How to get ready for 2025

Lucy Liu Bares It All: In her latest cover with Vogue Singapore, the critically-acclaimed actress shares her journey with motherhood, her parents’ early disapproval of her career, and her experience with rejection.

History-making Appointments in the US elections: 

China’s Visa-free Entry: despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, China grants visa-free entry to South Korean nationals for up to 15 days. 

Post-Election Wellness: Dealing with post-election stress, disappointment, and worry can be frustrating. Here are some tips for managing your mental health, all from experts on the topic. 

Exercise Tips Women Should Know: Sports journalist and author Christine Yu shares her three must-know tips for women’s exercise, including tips on rest, fuel for energy, and some much-needed strength-training.

Matcha Tips: Consider replacing your daily coffee with a matcha latte.

Explore Asia: Contiki, a global tour company for 18-35 year olds, is adding four tours in Asia to its 2025 lineup, including a nine-day tour to the Malaysian section of Borneo.

Honeymooning in The Caribbean: St. Lucia has been named the “Honeymoon Capital of The Caribbean”, Here’s your much-needed travel guide to the paradisiac location.

Where to Stay in Tulum: If you’re looking to visit, here are the best Airbnbs you should consider staying at and don’t forget to organise a cave swim.

Dove’s Melanin-friendly Body Washes: Dove’s Serum Shower range has two body washes, Melanin Even Tone and Melanin Radiance, designed with 5% pro-ceramide serum for melanin-rich skin.

Skin by Aspen: Shareese Shorter is using her 10-year experience as Detroit’s first facial bar co-owner to change skincare for Black women with her luxurious, high-performance skincare brand Skin by Aspen. 

Buttah Skin by Dorion Renaud: The actor’s new skincare line, Buttah Skin, is dedicated to solving skin concerns for melanated skin, including hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone.

Red Hair for East Asian Skin Tones: Hair colour analysts Ted Kim and Annabelle Lim of luxury Korean hair salon, Suchehwa by Ted, spill the details and tips you need to know for choosing your perfect shade of red.

Sir John’s body care favourites: The highly accomplished celebrity makeup artist shared his most-loved healing hand cream and age renewing body lotion, both from high-performance skincare brand Gold Bond.

Find Your South Asian Beauty Faves: Om Home is the new one-stop shop for beauty products for and by South Asian brands, including brands like Plantkos, Ready Set Jet, and Umm Skincare.

Beauty in Australia: Beauty brands like Tower28, Bubble and Crown Affairs are launching in Australian beauty stores like Mecca and Priceline Pharmacy.

Fall’s Favourite Print: Leopard print is mainstream again, and here are some of the best ways to wear it. 

Red Carpet meets Maternity: ‘Woman King’ actress Lashana Lynch is serving up stunning red carpet looks while pregnant, including outfits from Ottolinger, Moschino, and Balenciaga.

Zendaya’s Off-duty Looks: Zendaya is a fashion icon, on and off the red carpet, and her day-to-day outfits prove it.

Movies:

HipHop Africa Fest: The inaugural edition of the music fest will hold on December 28 in Accra, Ghana, and will have PsychoYP and Kwesi Arthur as headlining artistes.

Reggae in South Africa: Music exec and production company founder Fikile Shiba Makhalemele gets real about what it is like promoting reggae music and reggae-centred events in South Africa.

2025 Grammy Nominations: The Academy has released the nominations for 2025’s Grammys. African artists like Tems, Rema, Davido, and Lojay have been nominated while Beyoncé makes history as the most nominated artist in Grammy history. 

Get your Macro Plan in Place: Whether it’s a bullet journal, a regular planner or digital calendar, first get an overview of your year ahead - the events you need to prep for whether its a speech or vacation and all your big personal items. For inspo, try Ali Abdaal’s Year-in-a-Glance Google Spreadsheet Template (scroll down halfway to find the doc).

Start in 2024: Instead of waiting for the new year to start, get started on your goals this year to make sure you start the New Year with your routines and mindset in place.

Budget Ahead: Start considering your budget and how you’re going to save and invest. Reni Odetoyinbo, A.K.A Reni, The Resource, breaks down complex financial terms like the stock market and tax and helps you on your journey to being more financially literate. The Brown Ambition Podcast is an invaluable resource for people of colour looking to make smarter financial decisions.

Find Your Community: Finding community has never been more essential and it’s a crucial part of making 2025 your best year yet. Learn how to make new friends and improve your current friendships.

Working out: The important thing is finding an exercise routine that works for you and that looks different for everyone. For some people, that could be 10k steps a day and yoga a few times a week and for others it could be strength training. Here’s what a perfectly balanced workout schedule looks like if your looking for one.