The only 5 New Year resolutions you need for 2017
With Brexit and Trump becoming POTUS, 2016 was definitely one of the craziest years the world has seen this decade.
For Beauty Undercover, 2016 has been a year of transformation as the website got revamped!
How has it been for you?
Taking stock of what’s happened in 2016 has gotten us thinking about our hopes and dreams for next year.
We have also made some New Year Resolutions - read on to see if its applicable to you too.
1. Reinvent yourself
It’s easy to get stuck in a mould and do the same thing over and over again. Sometimes, it’s because we’ve gotten used to our daily routine, sometimes it’s because we have fixed our mindset about how we should act and look like and sometimes it’s because we are fearful of change.
Whatever the reason may be, it’s good to sometimes resist the urge to keep the status quo, especially if you’re feeling unhappy about something. Making a change can help us see things from a new perspective and possibly resolve any issues we might have.
The reinvention doesn’t have to be radical and can start with something as small as swapping your go-to lipstick for a more daring shade, or trading in your long tresses for a pixie cut.
As long you try something you haven’t done before, it means you have stepped out of your comfort zone and who knows, you might even love it.
Brown balayage by Hair by Xavier
That’s what Agent G is aiming for in 2017 - as much as she loves her perms, Agent G is hoping to ditch the curls for bleached hair colours just to experience how it’s like “on the other side”.
Are you planning to do so the same?
If you’re not sure what to do, consider drawing a mind-map, according to former Google career coach and job strategist.
Drawing one doesn’t take that long and could help you figure out the next project that will make the new year happier and more successful, Blake says.
Write down the year at the center of a piece of paper, then draw spokes with different themes that are important to you. For example, your spokes could be “business, personal life, health and fitness, fun or skill building.”
From each of those themes, draw additional spokes to connect the themes to ways you want to improve or experiment in that area.
2. Take better care of yourself
Hands up if you’ve envied others for perfect hair, perfect skin and perfect body, but never really gotten down to dedicating enough time to achieving any of those goals.
It isn’t as hard as it sounds, as long as you set aside time for it and take baby steps towards achieving it.
If weight is an issue, don’t start by making yourself run 10 miles a day. Understand yourself better by evaluating your eating and activity habits and do the things that will yield the best results first (e.g. cut off sweet drinks, reduce carbohydrate intake and simply don’t purchase high-energy junk food before deciding to sign up for gym classes or a personal trainer).
If dry, damaged hair is an issue, ask your hairstylist to evaluate what’s going on and recommend latest treatments that may come in useful to treating it.
Some things that used to pose a problem may be less of an issue due to advances in hair technology.
Agent C, for example, just tried the new Hair Botox by Chez Vous Hair Salon and finally got manageable hair for the first time in her life!
As much as new technology may help, the sustainability of the treatment still depends on how she takes care of her hair, i.e. whether she religiously applies the after-care products.
For the rest of us blessed with normal hair, taking the time to use a heat protector and blowdrying your hair can make a huge difference between crazy frizz or perfectly coiffured hair.
As long as you use the right protection, blowdrying your hair really isn’t that damaging to your hair and may even be helpful in keeping it healthy.
Other than the regular facials to exfoliate your skin gently, keeping facial hygiene. For example, not going to sleep with your makeup on can help prevent clogging of the pores and the subsequent pimples.
Don’t forget to clean your makeup brushes as well as they are full of dirt and bacteria that can clog pores and cause breakouts.
Make it a habit to clean your brushes at least once a month and you’ll be on your way to better skin.
A simple way to clean your brushes is to gently swirl the tips in a bowl of lukewarm water with a squirt of cleaning product of your choice (like a mild shampoo or mild facial wash).
Rinse your brushes under running water to wash off the lather and finally, use a cloth to wipe your brushes clean.
Depending on what’s important to you, schedule these tips in one by one to help you achieve your #healthgoals #hairgoals and #skingoals!
3. Give yourself more credit
Do you find yourself not as successful as you aspired to be in school? Do you find it really tough to balance it all - work, family, personal growth?
You’re not the only one.
For various reasons detailed in the Ambition Interviews, women appear to be underachieving as compared to men.
In reality though, our ambitions have morphed from becoming CEO to a do-it-all mom who want to succeed both at work and at home (a tremendously tough goal).
Instead of beating yourself up on why you’re not achieving as much as you initially anticipated, give yourself some credit in 2017 and celebrate the little successes you’ve achieved thus far - creating a niche for yourself a work while still being there for your little ones and your family.
4. Love more, hate less
The rise of Trump has brought on a wave of nationalism, misogynism and racism around the world, or more accurately, these exclusionism have enabled the rise of Trump.
With that said, the world could do with a little more love and as it’s always believed; love trumps hate.
So come 2017, see the world from the perspective of another, resist the temptation to exclude and actively include those we may not interact as often!
Beauty Undercover hopes to be doing our part by catering to our non-Chinese readers with more relevant hair and beauty articles. Do email us if you have any questions you would like to ask hair professionals and we’d do our best to get them answered for you!
5. Give thanks
No matter which religion you believe in, you may realize that giving thanks is an important part of any religion and for good reason.
Expressing gratitude has been shown to increase happiness overall as we count our blessings and give thanks to what has been given to us. In our personal experience, giving thanks may also set off a series of positive actions that may come full circle to bless you further.
Here at Beauty Undercover, we are very thankful for the support of many of you have given us (e.g. by sharing your experiences with us via reviews and photos) and that’s why we try to give back as much as we can with our #reviewandwin initiative.
Agent I got a free hair colour from Bump Hair Design from our #ReviewandWin initiative.
Next year, we hope to formally institutionalise the initiative by giving one free hair or beauty service to a random reviewer each month.
Thank you for your support thus far and do let us know if there’s anything else we can do to help you make a better salon choice in the future!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
Visit beautyundercover.sg for hair and beauty tips.
