For many brides, the months leading up to the wedding become a search for the most advanced skincare treatments, the biggest beauty trends, or the perfect wellness routine. For influencer Jade Mitchell-Clyde, the experience unfolded differently. Jade, who went viral for her 2016-inspired bridal braid and doing her own wedding makeup, focused on healthy skin treatments built over time, beauty that reflected her own style, and a wellness routine grounded in comfort and confidence. Ahead, she shares the six bridal beauty rules that helped her look refreshed, radiant, and unmistakably like herself on her wedding day, the same advice she'd pass along to every bride-to-be.
Rule 1: Put More Thought Into
Your Skin Than Your Foundation
I always say that I don't want compliments on my makeup (well, I mean I do lol), but I want even more compliments on my skin. For my skin, microneedling and AquaGold are my holy grails for looking clear, plump, tight, and glowing. Microneedling makes texture look almost erased for me, while AquaGold gives me that instant glow and makes my pores look more refined. I built both into my prep with a trusted professional and enough time for my skin to settle, rather than looking for one last-minute miracle. Makeup looks its best when it can enhance the skin instead of covering it, so I wanted that signature glow of my skin and my typical makeup to remain visible.
Rule 2: Don't Let 'Bridal' Rewrite Your Face
Bridal beauty can come with an unspoken pressure to transform. My approach was not quite that, maybe even opposite. I wanted to look exactly like myself just rested, glowing and a little more intentional. Doing my own wedding makeup felt like the most honest choice for me. As a beauty creator, I've spent years learning my face: where I like coverage, how my brows are done, my favorite lip colors, and which tiny details change the whole look. I didn't want to look back at the photos and see a technically perfect version of someone else or choices I would typically never make. I wanted to see myself, elevated. Whether you do your own makeup or work with an artist, the rule is the same: familiarity matters more than whatever is considered 'bridal.'
"I didn't want to look back at the photos and see a technically perfect version of someone else or choices I would typically never make. I wanted to see myself, elevated."
Rule 3: Treat Your Trial
Like a Dress Rehearsal
A bridal trial should not end when you leave the chair. Wear the full look for hours, see it in daylight, photograph it with and without flash, and notice whether anything feels heavy or needs constant touching up. Apply the same logic to hair, nails, and any tan, because a beautiful first impression isn't enough if it doesn't hold up to hugs, happy tears, and dancing. I used my bachelorette as a trial to almost all of these, and I definitely walked away with notes. The more decisions you pressure test beforehand, the less you have to think about beauty when you should be living the day. Something that shifted everything for me was having the Australian makeup artist Face by Jen come and give me a 3-hour masterclass where she taught me literally everything I did for my wedding makeup. She even had me do one side of my face while she did the other.
Rule 4: Prep From the Inside Out
Without Making It a Punishment
When I say wedding prep, I mean prep from the inside out. Pilates, skincare, professional treatments, and the simple wellness routines I could repeat each day helped me feel consistent, confident, and glowing. But bridal beauty can become overwhelming and, honestly, a little ridiculous when every habit turns into a project to fix yourself. Keep the rituals that make you feel cared for and let go of anything that makes the wedding feel like a deadline for becoming a different person. Everyone always asks for my workout routine, but it literally was just moving my body in ways that felt fun and disconnecting from the craziness that my life has been the past year. I found instructors that were so amazing that it made coming to class feel like a hobby. They knew how to push me and train me to get so much stronger; it literally felt like I was training for sports again—which truly fuels my fun competitive side.
"Keep the rituals that make you feel cared for and let go of anything that makes the wedding feel like a deadline for becoming a different person."
Rule 5: Let Your Nails Complete, Not Compete
I swear by a European manicure because the finish is so clean and it lasts for so long. What I was hyper-focused on, though, was keeping my nails barely there. I obviously wanted them to look perfect, but I deliberately didn't lean into a bridal nail trend because I never wanted my nails to become the focus. To me, the ideal wedding manicure completes the look without competing with it. Polished enough for every close-up, but quiet enough to feel timeless.
Rule 6: Hair First, Always
As a hair creator, I will always believe that hair sets the mood for the entire look. My now iconic bridal braid was born from the vintage Edwardian feeling of my gowns, and I originally planned to wear it for the ceremony. As the wedding got closer, I became nervous about choosing a style I don't typically wear, so I moved the braid to the welcome party and let it have its own moment there. For the ceremony, I chose a classic half-up style because that is how I wear my hair about 80 percent of the time; we simply elevated it into a more polished version of my everyday claw clip. I realized the wedding day isn't the time to experiment with a crazy beauty look; it's the time to lean all the way into you. Rather than choosing something simply because it looked 'bridal,' The right style should feel considered but still recognizable as you.
