New Year Countdown: a step-by-step guide to looking (and feeling) your best

Ladies, listen up. We know your diaries have filled up fast; you’ve currently (and somewhat regrettably) got a Christmas drinks What’sApp group with every friendship circle in your life and your spare time (what spare time?) is filled with outfit planning, shopping and secret Santa-anxiety. We get it: your usual commitment to skincare routines, self-care rituals and well, not relying on dry shampoo for three days on the trot, is waning. Well don’t worry, while we’re all for some beauty prep to make sure you’re looking and feeling your best this party season and well into the New Year…. 

Sort your skin! 

Top of the agenda? Sorting out your skincare routine. We know, you don’t have the time, inclination or sober head to be coping with lengthy bedtime routines and hours in the bathroom. Just promise to follow these four daily non-negotiable steps – and we promise, none of it will take away from your precious shopping/mulled wine/prosecco time. Trust us, you’ll be grateful come New Years Day, when even after a month of fun your skin is still looking a hell of a lot better than the way you’re feeling. 

1. Each morning cleanse with Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. We fell in love with this cleanser when we introduced it as part of our August 2019 box – and still to this day we love how it rids our skin of impurities without stripping moisture or disrupting its pH levels. Right now its perfect – a morning clean with it will get rid of any of last night’s make-up that you might not quite have removed properly (no judgement); will cleanse your pores of spot-causing bacteria and germs; and it won’t dry out your skin – which after a few cocktails, will already be looking and feeling pretty parched.
2. Post cleanse, you need to re-boost your moisture levels. Hungover skin is thirsty skin – read dehydration lines, dry areas and no glow to speak of. Quickly spritz skin with Balance Me Hyaluronic Plumping Mist (check out our October box if you can’t get hold of it) and then layer on an antioxidant-rich serum that will replenish and renew: Bare Minerals Skinlongevity Serum is perfect. Those two steps should take no longer than the amount of time it takes to open a window on your Advent calendar and pop a choccie in your mouth. 
3. On an evening, when you get home from a night out, you need the speediest and most effective way of stripping your face of make up. Nope, sadly face wipes won’t cut it (although we do advocate them over, say, sleeping in your slap) but LaidBare Skincare DIY Cleanser & Toner will almost just as quickly strip stubborn make up, thoroughly cleanse and tighten pores. 
4. Keep the following on your bedside table and you will thank us in the morning. Dr Botanicals Pomegranate Superfood Regenerating Sleeping Mask and Bowe Organics Lash Oil (both available in this month’s Roccabox, FYI - link here). The former is a transformational overnight serum that will have you waking up to brighter, smoother and more glowing skin – with or without your eight hours’ kip – and the latter, smoothed onto lashes as one final step in your nighttime routine, will leave you with naturally fatter, plumper, more luscious lashes by the time NYE arrives. 

Big Bouncy Hair!

Christmas party tonight? Post-work drinks AGAIN? You’ll want your hair looking full, bouncy, swishy and party-ready then. Before you head to the office prep your locks with Philip Kingsley Body Building Weightless Shampoo (included in this month’s Roccabox!). Even the finest and limpest of locks will be given a serious injection of oomph and body – so you can forget having to factor in time for a bouncy blow dry. For extra volume switch your usual conditioner for the Philip Kingsley Body Building Conditioner, and then prep damp locks with a light glossing serum. For a speedy yet volume-enhancing blow-dry, blast roots and crown only – upside down, using a vented barrel brush – until they’re touch dry (you can leave the lengths and ends damp) and then wrap into a high bun. Keep the hair loose at the roots – the idea is you want it to set with body – and the ends should pick up plenty of natural waves and texture as they dry throughout the day.

Get The Glow! 

Out tomorrow night? Then put in a quick 10 minutes party prep work today to reap the beauty benefits tomorrow. Top of the list? Fake tan. Faux your glow with St Tropez Purity Bronzing Water Mousse: another Roccabox discovery, and the key to skin that is golden and gorgeous for days. Apply tonight and you’ll wake up to a lovely flattering tan. 

And be hangover free…. 

Want to make it through tomorrow’s feast/ more booze/ family showdown without feeling queasy? Then don’t forget to pop a Yeti and The Fox sachet in your bag tonight. One of these taken just after you start drinking, and another before bed, will stave off that foggy-headed memory-loss nauseous feeling that’s usually so inevitable. Rich in Vitamin B6 (for an energy boost and less tequila amnesia) and Glutathione (a powerful antioxidant) it isn’t a miracle-worker but it does promise a boost to your inner health. You’ll find one, rather conveniently, in your December Roccabox.