Our grooming resolutions for 2017

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Unfortunately the time has already come: you’re back in the office, you’ve recovered from your New Year’s Eve hangover, and a brand new year has started. After an intensive week of excesses, you’ve probably taken a moment to ask yourself the following: how can you become a better version of yourself in 2017?

Maybe this means putting a halt to your daily dose of home-delivered meals, or attempting to run on a regular basis, or maybe even working harder. Our only recommendation would be to keep these resolutions to yourself, thus preventing your friends from pointing out how badly you might have failed come 31 December 2017.

The Horace team has kindly strayed from this rule to share their 2017 grooming resolutions with you. We hope they might inspire you, and maybe help you achieve what you’ve got planned for the upcoming year.

Vadim Poulet, editor

“My 2017 resolution is to add a new step to my grooming routine in the evening, so as to make the best use of the Horace face cleanser. I’m more of a morning shower person, so the cleansing will become my evening ritual, as I get back from work, when it will be most efficient to remove from my face all the pollution- and cold-related impurities I pick up during my bike commutes.”

Marc Briant-Terlet, co-founder

“Full disclaimer: I have olive skin, like to wear my trousers short (with help from the French denim doctors at ‘La Clinique du Jean’), and ride everywhere on my bike. This all results in my legs getting dry and ending up with ashy, flaky skin. The idea is to find the time in 2017 to moisturise my legs in order to prevent this dryness and look better in shorts. As simple as that.”

Matthieu Morge-Zucconi, editor-in-chief

“Coming from the editor-in-chief of a website that regularly reminds you of the importance of proper moisturising, this resolution might seem a bit strange. However, the sad truth is that my 2017 resolution is to stop leaving my flat at the last minute every morning and forgetting to moisturise in the process, only noticing I’ve made a terrible mistake once it’s too late and my skin feels tight. Maybe I should take a cue from the age-old idiom and do as I say, and not as I do.”

Sébastien de Turenne, translator

“Thanks to the products I’ve gotten used to applying on a daily basis, I’ve finally reached a reasonable level of expertise when it comes to the grooming of my beard. However, I tend to neglect the parts of my face that aren’t covered by bristles. So this year my resolution is to no longer settle for just cleansing and moisturising my face, but to go the extra mile by regularly exfoliating, and applying a mask from time to time. The aim is to make my skin as soft as my beard.”

Matthieu Rohm, editor

“I haven’t completely shaved for nearly 8 years now. While that isn’t going to change in 2017, it might be time for me to start taking better care of my beard. I usually and regularly slip a 3mm guide on my clippers and trim my beard down without applying anything on my beard, pre- or post-cut. I’m going to change this habit as soon as my next trim, and start nourishing my beard by massaging Hommer beard oil into it.”

Pierre-Alexandre M’Pele, editor

“I’ve decided that 2017 would be the year of extravagant grooming. I’ve had a relatively short afro for the past 5 years, and it’s time to let my hair grow, without going to the extreme afros donned by Prince or 80s-era Michael Jackson. On top of argan and coconut oils, I will use the Sachajuan hair repair mask to stimulate my scalp while also strengthening my hair, which I haven’t taken particularly good care of so far. I’m aiming for an afro twist hairdo. Generally, frizzy hair requires extra TLC as it tends to be more fragile.”

What is your 2017 grooming resolution? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. Don’t worry, we promise not to control how well you’ve done at the end of the year.