Happy New Year! First, let me say that I hope you had a nice, relaxing and restful holiday. Second, 2021 has already shown its ugly side so there are more lockdowns and more upheaval, which only means we need more self-care and stress management in the new year.
I’m a silver lining kind of gal and there were tons of self-care, beauty and wellness trends that got us through 2020 that we can continue into 2021. Plus, I have made a few new beauty resolutions to add in that will get me through this year. Here’s a recap of where we have been and what to look forward to!
Serums & Masks
Working from home certainly has its benefits. I have always loved a good serum and a weekly mask, but in our new world, I was able to apply these more often (always with my Zoom camera off!) and more regularly. Without wearing makeup during the day, I could pop into my bathroom for a quick eye mask treatment, (we all know that “the eyes have it” since that’s what you see while wearing a mask) like the Shiseido WrinkleResist24 Pure Retinol Express Smoothing Eye Mask . For all over hydration and glow, I would take a 15 minute break and apply the Caudalie Moisturizing Mask. It is uber-nourishing with grape seed oil and olive squalane to keep skin from getting dehydrated. When the Zoom camera was on, I noticed a few brown spots that needed some extra attention, so Vitamin C became a staple that I won’t ever put down. After much experimentation, my favorite that has shown results is the BeautyStat Universal C Skin Refiner which contains 20% of powerful Vitamin C!
Everything Hair
Once our salons closed, we became very crafty at coloring, cutting, and treating our own hair. Hair masks and serums went from ‘I don’t have time’ to weekly staples in order to keep our grown out tresses tame. My favorite overnight treatment is the Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Night Cap Overnight Protector. I was amazed at how lightweight this is and it does not leave a mess on your pillow while you snooze. You wake up and wash, and you will not believe how soft and smooth your hair will feel! I also must gush about the Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector. My mom has thick, coarse, wavy hair and she is a tough customer to please. I gave her this based on a friend’s reco (thanks, Janet!) and I have never seen her hair look better! It was soft, smooth, and shiny…aka healthy! When my Mom says ‘feel my hair’, I know it is a winner!
Home Fragrance
Since we were staying at home all-the-time, home fragrance saw an unprecedented growth. Candles, diffusers and sprays, oh my! Some of the ones that made me happy to stay home were Jo Malone’s Blackberry & Bay Candle along with the Nest Linen Reed Diffuser.
Beauty Tools
Now on to the beauty resolution I have made for 2021. Beauty tools were huge in 2020 but I had my hands full with home schooling, working, baking bread, and all my other newly incorporated self-care activities. So this year, I am adding in skincare tools to take my game up a notch. In my arsenal, I have the NuFace Trinity, the DermaFlash Pore Extractor and the PMD Personal Microderm Device. I will be testing each of these out for you and reporting back soon with my results!
One last beauty resolution that we all need to make us feel more energized and look more youthful….drink water! I found myself drinking more wine than water in 2020 so this year, I am making sure to get back to drinking plenty of the good stuff that makes my skin glow from the inside out.
Happy New Year!