The New Year has come and gone, and 2018 is officially here. You've already resolved to break your bad beauty habits — but sometimes, it's equally important to START new, better beauty habits. And what better time than January to begin to cultivate them?
So in the spirit of the New Year, here are 18 really good beauty habits that you should definitely get into in 2018. Your future self will thank you.
I will wash my face in the morning and at night.
No more being sporadic with your cleansing — in 2018, make a promise to yourself to ALWAYS wash your face in the morning, and before you go to bed at night. Not only is this a soothing way to begin and end the day, it serves a really important skincare purpose: getting rid of the gunk. In the morning, you're washing away sweat, excess sebum, and acne-causing bacteria — at night, it's all your makeup and the grime of the day.
I will stop biting my nails.
Easier said than done, I know — I bit my nails for the majority of my life, and breaking that habit is one of the best things I've ever done.
If you're a biter, a picker, or a nervous clipper, I feel you… and it's time to make 2018 the year that you stop. Whether you use a mindfulness app in moments of stress, cover your fingers with bite-stopping pepper polish, or you consult a doctor, resolve that your nails will be long, strong, and gorgeous by January 1, 2019.
I will wear SPF every day.
Yes, that *is* the weird baby sun from Teletubbies, because it's kinda hard to represent abstract concepts without being cheesy sometimes. Enjoy the nostalgia.
ANYWAY. If there is one thing that I've learned from years spent interviewing hundreds of dermatologists, it is that YOU MUST WEAR SUNSCREEN. Skin cancer is real, premature aging happens, and protecting yourself on the daily is absolutely essential.
Luckily for everyone, it's very simple to incorporate SPF into your daily routine — switch your daily moisturizer for one that has sun protection built into it (I like CeraVe AM, but that's just me), use a spray sunscreen before you go outside, and have a hat and cover-up on hand if you're spending a long time outside in the sun.
Your skin — and possibly your life — will thank you.
Find a skincare routine that works for you.
Let's leave all the bad skincare products we tried and didn't love in 2017 — 2018 is all about finding a routine that addresses YOUR skin concerns, and truly works for you. Whether it's going oil-free, embracing a serum, or finally saying "BYEEEEEEEE" to acne once and for all, this is the year you try new things and REALLY get your complexion looking fantastic.
I will see a dermatologist if and when I need to.
Another thing I wish I could take out a billboard in Times Square: Dermatologists are your friends, and they can REALLY help you. If you feel like you've tried every product that promises miracles and nothing has helped, it's time to see a doctor.
Skin issues (like acne) are medical conditions, and they often need a doctor to help fix them. I struggled for YEARS with intermittent breakouts, and it wasn't until getting three simple prescriptions from my dermatologist (Dr. Estee Williams) that I got it under control. Apart from that, she's been SO valuable to me in terms of advice, recommending products, and improving my skincare routine.
In 2018, resolve not to suffer. If something is going on with your face, don't make YouTube your first port of call — see a doctor instead.
Get organized!
OK — so this super-luxurious vanity is a dream. But in 2018, let's all join hands and promise that we'll never again have to spend 30 minutes rummaging through an old shoebox to find that one particular shade of lipstick again.
That's right — it's time to get organized.
Whether you have the space for an entire glam room with products arranged by type and color, or a portable train case with sections for the things you use every day, you can make the most of the space you have. The goal shouldn't be for everything to look picture-perfect — as long as everything is stored correctly, stays clean, and you know where everything is, you've hit the beauty organizational jackpot.
Take better care of your makeup.
I know you're probably not dissecting your precious Trophy Wife — but are you keeping all your products clean? Are you washing your brushes regularly? Are you replacing your sponges on the regular?
We could ALL do better at this. Let's make it official and promise to do better this year.
I will take pleasure in my beauty routine.
Beauty should never feel like punishment. If there's an aspect of your current beauty routine that is tedious or feels like an exercise in self-loathing, it's time to change it up.
Is it a product issue? Try another one. Is it an emotional thing? Ask yourself "How can I get these same results WITHOUT engaging in behaviors that hurt me?" and make changes accordingly. Do you just not like doing something? Perhaps 2018 is the year you just stop doing it.
Beauty isn't pain — it's meant to be fun. There are plenty of things to find stressful in this world, but taking care of yourself shouldn't be one of them.
I will try more new things.
There's nothing wrong with nude lip glosses and tasteful ombre hair — but there's so much else out there to try! The new year is the PERFECT time to break out of your comfort zone and try something new.
Maybe it's something totally wild, like Fenty Beauty's green lipstick. Maybe it's a brand you've heard about but never tried before. And maybe it's finally taking the plunge and doing the one thing you've always been scared of — cutting your hair, contouring, getting back into lip gloss.
If you try something new and it doesn't work out, what does it matter? Hair grows, makeup washes off, gel nails can be removed. But who knows — you might love it. And life is WAY too short to only ever do one thing.
I will not get down on myself about the way I look.
You don't have to be a cultural critic to realize we live in a world that values women and femme-identifying people for their attractiveness. Everything, from the advertising we see to the underlying messages in TV and movies, encourages us to feel bad about ourselves about the way we look. No matter how pretty we are, we're never enough.
And that's bullshit.
We all swim in this toxic, hate-filled cultural soup — but we get to make choices about how much that affects us. Decide, right now, that YOU ARE WONDERFUL and YOU ARE ENOUGH EXACTLY AS YOU ARE. Not if you "erase" your wrinkles. Not if you lose or gain weight. Not if you buy a particular shade of lipstick — you're amazing just like this.
If you come at life from a place of insurmountable confidence and power, you'll be amazed at how much easier things can become. I'm not saying that the world will magically stop being a sexist, racist, classist place because you've decided to like how your face looks… but you'll be in a much stronger emotional place to address those issues head-on.
I will not compare myself to unattainable standards of beauty.
We all know that celebrities and influencers only ever share the most perfect, idealized images of themselves. But that's hard to remember when you're subjected to those super-edited, FaceTuned images for hours every single day. Comparing yourself to others is a pretty normal thing to do — but in 2018, make an effort to stop comparing your real self to other people's unattainable personas.
Instagram influencers Facetune their "no makeup" selfies. YouTubers use "pretty filters" to make their skin more perfect in videos. Hell, Khloe Kardashian is one of the most beautiful women in the world, but even *she* doesn't look like her super-edited Instagram pictures.
Don't compare yourself to a standard of beauty that literally doesn't exist in real life. It will only ever hurt you.
I will understand how the social media sausage gets made.
Never forget the influencer who admitted they couldn't apply fake eyelashes, so just Photoshops them on instead. No shade to that — this person was just trying to adhere to the "Instagram beauty" standard so they could break out.
I don't want to unduly shade social media, or the people who leverage it to become successful. I *do* want to call attention to the fact that being an influencer is a real job right now, and people will do all sorts of wild stuff to try to get there.
I will take care of my insides as well as I take care of my outsides.
Getting your skincare on lock, trying new shades of lipstick — that's all great. But the best thing that you can do for your beauty game, bar NONE, is take care of your brain, your heart, and your emotions.
For most of us, beauty is a really personal thing — it ties into how we feel about ourselves, our early memories, our sense of worth. If you're not happy with who you are, there's not enough makeup in the world to compensate for that.
So in 2018, resolve to take care of your insides as much as you take care of your outsides. Do you need to go to the gym to manage your stress? See a doctor? Meditate? Nap? Make time — and give yourself permission — to do all of that.
I will only buy the products I genuinely want.
Real question: How many beauty products do you have that you've only used once?
Probably a lot, right? You bought them because they were cool, or new, or you thought maybe you could use them IF you totally changed your entire style… and then they sat in a drawer.
There's no point berating yourself because you didn't change the core of who you are to match a new palette — but in 2018, promise yourself that you'll only buy products that you truly LOVE and will get use out of. You'll save money AND space on your vanity.
I will support other beauty-lovers, not drag them down.
There's a time to hold powerful people to account for their actions and demand they do better — but there's no room in the beauty world for bullying, threats, and nasty judgement of others.
We all love makeup, and we all want the beauty space to be as gorgeous and creative and diverse as possible. So the time for being unkind to other people because we can is OVER.
Let's build a better world in 2018 — and that starts with lifting one another up, not tearing anyone else down.
I will support brands and influencers who make the beauty world BETTER.
Jackie Aina uses her massive public platform to advocate for better representation of Black women in the beauty world. She's making a big, powerful difference — and in 2018, we should support her, and the influencers like her, who are actively trying to create POSITIVE change.
My motto will be "Life's too short for boring makeup."
Beauty rules aren't real. If you like it, wear it — you will NEVER regret following your makeup dreams with your entire heart.
I will spend the next 365 days LOVING myself. Period.
Sometimes the world makes us all feel like we're not enough. Sometimes the beauty world makes us think we don't measure up, and there's this endless ticker tape loop running through our heads of all the things we could change to be perfect.
Let's work to silence that in 2018 — or at least drown it out with self-love.
No matter how you change, no matter what you look like, no matter what you do or wear — know that you're amazing. You don't have to be anyone else, and you don't have to live up to any expectations but your own.
You're gorgeous and you're strong. Now let's go out there and make 2018 the best, most gorgeous year ever.
