skincare Do's and Don'ts for the new year

With 2022 fast approaching, we all start to think about what we want to try in the new year and what we want to change.  First of all, I think all of us will be happy to send 2021 on its way, but be mindful when selecting other things like products or routines, to change.  Here are a few suggestions to start the New Year right!

1. DON'T change up a complete routine, whether it’s a diet, exercise or skincare. Ease into things gently and give your mind and body time to acclimate to the changes. If you change up everything all at once, you could become overwhelmed, discouraged and ready to forget about your good intentions. In terms of skincare, it is a really good idea to change up your routine every so often. Now, that doesn’t mean that you should throw our all your products and spend a fortune buying all skincare.  What is does mean is to slowly try one or two new things like a new ingredient, product, or add something to your daily routine. If you’ve only exfoliated with a scrub, look for a product that contains fruit acids or enzymes and/or an alpha hydroxy acid like a gommage peel. 
2. DO clean out and reorganize wherever you store your beauty and skincare products. Organize everything in a logical, easy-to-find way. Take time to review expiration dates, should the products have them; remove the tops of all your bottles, jars and tubes and clean off any residual product that may on the outside of the container or on the lids. This is an important step when avoiding contamination of your products. If you don’t have any, go purchase inexpensive beauty spatulas and put them in a cute container next to where you store your skincare products. Avoid dipping fingers into your jars and use one of these spatulas to remove product.  Even though your hands may be clean, your skin does have oil and perspiration that won’t mix well with your skincare! 
3. DO clean your make up brushes and facial brushes! Dangerous bacteria can grow on your neglected brushes. There are many schools of thought as how to properly clean your brushes. Some say use a brush cleaner, while others tell you to use baby shampoo. I have always used baby shampoo, but lately I have been using high priority CANNABIS CLEANSING FOAM and have had great results! Wash your brushes in warm, soapy water, making sure to get all the make up out of the bristles.  If you can, keep the brush end pointing down when washing. This will minimize the amount of water collecting where the bristles meet the base, thus avoiding mold from forming. Rinse thoroughly and gently squeeze the water from the brush.  To dry brushes, either lay them flat on a towel or arrange them around the sink with the bristles hanging over the edge. To check for dryness, do a light brushing on a clean hand to feel for any residual dampness.  If you can’t wash all your brushes/tools at the same time, make sure to store clean brushes/tools away from the dirty ones.
4. DON'T forget to use sunscreen every day! When winter rolls around, we all tend to forget about sunscreen, or figure what little is contained in our skin care or make-up is sufficient.  Well, I’m here to tell you that most make-up formulations claiming to contain SPF, contain too small of an amount to do an adequate job of protecting your skin.  The very last thing to do before applying make-up (if you wear it), is to apply a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30.  This will protect your skin from UV damage, sunburn and premature aging.  It doesn’t matter if it is cloudy outside.  Those pesky UV rays can penetrate cloud cover and cause damage to your skin.  
5. DO increase your water consumption. We tend to correlate water with warm weather, but cold weather can cause dehydration just as fast.  If you can, try to drink at least 64 ounces of water per day.  If you don’t like plain water, add lemons, limes, oranges, mint, cucumber – whatever you like to flavor it with.  Keep a bottle with you wherever you go and sip on it throughout the day.  Water is excellent for many reasons including,

• Increases elasticity of the skin.
• Helps prevent aging of the skin.
• Flushes out toxins.
• Helps prevent sagging of the skin.
• Helps keep acne and pimples at bay.
• Helps get rid of puffy eyes.

I hope you have enjoyed these few ‘do and don’t’ suggestions for healthy, beautiful skin in 2022. Cheers to a healthy and happy new year, and to reaching new highs together!