Since we know the majority of New Year’s Resolutions fall to the wayside by the end of January (a whopping 75%), let’s skip them this year regarding your love life! Perhaps you think that if you sign up for a long-term gym membership and are paying the big bucks on a one-year contract, you’re more likely to go to the gym… right? Well, maybe.

Plans, resolutions, strategies without accountability generally fail… so let’s jump right into some 2023 Dating Tips from your dating coach.

Side note: Online dating explodes in January and February – I know because I get monthly stats from Gallup and Pew – and you would be amazed to know that singles do flock to dating sites, no matter what part of the country they live in and no matter the weather.

2023 Dating Tips

So, what dating tips could I offer, you may ask. Here is a list of 10:

Think Outside Your “Type”

While you may always go for the athletic, 6”2’ man with a Ph.D. or a man with a full head of hair, you’d be surprised to know that, over the years, I’ve seen many women fall in love with someone they originally told me was not their type!

Don’t Expect Perfection

Perfection is not tangible, and we shouldn’t hope to find it in another person. Hopefully, you never expect it from yourself too!

Your Date Is Not a Mind Reader

My 3 criteria for a relationship are Communication, Chemistry and Common Values. Oh, did I say communication? Yup!

Trust Your Gut

Your intuition is usually well tuned to catch trouble. So, if something seems a little fishy in a guy’s profile, if he only posted one photo – use your intuition.

Don’t Get Attached Too Quickly

Oh boy. I could write a book on this one. During my weekly coaching calls with clients, I often hear, “Oh, he is the one,” after one date and then the woman in question wants to quit dating others. That’s a bad idea. One date does not make a relationship.

Just Date

Your goal is to get 5 first dates the first two weeks. Yes, 5. Why? It gives you practice and confidence especially as you’ve been out of the dating world the last number of years.

Say Yes

To every opportunity – a party, a man you’re on the fence with online, a hike with people you don’t know well, a trivia night – say yes. Because… you never know, do you?

Live in the Moment

What ifs keep you away from the present. Forget about them. You’re on a date – enjoy this moment. Don’t be thinking of date #3 or #4 or how a relationship is going to work geographically or whether your kids will accept your boyfriend. Stay present and enjoy.

Don’t Overthink If Someone Stops Texting

I hear this one enough, “Oh, it went great and then he stopped texting – I wonder why.” Yes, smart women actually obsess over what might have happened to the person. Move on – the dating pool is huge!

Know What You Deserve

That means never settle. He is out there. Believe me; in 25 years of dating coaching, I absolutely know one thing – there is a lid for every pot, and I see it happen every day!

Happy New Year and much love in 2023!

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Let’s Have a Conversation:

Is dating difficult for you? Have you made a resolution about your dating life in 2023? Do you think you will keep it? What do you think about trying out these dating tips instead?

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While you’re at Free People grabbing perfect knits, flirty dresses and oversized cardigans, you might not have noticed the retailer has a huge beauty and wellness section. In fact, Free People even has a secret in-house beauty brand called Summary that trust us, you don’t want to overlook. In addition to Summary, the retailer also makes delicious-smelling candles, vegan lip balm and so much more. Who knew, right?

Of course, Free People also hawks other best-selling brands such as RMS, Kosas, HigherDose and DedCool. You already know and love these. The real surprise is how great Summary is, along with Free People’s other products they’re making in house. Summary is part of Free People’s Clean Beauty category, meaning each product is “consciously made” with “mindfully sourced ingredients.” If you’re looking for deodorant without aluminum, baking soda, talc, parabens, sulfates and synthetic fragrances — that actually works — Summary has it. And so much more.

Shop some Free People beauty favorites, below.

Free People.

Summary Stress Less Antioxidant Priming Serum

This ultra-hydrating serum contains redness-reducing patchouli leaf extract and encapsulated micro-spheres containing omega-rich raspberry and hemp seed oil.

Free People.

Free People Balsam Fir Candle

This luxe candle was hand-poured by Joya in Brooklyn, New York exclusively for Free People. The cozy balsam scent is perfect for all winter.

Free People.

Free People Vegan Lip Gloss

This sheer, pearly pink gloss contains hydrating castor seed oil, argan oil and sunflower seed wax.

Free People.

Summary Cool Down Muscle Gel & Deodorant Set

This workout-ready set gets you antioxidant-rich deodorant and a cool-down muscle gel, which contains spearmint leaf oil, menthol, and magnesium.

Free People.

Summary Reset Clarifying Body Mist

This cleansing and purifying body mist contains salicylic acid and witch hazel help keep breakouts at bay, as well as tone-evening rose flower and lotus root water,

Growing up reading fairy tales, I believed that my soulmate is out there. When he (insert your own preference) crossed my path, it will be love at first sight. We will live happily ever after. Alas, that is not what happened.

Now older and wiser, I understand why my prince has not magically appeared. I was not ready to be in a true romantic partnership with my spiritual, emotional, and physical partner. First, I had to know who I was. To be able to show up authentically and be ready to be a fully participating partner with my soulmate.

I have been on a journey for love for a long time. Three years ago, I met him, my bashert (Yiddish for destiny, soulmate), the love of my life. After two and a half years, it fell apart.

The adage is true, first I had to love myself.

I had to be comfortable in my own skin, accept myself no matter the circumstances. On this journey of finding romantic love, I had to learn to love myself. I started with Loving What I Have. Baby steps matter.

As I cleared out the items and possessions that don’t serve me anymore, it became evident that I had to also love how I was spending my time and who I surrounded myself with. And that made me look at who I spend most of my time with? It turns out it’s Me! I spend most of my time with myself.

I didn’t see that one coming.

What a Blessing – And a Curse

I focused on the things I owned, my material possessions, skipping over how I loved myself. I don’t know about you, but what I found was that I was unnecessarily worried about keeping up pretenses.

Those four dangerous words hanging in my head – “What will others think?” – kept me stuck in a cycle of proving myself and pleasing others, two very human traits, that I over practiced for many years and had to unlearn.

To love myself, I had to unstick from those beliefs that kept me thinking about others and putting their needs first instead of my own. It’s the old airline tag line. Put on your oxygen mask first and then help others.

If I didn’t love myself first, I couldn’t love others. That was counterintuitive. I figured if I helped others and took care of them, I would feel good about myself. That, my friends, is not the way it works.

It’s hard work to get unstuck. However, if I was going to be with my soulmate, I had to get cracking, ‘cause it wasn’t working the way I was.

How Did I Get Unstuck?

Like many women my age, at my current place in life, braving a new path in semi-retirement, unshackled from the obligations that kept me on a hamster wheel, I thought I would dial right in. Alas, that didn’t happen either.

I had to go back to basics and focus on my primary relationship. My relationship with myself. I had to practice, practice, practice. And change my perspective.

Talk to Yourself as You Would Talk to a Friend

I am gentle with my daughter, my friends, my co-workers. I am hard on myself. How can I have compassion for others when I beat myself up over simple everyday occurrences? Small missteps that seem so important in the moment and happen every day. By now I know they won’t really make a difference in the larger picture.

So, what if I missed a phone call, or an email, got a slight fender bender, or broke a dish I’d just bought? I have learned to say to myself what I would usually say to a friend. “It just happened, don’t blame yourself. It’s just a small hiccup.”

Don’t dwell on these little annoyances. I move on.

Once I could see the difference between how I treated those I love and how I treated myself, I had to close that gap. Face up to my actions and change my behavior.

Find Proof of Positive Personal Growth

How do I know if I am doing the right things? Taking the right steps? What should I pay attention to with all the information, programs and plans that promise to make me a better me? The real key to loving myself is getting out of the patterns I’ve been repeating over and over again.

Each of us must find what works for our personal situation, such as weight loss – some never get on the scale, others find the scale a valuable tool. No matter what camp you fall into, use it, and measure it. Be honest with yourself about where you are making progress.

Another colloquialism that works here:

“If you have always done what you have done, you are going to get what you have got.”

I was so busy pleasing everyone but myself. I stopped taking care of my needs. I put others first and I lost myself.

Now that I can identify that pattern, I can measure if I am making progress. Such as, have I found time for my morning routine during holiday season?

Proof positive that I am on the path is that I took time for myself every morning to do my spiritual practice, my exercises, my grooming, no matter the mayhem in getting the day started and no matter how many times my emails pinged, people called, and guests asked, “How do you turn on the coffee pot?”

With my soulmate, the ability to identify my old behaviors was tricky. My patterns are buried in years of just doing and when I try to change them, they show up in different forms. With my bashert, I cooked and cleaned, just as I had for the 18 years my daughter lived with me. I rushed to make him happy, putting all his favorite things on my shelves, moving what I loved to the rear of the cabinet. I forgot to keep myself happy. No wonder things went south.

Change Your Words – Change Your Thoughts

Now, when I look in my rearview mirror of what I used to do, I am kinder to myself. I understand that wisdom comes from experience and experience comes from making lots of tough choices in tight situations.

There aren’t mistakes, just doing the best I could at the time I needed to do it. It inspires me to work towards better choices, get more data, be more honest about the situation – all of which may boil down to a better decision.

Either way, mistakes are not part of my vocabulary. Mistakes make me feel like a failure. And we are all just works in progress. Back to practice, practice, practice.

We make choices all the time, with the information at hand. When we do the best we can, we can be proud of ourselves, regardless of the outcome and what others think. Isn’t that a fancy perspective change?

Changing your words will change your thoughts. Talk to yourself like you are talking to someone you love. Because you are talking to someone you love – yourself.

What’s Next

Be kind to yourself. It takes time to forgive, forget and learn new patterns. You did the best you could at any point in time. Now, it’s a new point in time. A time to fall in love with you and your life. Go ahead, you are worth it.

If you haven’t filled our short survey yet, please do. Your input is valuable to us!

Let’s Have a Conversation:

How do you show yourself love? Do you devote special time to yourself every day? What is stopping you?

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

When searching for the next big skincare product to add to our routines, we turn to TikTok and celebs. What better inspiration than the people who are consistently trying new formulas and have a massive platform for sharing their fave picks? There’s one product in particular that has won the hearts of TikTokers everywhere, plus the stunning Hailey Bieber.

BeautyStat might not be a brand you’re all too familiar with, but let us explain. Founded by a cosmetic chemist, the brand creates science-driven, award-winning, celeb-loved skincare products. These formulas contain premium quality ingredients as well as the brand’s patented technology. The potent active ingredients in each formula work well and work fast.

The product that launched BeautyStat, the Universal C Skin Refiner is “the world’s first serum containing 20 percent stable and pure vitamin C that stays potent from first drop to last, never oxidizing or turning brown,” per the brand.

And lucky for you, it’s discounted by 25 percent during SkinStore’s winter sale, which is letting you save up to 50 percent off of its offerings and an extra 10 percent on sale items. There are even select products for 15 percent off with promo code WINTER. That means you can grab Hailey’s fave vitamin C serum for $64 instead of $85.

“It has changed my skin,” Bieber says in a YouTube video she made to celebrate Black businesses during Black History Month. “One of my Holy Grail products.”

Now, vitamin C is the hero ingredient almost everyone can benefit from using in their skincare routine. It fades dark spots, promotes collagen production, gently exfoliates and prevents free radical damage. With a top-tier vitamin C serum, the ingredient leaves your skin brighter, smoother, firmer and more youthful. So, it makes sense why Mrs. Bieber has so much praise for the product.

Like most things, if the Universal C Skin Refiner is good enough to make it into Mrs. Bieber’s skincare Hall of Fame, we’ll take two, please.

RELATED: Hailey Bieber Swears By an Under-$30 Concealer That’s Like a ‘Lightbulb For Your Skin’

Photo: BeautyStat.

Besides pure vitamin C, several other ingredients contribute to this gel-cream’s acclaim on TikTok and with Bieber. Squalane locks in moisture, while anti-inflammatory green tea calms skin and minimizes redness and dark spots. On top of that, tartaric acid gently exfoliates to clear pores and balance the skin’s pH level. And that is how to get rid of fine lines and wrinkles, stubborn dark marks and hyperpigmentation and larger-looking pores. 

“THIS STUFF is so good. It completely changed my face as far as hyperpigmentation, texture and even brightness,” raved one Ulta shopper. “I highly recommend this to anyone who struggles with dullness, rough texture and dark spots.”

This product’s powerful formula is also fragrance-free, preservative-free and dermatologist-approved. 

“When I put it on face, it feels like nothing on my face. It is a lightweight cream and it doesn’t leave that sticky film on your face. I have seen that my skin is brighter and smoother. Love this product,” wrote another reviewer.

Now that you know what’s behind Bieber’s effortless glow, it’s time to check out your cart and start lathering your face in all of the vitamin C goodness the Universal C Skin Refiner has to offer.

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

When searching for the next big skincare product to add to our routines, we turn to TikTok and celebs. What better inspiration than the people who are consistently trying new formulas and have a massive platform for sharing their fave picks? There’s one product in particular that has won the hearts of TikTokers everywhere, plus the stunning Hailey Bieber.

BeautyStat might not be a brand you’re all too familiar with, but let us explain. Founded by a cosmetic chemist, the brand creates science-driven, award-winning, celeb-loved skincare products. These formulas contain premium quality ingredients as well as the brand’s patented technology. The potent active ingredients in each formula work well and work fast.

The product that launched BeautyStat, the Universal C Skin Refiner is “the world’s first serum containing 20 percent stable and pure vitamin C that stays potent from first drop to last, never oxidizing or turning brown,” per the brand.

And lucky for you, it’s discounted by 25 percent during SkinStore’s winter sale, which is letting you save up to 50 percent off of its offerings and an extra 10 percent on sale items. There are even select products for 15 percent off with promo code WINTER. That means you can grab Hailey’s fave vitamin C serum for $64 instead of $85.

“It has changed my skin,” Bieber says in a YouTube video she made to celebrate Black businesses during Black History Month. “One of my Holy Grail products.”

Now, vitamin C is the hero ingredient almost everyone can benefit from using in their skincare routine. It fades dark spots, promotes collagen production, gently exfoliates and prevents free radical damage. With a top-tier vitamin C serum, the ingredient leaves your skin brighter, smoother, firmer and more youthful. So, it makes sense why Mrs. Bieber has so much praise for the product.

Like most things, if the Universal C Skin Refiner is good enough to make it into Mrs. Bieber’s skincare Hall of Fame, we’ll take two, please.

RELATED: Hailey Bieber Swears By an Under-$30 Concealer That’s Like a ‘Lightbulb For Your Skin’

Photo: BeautyStat.

Besides pure vitamin C, several other ingredients contribute to this gel-cream’s acclaim on TikTok and with Bieber. Squalane locks in moisture, while anti-inflammatory green tea calms skin and minimizes redness and dark spots. On top of that, tartaric acid gently exfoliates to clear pores and balance the skin’s pH level. And that is how to get rid of fine lines and wrinkles, stubborn dark marks and hyperpigmentation and larger-looking pores. 

“THIS STUFF is so good. It completely changed my face as far as hyperpigmentation, texture and even brightness,” raved one Ulta shopper. “I highly recommend this to anyone who struggles with dullness, rough texture and dark spots.”

This product’s powerful formula is also fragrance-free, preservative-free and dermatologist-approved. 

“When I put it on face, it feels like nothing on my face. It is a lightweight cream and it doesn’t leave that sticky film on your face. I have seen that my skin is brighter and smoother. Love this product,” wrote another reviewer.

Now that you know what’s behind Bieber’s effortless glow, it’s time to check out your cart and start lathering your face in all of the vitamin C goodness the Universal C Skin Refiner has to offer.