This has become a bit of a tradition, setting myself some new year beauty resolutions that I sort of sometimes stick to, quite often with a 12-month delay. They say it takes around 21 days to form a new habit (which is why subscription plans will regularly lure you in with a free 14 to 30 day trial), but in my case it’s more like a year. I’m finally cleaning my makeup brushes on a weekly basis – one of my 2019 beauty resolutions – woohoo! So let’s take stock of how well I’ve stuck to my 2020 beauty resolutions:

1. Reduce reuse recycle: reducing consumption of beauty products? Not judging by the amount weighing down my shelves. But reducing packaging consumption, yes: using bigger formats and more waterless beauty products, from Earth Kind’s shampoo bar to the incredible solid moisturiser from Balade en Provence. Reuse, sort of: reusing pumps which are notoriously difficult to recycle, and I’ve saved some glass bottles and jars but have yet to upcycle them as vases or candle holders. Recycling yes, getting into the habit of breaking down packaging rather than throwing the whole thing in the bathroom bin. So overall better than last year, but room for improvement.
2. Get more sleep: yes, mostly thanks to the lack of commute, but I’m still not reaching the recommended 8 hours a night. Coffee is my friend. And the beautiful Balance Me Beauty Sleep CBD Concentrate at bedtime.
3. Be more experimental with fragrance: I wouldn’t be surprised if fragrance sales, like colour cosmetics, have taken a nosedive in 2020. No one can smell your beautiful fragrance on a zoom call. Still I worked my way through The Merchant of Venice Murano collection, if only for my own pleasure.
4. Extend face cream to neck: yes! Until stress got the better of me and my neck – and eyelids – lost the battle to eczema. Although I’ve recently learned that the skin on your neck requires a different treatment to the skin on your face… still, better than nothing.   
5. Dress my nails: painting my nails twice a month in two different colours including nail art. Ha. Well that didn’t happen. The pandemic happened and I lost the motivation to make an effort with my nails, plus I cleared all my nail polishes off my dresser when I put my flat on the market to make it look a tad less cluttered. Out of sight out of mind, I basically forgot I had them. The last time I painted my nails was in July. The time before that, pre-lockdown March. This final beauty resolution didn’t take but I’ll blame unforeseeable circumstances.   

So what’s in store for 2021?

1. Learn about ingredient benefits

As the ingredient-led skincare trend continues to develop, with the likes of The Ordinary and The Inkey List leading the way, I want to become an encyclopaedia for beauty ingredients. Here’s hoping – it seems that most information nowadays stays in my head for all of 24 hours before disintegrating to let in new information. Regardless I will continue my ‘beauty ingredient focus’ series started with vitamin C in the hope some of my research will stick.

2. Read more beauty books

This one sort of goes hand in hand with the first resolution: learning more about the industry I’m building my career in. Not just about skincare ingredients, but skincare routines, skincare concerns, beauty trends, homemade beauty products, how brands are created and businesses started – Mrs Rodial’s How to Make it Happen is a great read for that – basically anything that touches on beauty.

3. Use masks more regularly

I love the idea of treating my face to a mask on a daily basis. A mask for every day of the week. I actually own enough variants to keep me going for a full week, from Maison Meunier’s Purifying Mask to Boots’ Vitamin C Brightening Sleeping Mask and many more radiance-boosting ones. I already know for a fact I won’t manage a mask a day. Even though it looks like 2021 is going to start with a bang – another lockdown. I’ll consider it an achievement if I manage one mask a week.

4. Reduce my evening skincare routine

Possibly the exact opposite of resolution no.3. I’m not aiming to reduce the number of products I put on my face (as if), but the number of minutes I spend in the bathroom (my husband would say hours). The thing is I go in with the intention of being quick and efficient, but then I decide to tackle my eyebrows or try a new product or perform an in-depth double cleanse, and I disappear into a black hole. I have however discovered the secret to drastically reducing my evening skincare routine after having moved into my new home: no mirror in the bathroom. I can’t assess the state of my eyebrows or the performance of the new product or check if I need a double cleanse. Genius.

5. Pay attention to dehydrated skin

I’ve just finished reading Caroline Hirons’ fantastic book Skincare (that’s a big tick for resolution no.2) and had no idea she was so obsessed with flannels and spritzing. Her skin always looks perfectly hydrated so I’m taking a leaf out of her book (yes I went there) and misting morning and evening with hyaluronic acid for an extra layer of hydration.

Does anyone have any beauty resolutions to share for the coming year?

Features gifted products.