A New Year...A NEW YOU!

With every New Year comes positive change. A chance to create new beginnings, new hopes, and new dreams that will inevitably help us to become the most confident and beautiful versions of ourselves. And while this kind of transformation won't happen overnight, you can certainly speed up the beautification process (and look damn good doing it!) by incorporating a few smart techniques and products into your day to day regime. When you know what to look for and what to do, you'll enter the new year with a pizazz that is unstoppable!

For 365 days, your skin is constantly subjected to stress, environmental changes, and hormonal
fluctuations just to name a few. So it goes without saying that a sort of a "tune up" would be in order. It makes sense to begin here because your skin is literally the foundation for all that is to follow. Rejuvenating your skin (face and body) consists of deeply cleansing, shedding dead skin cells, replenishing moisture, detoxifying, and ultimately restore your skin's overall balance. Follow these easy steps below for an in-home regime that will awaken your senses and leave you glowing in 2018!

• For face, hold a warm damp wash rag onto skin (make up free) for about a minute to prep. For body, immerse entire body under warm running water a few minutes before proceeding.

• Cleanse skin. For face, I highly recommend Boscia Makeup-Breakup Cool Cleansing Oil. It's a calming gentle formula that glides on your skin and rinses effortlessly. Eucalyptus, green tea, and mint leave skin feeling silky and a bit tingly. DELIGHTFUL! For body, try Avalon Organics Rosemary Bath and Shower Gel. Absolutely natural and truly invigorating. Rinse well.

• Next, apply an exfoliator (avoid the eye area on face) in a circular motion onto damp skin (face/neck) for about a minute or so to remove dead skin. L'Occitane's Face Scrub Mud provides ultra decadent exfoliation while olive oil keeps skin hydrated. For a bit more scrubbing action, Benefit's Honey...Snap Out Of It will do the trick. The honey and almond combo stimulate and polish their way to a healthy glow. For body, try Crabtree & Evelyn's Lemongrass and Brown Sugar Botanical Body Scrub. Words can't describe how lush your skin will feel after using it. Smells really yummy too! Remove with a warm damp cloth and pat skin with a dry towel.

• Follow with a hydrating mask to minimize pores, tone skin, and to moisturize. On face, Lancome's Hydra Intense Masque offers maximum hydration in minimal time. It's cooling botanical gel rejuvenates skin. For oily skin, I love Aubrey Organics Blue Green Algae Mask. It's warming to the skin and draws out impurities with Kaolin, Milk Thistle, and other natural but effective ingredients. For body, lather on Tru Blu Spa's Mud About You. The result is skin that's taut and smooth. Once the mask has set, rinse well with a wash cloth (loofah for body).

• To tone skin and encourage pores to close, apply an alcohol-free astringent to skin (recommended for face only). Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Plantidote Mega Mushroom Treatment Lotion is a marvelously light liquid that reduces inflammation and calms skin instantly.

• Your final step is to moisturize. For face, try Bobbi Brown's Vitamin Enriched Face Base. Shea Butter and vitamins makes it luxuriously creamy to the touch, yet goes on clean and leaves absolutely no residue. For body, you will love Fresh Sugar Body Oil. It will leave you feeling radiant and smooth.

Before you move on to make up, take a few minutes to groom eyebrows. Tweezing a few strategic hairs here and there can literally make or break the result you're trying to achieve. It's that important!

• Using a brow comb or an unused mascara wand, brush hairs upward to get a sense of shape.

• If hairs are too long, trim them with a small sharp scissor. Use the line of your brow as a guide by resting the scissor blade along it and trimming anything hair that falls above that line.

• Feel free to tweeze ALL hairs that do not touch the actual brow. You don't need them. And contrary to popular belief, it's ok to tweeze on top of the brow as well. You should remove all hair that your don't need wherever it may be. (If you are feeling any discomfort, dab a bit of Anbesol on the brow area to numb the skin).

• For shaping, use a precision tweezer like Tweezerman's Slanted Tweezer (an industry favorite!). Take your time and keep stepping back a bit so that you can see yourself from different angles to ensure the most flattering shape. Keep in mind that just one hair can make all the difference so scrutinize as you're tweezing and keep combing hairs into place. Those hairs that are not falling in line should be removed. Just be careful that you don't leave any sparse areas unnecessarily.

• Continue this process until desired shape is achieved.

NOW, you're ready for make up! Follow these quick steps below for a look that is youthful, modern, and downright timeless.

• Use a SPF enriched tinted moisturizer like Prescriptives Traceless Skin Responsive Tint to give your skin warmth and hydration all in one easy step. This amazing product is virtually undetectable but still manages to take years off your face.

• With a small semi firm brush, paint away any areas of concern (Under eye circles, blemishes, red areas, etc.) with a creamy concealer like Shu Uemura Nobara Cream Foundation. It's my absolute favorite!! You can blend beautifully by allowing the natural heat of your fingers to gently melt the make up into nothingness. (Be sure to select a shade that is ever so slightly lighter than your skin tone).

• Follow with a light dusting of colorless loose powder all over face, concentrating mostly under eyes, around nose, mouth, and chin. Trucco's Nothing Final Touch Loose Powder comes in a super convenient travel size container and feels as light as a feather on your skin.
  

• Now that your "canvas" is set, groom brows into place with Anastasia's Brow Gel. To fill in sparse areas, try Too Faced Brow Envy Brow Shaping and Defining Kit. Comes with 3 shades of brown that will match any hair color and help you to even out your brow color in no time.

• Glide Dior Eye Show Cream Shadow onto eyelids for a subtle yet beautiful silky sheen that will add life to your eyes and will stay put throughout the day.

• Curl lashes to instantly awaken tired eyes with Cover Girl Make-Up Masters Lash Curler.

• Apply 2-3 coats of L'Oreal Lash Out Mascara in "Black Noir". This dynamo lash intensifier is a PERFECT formula, depositing just the right amount of product without the clumps. Be sure to concentrate on jiggling the wand as close to the base of lashes as possible....remember that it's not the length that matters but the density.

• Using your fingers, apply Bobbi Brown's Pot Rouge for lips and cheeks in "Calypso Coral" onto the apples of your cheeks for a healthy radiant glow. Afterward, use the remainder of product that's left on your finger and dab onto lips for a fresh looking pout.