It’s pretty obvious that the past year has been a little stressful and tiring for me, and I’m so grateful that you all put up with me! Haha. Between graduating, traveling, moving and starting a big-girl job, I’ve come to learn something really important that no one taught me in all 21-years of education.

It’s so important to create a healthy routine and take care of yourself.

I found this cute little chart on Pinterest that was basically seven positive takes to try in a week. The first one was to focus on self-care. The suggestions were to take a bath, exfoliate, do a face mask or do something that makes you feel relaxed. What I later discovered (over the course of about three weeks) is that I need to feel relaxed every day.

I had never really expanded beyond splashing water on my face in the mornings and rinsing the day away with a gentle cleanser, when it came to taking care of my face. You know, the only one I’ve got in this lifetime.

About 6 months ago, I began setting a routine. This routine included moisturizing in the morning and spritzing rose water for a refresher at night. You know that feeling you get after using a face mask? When your face is completely refreshed and you’re so aware of how you’re reducing the damage in the years to come?

While nothing can beat a dewy and pearly mask to create (limited) shine, most of us don’t have time to let a mask sit for 20-minutes every day, when we begin seeing the signs of life spread across our face. I was introduced to VIIcode a couple of months ago and began using the T2 oxygen eye crème. I’m obsessed.

I literally always have an issue with what I put on my face, whether it’s breakouts or allergic reactions, but this little number has become a huge part of my daily routine. When I first put it on, I literally ran around my house screaming that I could feel my face absorbing the concoction. It’s like when you have a really bad sunburn and you put aloe on it – only this was preventative and not reactive, haha!

Another plus side to this was that it wasn’t adding grease to my already oily face. I remember in college, Ryanne and I used to joke about how we were too young to have such dark circles under our eyes and then it hit me that I needed to do something about it when the intern at work mentioned he thought I was in my thirties. YIKES.

I found the one that makes my heart happy – and it wasn’t a guy. (10/10 would recommend using before trying to get a man to solve our problems)

I never really came up with a resolution for 2018, because so many of them I can’t predict to be fulfilled, but I think this year is the year of investing in myself and being better – doing better.

That being said, the next step is to change my pillow cases more often, and then hopefully I’ll start looking like Gisele Bundchen.

A special thank-you to our friends at VIIcode for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are my own.