10 New Beauty Habits to Make and 10 Oldies to Break

3. Old Habit: High-maintenance hair

New Habit: Low-maintenance hair

Over-styling your hair and forcing it to be something it's not every day — like straight or curly — is not only time-consuming but also damaging. Learn to style your hair so it looks great blow-dried or air-dried, freshly washed or three days post-shampoo. Invest in a heat-brush styler like the Infiniti Pro by Conair All-In-One Paddle Dryer Brush ($40, target.com) or Revlon Salon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer in teal/black ($42, target.com). Use hair clips like the Anthropologie Courtside Matte Hair Clip Set in kelly or grey motif ($24, anthropologie.com) and scarf scrunchies like the Tasha 3-Pack Pleated Hair Scrunchies in burgundy/mustard ($24, nordstrom.com) to control frizz and hide grow-outs or undone hair in contemporary style.

4. Old Habit: Multistep routines

New Habit: Multitasking routines

No need for a cleanser, makeup remover, body scrub, soap, post-shower moisturizer, hair conditioner, heat protector and frizz serum when you can cut that list down to a few multitasking items. It makes sense to double up to streamline your routine and schedule. Start with three: a one-step micellar cleanser like Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water All-in-1 Makeup Remover & Cleanser ($9, target.com) to remove eye/face makeup and sunscreen and freshen skin; an exfoliating moisturizing body wash like Olay Exfoliating & Moisturizing Body Wash with sugar, cocoa butter and vitamin B3 ($9, target.com); and a leave-in hair conditioner like It's a 10 Miracle plus Keratin Leave In Conditioner ($20, target.com) to detangle, nourish, humidity-proof, add shine and heat protect. Done!

5. Old Habit: Polished nails and socks

New Habit: Healthy hands and feet all year

We figure we're constantly washing our hands and wearing slippers, Uggs or boots 24/7, so who's going to see? You are! Aren't smooth paws and tootsies one of life's little pleasures? Nail polish — which, let's be honest, is camouflage — will get you only so far and doesn't begin to address the issues of red rough hands, cuticles and callused feet. Make daily nail oil like Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil ($9, ulta.com) with almond, jojoba and sunflower as well as a nongreasy hand cream like Burt's Bees Lavender & Honey Hand Cream ($5, target.com) a habit by popping them in your bag, near the sink and by your laptop to compensate for the drying effects of handwashing, sanitizer and weather. Use a pumice or foot file in the shower daily to exfoliate dead skin, and before bed slather clean feet with Vaseline Original Petroleum Jelly ($4, target.com) and slip on cotton socks for baby-soft feet by morning.

6. Old Habit: Signature scent all the time

New Habit: Body mists to calm down and pep up

If we learned one thing this past year, it's the value of a quick de-stress plan. Start using the power of select notes like vanilla, lavender, rose and jasmine for a calming, soothing effect — and don't be a scent snob! A low-cost body mist like Vitabath Lavender Chamomile Fragrance Mist ($9, ulta.com) or Island Vanilla by Pacifica Perfumed Hair & Body Mist ($13, target.com) can help reduce anxiety when sprayed on body, hair or pillow. On the other hand, for a quick energy boost try a citrus one like Nest Fragrances Grapefruit & Verbena Body Mist ($20 travel size, ulta.com) instead of an espresso. Keep your usual fancy fragrance, of course, but now use it in rotation with mists.

7. Old Habit: Full-coverage foundation

New Habit: Sheer foundation

For years we've been spackling and painting to hide every discoloration and splotch. It's time to stop. Like our favorite new wire-free bras, updated face makeups still do the job they're meant to do but they're easier to wear and make us look authentic. Switch to a skin-like moisturizing formula with a dewy texture — like NYX Professional Makeup Bare With Me Tinted Skin Veil ($15, target.com), Wet n Wild Bare Focus Tinted Hydrator ($6, target.com) or e.l.f. Cosmetics Camo CC Cream SPF 30 ($14, target.com) — and aim for a blurring effect, not a total cover-up. After all, trying to cover every single brown spot, red splotch and discoloration to fake a perfectly even skin tone is not necessary for real life — unless you're on TV.

8. Old Habit: Salon color on schedule

New Habit: Stretch your color

Another COVID-19 lesson here. We wrestled with the root and hair color issue during lockdown and didn't like being unprepared one bit. Make it a habit to stock up on chic, wide hairbands (your roots’ new best friend) such as the Anthropologie Amber Knotted Headband in sapphire ($24, anthropologie.com), and get handy using a temporary touch-up — like Color Wow Root Cover Up ($34, target.com) or dpHUE Color Touch-Up Spray ($28, sephora.com), which comes in hard-to-find shades like strawberry blonde and auburn — to extend color for a simple DIY. After all, gray roots are very different from dark ones, which can look kind of Madonna edgy. Grays can make a part look wider and a hairline appear to be receding — and who needs that?

9. Old Habit: Sleepless nights

New Habit: Nighttime rehab

Whether you sleep like a baby or toss and turn all night, use those hours free of sun exposure and public viewing for a skin rehab. If you regularly use retinol cream or other moisturizer before bed, save one or two nights a week for intensive care. Apply a supercharged hyaluronic face mask like Olay Masks Hydrating Overnight Gel Mask with vitamin E ($23, target.com) to push the envelope on line plumping, as well as a shea butter mask for hair like Faith in Nature Coconut & Shea Butter Hydrating Mask ($8, target.com) or The Body Shop Shea Butter Richly Replenishing Hair Mask ($18, thebodyshop.com). You don't need to use masks labeled “overnight,” either. Any rich cream or mask applied lavishly works, but protect your pillowcase by using an old one and wrapping your hair in a plastic-wrap turban or shower cap.

10. Old Habit: Get sunny with bronzer

New Habit: Get a glow with blush

Still think bronzer is the answer for dull, tired, saggy skin? Not so fast. The best new trick for grownup skin that has lost its radiance is to apply a cream blush — like Milani Cheek Kiss Cream Blush in coral crush or blushing berry ($9, ulta.com); Stila Convertible Color in petunia, lillium or gerbera ($25, ulta.com); or e.l.f. Cosmetics Putty Blush in Tahiti, Caribbean or Turks and Caicos ($6, ulta.com) — high on the top ledge of the cheekbones. Forget the old blush-on-the-apples trick. As we age our cheeks sag and drop when we stop smiling. Lifting the blush up lifts your cheeks! Stick with creams since — unlike bronzer and powder blush — they add a healthy gleam that's pure glow. Choose rose, pink and berry shades for cool skin tones; apricot, coral and peachy shades for warm skin tones.

Lois Joy Johnson is a beauty and style editor who focuses on women 50 and older. She was the beauty and style editor at Ladies’ Home Journal and a founding editor of More magazine. She has written three books: The Makeup Wakeup, The Wardrobe Wakeup and The Woman's Wakeup.