Valentine's Day is about love, lingerie, chocolate and doing whatever is necessary to look absolutely drop-dead gorgeous on this national day of passion. But looking great is not about happenstance, it about taking calculated steps to look fabulous.

Typical pre-Valentine pretty preparations include waxing, peels and facials. But, you do not want to do these things on Valentine's Day. Instead, plan these cosmetic treatments around how the skin repairs itself after each treatment.

Waxing
Have you ever had the experience of getting your eyebrows waxed only to notice that the next day your forehead is bubbling over with bumps? This ill-timed breakout can happen for several reasons.

Waxing removes the upper layers of the skin and brings deeply lodged dermal debris that surrounds the hair bulb to the surface of the skin. This combination of reduced skin protection and the addition of bacteria give pimples a chance to thrive.

To reduce the chances of an onslaught of zits, use a clay mask each day, around the area that you plan to wax, two days in advance of your waxing appointment. If you are waxing your entire face, use the clay mask on the entire face. Try to use a natural clay mask because a mask that contains too many chemical ingredients could make the skin more sensitive and pre-disposed to irritation from the waxing.

Depending on the color and thickness of your hair, waxing should be done at least one to two days in advance of your special occasion. This will give you enough time to be hairless, bump-less and red-less.

Facial Peels
If you are getting a mild to moderate face peel for Valentine's Day, do it at least four to seven days in advance. This gives your skin time to reduce the redness associated with the peel and this repair phase also gives your skin time to expel dermal waste that may have caused mini bumps beneath the skin.

European Facials
If you have not learned this lesson yet, never get a European facial on the day of your special date. True European facials involve deep pore extraction to remove blemishes like blackheads, whiteheads and pustules. After deep pore extraction, your face may look worse than it did before you even walked into the spa.

No worries though. Your skin just needs one to two days to calm down after the deep cleansing. Depending on the level of congestion of your skin, you will need to do a facial two to seven days in advance of your hot Valentine's date. For example, if your skin is heavily populated with about 20 pimples, you will want to have a facial a least a week in advance of Valentine's Day to give your skin adequate time to recover from the pores cleansing.

To help maintain the freshness of the facial cleansing, use a clay mask every other night after you have the facial done. The clay will continue to absorb excess oils and help your pores stay small.

If you are lucky enough to have minimal blemishes, you just need two days to recoup from your facial. You can also freshen up your facial by exfoliating your skin with a mixture of one part ground oatmeal and two parts water or a tablespoon of pureed fresh fruits like strawberries.

The key to remember about cosmetic services like waxing, peels and facials is that these are powerful treatments that cause a reaction in the skin. The main reason these treatments are so effective is that they cause evident changes in the skin like swelling and redness. As you prepare for an unforgettably fabulous Valentine's Day, just remember to plan ahead to give your skin enough time to go from reactive to radiant.