It’s 2018! New Year, New Us. Or...maybe not. The concept of “resolutions” can be aggressive, triggering and leave us feeling worse about ourselves when we don’t achieve our goals. Every year we are growing and evolving to become the best version of ourselves, and we’d be lying if we said we didn’t feel accomplished in 2017. So instead of implying there’s something to “resolve,” we’re loving our starting point, and using this time to reflect on the past 12 months and set positive intentions for the future. Here are a few.
Let go
It’s about time to confront those beauty products sitting in a bag under our sink and throw. shit. out. We’re starting by giving stuff away to friends who can use it...if it’s not expired! (Did you know beauty products actually go bad? Although the FDA doesn’t require an expiration date, most products have a Period After Opening mark on their packaging to show you how long it’s good for. Look on the back near the bottom for a little container with a number inside of it. That number indicates the amount of months the products is good for after opening. Or if your product doesn’t have a PAO mark on it, check the smell, consistency, and coloring. If it has changed from when you originally got it, chances are it’s no good.)
Move our bodies
Standing or sitting all day has not been kind to our spines. Yoga has been a big help in getting our muscles stretched and curing some of our back pains. It also gives our brains a much needed break from daily stressors that tend to pile up. Even just five minutes of stretching in the morning and before bed can make a big difference on how we feel throughout the day. More of this good stuff!
Cleaning our brushes
Makeup and hair brushes tend to get daily use. We know by now how much product get gunked up on our makeup brushes which leads to bacteria growth. Not cute. And we tend to forget how dirty our hair brushes are! If you’re using product and go outside ever, your brushes have all sorts of stuff piled on the bristles. Although it’s best to clean all brushes every week, once a month is a good place to start a habit. For a simple step-by-step for cleaning makeup brushes we’ve got you covered.
Apply daily sunscreen
This is a must for EVERYONE (sorry for yelling) regardless of your complexion. The sun is pretty cool, but not so much to our skin. Skin is the largest organ on our bodies and although it’s pretty resilient, it still needs protection from invisible aggressors. UV rays don’t just create sunburns, they can actually damage or kill skin cells by penetrating into deeper layers. Gnarly; no thanks.
Hydrate
We are literally made of water. We need it to survive and thrive, honey! And let’s be honest, there are plenty of things we are doing to dehydrate ourselves. Excessive amounts of coffee, happy hour, running around all day to get shit done...we are constantly drying ourselves out. Although science hasn’t proven drinking lots of water leads to being “better looking,” proper hydration is connected to all areas of health, including hair and skin. And we’ve come to the consensus that we don’t look or feel our best after neglecting our water bottles.
Own Our Age
Fact: We’re getting older. CONGRATULATIONS TO US! A whole year went by and we’re still kickin it! There’s never been a better time to love every inch of ourselves, including our evolving wrinkles. We are over feeling like we need to feel bad about ourselves if we don’t adhere to a “standard” that’s been marketed to us. If we choose to fill, plump, or freeze something, that’s cool too, but it is by no means a requirement.
Soften up
If you live in a city you might be aware of how dirty everything is, especially public transit (shout out to the frozen puke in the subway this morning.) Regular hand-washing is a major must. Combine that with dry-ass winters, and suddenly our hands, feet, cuticles, lips...every part of us is chapped! Putting lotion on our bodies feels luxurious like we’re, well, taking care of ourselves. So we’re making moisture a priority. For more ways to soften up, peep our Winter Skincare Lifesavers!
Calm our nervous habits
Playing with the ends of our hair is a bad lil habit and most of the time we don’t even realize we’re doing it. It may keep our hands busy, but it strips the hair of moisture and causes breakage, especially since our hair is bleached and color-treated. We wanna avoid the “crispy bits,” so we’re trying our best to keep our hands in our laps.
Invest in what matters
It’s 2018 y’all. This year we CANCEL all things unabashedly problematic – public figures, corporations, that guy we did improv with who was revealed to be an abuser. Get OUT of here, loser! We can’t change the world overnight, but we can start with our credit cards. For example, we love animals. So we’re going cruelty free, and we invite you to join us! If you’re new to the cause, don’t fear – there are options! We’ve listed some of our favorites here. We’re ready to put our money where our mouth is and only invest in companies that aren’t assholes.
Shop Wisely
“More expensive” does not always mean “better.” Often there are affordable alternatives to designer products that do almost the exact same thing (sometimes they even have the same ingredients). Makeup adds UP, so we’re gonna start looking for dupes...and sharing our VIB Rouge status. Shhhh.
Make Our Own
Natural beauty products are nothing new. How else do you think the first products were made? The FDA restrictions for product ingredients are laughably lax, and making our own is one way to know for sure what’s inside. Tons of research will be required to make sure we’re using safe, effective ingredients, but we’re gonna get reading and give it a try! We’ve had pretty good results using natural ingredients for face masks in the past and it’s worth a shot if it means fewer chemicals on (and in) our bodies.
what are your positive intentions for 2018? We want to hear them! hit us up on instagram @beautydummy or email us at beautydummyblog@gmail.com. We love to chat.
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