Resolved: You’re going to show off your most beautiful skin and gleaming hair in 2012. And you don’t need to overhaul your entire beauty regimen or invest in a ton of new products to achieve this. Just launch the new year with these seven simple steps.

1. Make sure your daily skin-care regimen includes the three essentials: a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher; an antioxidant serum or lotion with ingredients like vitamin C, green tea or coffeeberry; and a wrinkle-reducing retinol cream or gel. “The antioxidant and sunscreen will defend and protect your skin during the day,” says New York City–based dermatologist Linda K. Franks, “and the nighttime retinol will switch your skin to the offensive mode, producing new cells and collagen to keep your complexion looking young.”

2. Cleanse your skin every single night -- late Saturday nights and stressful weeknights included. Going to sleep with the day’s accumulation of grime, dead skin cells and makeup clogging your pores can lead to the growth of acne bacteria and “those nasty big red craters,” says Adam Friedman, director of dermatologic research at New York City’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

3. Practice good skin hygiene. If you find yourself breaking out on the side of your face where you hold your cell phone, switch to an earpiece or clean your phone with an oil-free wipe once a day to make sure you’re not transferring grime to your skin. Plus, be mindful of not touching your skin when you’re eating greasy food, like French fries or pizza. “It may not be the oils you’re ingesting that are causing breakouts,” says New York City–based dermatologist Jody Levine, “but the oils that you’re introducing to the surface of your skin with your fingertips.”

4. Choose products that are the perfect match for your skin and hair. Beauty and hair-care companies now offer lines that are formulated specially for specific skin and hair types. Take advantage of these. The acne wash that has helped clear up your best friend’s breakouts may leave you flaky if your own skin tends to dry out easily. Likewise, the ingredients that help keep medium or thick hair frizz-free can weigh down finer locks. The right hair products will not only make styling easier, but also help protect your hair against damage, such as split ends or color fading, says Jeni Thomas, a research scientist on hair and scalp health for Pantene.

5. Baby your tresses. Use a wide-tooth comb to get the tangles out of wet hair. Cut down on the brushing; those mythical 100 strokes a night can actually lead to breakage and split ends. If you wear your hair in a ponytail, use seamless elastics and ease -- don’t rip -- the elastic out when you take your pony down.

6. Cool it with hot styling tools. Switch to a lower setting when you use flat irons, curling irons and hair-dryers. “Some high settings can exceed the boiling point of water,” says Thomas, “and may be far hotter than you need to achieve your style.” Always use a heat-protectant spray, and if your hair is looking scorched, consider moisturizing versions of your favorite shampoo and conditioner.

7. Dye your hair, without killing it. If you color your hair, choose a shampoo and a conditioner that are designed especially to restore the health of chemically treated hair. Bleach can be especially tough on hair, so if you’re going lighter, focus on roots rather than pulling the color through the entire length of your strands every time you need a touch-up. Whether you color your hair in your bathroom or at the salon, it’s best to stay within a couple of shades of your natural color. Be cautious about chemically straightening your hair if you already color it. Instead, consider a cut that works with your hair’s natural texture and use products, rather then chemical treatments, to smooth your locks.

Do you baby your face but neglect the rest of your skin? Dermatologists say that below-the-chin skin needs just as much TLC to remain smooth, firm and spot-free. The outcome of inattentiveness: premature aging, or even worse, skin cancer. Manhattan dermatologist Francesca Fusco points to a World Health Organization study that shows the torso is the most common location for developing melanoma in young women. The area continues to be vulnerable well beyond these years if there has been sun exposure without protection. 

Pamper and protect all of you pronto with this neck-to-toe guide!

Neck and Chest
“The skin here is delicate, so it needs treatment like the face but with a lower concentration of active ingredients,” says Dr. Fusco. Exfoliate with gentle micro-beads once a week to help treatment ingredients penetrate. Dr. Fusco recommends strengthening the skin’s collagen and elastin with an over-the-counter retinol (vitamin A) every other day, a daily application of peptides (look for the words oligopeptides, pentapeptides or tetrapeptides on the label) or the antioxidant vitamin C in cream form. “SPF 30 is still a must,” says Dr. Fusco. If freckles are already marring your decolletage, you can still change your spots by applying a moisturizer that contains a gentle bleaching agent like kojic acid twice a day.

Hands and Arms
If you don’t treat and protect from frequent washing and constant exposure, they’ll show age early in the form of dryness, discoloration and loose skin. Beverly Hills dermatologist Ilya Reyter recommends slathering on a moisturizing ingredient like petrolatum to curb dryness. “It acts like plastic wrap, locking in the moisture that’s already in your skin and preventing water loss,” says Dr. Reyter. His nighttime tip for soft, smooth hands: Soak in water for 10 minutes, coat in petroleum jelly and slip into cotton gloves.

Back-of-the-arm bumps, a common problem called keratosis pilaris, are trickier. “These are dead skin cells that have hardened into little balls inside the pores and become inflamed,” says Dr. Fusco. “You can’t scrub them away, but a drugstore moisturizer containing 10 percent urea or ammonium lactate applied when skin is damp can be effective.”

Torso
A creamy bodywash combined with an application of shea butter moisturizer or body oil right after a shower helps this area stay supple. If your shoulders, back and bottom tend to break out, squeeze a bodywash with 2 percent salicylic acid onto a loofah sponge and shimmy on all acne-prone parts each time you shower, advises Dr. Fusco. Tinted benzoyl peroxide can simultaneously hide and treat blemishes that have already erupted. “This kind of acne or folliculitis can sometimes be caused by staph bacteria, but you should always check with your doctor to be sure,” notes Dr. Reyter. “In that case, using an OTC chlorhexidine bodywash twice a week may work best.”

Legs and Feet
Keep your gams and feet soft and sleek by buffing twice weekly with a scrub or exfoliating gloves, but always hydrate after. “The top layer of skin holds moisture in, and when you take it away, that moisture escapes,” says Dr. Reyter. He recommends dousing legs in a moisturizer that lists glycerin as one of the first few ingredients. This humectant draws water from the atmosphere. The backs of the calves are a surprisingly common melanoma site, so coat them in SPF too. Your feet will get drier if you wear sandals a lot because, again, moisture evaporates. Soothe your feet with moisturizer containing petrolatum, simethicone or mineral oil -- all these ingredients act as barriers preventing that moisture from escaping -- and slide on a pair of socks two nights a week.

Knees, Heels, Elbows
When don’t these dry spots need special attention. For extra sloughing power, apply a product with up to 20 percent of urea, ammonium lactate or glycolic acid to heels, knees and elbows, then rinse off after 10 minutes. Do this once a week. If heels are parched to the point of cracking, use a solid stick, spray or powder containing the ingredient tolnaftate. “It gets rid of fungus, which may be lurking in the fissures, preventing them from healing,” says Dr. Fusco.

Now is the perfect time to start updating your makeup and hair for the new year and beyond. Early planning means taking advantage of holiday palettes that will get you more blush for your buck. From the reverse French manicure, to a more natural eyebrow, to the perfect red lip for your skin tone, here’s what to try, tweak and toss.

Hair: Minimalist and Modern
Basics such as ponytails and chignons will be jumping from the runway to the workplace, but with a futuristic twist. A simple ponytail is now a pumped-up pony with teasing at the crown. Chignons go colorful with streaks of subtle color and metal adornment in the twist. To stay more runway and less rave, add color just to the bun or the twisted area. New colored powders for hair are easy to use, and they require zero commitment since they come out with the first wash. At the YSL show, models had beautifully sculpted chignons with gold hair accessories cupped over the bulk of the hair in the twist. Try gold bobby pins to get the bold look for less.

Brows: Full but Well-groomed
Be prepared to give your tweezers a break. Brows have taken a stand against tweezer abuse and are back to being full-figured, soft and sexy. The ideal brow of today follows more of a natural growth pattern, with grooming to tame and accentuate the arch.

Reshaping your brows is a matter best left to the pros. Let your brows grow out for at least a couple of weeks so that your natural brow line is intact when you go to the professional. You can maintain them on your own by tweezing strays, but plan on visiting your pro every three months for a fine-tuning.

Holiday Makeup: Classic With a Twist
Red lips never go out of style, but the finish has changed. The newest way to wear red is to skip the satin texture and go for an unexpected matte mouth that harkens back to the days of the screen siren. Sound scary? Not if you choose the red that’s right for your skin tone.

Fair-skinned beauties should look for a true red; orange undertones tend to pick up any ruddiness or rosecea in fairer skin. Medium skin tones look best in blue-based shades that play off their skin’s warmth. Darker ladies look lovely in deep brick-reds with hints of burgundy. Skip the lip liner and go straight from the tube so the look is softer and less contrived. Skin is glowing and fresh -- but not bronzed -- and eyes are understated with just a whisper of sheer color.

Nails: A Top and Bottom Swap
Keep your beloved French manicure; just reverse it. The nail bed now has a half moon of color, and the rest of the nail has a different hue. Try mixing it up and going for unexpected color combos. Borrow a look from the Phillip Lim fall runway show: brush navy lacquer on the lower moon, and a muted khaki brown on the rest of your nail.

Your beauty wardrobe should evolve to stay current, but every glam gal should have staples that provide a reliable core look. What you need: the perfect concealer, light powder, two foundations (a deeper shade for summer’s tan, and a spot-on match for fall and winter), a day-to day lip color, a tried-and-true mascara, a neutral brighten-up eye shadow with a hint of shimmer for tired days, and a blush that imparts a soft, barely-there flush.

Are you noticing split ends, frizz and a general lackluster lankness to your flowing tresses? That’s no surprise. “Long hair is often damaged simply because it’s been around longer and exposed to more daily wear and tear from styling and the environment,” says celeb stylist Corey Powell of The Salon by Maxime, in Beverly Hills. After all, hair that tumbles to your shoulders and below may be at least five years old. But hold the shears! Your Rapunzel locks can still radiate youthful sheen with these simple, no-fuss tips.

Get Frequent Trims
The only successful treatment for repairing split ends is a sharp pair of scissors. While some hair care products may temporarily merge split ends together, this fix lasts only until your next shampoo. And left untreated, these tiny splits can splinter farther up the hair shaft. “Have your stylist take off a quarter inch or less every six to eight weeks,” suggests hairstylist Mario Russo, founder of Mario Russo Salons in the Boston, Mass., area. After trims, use a protecting leave-in cream to prevent split ends from recurring so frequently.

Beware of the Sun
Oxidative stress from the sun can fade your color and leave hair dry and lackluster, warns Russo. Studies also show that hair is more vulnerable to sun damage in both very dry and very humid climates, particularly when it’s wet. “At home or on vacation, don’t let your hair bake dry in the sun after swimming,” says Powell, “and wear a stylish scarf or hat to protect it during any prolonged exposure.”

Invest in a Few Hair Tools
When investing in hair products, these will help keep long locks strong:

• A natural boar-bristle brush. Its fibers are best for distributing your hair’s natural conditioning oils down the shafts.
• A wide-tooth comb. It’s gentler than a brush when your hair is wet and weakest.
• A microfiber towel made for long hair. It wicks water out of your hair so you can air-dry faster and more easily.

Color Correctly
Coloring makes long locks even more prone to breakage, and the damage is usually cumulative. To offset it, celebrity colorist Johnathan Gale, who has worked with Charlize Theron and Jennifer Garner, brushes organic neem oil throughout hair before painting on color or highlighting solution. “It conditions the hair and buffers the chemicals so you minimize damage, but it won’t interfere with the color process,” he says. Ask your colorist to do the same. After coloring, be sure to use a shampoo formulated for color-treated hair during each hair wash.

Condition, Condition, Condition
Use instant conditioner after every shampoo. It will lessen friction between hairs so you have fewer tangles. Apply a deep conditioner for about 15 minutes every couple of weeks (more often for coarse hair), then wrap your head in a damp microwave-warmed towel to help it sink in. “Frayed and frizzy strands are like totally open flowers, so you want a penetrating conditioner that really gets into the inner shaft to smooth it down,” says Russo. Once a month, treat hair to a strengthening and smoothing mask. Hair masks are specifically designed to help stop breakage and create additional shine.

Styling 101
Treat your hair (as often as possible) like a model does in her off time; lay off the blow dryer, curling iron, hot rollers and flat iron. “Use these hot tools three times a week max if you must,” says Russo. “And always use a heat-protective product with them.” To prolong a blowout, sleep on a silk pillowcase: The slick fibers don’t rough up the hair’s cuticle. Also try this healthy hairstyle: “Smooth on some conditioning hair cream and create a single braid,” says Gale. “It’s a sexy look for long hair and good for it too.”

Real beauty is more than skin-deep: It also safeguards the planet. Here are five fresh ways to be an eco-chic goddess.

1. Practice once-a-day makeup application. Going from the office to a dinner date? There’s no need to waste time, product, water or energy washing off your makeup and then reapplying it. Makeup artists say that nighttime makeup looks best when it’s applied over your daytime look, rather than on a freshly scrubbed face. “It’s the makeup equivalent of second-day hair,” says Raychel Wade, owner of New York City’s Cheek to Chic beauty studio. “The makeup has a chance to settle in, so it becomes one with your skin. It’s a sexy, sultry look.” Instead, Wayde pumps up the drama with a wash of metallic eye shadow, a swipe of eyeliner and a pop of bright blush on the apples of her cheeks.

2. Choose planet-friendly packaging. Many companies are not only making their products more natural, but also helping the environment with their product packaging. Pick up a bottle of Pantene Nature Fusion shampoo or conditioner and you’ll have your hands on an ecological powerhouse. The bottle is made from Brazilian sugarcane that’s converted into plastic, so producing the bottle actually reduces greenhouse gases and creates excess energy that’s returned to the energy grid. Aveda is also reducing the carbon footprint with recycled PET packaging for skin care and hair products. Burt’s Bees products similarly use the highest levels of postconsumer recycled materials, designed to be recyclable.

3. Tote a foldable water bottle. Here’s a way to reduce your use of plastic bottles -- without having to tote those bulky water canisters: The freezable dishwasher-friendly Vapur Anti-Bottle is made out of a flexible BPA-free plastic that stands up when full but can be rolled, flattened or folded when empty, then tucked away into a pocket or purse. Take it on your next run or shopping venture and you’ll stay well-hydrated -- without being tempted by sugary, high-calorie drinks. Your waistline and the planet will thank you: Every year, 200 billion bottles of water are consumed worldwide, and only about 1 in 8 is recycled.

4. Create dazzling hair accessories from unused jewelry. We all have solo earrings, old brooches and uncomfortable clip-on earrings that are gathering dust in our jewelry box. Give them new life as hair accessories. Run the pin of a brooch through an elastic for a dazzling ponytail holder, attach vintage clip-on earrings to a headband and slip orphaned earrings onto a bobby pin, wrap the wire around the end and slide into a bun or braid. Hollywood hairstylist Janine Jarman, who’s styled the tresses of the Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears, Christina Applegate and Carmen Electra, says that you can save energy with embellished hair accessories by putting aside the hot styling tools and simply letting your hair air-dry. “You want your hair to have a soft, natural texture,” says Jarman, “so the hair accessories are the stars.”

5. Cook up lipstick-case crayons. If you’re a lipstick fiend (and really, what woman isn’t?), you might find yourself with a collection of cases that are too pretty to toss. In his new book, Upcycling: Create Beautiful Things With the Stuff You Already Have, green lifestyle expert Danny Seo offers a great way to give these chic capsules a second life. He calls them “lipstick-case crayons,” which will thrill that kindergarten-age girl who can’t wait to start playing with makeup. Melt old crayons in a double boiler, and then pour the colorful wax into a clean, empty lipstick case. Allow the crayons to cool, twist up and draw with your favorite budding beauty.