Note: If you think these are exceptional strategies in your beauty regimens, continue doing them. This is not a documented law saying that you cannot. These are my own personal opinions.
Skin Care
Hydration. Do not underestimate the power water has for the skin and your general health. I have heard so many people say their New Year's Resolution is to drink more water, but what is "more?" Some people completely forget to drink water throughout the day. They start with coffee or orange juice in the morning and go straight to sodas and alcoholic beverages in the afternoon and evening. Water can help tighten the look of pores, brighten dark circles, and make you look more awake.
Stop the hot showers. Yes, I know, jumping into a hot shower on a cold, winter day may seem like the greatest idea, but it's not. Skin is more fragile than you think. When standing in a hot, steamy shower for a long period of time, it can cause your skin to lose its oil barriers, which causes dry and itchy skin in the long run. Using lukewarm water for a majority of the shower will suffice, but cold water is best to help tighten your skin without drying it, and your hair follicles will also benefit from the decreased temperature.
Don't skip the lotion. Especially if you are one of those people who can't live without a hot shower, keep this in mind. In order to remedy your dry, cracked skin, reaching for a bottle of heavy-duty lotion post-shower is a must. It's easily overlooked, but your skin will thank you once it is relieved its itchy and flaky self.
Over-exfoliating does exist. No one wants dead skin cells, that's a fact. We all are a fan of a good scrub or peel to rid our faces and bodies of dead skin cells to reveal the glowing, soft skin underneath, but there is a line that can be crossed when getting involved with a scrub. Over-exfoliating can cause cracked, chapped skin. Take caution when doing so and keep it to once a week.
Not all sunscreens are made equal. Whether you live in Russia or Australia, sunscreen is important. If you are ever exposed to the sun, carrying an SPF around is detrimental to your skin's health, and no, tanning oil does not count. Even if you "never burn," you should still be wearing, at least, SPF 30 when being directly exposed to sunlight to ensure your skin is protected. More is always better, and reapplying is also necessary to stay protected.
Makeup
Contouring is not required. Daytime makeup is very different than what should be worn to a party or the bar. Clown contouring, for example... I don't even know where to start. For the love of all things natural, please stop with the excessive facial mapping with random mismatched colors and pretending a Beautyblender can save your life. It needs to stop. Subtle enhancements cease to exist anymore. 2016 should be the year that you are happy to look at your bare face in the mirror without hating how you look. Let's declare body-positivity by wearing powder contour (if that's even necessary) to create more natural and subtle enhancements... notice how I didn't say changes.
It's called foundation for a reason. Don't get me wrong, a good foundation makes the rest of the look come together. You want flawless skin to match your flawless eyebrows, cheeks, and lips, but you don't want the foundation to be the center of attention. Drowning your face in a full coverage foundation to go to work or classes is so unnecessary. This technique may look good in photos and videos, but not for real face-to-face appearances in a business meeting or a classroom. Use a natural foundation, and less of it.
Let's keep baking in the kitchen. 'Baking' your makeup has been around for a long time, but for some reason, is finally making its debut. Dancers, performers, even drag queens use the technique of layering heavy amounts of powder on their face to sit or "bake" on the skin. It gives a very strong, very prominent effect that looks great under large, bright stage lights. For a day-to-day basis... not so much. The problem with baking is that unless you have baby-soft, flawless skin, it will emphasize the fine lines or dry skin you are applying the powder to. Your skin will look worse than how it started.
Give it a rest, ombré lips. Makeup was created to enhance what you have, not to make illusions and confuse people. This look was invented to make lips look bigger and fuller, but it really just looks like you started with one color, put it down for a minute, and came back to it with a different color. Softer looks should come back into trend because you will always have the face you have, so the look is just timeless. But these days it's all about the definition and the creation of illusions.
Matte brown lips can leave the building. I don't want to name any names, but we all know what I mean. The look is just super unflattering, no matter what skin color, hair color, or eye color you have. It's an incredibly aging look and does nothing to compliment other features. It's a very bland look. What happened to that "red lip classic thing that you like?" (Sorry had to throw some Taylor Swift in there!)
I hope that will help you make a few resolutions for 2016. I am most certianly going to do these things to prevent my skin from aging and becoming dry. Drink more water, take care of your skin, be happy with who you are! Love it all! What are some other New Year's Resolutions you have? Let me know in the comments!
xx Amanda
Twitter & Instagram: @amanda_wymore
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