Managing Director, Beauness By Arpita, takes Kanishka Ramchandani through the looking glass of bridal skincare trends for the upcoming season.

Arpita Das has over the years trained hundreds of beauty professionals, and given the Indian salon industry muchneeded talent. She staunchly believes that education is the key to elevating the industry to international standards. Teaching her students how to handle the ultimate customer - the Indian bride - is one of the most important lessons that she imparts. In an exclusive interview, Das breaks down skin and make-up trends for brides while handing out tips for beauty professionals.

Explaining the evolution of bridal beauty services, Das pointed out that a decade ago bridal services comprised one page of a salon’s menu but today it takes up as many as three pages, just for make-up. The bridal industry has drastically changed both in terms of revenue and fashion as it has progressed from being a one-day event to a week-long extravaganza. Brides want different looks for morning and evening events without a compromise on make-up.

The bridal market in India is vast and diverse with preferences changing drastically when we move from North to South and from North East to East and to West. Nowadays, Bollywood brides are leading the fray with their nude make-up and attire choices. Given the diversity in customer’s choice, the revenue generated during the bridal season becomes a game-changer.

Beauty is skin deep

Das recommends doing a thorough skin check of the bride-to-be when she walks into your salon for a make-up consultation. Many of them also prefer going to salons for their skin treatments and getting their make-up done by a celebrity artist. In any case, skincare for brides-tobe becomes an important part of bridal grooming and you and your staff should be able to leverage on this with attractively designed packages. Das recommends mastering upselling techniques to ensure that the client gets end-to-end skincare services under one roof, making a pre-bridal skincare package a vital element on your menu.

The Bridal List by Arpita Das

1. Understand your client’s skin background, especially if she is a new client and a prospective bride.

2. It is important to know her treatment history and allergyrelated concerns.

3. Don’t experiment with her skin and overdo the skin treatments.

4. Don’t focus on whitening treatments instead give her a skincare package that will enhance her natural skin.

5. Don’t over-bleach the bride’s skin or excessively do detan treatments.

6. Don’t give her the idea that she can become fair overnight.

7. Instead of encouraging ‘fairness,’ talk about glowing and flawless skin.

8. Brides are under a lot of stress, which can make their skin fragile.

Don’t top that off with harsh treatments, be gentle with their skin.

9. Use the best make-up products to highlight her features instead of giving her unnecessary treatments that her skin is unable to handle. 

10. A proper consultation and understanding of the bride’s skin and her needs as well as the look she wants for herself is very important. 

11. As a therapist or beauty professional, if you are unable to do so, you should not take bridal bookings.

“We should use new skin treatments like hydrafacial and laser treatments for better results. Ideally, 90 per cent work in facials should be done with the help of machines and only 10 per cent should be manual, as devices help in deeper penetration of the product and give quicker results,” Das explained.

Speaking about upselling, she said, “When a bride is coming for makeup booking, you can convert her by upselling if you have attractive skincare packages. Always give bookings to the bride for two months prior to the wedding. For bridal packages, you can’t simply offer basic services like mani-pedi, you need to make an interesting combination of services including body care.”

Customised pre-wedding package

“For the pre-wedding treatments, I recommend the beauty professional to create a three-month package of customised headto-toe treatments. Skincare is a slow process and the earlier you begin, the better results you will get. Start with mild facials, manicure-pedicure services and hair spa. As the wedding day approaches, add more intensive treatments such as hydrafacial, BB Glow facial and peels. Ensure that you are using ingredients that work faster on the client’s skin. Remember not to experiment with the ingredients, treatment or the bride’s skin and not to overdo certain treatments such as bleaching. Also give the bride proper advice on home care and diet intake.”

Post wedding treatments

“Since the bride has done so many treatments before the wedding, after the wedding they should do milder skincare treatments such as a cleanup or an express facial. Focus on hair because hair goes through a lot of chemicals and hairspray. Home care is very important as the bride is likely to travel more after the marriage and have dietary changes.”

What a bride wants

“The key bridal trend this season is customisation. There is high demand for customised bridal grooming so there is ample scope for both salons and freelancers to fulfil this demand. That’s what makes the bridal season that much more exciting.” PBHJ