Forget about beauty resolutions; here are some beauty habits to try and stick to in 2023! And don’t feel like you have to do all of them at once because that can be overwhelming, much like your lists of resolutions you’ve made over the years. These are habits to incorporate into your daily, weekly, or monthly routine that might make your life a bit easier!
Declutter your products
If you’re a beauty lover like myself, you might have a few products on the go at once. What can I say? We like to switch things up a bit and use a few things simultaneously. Usually, with skincare and some makeup, you can tell if something needs to be replaced by the smell of it, but did you know that all beauty products have a little symbol on the back to tell you how long you have to use it after opening?
Whether it’s skincare or makeup, that little icon of a pot with a number on it indicates the number of months it stays “fresh” after opening it. Now, if I were really organised, I’d write the date I opened a product on the bottom of a bottle, but that’s probably never going to happen!
With skincare, it’s important to declutter your products every few months because if you’re using out-of-date products, they will not work as effectively. There’s no point using products that aren’t doing anything to your skin. And you also run the risk of your skin reacting to something that’s out of date. Trust me on this one. I speak from experience!
Clean your brushes and sponges regularly
One of my least favourite beauty jobs is cleaning my makeup brushes and sponges. I put it off for ages, just using clean ones and putting the dirty ones aside, only for them to build up and become A Thing. Then when I give them the deep clean, I feel great and promise I’ll never let them build up again, but reader, I’m lying to myself every single time.
They build up, I moan, and I “forget” to clean them, and the thing is, it doesn’t actually take me that long to do the job in the end.
I have favourite eyeshadow brushes that I use regularly, so I spot-clean them after using them. I’m not an animal. Ok, sometimes I am. But mostly, I use my Ella & Jo Squeaky Clean Brush Cleaner to clean and sanitise my eyeshadow brushes.
Then to deep clean, I use the Blank Canvas Cosmetics Solid Brush and Sponge Soap. It breaks down cream and liquid foundations in a jiffy and leaves them spotless.
Be patient – give your products time to work
I’ve gotten better with this over the years, but let’s be honest, we like using products where we can see results quickly! But that isn’t always possible, so we must be patient and give the products time to work on the skin. When reviewing skincare, I give products at least 3-4 weeks before sharing my thoughts, but with things like cleansers, I can tell right away if they’re any good. But for serums and products with active ingredients, give them a few weeks at least.
Also, take photos of your skin before using them and document your skincare journey every week or fortnight to keep an eye on small changes you mightn’t notice when looking at your face in the mirror every day.
Also, try to add only a few new products into your skincare routine at a time. Not only do you risk a potential reaction, but you won’t know what products are actually working to improve your skin. And re said reaction, you mightn’t be able to figure out what’s causing it if you added a few products at once.
Try not to get caught up in the hype
This happens to me regularly. I’m in a constant battle of wanting to test and review products for you after seeing something new and fabulous online. Then the angel on my shoulder says, “Karen, you already have products just like this, ” and the devil says, “Shurrup yew ye tick, I need this”. It happens to the best of us.
But seriously though, we’re now in a time where the new launches are coming hot and heavy, with one must-have product coming after the next.
I’d love to tell you that I plan on making myself wait 24 hours to see if I really want a product, but that would be a lie. But what I’ve been doing is searching out multiple reviews of products, especially from those who have my skin type or are around the same age as me.
For example, the new Makeup by Mario foundation recently launched, and TikTok showed me a video from someone who loved it. I searched for where to buy it because, obviously, it would make my skin look just as flawless and glow as the 22-year-old. Then I copped on a bit, searched for more reviews on Tiktok and Youtube, and found reviews from people close to my age and skin type, including wear tests. That time saved me a chunk of change because I decided it was not for me (yet).
It’s made me want to do proper old-school reviews again while keeping Instagram for the demos because I feel like social media is just flush with the “You need this in your life” type of content. While I enjoy watching it, I want more information and to make more considered purchases. We’ll see how long that lasts!
I could go on with other beauty habits, but I’ll leave it there for now and hopefully, I’ve given you some achievable inspiration this year!
Find me on Instagram for quick beauty reviews and demos, and for longer beauty reviews; I’m coming back to YouTube!
