Sarah Hyland is like a knowledgable sister and unscripted best friend rolled into one — you can pretty much count on her to be an open book. Whether it's sharing her journey with kidney disease [1] or talking about that time she unintentionally tricked everyone into thinking she got a shag haircut [2], she's refreshingly candid about it all.
In a single 10-minute conversation, Hyland can jump from something incredibly funny (like the "terrifying" experience of cutting her fiancé's hair [3]) one minute to something more serious (like the struggle of finding a routine during stay-at-home orders) the next. This makes her just the person you'd want to catch up with at the start of the new year to talk all things beauty and realistic resolutions.
"A couple months ago I was like, 'Oh, I'm turning 30 and I need to start getting my sh*t together,'" Hyland told POPSUGAR. Keep reading for what that means to her, exactly — plus, the beauty lesson she learned in her 20s, her biggest goal for 2021, and more — ahead.
On the Routine She Stuck to in 2020
There were a handful of different quarantine personalities: some people devoted all their spare time to at-home workouts; others became amateur bakers; and others mastered the role of the couch potato — all of which, for the record, are equally acceptable.
"I spent a lot of the beginning of quarantine trying to keep my routine going of working out from home — and then I stopped that and got more into baking and less into working out," said Hyland. "I wasn't one of the people doing the sourdough starter pack stuff, but I was just baking a lot of cookies and dessert breads and everything."
The one constant in her life throughout the year? Skin care. "[It] helps give me at least two things to do, a routine to follow during the day and at night, when I don't really have a whole lot else to do. It helps me feel like I at least have some control over what's going on in my life."
The Best Beauty Lesson She Learned in Her 20s
As someone who's been into beauty for quite some time now, Hyland has one lesson that she wants to share with the world: moisturise. That, "and don't be afraid of retinol," she said. Moisturising is the one step she never skips in her skin-care routine, no matter how lazy she's feeling.
The tip coincides perfectly with her second Olay partnership for the launch of the brand's new Collagen Peptide24 collection and its Olay Regenerist Collagen Peptide24 Face Moisturiser [4] ($39). "I mean, when you turn 20, every year after that you lose one percent of collagen," said Hyland. "For me, just getting that natural stimulation of collagen production from this product is really important to me."
On That DIY Haircut She Gave Wells Adams
Back in April, with hair salons closed, Hyland took to giving her fiance Wells Adams a haircut on Instagram Stories that was both hilarious to watch and relatable, given that many of us had found ourselves in a similar boat. But what looked like a fun bonding moment to us was actually a terrifying experience for Hyland.
"I can't say I had a fun time cutting his hair just because I was so nervous," she said. "I had never used a pair of buzzers — I don't even know the correct terminology for that kind of stuff. That just absolutely terrifies me."
On Her Biggest Life Lessons From 2020 — and Looking to 2021
One of Hyland's many talents, right up there with hair-cutting extraordinaire, is her self-awareness. "I've always known that I'm an extremist," said Hyland. "I'm either eating boiled chicken and vegetables working out two times a day, or I'm not moving from the couch, eating all of the olive oil cake and chips and salsa and cheese and crackers that I can get my hands on."
I realised in 2020, I severely need structure. I'm trying to rewire my brain to say, 'It's okay that you're not going anywhere.'
But even she discovered something new about herself this past year. As a New York City native, Hyland realised that the fast-paced lifestyle that people either love or hate about the city is where she thrives. "I realised in 2020, I severely need structure," she said. "Bee-boppin' around really just makes me feel like myself. I have learned that about myself and I'm trying to rewire my brain to say, 'It's okay that you're not going anywhere. You're still doing things that are productive.'"
That self-awareness ties in with her New Year's resolutions, too. In addition to your typical goals like "eat healthier" and "workout more" — which Hyland added she never "actually follow[s] through with the whole year" — she said she wants to prioritise balance.
"My new year's resolution is just to be kinder to myself and to be able to find the balance of giving myself a break without letting myself just completely go."
