The Easiest (But Most Effective!) New Year Skin Goals
Incoming... skincare goals that truly make a difference. Count us in.
We don’t know about you, but years of making pointless new year’s resolutions ‘just for the sake of it’ have made us somewhat over them. Sure, it’s great to have ambitions and personal goals to strive for, but forcing yourself to come up with something, just because it’s the start of a new year? That’s a hard pass from us.
Making skincare goals, however, is something we can totally get on board with. And if you’re reading this you’re probably in complete agreement. Because knowing you’re doing your best for your skin – even if you change only one habit or add just one extra product to your routine – is worth a thousand ‘I shall spend less at Starbucks’ false promises.
So, on that note, to follow are some very doable skincare goals for you to totally crush this year.
DO Reassess Your Skin
Your skin is not the same as it was ten years ago. Heck, it’s not even the same as it was this time last year. So, spend a few minutes taking a good, long look in the mirror to see what’s going on. Are you noticing some redness? Maybe a few extra dark spots have appeared? Perhaps your skin is feeling more dehydrated than it used to? Or, wait, is it weirdly oilier?
You can only deal with skin concerns if you actually know what they are, so make sure you’re totally on the ball with where your skin is at right now. Then you’ll be able to act accordingly with targeted skincare and better lifestyle habits.
DON’T Use Cleansing Wipes On The Reg
Face wipes are fine in a pinch but most of them are doused in drying chemicals that do your skin zero good. Granted, they might be called ‘cleansing wipes,’ but rarely do they actually cleanse your skin thoroughly – instead they simply move surface debris around a bit. Then there’s the fact that they’re mostly made from synthetic, non-biodegradable materials which end up hanging around in landfills for up to 100 (no joke!) years.
You might be tired, but make it a priority to cleanse your skin with a decent face wash morning and night. Try Vitamin C Brightening Cleanser which is so delightful, you’ll actually enjoy using it.
DO Moisturize Skin When Damp
You’ll have had undoubtedly heard this trick before, but we bet you don’t actually put it into practice, right? Well, try it. You see, applying moisturizing while your skin is still slightly damp from cleansing helps to seal in those tiny droplets of water that are left hanging around at the surface. It’s basically free moisture your skin will really benefit from – especially during winter when the air is extremely drying on your poor skin. C’mon, when we put it like that, it seems insane not to.
DON’T Give Up On Retinol
Retinol is one of the most effective topical ingredients for the skin. It deals with premature aging, it helps keep acne under control, it protects your skin from environmental damage, it does your laundry. OK, so that last one is a bare-faced lie, but you get where we’re coming from.
The problem with retinol is that its potency can be hard to deal with – especially during the first few weeks when it can make your skin especially dry, red, flaky and even a little itchy. As long as it’s not causing discomfort, however, a little initial irritation is OK, it’s just your skin adjusting, so don’t give up. Simply reduce your frequency of use as your skin acclimates, then build back up again. Easy.
DO Give Your Neck Some Love
You may be meticulous with your facial skincare routine but if your habits stop at your chin, you’re doing yourself a real disservice. How so? Because your neck is one of the first places to show signs of aging.
The skin on your neck has fewer sebaceous glands than your face, you see, which means it can’t produce as much oil to keep it soft and moisturized. This is seriously bad news in the fight against dry skin, fine lines, wrinkles and sagging because moisture is essential for the firmness and elasticity of your skin.
Whatever you do to your face, continue down to your neck and décolletage area. Cleanse it, tone it, treat it with serum, moisturize it (we love Renewing Longevity Moisturizing Cream for the neck area) and protect it from the elements. It’s the least you can do.
DON’T Fret About Your Imperfections
If we asked you to name something you hate about your skin we bet you could reel off a few without taking a breath. Well, do you know what, those crow’s feet you hate or monthly breakouts that drive you crazy are not worth crying over. You’re not perfect. But big deal, who is? So instead of sweating over the bad stuff, do the best you can for your complexion with a consistent skincare and good lifestyle habits. And, instead of feeling all the skin self-hate, try to focus on the good. Sure, you have fine lines around your mouth, but hey, isn’t your forehead looking pretty fabulous?
DO Trash Old Products That Rarely See The Light Of Day
Skincare products do not last forever. In general, they’re usually good for around one year if previously opened or two years if unopened. Unless it says otherwise on the label, of course.
Go through your vanity and trash anything that’s older than two years. Allowing your products to collect dust in the vain hope you might go back to them one day? Not gonna happen.
DON’T Underestimate Your Bedtime Skincare Routine
Sleep time is crucial for your skin. As your brain goes into rest mode, your skin gets super busy. Blood flow increases to nourish it with valuable nutrients; cell turnover accelerates to bring fresh, healthy skin cells to the surface; collagen production revs up big time and your natural antioxidant system kicks it to help nix any free radicals which may have built up during the day.
If you go to bed with unclean, unmoisturized skin, this whole rejuvenation process becomes compromised. So don’t do that. Make sure you’re doing everything you can to ensure your skin is thoroughly cleansed before bed, then apply your favorite serum and moisturize with Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream.
DO Exfoliate More
As you get older, your skin doesn’t turn over as quickly. What does this mean? Well, when you’re in your 20s the life cycle of a skin cell is around 28 days during which time it’s created, moves up to the surface, then dies and sloughs away. Great. As you age, however, this process slows down and dead skin cells get ‘stuck’ at the surface where they cause uneven texture, blocked pores and dull-looking skin.
The good news is that exfoliation helps keep things moving at a more favorable rate, so how about increasing the frequency of your exfoliation game going forward? This can mean anything from once a week to three or four times a week but it depends on your skin so play around to find what works.
Our Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub is fantastic for gently brightening and exfoliating your skin without drying it out making it ideal for regular use. You could also try our 6% AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant which does without scrubbing particles and instead uses gentle skin acids to slough away dead cells. Neither are a bad choice. Far from it.
DON’T Ignore Sketchy-Looking Moles
Noticed a change in a mole? Get. It. Checked. Out. Moles that change in color, shape, texture or just start to feel or look wrong should always be immediately looked at by a qualified expert to rule out serious concerns such as melanoma. The chances are your mole is totally fine or, at least, can be treated quickly and painlessly, but it’s better to be on top of them.
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![These Skincare Boosts Are Just What Hungover Skin Needs]()
Reckon you’ll never see bright eyes and a glowing complexion again? On the contrary. Here’s how to hit the reset button on over-indulged skin.
Hangovers are bad enough. The headache. The foggy memory loss. The nausea. The maxed-out credit card. Oh the shame of it all. Plus there’s nobody to blame but yourself. Eugh, why do we do it to ourselves? You’d think we would have learnt better by now.
Ha, fat chance.
Another thing. Is it just us, or as we get older, don’t hangovers feel 3,000 times worse? And, hold on, but why does our skin look so freakin’ terrible? Surely that didn’t happen in our 20s right?
The truth is, hangovers do get worse with age because your body’s metabolism decreases allowing alcohol to hang around in your system for way longer than you’d like. Also, your liver becomes less efficient which means its less able to cope with all those toxins that alcohol throws at it. It will get there eventually but, again, it will take way longer than a 20-year-old liver. There are also other factors to take into consideration. Your body weight, whether you're taking any medication, all this adds up to longer, worse hangovers and ruddy-looking skin as a consequence.
Sigh.
How Alcohol Affects Your Skin
Alcohol affects your skin in a number of ways. Here are the biggest things you'll notice after a night (or two) on the sauce...
* Alcohol is a diuretic which means that it increases urine production, making you pee more frequently and therefore lose vital water. Cue dehydration and more visible fine lines.
* Excessive water loss also causes your body to miss out on vital vitamins, minerals and nutrients that help ‘feed’ your skin and strengthen its barrier function. Cue dullness.
* Alcohol causes your blood vessels to dilate. Cue redness and flare-ups in existing conditions like rosacea.
* Ever woken up after a boozy night out only to feel like you’ve slept for minutes, rather than hours? That’s because alcohol unbalances your sleep, causing you to wake up throughout the night. Cue dark under eye circles and puffy skin.
* Then there are all those free radicals that form and screw up your collagen and elastin. Cue accelerated skin aging.
5 Tips For Rejuvenating Morning-After Skin
No matter that we know how bad drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is for our health and our skin, we still do it. So if you find yourself experiencing some serious morning-after-the-night-before skin, here are five emergency sk-invigorating (see what we did there?) tricks to try.
1. Wake Up Your Skin
Even just stepping in the shower and letting the water fall over your body can instantly lift a hangover. But to really get your blood flowing and thus encourage oxygen and nutrients to flood to your skin, we recommend a good (but gentle) exfoliation session. Our energizing Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub is awesome for hungover skin as it also contains brightening whizz-kid, vitamin C – c’mon, it’s right there in the name!
Offering the effects of a mini facial (but with minimal effort), exfoliation helps clear out your pores and get rid of dead, dulling skin cells from the surface of your skin. It also boosts collagen production and smooths out the skin making it better able to absorb all the other goodies you’re about to treat it with. And trust us, your skin needs all the help it can get right now.
Gently work your scrub over your entire face and neck, using circular motions to lift and smooth out the skin as you massage it all over. And if you can bear it, try a cool rinse to finish. It’ll feel pretty savage at the time but, trust us, it’ll make you feel a million times better in the long-term.
2. Calm Redness
Facial flushing and booze go hand-in-hand for many people so if that includes you and you find that your redness lingers way into the next day, keep your morning-after routine simple and calming. Avoid exfoliating acids like glycolic and salicylic, and stick with gentle cleansers, hydrating toners and treatments that contain de-stressing ingredients like ceramides, aloe, vitamin E and niacinamide.
We love treating our skin with Rose Water Refreshing Facial Toner after a particularly boozy night out. This one-ingredient-only (er, rose water) facial spritz instantly calms and hydrates the skin after cleansing, plus it feels cooling and refreshing which is perfect when, inside, you feel neither of those things!
TOP TIP: In future, try to stick with clear spirits rather than red wine or dark liquor. Clear spirits like vodka, tequila and gin contain less histamines and are less likely to aggravate the skin or cause inflammation.
3. Reduce Puffiness
Too much booze makes your body want to retain water in a bid to combat dehydration. And fluid retention is the pits for your skin, inevitably making your face – and especially the area under the eyes – look puffy and swollen. It doesn’t help that you’ve also been starved of quality sleep which raises your levels of cortisol (the ‘stress’ hormone) which alters the salt balance in your body and forces it to retain even more water. Ever woken up after a big night out with under eyes bags the size of China? Yeah, this is exactly what we’re talking about.
To help pep up your face and reduce swelling, try a deep massage with your morning cleanse. Your hands are a powerful tool for getting blood flowing and improving lymphatic drainage so spend a few minutes working on your face to help depuff your skin.
When it comes to your eyes, place cold, used tea bags, cucumber slices or teaspoons over them and relax for 10 minutes. Anything cool will help reduce swelling by narrowing the blood vessels. Then, for an extra shot of depuffing freshness, follow with Depuffing Longevity Eye Cream.
4. Enjoy A Hit Of Multivits
Similar to how your oral multivitamins will give your body a much-needed pick-me-up, their topical cousins will also make your skin feel (and look!) a hundred times better. Vitamin C helps boost energy while vitamin E soothes and calms your skin. Then there are your Bs, D, F and K which all work together to balance the skin, neutralize damaging free radicals, protect your collagen supplies and strengthen the barrier function.
Our Multivitamin Facial Serum is a great post-party treatment because not only does it contain all of the above but it’s chock full of minerals and electrolytes for a complete, healthier-looking skin overhaul. Apply just a few drops to your face and neck after cleansing and toning and nobody will ever know about that extra shot of tequila you downed when you should really have been getting an Uber.
5. Load Up On Hydration
Morning-after thirst is real. Not only for your entire sorry being, but for your skin, too. So as well as drinking plenty of fluids to reduce nausea and a banging headache, you need to rehydrate and moisturize your skin from the outside in.
If you have some kind of intensely hydrating mask at hand, that’ll go a long way to taking the thirst away from parched skin. Look out for ingredients that draw water to the surface. These are called humectants and include things like glycerin, aloe vera and the biggest crowd-pleaser of them all, hyaluronic acid.
Our Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum contains all three of these big guns and believe us when we tell you that your skin is going to lap it all up! Apply it to damp skin to make the most of surface moisture, then finish with a rich day cream that contains botanical oils, ceramides and/or fatty acids to help seal it in for the rest of the day.
Our favorite post-party moisturizer? Undoubtedly Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer which blends antioxidant-rich green tea with jojoba oil and a cheeky hit of vitamin C to really get your glow back on.
Now, who's ready for another night out? Anyone?
These Skincare Boosts Are Just What Hungover Skin Needs
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