6 Beauty Resolutions We’re Determined To Keep In 2016

Tis the season for resolutions galore and while many of them are nothing more than fanciful notions (the gym thrice weekly? me? Lol), there are a select few beauty ones we’re determined to keep.

1. We will not use face wipes in 2016.
The struggle to avoid these skin-drying, non-cleansing wet pieces of paper is real but we will fall victim to their allure no more! If the thought of soaking your bathroom floor while you grapple with a foaming face wash is enough to send you to bed with panda eyes, micellar water is the way to go. Garnier and Bioderma get our vote.

2. We will use nail cuticle oil, we actually will.
Almost every nail technician will tell you that there’s no harm done in wearing Shellac application after Shellac application (or Gelish; same diff) but as manicure obsessives, we’d be lying if we said our nails didn’t suffer. The temptation to peel off your polish to save you the bother of going back to the salon is just too much and as for the cuticle oil that they urge us to use? If it goes on once before we return for a fresh update, we’re doing well. In 2016, we will leave the little tub of oil beside our keyboards and slap it on daily. We also vow to have our polish professionally removed. No more dry, cracked, brittle and weak nails.

3. We will drink more water.
Unless you’re one of those people who just want to drink ice cold water on a miserable January day, you’ll struggle like us to get your eight glasses down the hatch. We suck at drinking water, but if we had a euro for every time we were told by an expert that it’s the ultimate beauty tool, we’d be fanning ourselves with cash. Drinking water from a glass is way less appealing than from a bottle – don’t ask us why – so the trick here is to invest in a bottle that becomes an extension of your limbs; something you’ll feel weird leaving the house without. Another trick we’re proud of is replacing all hot drinks with hot water. If it’s the comfort of tea you’re after, piping hot water (once boiled) is tasteless, comforting and hydrating without the added caffeine or sugar. Trust us, you’ll get used to it.

4. We will stop picking at spots.
This one’s a biggie. When getting a facial recently, the therapist asked if I’d had acne as a teen. I hadn’t, apart from one or two monthly bad boys that I couldn’t resist diving on like a lion feasting on a wildebeest. Thanks to my chimp-like obsession with finger grooming, I left my chin scarred with puck marks that to this day are still visible. No good can come of popping, squeezing or picking at a spot. You will damage the skin, you will break capillaries and you’ll be left with something that resembles a portal to a parallel universe on your face. Resist the urge.

5. We will make more of an effort with our night time skincare ritual.
If you’re having a mare with dry skin, thanks to wintery weather and central heating, you’ll notice a huge improvement if you remember to moisturise after you cleanse at night. It’s while we sleep that our skin’s cell renewal rate is higher. As well at this, night time is when our skin is more receptive to active ingredients and when our moisturiser will absorb to a deeper level thanks to a higher skin temperature.

6. We will give ourselves make-up free days more often.
The key here is to get passed the point where your co-workers say ‘oh, are you not well? You’re looking very peaky,’ and you respond ‘no, this just my face without make-up, but thanks’. The more make-up you wear, the more you feel you can’t go without it and no matter what kind of fancy brands you’re using, your skin could definitely do with a chance to breathe every once in a while.