As it always happens, this holiday season might look a little different for everyone. Whether we’re spending these days picking out our best pajamas for the evening, or carefully blending in four shades of eyeshadows, there’s no better time to wipe the slate clean and bring everyone’s mood down by bringing up New Year’s resolutions.
Allow me to explain. While most of us could stand to drink less, exercise more, and meditate every day, there is something particularly annoying hearing your friends go on a dry January, train for a marathon, and count calories. It almost feels like the carriage has poofed itself back to a pumpkin. I mean, does anyone really want to start their new year with daunting tasks like learning a new language or forgoing gluten? Aren’t new year’s difficult enough already?
Skincare resolutions, on the other hand, feel fun and easy breezy. I am not talking about a complete overhaul to your routine, just little additions and swaps that promise to make your regimes healthier and are a snap to follow.
My first bone to pick is with make-up wipes. No really, stop now. It is time to leave the rubbish in the past and to commit to choosing a make-up removing alternative that stays away from the toxic reality of facial wipes. Yes, they might be affordable and easy to use in a pinch, but they block our drainage, end up in our oceans and honestly, don’t even clean make-up out well. They don’t seep in deep enough to clean your pores, and the violently aggressive scrubbing causes unwanted irritation. Hard pass! If you are not in the market for cleansing oils, balms, and waters at all, consider investing in reusable make-up wipes instead.
Honestly, make better choices. While a zero-waste beauty routine might be a big ask and difficult to undertake, start small with refills and recycling your empties. I have had my eyes and heart set on L’Occitane’s refills, which come in massive pouches and help you save up to 80 per cent of the plastic used in the original product. They have also partnered with a social enterprise, Saahas Zero Waste, to help recycle used products.
I am hoping these beauty bits are easy to incorporate, unlike the non-actionable grandiose yet vague mantras that tend to come up during this time of the year (looking at you, “live life to the fullest”). Besides, maybe I do not want to stop replacing my cookies with entire meals, okay? Let me live! On that note, wishing all my lovely readers a healthier year.