6 New Year, New You Tips for Pampering Personal Care

When you think of personal care, what comes to mind? If it’s soap and water and the occasional skin treatment, you might have the wrong idea. Learn more about how to take care of yourself going into the new year and beyond with Bishops.

Swap Resolutions for Better Choices

Many people set New Year’s resolutions with the best intentions. But instead of declaring big goals, think about smaller steps you can take toward personal care. Small changes are easier to incorporate into your daily life, but the impact adds up over time.

Aim to make healthier daily choices like swapping sweet drinks for water, reaching for good-for-you snacks, and taking walks during your lunch break. These changes will soon become healthy habits you can build on to achieve other wellness goals.

Quit One Specific Bad Habit

Toasting to the new year with an alcoholic beverage may feel festive, but as Very Well Health points out, even low-level alcohol consumption can have negative effects on your body.

Short-term, drinking impacts your mood, concentration, coordination, and inhibitions. Long-term effects span everything from alcoholic liver disease to cognitive decline. Studies also suggest that alcohol negatively impacts mental health.

Cutting out (or at least reducing) alcohol can help you feel your physical and mental best in the new year.

Get That Beautiful Rest

Beauty sleep might sound fanciful and made-up, but the phrase stems from science. Getting enough rest keeps your brain operating at peak level, but it can also impact your appearance. Think about those times you’ve woken up puffy-faced with bags under your eyes—then avoid that in the new year.

Improved sleep hygiene helps keep your skin healthy, and it’s good for the rest of your body, too. Getting seven to nine hours of sleep is ideal and washing and moisturizing your face before bed is a must.

Treat Your Skin to What it Deserves

With the right routine, 2023 might be your year for healthier, glowing skin. Caring for your skin is a crucial form of personal care, but many people go straight to expensive creams, treatments, and procedures. Return to the basics with daily skincare—starting with sun protection.

The Skin Cancer Foundation emphasizes the need for daily SPF use to avoid cancer risk and keep your skin looking radiant. Apply an ounce of sunscreen (to all sun-exposed skin) each day, says the Foundation, and reapply every two hours while outside.

Care for Your Hair

It’s no secret that feeling good about how you look is a positive thing. Wearing clothes you like and styling your hair the way you want boosts your confidence and showcases your personality. In the new year, embrace your style instincts, even if your mood changes often.

After all, hair is about more than vanity. It expresses who you are, your culture, background, preferences, and self-image. From keeping up with regular trims to pivoting to a new style every few months, embrace your mane in the new year to cap off your self-care.

Make a Mindset Shift

A positive mindset may not fix everything, but it’s a helpful tool in your arsenal for the new year. Whether you feel less than confident about your appearance or have a health challenge that delays big goals, shifting your mindset is one way to be kind to yourself and your body.

Positive affirmations are one strategy for self-care that can help you get past mental roadblocks. Tell yourself good things about your appearance and personality, and soon, you’ll begin to believe them.

Personal care goes beyond moisturizing face masks and beauty rest. Remember to care for all of you, from head to toe. Keep up the momentum not just on January first but through the whole year—one day at a time.