I have a January birthday, so every time I make a New Year's Resolution, I think of it as, "By the time I reach __ years old, I will have accomplished _____." And, even though I just keep celebrating my 25th birthday over and over (and over, and over), the fact of the matter is that when I make my 2009 resolutions, I will be planning to complete them by the time I'm 30. And that's a major age in my book. That's, like, a grown up age.

Ah, New Year's. When we come together to celebrate a new year full of hopes, dreams, and possibilities. It's a time for good friends, lively parties, and OH MY GOD DID I REALLY DRINK AN ENTIRE BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE BY MYSELF LAST NIGHT AND THEN PERFORM A JOURNEY/DEF LEPPARD MEDLEY FOR THE INVITED GUESTS?? moments. For whatever reason, New Year's Eve seems to bring out the drinker in most of us, myself included. Fortunately, my champagne-hogging, 80's hair metal singing days are thankfully past (for the most part), but I remember all too clearly those mornings after, waking up feeling as if an anvil was sitting atop my head, and looking as if my hair and now-smudged makeup had been styled by either of the aforementioned rock bands. It's Hangover City, people.

I think by now we’ve all heard about the benefits of “going green“ - and at the risk of causing you to violently roll your eyes in disgust (green is good, we GET it!) - I decided to share one of my resolutions with you, which is to be a little more aware about the stuff I use in the name of beauty. In other words, I'm going green.   What can I say? I'm a unique and delicate flower.  

There is something so tempting about New Year's resolutions, isn't there?  Even those of who know better are lured into promising that we'll stop drinking! and start excercising! and call our mothers EVERY DAY!  Yeah, right.  This year, instead of vowing to completely reform everything about yourself and your life, resolve to make some very small changes.  Because while it might seem like the only resolutions that really count are the big ones, little tweaks to your routine can add up to big results overall.  We have four suggestions to keep you looking and feeling beautiful in the new year; none of them is particularly time consuming or expensive, but all of them will leave you looking -- and feeling -- more beautiful.

You probably won't be surprised to hear I use this product. Created in 1899, Bag Balm has been soothing the udders of cows for over a hundred years. I'm here to tell you that it is great for people, too. 

As any true child of the 80's knows, Monday nights meant one thing: MACGYVER. I couldn't get enough of MacGyver's ludicrous, death-defying inventions, such as bombs consisting of pantyhose, spearmint dental floss, and a single plum. (I'm not saying that was an ACTUAL device on the show, but honestly, if it was, would you be at all surprised?) I mention all of this because I think it goes a long way towards explaining my current obsession with emergency beauty/fashion fixes.

Style. It seems like such a frivolous thing - hardly worth a mention, really. Who cares about something as superficial as style? It’s become increasingly common to belittle style and any discussion of it - maybe we think that we’ve evolved beyond it, or perhaps we hope that if we ignore it it will go away? Well, it won’t. How you present yourself sends a message, whether intentional or not. I believe that you should be in control of the message you send out into the world - that you should nurture and develop your authentic personal style.

My six-year-old has terrible dry skin; his little hands crack and bleed almost as soon as the heat comes on at our house.  And honestly, there is nothing more pitiful than a kindergartener who is having trouble coloring because his hand is bleeding on his picture.  Seriously, you all.  It's bad. 

This year alone, I have taken somewhere in the region of forty flights. I've been to Vietnam and Berlin and London and Rome and the Bahamas, and I say all this not to make you jealous, but to make you understand that my skin? IT HAS BEEN A MESS. My hair? IT HAS BEEN A MESS. My makeup?

I turned 40 this year, and while I don't feel like I've changed all that much, I can see that my skin has.  Until recently, my solution was MORE makeup, because clearly I needed to COVER ALL THIS OLDNESS UP, right?  Wrong!  After 40, less is more, especially when we're talking about makeup.

Times are tough, I know that. Money is tight in most of our homes and, if you've read my Beauty Hacks before, you know that I am a drugstore/beauty aisle in the supermarket kind of cosmetic consumer. But the good people at Estee Lauder thought I might be interested in trying out some high-end skin care and who was I to argue? (Yes, I'm aware of the fact that there are skincare products that cost hundreds of dollars, but I'm not going there.)

Ever since I embarked upon my path towards becoming the total makeup addict that I am today, I've embraced all manner of beauty products without judgment. Violet eyeliner? Why not? Body temperature-influenced blush gel? Bring it on! Vibrating mascara? Send it my way! Yes, I've been up for trying almost any product at least once. Anything, that is, except for products containing glitter or sparkles of any sort.