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.

Does your daily regimen include wash, toner and an $80 night cream? That doesn’t mean you’re on track for getting silky, smooth skin. Ingredients in food -- including vitamins A, C and E, and less well-known chemicals such as lycopene and linoleic acid -- create smooth skin and keep from sagging, fight pimples and rashes, and even offer natural sun protection.

“Our skin must contend against harsh aspects of the outside world -- the sun, microorganisms, and toxins such as air pollutants,” says Wilhelm Stahl, a biochemist at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, Germany. “Nutrients from the diet travel to the skin, where they help cells fight off these assaults.”

Here’s what to eat and what to avoid for a complexion and smooth skin that radiates health.

Starve acne Doctors recently learned that acne culprits are sweet or starchy foods that are quickly digested, sending a jolt of sugar to the bloodstream. The body responds to the sugar high by making more insulin, which spurs skin glands to ooze their oily stuff. In 2007, an Australian team, led by nutritional biochemist Robyn Smith, became the first to show, in a small group of young men, that eating whole grains, fresh produce and lean meat and fish instead of processed carbs may help alleviate acne and contributes to smooth skin.
Tip: Trade baguettes for multi-grain bread, and pretzels for peanuts.

Sunscreen you swallow Why do Italians love their spaghetti marinara? It’s delicious, but it may also shield Mediterraneans from the intensity of the sun’s rays. Eating fruits and vegetables containing vitamins C and E -- along with a few other less well-known natural chemicals -- reduces one’s susceptibility to sunburn. One of the most effective natural sunscreens is lycopene, which is found in tomatoes, watermelon and pink grapefruit. Chemicals in cocoa, called flavanols, as well as polyphenols in green tea also grant UV protection, which leads to smooth skin. All this may sound weird until you consider that plants can’t duck for shade at high noon, so some have developed other protective strategies. Use sunscreen, by all means, but munch on these foods to enhance its benefits.
Tip: Trade diet soda for tomato juice, gummy bears for chocolate with high cocoa content.

Edible Botox The key to looking younger? Skip cigarettes and the sun, and bring on fruits and veggies. Vitamin A -- found in carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach and kale -- is essential for normal skin-functioning. Vitamin C -- found in red and green peppers, citrus fruits and strawberries -- helps make collagen, an elastic substance that plumps skin. A 2007 study of more than 4,000 women (one of the first studies to examine how nutrient intake from foods as opposed to vitamin supplements affects skin) yielded surprising results. Epidemiologist Maeve C. Cosgrove and colleagues found that women who ate foods rich in vitamin C and linoleic acid -- found in soybean oil, green leafy vegetables, and nuts -- had fewer wrinkles and smoother skin as well as fuller, more youthful complexions.
Tip: Trade doughnuts for walnuts, and breakfast sausage for orange and strawberry slices.

Purge eczema Eczema -- a painful, itchy, scaly skin condition -- is on the rise. No one knows why, but some doctors believe that an effective treatment includes eating foods rich in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), a fatty acid found in some seed oils. Scientists suspect that lower levels of GLA in the blood make it harder for skin to hold on to water, so it becomes drier and eczema-prone. Some studies have shown that ingesting foods containing GLA, such as evening-primrose oil, blackcurrant-seed oil or borage oil, can help. Even consuming modest amounts of hempseed oil (1-2 tablespoons per day) can rid the irritable symptoms of eczema with smooth skin.

Tip: Supplement a diet rich in fish with evening-primrose, blackcurrant-seed, borage or hempseed oil.

Photo: @iStockphoto.com/kupicookupicoo

Trust us, even Kate Hudson has had a breakout at exactly the wrong moment. But whether you’re heading out for a job interview or a big night on the town, the last thing you need is an unpleasant surprise in the mirror. We went to the makeup artists and hairstylists who get the biggest celebrities ready for their close-ups, and we asked for advice on how to deal with some of the most common beauty predicaments.

Breakouts When Brooke Shields and Catherine Zeta-Jones have a big appearance coming up, they turn to New York City makeup artist Kimara Ahnert. Her favorite trick to banish blemishes? Place an ice pack over the pimple for a few minutes, then squeeze a little bit of eye drop solution over the zit to reduce redness. Let the solution dry for a few minutes before dabbing on concealer. Follow with a light layer of translucent powder to set the concealer and even out the skin. Hollywood makeup artist Jerrod Blandino, whose products Scarlett Johansson is a fan of, adds this caveat: “Do not pick the pimple. It's easier to cover when it's not punctured. And make sure that the concealer you are using is an exact match for your skin tone so it's undetectable.”

Blotchy skin Wake up with a road map of red splotches on your face? Don’t despair. With the right makeup, you can fake complexion perfection. First, apply moisturizer. “Use a product infused with naturally calming ingredients like chamomile, cucumber and aloe to soothe and alleviate redness,” Blandino suggests. Give that a few moments to sink in, then smooth on foundation. Pat concealer on any remaining red areas. Set with a dusting of translucent powder.

Puffy eyes Too much salt and not enough sleep can leave you with so much baggage under your eyes you’ll be tempted to call for a moving van. But before you cancel your plans and climb back into bed, try celebrity esthetician Scott Vincent Borba’s favorite trick: “Put your eye cream in the freezer for ten minutes before applying,” he says. “It will act as a cold compress. Choose one with light reflectors to help reduce the appearance of puffiness.”

Dark circles To treat those telltale under-eye rings, first head to the kitchen. Dampen tea bags, take a seat and apply the bags over your eyes for a few minutes. “The tannin in tea has been shown to reduce swelling and discoloration,” says Ahnert. “Then use a yellow- or peach-toned concealer to cancel out the purple or bluish color under the eye. Stay away from pink-toned concealers: They can actually make your circles more noticeable.” Models love this tip from Blandino: “Line the corners and rims of your eyes with a flesh- or nude-colored pencil to brighten and lighten the eye area.”

Over-plucked eyebrows Got a little tweezer-happy? Laura Geller, the New York City makeup artist who counts Mary-Louise Parker among her clients, suggests this: Fill in your brows with a brow powder that matches your natural hair color as closely as possible. If it’s too light or too dark, it will instantly give you away. When you apply it, extend the length of the brows on the outside for a more youthful appearance. Ahnert recommends applying the powder with a baby toothbrush for a more natural look and to whisk away any excess product. “Then brush a clear brow gel over the brows to give them a groomed and polished look,” she says. 

Rain on your (hair) parade You just spent 40 minutes blowing out your hair when a sudden downpour hits. Hats and scarves are one option, but New York City stylist Ted Gibson, who has tamed the locks of Eva Mendes,  Anne Hathaway and Angelina Jolie, prefers a more elegant solution. “Pull the hair back into a sleek ponytail,” he says, “use hair pins to twist it into a bun, and finish off with some hair spray.”