We at SOCIAL & PERSONAL WEDDINGS sat down to talk with Dr Jennifer Owens of The Glow Clinic, Dublin, about bridal skincare, at home beauty, skin boosters and why GetHarley.com should be your first port of call before splashing out on expensive skincare or getting a cosmetic treatment.
What are the most requested pre-wedding treatments?
Glowing skin is at the top of pretty much every bride’s list, and I love nothing more than putting together a personalized plan to ensure we get the best result possible. It is SO much fun helping a bride get ready for their big day.
Skin boosters like Profhilo are super for that “lit from within” glow (I usually explain them as “injectable highlighter” and I think Joanne McNally has made sure every Irish girl has heard about the amazing “profiteroles'' as she calls it!). Combining Profhilo with a wow fusion cocktail (a cocktail of skin nutrients designed for each person to target their concerns) and some LED light therapy is my personal favourite way to maximise that glow and it’s a recurring component of my bridal treatment plans.
Cellform Plus is a fat-dissolving treatment that is starting to be requested more frequently and it is super for targeting that annoying little spot under the chin.
Many brides-to-be also suffer from acne, and sometimes booking that date can be the motivation they need to finally get their skin in hand, so treatments like detox peels and microneedling are also a fundamental part of many bridal plans. There’s a special pleasure in clearing up someone’s skin in time for their big day, especially when hearing that highlighter wasn’t needed during their makeup trial because they were so glowy!
Tell us about GetHarley and why brides to be should know about it:
GetHarley has been described as the Net-a-porter for your skin, and I wholeheartedly agree. Wading through online sites for skincare is an arduous and overwhelming experience these days, and an awful lot of the decent stuff is prescription or restricted access, so you’re not going to accidentally happen across it anyway. Medical grade skincare requires guidance and support, and that’s exactly what GetHarley provides. After a virtual consultation with a practitioner, who can be matched to suit your particular needs, your expert will create a skin plan tailored to your specific needs. You can order one, some or all of these products whenever you like (it’s your little digital “shelf” of products, not your shopping basket, so there’s no pressure to buy immediately).
You will get a link to your shelf and your personalized instructions via WhatsApp so it is easy to order and follow your regime correctly. They are there to check in with you and make sure everything is working for you and you can always reach out if you forget what order to use them in or (as happened with one of my patients) you mix up your retinol and your moisturiser and your skin is a little irritated! If you want to treat yourself to an eye mask or need to change your skin regime while you’re away on holiday, you simply WhatsApp and your practitioner can help.
Any advice for brides to be when it comes to getting tweakments?
I think the most important thing to consider when exploring tweakments is what your main concern is. There is an overload of information out there, between social media and even just listening to what your friends do or use, it is so easy to get overwhelmed. This is particularly common with the pressure of a wedding day looming, and I think people frequently start panic buying products worried that they “need” retinol, vitamin C serum, super expensive moisturiser etc.
A consultation with an expert can be a much better (and calmer!) starting point. In my clinic, we start with someone’s “problem list”, be it dark under-eye circles, uneven skin tone or a tendency to breakouts, and work backwards to skincare and treatments that will address these issues. This also means we can target their budget to this specific concern, rather than wasting half of it on things they don’t need. Once we have made headway with those, we can start a “wish list” which is where all the fun, glowy stuff comes in. It makes it so much more straightforward and you have a very clear plan then which tends to be much more effective than spending a ton of money on a random selection of products and hoping for the best.
What should Irish brides and anyone interested in treatments know about GetHarley and why should they consult it first?
There is so much planning and effort that goes into pulling off the wedding of your dreams (especially in these times of restrictions and rescheduling), but the most important parts of your day are you and your partner. To feel confident and happy in your skin on your big day (and the run-up to it) can make more of a difference than a hundred other little details. Many of my 2022 brides already have their treatment lined up for when they get back to Ireland, which takes some of the stress of long-distance planning away. I really think GetHarley is the place to start tackling your concerns, compiling your wishlist and exploring different tweakment options that you might be curious about, all from the comfort of your couch.
- Avila