New Year beauty resolutions

It’s New Year’s Day – and once the party poppers are swept from the living room floor, the glasses are washed up and polished, and shiny new calendars are opened and hung from the wall, our thoughts inevitably turn to New Year resolutions.

With 40 per cent of us making a new set of promises to ourselves every January and only 8 per cent of those resolutions going the distance to the end of the year, maybe 2016 should be the year we part from the crowd and pick something more achievable.

Beauty resolutions may be the first attainable resolutions you make, because the benefits easily outweigh the inconvenience. So whether you make a vow to protect your complexion with a high-quality SPF, to stop plucking out grey hairs whenever you catch sight of one in the mirror, or simply to be braver with colour when it comes to applying make-up, we’ve a team of experts to list out the benefits that’ll convince us to stay on track in the coming weeks and months. Be strong – your skin, hair, and nails will thank you for it.

Using make-up brushes is the easiest way to get a flawless, professional-quality finish that stays put throughout the day, but forgetting to wash them is a serious beauty sin.

‘Make-up brushes can hold dust, dirt and bacteria, which will be transferred to your favourite make-up if you don’t wash them regularly,’ explains Sonia Merlo, Clarins Regional make-up trainer for the Middle East. ‘This can cause skin irritations, acne, and lots more unpleasant problems to the skin, not to mention it will also spoil the make-up.

‘Germs thrive in wet environments, so think about where you store your brushes wisely – your bathroom is not only moist, but your toilet provides a mist of germs with every flush!’

So how often should we wash brushes? ‘At least every two weeks,’ Sonia says. ‘And after washing them, leave them to dry naturally.’

Buy

Jane Iredale anti-microbial, fast-drying Brush Cleaner Dh99 

Makeup Revolution Ultra Revolution Brushes Dh270, Basharacare.com

If you’re stuck in a colour rut, why not make 2016 your year to try new hues of eyeshadow, blusher, lipstick, and nail polish?

‘There are no rules, so mix and match – forget what you’ve heard in the past’, advises Jenny Smith, lead make-up stylist for Nars Cosmetics. ‘One of my favourite tricks is to pair a cheek and lip that go together. Try a pink cheek and lip or a red cheek and lip for a balanced look with any tones.’

‘There really aren’t colours that any particular skin tone should avoid,’ adds Pamela Faller, make-up artist for Mehron. ‘What it comes down to is choosing the correct shade of a colour that best suits your skin tone. Gold happens to be one of my favourites to work with for all skin tones. It really is universal and there’s such endless possibilities to use it – powder form, glitter and cream.’

Buy

Sephora Color Wonderland Palette Dh350

Most of us have got into the habit of slathering on SPF when we head to the pool or the beach, but is it really necessary when we’re heading to the office, setting off on the school run, or taking a quick stroll to the shops? The experts are pretty unanimous that it is – and failing to follow their advice can result in premature ageing and irreversible skin damage.

‘Eighty per cent of skin ageing is attributed to UV rays, so using an SPF on your skin daily is the most proactive New Year’s resolution you can make to fight ageing,’ says Rebecca Treston of Euromed Dubai.

Buy

Eisenberg Anti-Ageing Facial Sun Care SPF15 Dh366, Paris Gallery

If biting nails was the biggest manicure sin of the Nineties, the temptation to peel off gel, shellac or even classic polish is the modern-day equivalent. We get it – not only is the removal process pretty laborious (especially with gel), but once we start peeling, it’s almost impossible to stop. But curbing the habit is vital for the health of nails.

‘Nails are composed of cells called keratinocytes that look like tiles on a roof if you examine them under a microscope,’ says New York City dermatologist Dana Stern, who specialises in nail health. ‘By peeling off a manicure, you are removing the top layers of these delicate cells. This can result in white patches and textural irregularities throughout the nails.’

It can cause infections too. ‘As peeling and lifting begin, water can seep into the nail,’ adds celebrity manicurist Jenna Hipp. ‘This can harbour bacteria and possibly cause fungus. Once the peeling phase starts, it’s hard not to pick at your polish. The damage can take over six months to repair.’

Buy

WOW by Wojooh Color Ritual Instant Nail Polish Remover Dh45, Wojooh.com

Just like food, every beauty product has a best-before date. Keeping them too long compromises on the product’s efficiency (think gloopy formulas and average coverage) and also carries a risk of spreading bacteria (we’re talking breakouts, skin irritation, and eye infections). The worst offenders are liquid products (such as foundations, concealers and blushers) and tubes of mascara. So throw out the old in 2016 – which gives you the perfect excuse to treat your make-up bag to something new.

‘Water-based products like liquid foundations and concealers use well-tested preservative systems to keep them fresh, which gives them a shelf life of at least a year’, explains Lynne Sanders from Cosmetics à la Carte, ‘but dirty fingers and applicators can contaminate them, so it is sensible to choose hygienic pump-style bottles when you update.’

Nadira V Persaud from Rituals Cosmetics adds: ‘Mascara is often the product that we hold on to for the longest – but it should be used up quickly, as the pumping action of the wand forces bacteria into the tube, which then thrives in the moist, wet environment. Throw away any tubes that are older than six months.’

Buy

Dolce & Gabbana Luminous Liquid Foundation Dh248

Tom Ford Concealing Pen Dh260

Clarins Multi-Blush Dh180

Estée Lauder Sumptuous Infinite Mascara Dh157

‘If there is a grey hair that you must get rid of, very carefully cut it,’ advises Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips, a trichologist at the Philip Kingsley Clinic in New York. ‘Plucking can traumatise the follicle.’

Sandra Gilman, trichologist and educational director for The Elan Center for Trichology (elancenterfortrichology.com) adds: ‘If hair is tweezed or plucked from the brows, often some of these brow hairs do not grow back. On the head, if hair is constantly being plucked or pulled on from a particular area, then over time a message is sent to the hair follicle that there is no need to produce hair in that area and the follicle goes into rest, eventually shrinks and no longer produces a hair shaft, which may lead to a bald patch. It is not advisable to go on plucking out these beautiful silver hairs. They are coming. Colour the hair if you don’t like it. That is what hair colour is for.’

Buy

Color Wow Root Cover Up Dh210, Glamazle.com