Something about the new year always makes me so excited. It might be the (over) planner and (constant) list maker inside of me, but setting new goals is something that genuinely brings a smile to my face. Every couple’s weeks we do our best to review our life and impact on this earth and see where we can do better, and that’s something that brings us joy. But with new year goals I try to hone in on one category that I really want to educate myself on and master. Last year my goal was to confidently raise a vegan baby. The year before we were all about holistic pregnancy and home birth. And this year I want to focus on natural and eastern beauty regimes.
Having a fun goal where you feel like a student eager to learn is such an awakening feeling between all the day to day work you have to do. I so encourage you try to find something you want to get better at and make it a goal to learn learn learn this year! Here are three things I’m starting to do :
// H Y D R A T I O N HYDRATION HYDRATION : There’s a reason every Victoria secret model’s secret to flawless skin is to drink a ton of water. Now I don’t know about you but I’m the type of person realizes all I had to drink that day was coffee, chugs a bottle of water before bed, and calls it a day (super healthy, I know). One night a couple weeks ago, out of curiosity (and that late night burst of energy you get to google something random) I did some research on how much water I should actually be drinking a day. To my surprise I read article after article about the effects water has on your mind and body and it was so much more than I could have imagined. And do you know how much water we should really be drinking? (And no, not that 8 glass nonsense someone started a rumor about.) It’s actually a MINIMUM of 2/3 our body weight in ounces. So I went from having 15 oz of water (on a good day) to making sure I got at least 70 oz a day and woah guys, my skin is all sorts of radiant. Of all the things I’ll learn in these next 12 months, I just have a hunch this will always be the number one way to keep your skin healthy and glowing.
// DOUBLE CLEANSE : If you don’t wear a lot of makeup and live in a perfect fresh air village, this might not be for you. But for all the city go-ers, makeup wear-ers, extra concealer cause I’m so tired type of people, this is a must. In eastern beauty, people do this without question to help prevent aging, but for some reason I’ve never heard of this mentioned before. Double cleaning is exactly what it sounds like- double cleansing. You first use a a liquid or oil cleaners to remove all makeup and excess sebum, and then rinse with warm water. After, you apply a mild foaming cleanser in soft motions to really purify your skin and prevent acne and black heads from building. This helps balance your pH level in your skin and ultimately reduces redness, texture, and dryness.
// FALL IN LOVE WITH TEA : This one has been pretty hard for me over the years, which probably has everything to do with my coffee addiction (seriously coffee anonymous anyone?). But the truth is, there are detoxifying teas that really help keep our skin young. Particularly ginseng, green tea, pu-erh tea, turmeric, or barley tea. If you haven’t found something you can supplement your coffee for, at least add in a cup or two as an afternoon pick me up and your body will thank you for it.
Other small tips I learned along the way :
Pat Pat Pat. No more rubbing and pulling on the skin with a towel (especially the delicate eye area). The more you pull and pry, the looser the skin will get, and the saggier it will become.
Use essential oils : Rose hip in the morning, lavender to fight aging, and frankincense to reduce enlarged pores.
Keep your masks in the fridge : Getting the most out of your paper masks meaning storing them in the fridge and applying them at least 2-3 times a week. With all the pollution and unhealthy things in most of our days, this is a great way to give your skin the extra kick it needs.
Shop some of my favorite below, and leave all of your tips and tricks! I’d love to add them to next months post 🙂
Drinking lots of water is really good for the skin because of its benefits not only on our skin but also inside. When I was doing a research about skincare, I came across another blog that features Korean skincare routine. Koreans do not only prioritize the use of essence; they also emphasize the importance of water in cleansing toxins inside our body. And please don’t forget removing your make-up before going to sleep. A lot of us tend to leave our make-up on overnight when we’re already tired. Anyway, if you could give up coffee or just lessen your consumption, that will be good to maintain a healthy skin.