Consistency is key with self care!

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One of the things I am adamant about is creating goals, vision boards, and routines for different areas of your life — and beauty and self care are no exception! I have several beauty routines locked in as habits such as my morning and nighttime 10-step skincare routine, slathering glops of sunscreen on my face and neck daily no matter the time of day or weather, masking, using scalp oil, primarily eating skin foods, and getting routine beauty treatments — but I have resolutions below on what I’d like to work on this year.

My theme of 2024 is consistency, and beauty routines are one of the best ways to get yourself into the habit of a new routine - which can then train your mind to do the same for other areas in your life. If you can dedicate 20 minutes a day to self care and hygiene, you can most certainly do the same for learning a new skill or getting into the habit of doing a task. Cheers to glowing up from the inside out in 2024!

1. Daily Sunscreen on Chest and Hands

   As stated above, I am a pro at ensuring my EltaMd UV Clear suncreen is on my face and neck at all times, even if I am just running errands in the evening. However, aging indicators start with the chest and hands, and I have been not so great at putting sunscreen on those areas as well. I especially need to get into the habit of putting sunscreen on my hands before getting my nails done, to protect them from the UV rays used with drying gel polish.

2. Weekly Body Brushing

   I purchased the Gilded Body marble body brush for one of my best friends, and loved it so much that I got one for myself as well. However, I have not been consistent with using it on a frequent basis — why invest in these tools if I am not going to do the work to reap its benefits? So this year, I am going to ensure that I place it visibly to remind myself to dry brush before I shower. There are so many benefits to dry brushing such as detoxing the skin, simulating the same nervous system response as getting a massage, increasing circulation, and of course gently exfoliating the skin.

3. Daily Hand Cream

   Piggybacking off of my first resolution, I am going to implement hand cream into my daily routine. I tend to put it on only when I notice my hands are dry, but I would like to be more proactive. Especially in the winter, the sides of my fingers get very dry and cracked. My favorite hand cream brand is Compagnie de Provence (along with their hand soap that I constantly rave about).

4. Consistent Use of Skin Tools

   I have multiple skin tools sitting in my beauty cabinet collecting dust, and really dropped the ball on remembering to use them the past couple of years (burnout can really take a toll on your motivation to do any self care). Most notably, my Dr. Dennis Gross light therapy mask and Nurse Jamie face roller. I used to be so good about using them everyday, and it’s time to get back into the routine! I also intend to get cryo sticks this year, and focus on doing cold therapy to my under eyes.

5. Hydration

   I like to think that I’m generally good about drinking a lot of water, but it definitely goes in phases. I have not been keeping my Erewhon Simple Modern tumbler on my desk recently, which I need to do to remind myself to drink water — especially with the amount of espresso I drink. I just got a SimPure reverse osmosis water machine during Prime Day, so I have no excuse on not having readily available pristine filtered water. People often forget that staying hydrated is key to skin health!

6. Daily Use of Sakara Beauty Drops

   I go in phases of making my Antioxidant Beauty Smoothie where I do put in my Sakara beauty drops, but I’d like to start putting the drops in my regular water as well in order to really ensure that my body is getting enough minerals. If you are unaware of the product or would like to further research it, you can find the ionic mineral ingredients list here under ‘key ingredients’.

7. Consistent Use of Teeth Whitening Pen

   I have a long laundry list of exciting blog topics for this year, and included is britebar, my favorite teeth whitening bar in Los Angeles for sensitive teeth. With every visit you also get a free whitening pen, which the owner always reminds me to use consistently and yet I always forget to over time. Not this year — pearly whites here I come!

8. Daily Vitamins

   I touch on the importance of doing a blood panel every year in my B12 blog post, but must emphasize that vitamin deficiencies can truly impact everything from your mood, energy levels, sleep quality, hair, skin — you name it! I was even asked about my blood panel results when I went to a Japanese headspa (blog post coming soon).

   The good news is that I am no longer deficient in B12 (getting weekly B12 shots was a success!), but am deficient in Vitamin D as I usually am (it’s hard not to be with solar urticaria). Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins for your health, and I really need to be on top of ensuring I am taking it daily!

9. Stop Threading Eyebrows

   I have gotten my eyebrows threaded ever since middle school, but decided to try out the plucking route at Sania’s Brow Bar in NYC and The BrowGal by Tonya Crooks in LA this past year (both filled with celebrity clientele!). Growing up I had a bad habit of overplucking my eyebrows like the 2000’s magazines, and had terrible experiences with waxing/sugaring in college, where I went to special outings with raw skin that had been waxed off — so I always ended up back to threading.

   When I visited these brow bars this past year, I was scolded as they both could immediately tell that I threaded my eyebrows and it was inhibiting hairs from growing back in certain areas. It’s going to be hard as I found a great threading studio a few blocks away, but I need to take care of what’s left of my precious eyebrow hairs!

10. Replace Silk Pillowcase Every Other Day

    My current cadence of washing my bedding is every week and I have 6 pillows on my bed so I tend to switch off which one I lay on, but pillowcases can collect germs and dirt very quickly! I need to do a better job of either getting another set of Slip pillowcases, or setting reminders to wash my pillowcases every other day.

11. Weekly Makeup Brush & Hair Tool Washing

    A few months ago I bought a makeup brush cleaning machine and still have yet to use it as I am so used to quickly using my Jane Iredale brush cleaning spray. I need to set one day of the week to actually use it, along with including my hair tools so that they do not contribute to more oils or buildup.

12. Cuticle and Foot Care

    This is probably last in most people’s priorities for beauty and self care, but very important! I get a dip manicure and gel pedicure every 3 weeks where my dead skin is taken care of, but I have cuticle and foot products that I discovered from the Nordstrom Spa in Seattle several years ago that work so well! The brand is called Gehwol, and they have amazing foot gels, creams, and even cuticle oil. They have been sitting in my beauty cabinet and used every blue moon, but I plan to include them in my daily and weekly beauty routines.

If any of these beauty resolutions resonated with you, I created a ShopMy edit below with all of the products and tools I mentioned! XO

Interested in working with me? Schedule here!

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