JUST like you see your doctor and dentist yearly, regular assessment of your beauty rituals?and the products?is a ?reset? button of sorts that ensures you don?t get stuck in a makeup rut or keep unnecessary items in your drawer.

Some notes to help you:

Hair

If you go to a stylist whose cut and color services put a smile on your face, you?re all set.
If you?re feeling more adventurous, drop by a random salon in a busy mall and ask for who?s available ASAP (a junior or senior stylist).

If things don?t go well, your hair will grow back in time for your next appointment (and tress experiment).

Body

Now is a good time to head to the dermatologist (reputable one) for an all-over skin check. If budget is an issue for minor procedures like mole and wart cauterization, laser hair removal or Botox, you can start saving and planning where your December bonus will go.

Makeup

This is a tough call: throw out anything you haven?t used since this time last year.

Eye products attract the most bacteria, with anything liquid or wet like foundation and concealer. Sharpen pencils and replace any you?ve used down to a nub.

If there are three things I?d buy after purging my makeup case, it would be: a lengthening mascara, skin tone-correct concealer and a multitasking product like Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks.

Fragrance

I?m in fragrance limbo, finding no appetite for new scents and failing to find my new aromatic match. So I hit the ?reset? button by buying Denenes, a cologne I?d liberally splash on in grade school. Its light and citrusy mist simply brings back pleasant memories. It will most likely survive the next beauty drawer evaluation.

Mariel Chua is the former beauty editor of Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, and Ok! Magazine Philippines. Visit her blog at http://NyMinuteNow.com.