Are you looking for expert advice on how to meet your skin goals in 2022, Vancouver?
If so, you’re in the right place!
With the New Year always comes a fresh calendar and, of course, fresh starts. January is the month of reflection; it’s the month of assessing status quo, thinking of new goals, and setting intentions.
Know what it’s often not, however? A month of instant results.
New Year’s Resolutions often fail due to people setting unrealistic timelines and treating their aspirations like a sprint (rather than a steady marathon). Skin goals are no exception. But yours don’t have to fail… especially if you have a strategic plan in place!
Here’s how and why having a plan of action will help you meet your skin goals in 2022:
Why Set Skin Goals?
Firstly, let’s discuss the benefits of setting skin-related goals.
It’s important to set goals and intentions, especially when working towards a solution for something that’s concerning to you: having an end result to work towards provides a purpose and a focus for your efforts and helps to narrow down the selection of potential solutions.
Why is that so vital? Because, especially in the world of skin care, potential “solutions” are everywhere! Experimenting with myriad products and services and trying to “fix” everything at once is often peoples’ downfall when it comes to seeing real, long-term results for their skin.
By contrast, focusing on one specific goal enables more powerful decision-making (e.g. “does this option serve this goal?”) and also allows for more accurate assessment of progress along the way.
Other benefits of skin care goal-setting include:
- Helping to get into the rhythm of new, beneficial behaviours that build momentum
- Sustaining motivation when setbacks inevitably arise
Pro Tip: by setting small, measurable, and periodic benchmarks along your skin care journey, you can provide yourself with a sense of accomplishment and inspire yourself to pursue other related self-care and health goals.
How to Set Great Skin Goals?
Now that you know about the perks of goal-setting, let’s dive into how to set truly great skin-related goals.
As long-time skin care professionals, here is our advice:
- Consider what you’d like to change about your skin. Has your acne flared up since mask-wearing became an everyday staple? Does the rough texture of your skin bother you every winter? Has your melasma become a constant insecurity over the years? No matter what your skin-related concern may be, naming it is the first step to solving it.
- Examine all internal and external factors that contribute to that aspect of skin health. What can you control? Where can you create change? Consider working with a holistic skin therapist to broaden your understanding of what impacts your skin and to help identify opportunities for change.
- Be honest with yourself about your priorities and think over how far you’re willing to stretch outside of your usual routine in order to meet your end goal. Are you willing to switch your skin care routine over to products that only your skin therapist recommends? What about coming in for periodic recommended treatments, or changing up your diet to minimize inflammatory foods? Creating change requires action, and action requires committing to new behaviours!
Pro Tip: Use the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relative, and Timely) to set realistic and practical skin-related goals. To make sure your goals are SMART, ask yourself, “Have I named my specific skin concerns? Have I determined how to measure my progress? Are these results attainable? Are they relative to my skin right now, and not in comparison to someone else’s skin? Have I set a general timeline, and have I committed to a change in my morning and evening product routines, as well as a treatment schedule?”
Word to the wise! While we do find value in setting a timeline when and how frequently you’ll take action to meet your end goal, we recommend using caution in setting strict deadlines for results. The skin is a complex organ that has many different factors playing into its health and can take longer or shorter time to respond. As long as you’re making some sort of visible progress, count that as a win!
How to See Skin-Related Success
Alright, now that we’ve armed you on the how’s and why’s of goal-setting, let’s talk about the most important part of any plan of action: achieving results.
Strategy is the secret, unskippable ingredient to succeeding in any form of goal-setting, but especially skin-related goal-setting.
Visiting a skin therapist will help you set, accelerate, and achieve your goals. They do this by:
- Listening to and understanding your skin-related concerns, your desires, and your skin’s history
- Helping you assess your starting point and establish realistic benchmarks
- Providing a professional perspective to help you reframe how you think and treat your skin long-term
- Working with you on prioritizing multiple objectives so that you can start seeing progress right off the bat
- Guiding you towards identifying health, lifestyle, and cosmetic considerations to achieve your goals (like switching up your diet or lowering day-to-day stress levels)
Pro Tip: having someone hold you accountable when obstacles arise (and celebrate with you when you overcome those obstacles!) is invaluable. Having a professional by your side who can also encourage your journey via resources, tools, and treatments is even more so.
Ready to Start Meeting Your Skin Goals in 2022?
Bookmark this blog to refer back to the checklist below as you progress through your 2022 skin care journey:
- Be kind to yourself when considering what you’d like to improve about your skin
- Experience a professional skin assessment
- Lay down a strong foundation of consistent, personalized home care routines of esthetician-approved brands
- Schedule periodic professional services to accelerate the results you are achieving from your home care routines
- Be sure to seek professional expertise on how and when to modify your product and treatment routine as the seasons, your skin’s condition, and your goals change
Need a realistic, strategy-based, and actionable plan to meet your skin goals in 2022?
Book a Consultation with Facial Expressions today to make your skin-related dreams a reality.