Our columnist always wears white on New Year’s Eve, never has regrets and goes minimal with makeup. Here she shares her favourite ways to round off the year
I love spending New Year's Eve and Day with people who I want in my life all of the following year, and years to come – my kids, friends, family and loves. I often wear white, its become a sort of tradition for me. Usually, we are in the Bahamas and go to the local Junkanoo, a Bahamian procession with drums and costumes. It’s musical, joyous, creative, earthy and authentic and one of my favourite ways to celebrate the new year. We don’t play games but we do dance, although my kids say I should probably just watch at this stage!
If I’m having friends over I often prepare (vegan) cheese and nut plates, guacamole and fresh tuna tartar on gluten-free toast, alongside a great champagne or vodka-based cocktail. I don’t drink alcohol so I stick to my favourite virgin cocktails, a mock mojito made of fresh lime, slices of ginger, soda, lots of ice and a little mint on top. I intersperse this with chilled glasses of elderflower water or a simple ginger ale on ice.
If there’s a meal, I aim to serve a vegan or vegetarian menu using fresh, local, organic seasonal produce, alongside beautifully prepared fish. Dessert is usually chocolate-based – preferably a dark chocolate mousse made with protein powder.
My New Year’s Eve beauty regime
My beauty regime always begins with healthy glowing skin, and because nothing I put on my skin works as well as what I put inside my body (two teaspoons of Super Elixir Greens is always the first step as it’s fantastic for glowing skin – pomegranate for vitamin A and its high antioxidant properties, and horsetail extract and aloe vera for combatting the visual effects of ageing including pigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles).
When my skin needs extra love, I’ll add a vial of WelleCo Super Booster Aquatic Collagen Skin + Hair + Nails formulated with botanical extracts and bioactive nutrients that supports collagen formation and enhances skin firmness and strength. It also includes silica – fantastic for maintaining and supporting hair and nail health, strength and thickness. I’ve seen results in less than two weeks.
I don’t wear a lot of makeup, just very subtle touches to naturally define my face, brow and lips. I love the organic RMS Beauty Un Cover-Up Concealer, £34 under my eyes, a little Pat McGrath Skin Fetish cheek shine, £49 , and RMS Beauty Lip2Cheek, £34 on my lips.
Because makeup, I style my hair in beachy waves. I take Sam McKnight’s Cool Girl Barely There Texture Mist, £25 and spritz it through my roots and work it to the ends then tie it up into a topknot. When I eventually take it down, it is a messy wave.
As I mentioned earlier, I tend to wear white on New Year’s Eve. Usually, it’s something just really easy, floaty and sexy by my clever friend Melissa Odabash . I finish with my signature scent Vétiver by Guerlain, £52 . It’s actually a French men’s fragrance scented of citrus fruits, bergamot, tonka bean, vetiver, nutmeg and pepper. It’s always the last thing I put on.
New Year’s Solutions
Sometimes I have a hard time staying awake on New Year’s Eve, but I never feel like I’m missing out – I love New Year’s Day!
I love to spend the first day of the New Year with my boys doing something we all enjoy – boating, swimming or snow skiing hanging out together. The boys are the best company and the ones that I choose to be with every moment I can.
Later, I’ll read or call a friend for a catch-up, and maybe have a good massage to get the lymph system going and blood flowing. It’s a great way to start a new year - nurturing the spirit and body.
I like to switch the concept of a New Year’s resolution to a New Year’s solution. I decide to change just one small thing. It could be as simple as adding something to my life every day. Maybe adding a morning stretch or basic yoga or breathing as soon as I wake or an extra green juice in my day.
Someone wise once said to me, the greatest gift you can give your children is time, and this really resonates with me and so I make time and space to parent - Prioritising this is part of my every year promise to myself. Watching my sons thrive in school and university, and encouraging them to explore quirky business ideas and summer jobs, so they get to know themselves, has been a source of joy.
No regrets…
I believe the past serves as a great learning curve and something we hopefully don’t regret because we bothered to learn from what we consider to be both our successes and our mistakes. Personally, I think life is about learning, not regrets, and if we can say the foundation of what we did was sound, but we would like to change the detail, I think we can be proud that we remained open to life’s experiences and learned along the way. I think being open to change, even if it appears illogical or risky, is the key to longevity in a career and a life that keeps evolving.
Love, Elle