The 7 Best Skincare Resolutions To Follow This Year

It might be a tired adage, but it works: the New Year is a great time for a New You! And now is an excellent time to review your habits and consider changing some things. Great skin doesn’t happen by accident—it takes time and commitment.  Read on for 8 skincare resolutions you should actually follow.

1. Keep A Skincare Calendar

Keeping a skincare calendar is first on our list of resolutions because it’s the best way to track your skin’s changes—the calendar helps you recognize cause and effect, which helps you develop a helpful regimen. “Properly analyzing your skin type allows for custom treatment for each individual client,” says Charlotte’s Book advisory board member Jillian Wright, owner of Jillian Wright Clinical Skin Spa.

It’s not overkill, although at first it might seem insane, if you’re already busy: just assign a new color in your gmail calendar and keep it skin-specific, or create a new calendar on your phone dedicated to appointments, reminders, and anything skincare.

Renée Rouleau, a CB verified and celebrity-beloved aesthetician, is adamant about the calendar: she suggests keeping one for three months, and periodically transferring your phone notes to a months-view calendar so you can see everything at once. “At the end of a month, being able to see the entire 30-day period at a glance will allow you to look for any possible patterns. It’s helpful to use colored pens and symbols since there will be quite a few things to make note of.” For more advice on what to track, read Renée’s full article here.

2. Fill That Calendar—Plan Ahead!

What exactly goes in the calendar? Well, on the official medical side, you should see a dermatologist for a full-body check up once a year.

The ideal anti-aging skincare maintenance routine, according to Charlotte’s Book verified expert Dr. Gervaise Gerstner, “consists of a peel or microdermabrasion once a month, and then Botox and/or a dermal filler every three to four months.”

Depending on your current Botox usage, this timeline could be longer; people who’ve been using Botox for a while usually don’t need to refresh as often. If you use Restylane, twice per year is the recommended refresher course.

Keep in mind that treatments like microdermabrasion require a series of six treatments to smooth out old acne scars and minimize fine lines: planning ahead is definitely required. Plus, the regularity of treatments relates to efficacy. Dermatologist Dr. Robyn Gmyrek explains it this way: “We’re constantly creating a low level wound-healing response, which puts out new collagen.” To keep that collagen building, stick to Dr. Gerstner’s recommended once-per-month schedule.

If you’re not peeling or on a microdermabrasion program, a Classic European style facial is recommended once a month by most aestheticians. If once a month seems crazy for your schedule, don’t worry—quarterly facials will do the trick. For treatment-specific information on how to plan the calendar, check out this article.

3. Get Your Daily Dose Of Greens

At Charlotte’s Book, we’re firm believers that beauty is an inside job. The new year—especially after all those gluttonous holidays—is a great time to reconsider your diet and start new habits. “Just as your other organs react to the consequences of what you eat, so does your skin,” says Jessica Katz RD, a CB verified nutritionist based in New York City. “When my clients look totally radiant, I look at their food diaries, and I see a high consumption of plant-based, healthy foods.”

Joanna Vargas, a CB verified holistic facialist, requires patients to get on the green juice program: “I love green juice! The greens instantly hydrate the skin while encouraging lymphatic drainage, so you’re de-puffed and glowing!”

Liquid chlorophyll, a sort of green juice on steroids, can provide a simple, daily dose of concentrated goodness. Read more about that from expert Dana James, here.

4. Make H2O A Priority

It sounds easy, but we often overlook this—drinking plenty of water is key to flushing out toxins and refreshing skin. Stick to one main water bottle during the day so you can keep a tally of how many times you refill it. To figure out how much water you need per day, use this formula.

5. Start Using Retinol

Dr. John Martin, a facial cosmetic surgeon, recommends reconsidering your products at this time of year: he says if you don’t already use retinol, you should consider it. We recently wrote this article about the top three dermatologist-recommended skin-savers, and retinol is right up there with no smoking and sunscreen—now is better than later when it come to retinol!

According to Dr. Joshua Zeichner, a Charlotte’s Book verified expert and Director of Cosmetic and Clinical Research in Dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, “Your mid 20s is a reasonable time to start using topical retinol—it stimulates collagen and increases skin thickness and elasticity. For a young person, using retinol is like making sure the skin’s foundation is as strong as possible, so it can resist wrinkling as much as possible as you age. Over the counter retinol is an excellent place to start. It is less potent than prescription strength retinoids, and also less irritating.”

6. Start An Ingestible Beauty Regimen

Chlorophyll, green juice, and regular edible greens are a great way to start your ingestible beauty regimen, but there are other ways to amplify the benefits of your digestive system: probiotic powders are a great way to balance your gut and keep the skin glowing. Be Well Probiotic Powder is Dr. Frank Lipman‘s five-strain probiotic supplement: add a teaspoon to your smoothie to ease chronic indigestion. Immun’Âge (a favorite of supermodel Irina Shayk) or Glow Inner Beauty Powder are both amazing.

7. Try Something New!

For every concern, there’s another better, newer twin treatment in the works—this year, why not try something new? Even if you’ve tried it all, there’s something perfect for you. Microneedling was all over the news this year, and it’s a wonderful way to renew your skin. “It’s the wild, wild west,” says CB verified expert Dr. Doris Day, who includes microneedling in her roster of treatments. “We don’t really have standardized protocols or data on this technique, but my colleagues and I have developed a protocol that works for us.”

There are also new treatments for everything from bags under your eyes to acne scars: according to dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, a compound originally used as a glaucoma medication is in Phase III clinical trials as a prescription topical treatment for dark undereye circles. And there’s a new filler approved for acne scarring called Bellafill—it doesn’t just provide immediate filling and lifting benefits on facial crags.

READ THIS NEXT: Innovative New Treatments In Aesthetic Dermatology

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Learn more about Aestheticians Jillian Wright and Renée Rouleau, and Dermatologist Dr. Gervaise Gerstner