One of my favourite things to do in the new year is make lots of fun lists with my goals/plans/resolutions/intentions (whatever you want to call it). I find it so helpful and exciting to look back on the previous 12 months and see what I want to change, achieve and work on. I find having that sort of guidance and direction gives me something tangible to focus on and I do it for everything from places I want to travel to and books I want to read. I’m a secret list lover at heart, so here is one of the 5 #skingoals that are my primary focus for 2017.

1. Laptop Time

Since starting the blog over a year ago it’s almost like I now have another full-time job and it’s become a tad stressful. I love doing reviews and sharing my thoughts with you, but it takes up a lot of time and due to family stuff that’s been going on since the summer I am failing at it. I have a serious back log of finished and half finished posts, posts with no pictures, pictures with no posts, drafts, ideas, lists etc etc and it has got insanely out of control. I need to get back on track because there is so much that I want to say and so many things I want to share with you, but sadly I just haven’t had the time. Not only that, I no longer post regularly on Instagram, let alone share my daily routines with you all and I miss it.

One of my major goals for this year is to get back on track with the blog and Instagram, post more and hopefully get a routine/schedule in place so doing it becomes easier. Obviously this won’t happen overnight considering it’s the 10th already and I’m only just now getting around to posting this (oops), but it’s something that I want to commit to and I’m excited about it. There is so much in the works that I can’t wait to tell you about as well as things that I used, loved and did last year and it’s high time I shared it all with you. I think that if I didn’t have so many posts hanging over me like incomplete school/work assignments I wouldn’t feel so stressed out, so my plan is to clear the backlog by the end of the month and start fresh. Will it happen? Who knows, but I’m definitely going to try!

2. American Beauty

As many of you will know by now, I have been mostly living and working on the other side of the pond for the past several months and while that has afforded me the great opportunity to discover and fall in love with all the incredible products British skincare brands have to offer, it means that I have severely been neglecting the beautiful brands from back home. A couple of weeks ago when I was doing my year end product inventory (checking if anything was about to expire, run out or needed to be tossed – who else does this?) I realized that close to a whopping 90% of my stash was British. Now, last year it was my goal to explore the homegrown brands while I was here, but it was not at all my intention to completely neglect brands from other countries in the process, so that needs to change. I have missed out on new launches from brands I love and previously used a lot like Odacité, Drunk Elephant and Kypris and never tried a single product from popular brands like Jordan Samuel, Goldfaden MD,  Farmacy and One Love Organics. There’s also a whole host of new, niche and exciting green beauty brands that popped up last year that I need to try, but that’s for another list.

As I said, this was not intentional – in the beginning I was just so excited to try everything the UK had to offer, but then when I did want to buy American brands I quickly found that there was not the same access here. Many, many brands are either in limited availability or not sold at all over here and if they are, the price is a lot higher than in the US. Also, if you want to ship from the US to the UK you get hit with outrageous shipping, taxes and customs charges. I did this once and then never again because the additional costs ended up being about 50% of the order total and that’s just not reasonable. This year, I am making a commitment to diversify my stash and that’s going to be a lot easier since I’ll be heading home soon (hello, Detox Market!). If you have any recommendations of brands or products that I need to try please let me know because I’m excited to rediscover what American green beauty brands have to offer.

3. Revital-Eyes 

A simple but important one that I seem to struggle with year after year. My eyes are the one area that I neglect the most, but need the most attention because they show everything  – tiredness, poor diet, too much time at the computer, not enough water etc etc. Whatever is wrong, it shows up in my eyes first whether it’s dark circles, puffiness, watering or stinging. Knowing this, you’d think I would be diligent with my eye care, but I’m not. I have about 6 or 7 different eye serums, creams and masks and I am currently using none of them. I have been totally cheating by taking my serums (CAIS, 2% Retinoid etc) all the way up and around the eyes and that has been somewhat helpful, but not as much as I need. I really like the Caffeine Solution (above) from The Ordinary, so I need to get that back in rotation, but I also need something for hydration. I’m so picky when it comes to products for my eyes because they are really sensitive and many that I’ve tried have made them red or watery, so it’s not easy. I’m looking for the perfect formula that gives quick and long term results, but so far I haven’t found that. I know that with eye products you need to use them consistently to see results so I am going to endeavor to do that. Last year my goal was to use sunscreen consistently and I actually managed to do it after finding a few that I loved using, so I’m hoping the same happens with this. Again, if you have any recommendations please let me know!

4. Cutthroat Cabinet

The green beauty industry has taken off like crazy and there is just an overwhelming amount of brands and products out there now. I’m lucky that because of the blog I get to try a lot, but what I realized from being so busy the past few months is that while I may like, really like and even love so much of it, I kept reaching for the same group of products over and over again. I now have a small (to me) selection of products that have become my staples, favourites and go-to’s which take pride of place in what I like to call my “cutthroat cabinet”, where only my non-negotiable daily necessities reside. While I will continue to test and try new products, a new distinction will be whether they graduate from the blogger shelf and into the cutthroat cabinet. I have learned that despite having so much to choose from that I genuinely loved, there were certain products that stood out from the rest and those are the ones I couldn’t help but reach for time and time again, putting them in a different class to everything else. I want to use more of what I truly can’t bare to be without and stop hoarding things that while I may enjoy and want to keep, need to go to someone who would appreciate them more if I’m not using them on a regular basis…

5. Product Purge

…which brings me to my last goal for 2017, which is to purge! I have a lot of skincare products and only one face (sadly), so no matter how much I love it all, I can’t use it all! Again, because I found myself repeatedly using the same set of products, that meant there was a lot not being used and therefore going to waste. I have found some amazing products that have done wonders for my skin and it’s been hard for me to stray from them, but I hate the idea of half my stash just sitting there collecting dust. I like to have a good mix of products as my skin is combination and I also enjoy the variety, but there has to be a limit. I got overwhelmed and then bored of constantly trying and using new things towards the end of the year and craved the comfort and familiarity of my favourite products more than ever. It wasn’t until Pestle & Mortar landed on my desk that I got really excited about “newness” again and I think that I want to purge the excess products and just keep what I really love, so that when something new does come in I will be less overwhelmed. I will happily continue reviewing new products, but if they don’t make it in to the Cutthroat Cabinet then I will be passing them on.

That about covers everything I want to achieve skincare related this year, but if I think of any more I will add them. If you’ve made any #skingoals for 2017 I would love to hear what they are and here’s to another great year of skincare!

Arly

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