New Year’s Beauty Resolutions

To bring in the new year, I thought I would share some of my beauty resolutions for 2012. Every year I learn a little more about makeup and beauty – from taking care of my skin to restoring health and shine to my hair. This year I’m going to make more of an effort to keep a healthier lifestyle so I can maintain that healthy glow.

My skin has been through hell and back this year, for a number of reasons. First, I moved to Boston so the change in environment seemed to make me break out; especially in the humid summer. 2011 was not a great year for my skin. I kept getting pimples on my face and I scar very easily, so I’ve been caking on more concealer too. I’ve also been dealing with a lot of oil and shine on my face, causing my makeup to melt off by mid-day. It’s been a frustrating process to find the right products to control my skin problems — Makeup Forever Mat Velvet is the perfect foundation to keep a matte face during the day, and Dr. Brandt Pore-Thing has worked wonders on my pores. But there’s still a few more things I need to do more frequently if I want my skin to get better, like:

Resolution 1: Drink More Water

Experts recommend drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day to stay hydrated and healthy. Currently… I don’t drink water. I probably drink two cups of coffee and two cans of coke a day. This is probably one of the major reasons my skin has been having trouble healing from the major breakout I had this summer. My skin looks red in some places and sallow in others. Drinking more water could also help me lose some extra weight. Studies estimate that about half the world’s population is chronically dehydrated, and The United States population is one of the worst culprits — a whopping 75% of us don’t drink enough water. Not hydrating enough can also cause your skin to overcompensate and produce more oil than usual – which is another reason why I’ve been having so many issues with oil and shine. This brings me to my next resolution:

Resolution 2: Find A Great Moisturizer, and Use it Every Day

Because my skin had gotten so oily over the summer, I didn’t think I should moisturize every day, because I figured it would just contribute to my problem. But after a little research, I found out I couldn’t be any more wrong. Like I said above, my skin was overcompensating for my dehydrated face by producing excess oil and causing me to break out more easily. My makeup never stayed on during the day, and melted off at work. It was embarrassing! Right now, I use Neutrogena Oil Free Moisturizer with SPF 15, but I am definitely in the market for a higher quality product. Any suggestions?

I learned a lot about my hair this year, and found some great products like Moroccan Oil and Kenra Dry Shampoo, but I could definitely be doing a lot more to keep my hair shiny. I promise myself every year that I’ll start treating my hair more nicely, but I can never stop punishing it with hair dye and heat styling… Maybe this year, I’ll finally keep my promise!

Resolution 3: Retire My Flat Iron

I should also include my curling iron in this, because I probably used it more often than my flat iron this year. I definitely have improved and have heat styled my hair a lot less frequently than I did in the past — I probably use my flat iron and curling iron a couple times a month, but I’ve been using hot rollers almost every other day recently. I’m not sure if one is less harsh on my hair than the other, but I do want to make an effort to cut down my heat styling all together. A couple times a month seems reasonable, as long as I use a heat protectant, but I need to start embracing a more natural look for my hair. Like I said, it definitely hasn’t been as bad as when I was flat ironing my short hair EVERY morning, but I could still do better.

Resolution 4: Stop Dying My Hair

I probably dye my hair once every two months – mostly to touch up my roots, but I also like to change colors every season. For winter I went a little darker, but I always go lighter in the summer. Last year I even went red. What I need to do is stop dying my hair all together, if I want my hair to be healthier and easier to style without using heat. Thankfully, I am starting to dig darker hair color for the new year, and my natural color is a very dark brown – almost black.

Resolution 5: Wear Less Makeup

Going in line with embracing a more natural look, I really need to stop using SO much makeup every morning. Not only will this make my skin more healthy, and cut down my morning routine by about half an hour, but it will reduce the chances of my face aging. The women in my family seem to age very gracefully and don’t have very many wrinkles, but they also don’t wear as much makeup as I do, so I probably should stop pushing my luck. I’m definitely one of those girls that can’t walk out of the house for any reason without a full face of makeup on – I’m talking foundation, concealer, powder, bronzer, blush, smokey eyeshadow, cat-eye liner, mascara, and filled-in eyebrows. The whole nine yards. I don’t think I’ll be able to get to a point where I’d feel confident without any makeup at all, but I definitely need to find a happy medium.

So here’s to 2012 – Hopefully I’ll be in better shape during this new year, and I can share my explorations with you guys. My resolutions might seem simple, but I’m kind of a creature of habit, so it’s hard to get me out of my normal routine, but I think my hair and definitely my skin will benefit from just these few small adjustments to my life.

What are your new year’s resolutions? Comment below and share!