Features > 2011 Beauty New Year's Resolutions

2011 Beauty New Year's Resolutions

Make Up It's a new year and now is the perfect time to look at your beauty regime and make sure you get in all the right beauty habits for the year ahead.

Declutter Your Makeup
Look through your makeup store and throw away anything which has separated, smells funny, or has changed colour. There's also no point holding onto really old makeup so if it's over a year old, chuck it in the bin. Take a close look at all your makeup applicators - the makeup brushes, sponges and puffs. If they are looking a bit worse for wear, now is a great time to buy some new ones. If they are in a good condition clean them gently with shampoo.

Moisturise
If you don't moisturise every day, now is a great time to start. Try and choose a daily moisturiser which has an SPF of 15 as this will give you UVA and UVB protection on your face. Don't forget to also use a small amount on your neck, decolletage and back of your hands. SPF is important as sun damage can cause skin ageing, discolouration and wrinkles.

Cleansing
It is important to clean your face every day to ensure your skin stays clean. There are plenty of different products out there so there is bound to be one which suits you - from the no fuss, easy-to-use cleansing wipes, to facial washes. Try also using a face scrub once a week to give your skin a healthy glow.

Sleep
A Swedish study published in the British Medical Journal showed how important sleep was in peoples' perceptions of beauty. People were asked to compare photos of men and women - one set of photos were after a eight hours of good sleep whilst the second set showed the same people after a night of poor sleep. The results showed that after a night of poor sleep, people were perceived as less attractive and healthy than when they had had a good nights sleep.

(Photo Credit: Andrzej Gdula)