Howdy lovely, happy 2017! How were the holidays? I hope you had a safe and fun season and are ready to join me in kicking 2017 off in the right way. 🙂
I don’t usually make resolutions when a new year comes around because I don’t find them practical, really. I find that, like most people, I “resolve” to do all of these things to make my life and year better — go the gym more often, eat better, spend less, travel more, etc., but by the 12th of the month, I’ve forgotten all about them and slump back into my old habits. Though 2016 seemed to be a bit, erhm, mad for the rest of the world, I had a fairly good year on a personal level and feel rather content heading into 2017. Therefore, I don’t particularly want to commit myself to a whole list of cliches only to let myself down later; instead, I’d rather focus on two or three long-term goals that will take hard work and dedication but are much more realistically attained.
Having said all that, there are a few aspects of my beauty routine that need serious overhauling. LOL.
And so, here are a few of the things that I am hoping to clean up in my beauty act this year:
1. MAKEUP BE GONE – It saddens me to admit this, but I recently haven’t had the time to wear makeup every day (life is SO busy at the moment). However, when I am a little gussied up, I tend to casually brush off the completely normal and HEALTHY habit of removing my makeup and washing my face, often replacing it with a haphazard promise to myself to cleanse my face “thoroughly” in the morning. HORRIBLE! Guess what!? Germs and bacteria grow regardless of the time of night or how tired I am! EW. This year, I will try my best to regularly cleanse my face in the evening, or at the very least, run a makeup removing wipe over my face. All in the name of clean, happy skin! 👍🏾🚿
2. SERIOUSLY PROTECTED FACE – SPF, son! I’m hoping this one goes without saying, but sun protection is a serious topic that I think we could all use a little refresher on. Protecting your skin from the sun can help prevent more trivial things such as sunburn, heat rashes, eczema breakouts, wrinkles and other signs of aging, or very serious issues like skin cancer. You may think that you’re hardly ever in the sun, or you live in a country that is cloudy most of the year or that you’re of a darker complexion so wearing SPF doesn’t apply to you, but, sorry friend, you are oh-so-wrong. The sun and its harmful rays affect us all, even when doing “simple,” daily things like driving to work or walking the dog. Just remember: the higher number you can get from your beauty products, the better (we’re talking SPF 50 and above, and if you’re fair, start with a baseline of SPF 70). 2017 is the year that I will get my act together and stop counting SPF 15 in my (rarely used) tinted moisturizer as a reasonable amount of protection. Stay covered, stay gorgeous!☀️😎🙅🏾
3. HAIRWAY TO HEAVEN – In general, I am downright awful to my hair. Between the frequent heat styling and pulling my hair taut almost daily into a bun or ponytail, at this point,my hair is crying for mercy. While I’ve never been one to consistently spend my money and/or time on the latest special hair treatment or style (hi, hair dusting, I’m lookin’ at you), introducing simple things like hot oil treatments with avocado oil, deep conditioning regularly and using a cleansing conditioner instead of a harsh shampoo has really started to take my hair from a super dry, frizzy mess to strands I actually admire again. Maybe 2017 will be the year I grow my hair out a little bit again, eh!? (We can only hope!) 💇🏾
4. HELLO!? IS ANYBODY THERE? – Continuing on the same theme, I am terribly unhappy to admit that, at the moment, my skin is in even worse condition than my hair (and that folks, is saying a lot). My skin is going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment, both literally and figuratively. With extreme cases of eczema breaking out all over my body and face patches so dry, meteorologists in the Sahara are jealous, it’s just a bloody mess! Sure, some of it is stress related, and some of it is my environment, but A LOT of it is purely my fault. Here’s a tip that you won’t hear anywhere else, folks: if/when your skin is fuh-reaking out as much as mine is at the moment, LISTEN TO IT!!!! Drink more water, take a break when possible from excessively stressful situations, wrap up in the cold, sleep with a humidifier on, apply that extra hydrating face mask…do anything, as long as it’s SOMETHING!!! The human body has a funny way of expressing itself, but I tell you, this year, when my organs speak to me (yes, skin is an organ), I aim to have a big ol’ loudspeaker at the ready so I can make like Queen B and listen.👂🏾🔊👸🏾
5. TRIAL RUN – Finally, we have the age old dilemma that I’m sure every person who has ever stepped into a Sephora store and purchased something has faced (no pun intended): the dreaded sample. Now, don’t get me wrong, the fact that I can spend my hard-earned $50 on a face serum that, 5 years ago would have only cost me $35 (oh my, don’t get me started on that one😡; different post, different post, different post…), and, at the end of the experience, I can come out with three sample sized beauty products. Really, it’s lovely. However, do you know what I do with those fantastic samples the minute I get home!? Shove them into a corner/basket/drawer and proceed to use the product I just purchased and completely forget about my glorious samples until a YEAR OR TWO LATER. Samples are great, in theory, but I’m just getting a little tired of the deep pang of guilt I feel every time I see one from the corner of my eye: “I should have used this by now,” “oh, man, I forgot I could have used this!” OR EVEN WORSE, “Dagnabit, if I’d remembered, I could have given this to [insert friend or mother’s or friend’s mother’s name here], she would have loved it!” I’m T I R E D of trialling, so this year, I would like to stay on top of the game and stick to a simple sample regimen (say that 5 times fast): test immediately & share strategically. I’ll test it out, shall I? 😂👍🏾👝
Now that you’ve read some of my beauty goals for the year, what are some of the things you’d like to take on or change in your beauty routine in 2017? Feel free to share below!
Here’s to a happy, healthy, successful and most important of all – beautiful for us all! 💕
Until next time,
S.💖
