Your 10 skincare resolutions for 2026
This year: no more expensive mistakes, shattered dreams or unsightly rashes
Don’t buy any skincare until you’ve properly understood your skin type.
Only buy products that are suitable for your skin type and that address
specific skin concerns that you have observed1 and want to tackle.
Basically, don’t fall for any marketing bollocks.Remind yourself at all times that the best skincare routine is the least skincare routine. If your skin isn’t getting what it needs from 10 bottles, adding an 11th is not going to suddenly change your life. Review and refine your existing skincare instead.
Be aware that your lifestyle choices are at least equally responsible for the condition of your skin. I’m not here to judge, but: drinking less alcohol, sleeping well, not smoking/vaping/taking Class As, and eating a nutritionally balanced diet will do more for your skin than the contents of any bottle.
Remind yourself wherever you’re tempted to forget it: there is no such thing as Botox in a bottle. The only bottle that does what Botox does is the one marked ‘Botox’2. Just get fucking Botox or stop fretting about your wrinkles. Those are your choices, realistically. Both are equally valid.
Do not introduce more than one new product to your routine at a time3. BONUS: allow at least 6 weeks to determine the efficacy of any new product in your routine.
Embrace boring routines and skincare stalwarts. Do not treat your skin as a trend. Skin has been covering our bodies for millennia. Steer clear of anything Brand New for a few years. Let others find out the hard way that all was not as it seemed. Life is safer that way.
Exhibit A of Why Not To Be An Early Adopter Of New Treatments:If you have any skincare products that have been open for more than 12 months, throw them away45. Today. Skincare goes off.
If it’s not open, but it’s been knocking around for a while, check the expiry date and bin anything out of date.Don’t automatically expect a skincare product or treatment to have the same effects on your skin as someone else’s. Skin type, genetics, lifestyle factors all come into play. It might work well for you, but it won’t definitely work well for you6.
Understand that participation in skincare is entirely optional. If you choose not to pursue any skincare beyond the bare minimum required for health and hygiene purposes7, THAT IS OK. Spend your money on cake, or automotive parts, or Labubus.
Don’t let yourself get railroaded into skincare if you’re genuinely unbothered/uninterested.
You are the boss of you.
Happy new year!
So no products that you’re only buying because an unqualified skinfluencer has scared you into them, or that someone in your life has been unkind about.
As ever, the qualifier that this extends to Dysport and Azzalure. The trio are different formulations of the same underlying ingredient: botulinum toxin type A. God, I hate internet pedants. I also hate that I am an OG internet pedant 😬
Because otherwise, how will you know definitively which one(s) made the difference?
I don’t care how expensive they were.
And don’t repurchase - you obviously haven’t used this product regularly or consistently.
They call this the spice of life. But it’s a massive pain in the arse.
So, washing and SPF and the treatment of any genuine skin conditions you may have.