The Daily Check-In 12.23

“One of the defining characteristics of eggnog is its thick lusciousness,” says Brooklyn-based recipe developer Ali Slagle. “However you can make a non-dairy version that’s just as creamy with a combination of oat and coconut milks.” If you prefer to skip the traditional eggs, blend everything on high speed until frothy and smooth, adding ½ cup raw unsalted cashews or five pitted dates to the mixture for even more thickness. Since the drink needs to chill for at least eight hours, prep it today.

Because of the thinner skin and lack of sweat glands, your lips dry out faster than the rest of your face, says Jode Castillo, a licensed esthetician at The Spa at Greenwich Avenue in New York City.

Here, her tips for keeping your lips healthy this season:

1. Exfoliate your lips in the evening. Castillo recommends a homemade scrub made by combining sugar with honey or coconut oil. Follow up with a lip conditioner like this one.

2. Throughout the day and before bedtime, use a balm that’s high in emollient, such as this one from Kiehl’s. It provides a protective layer and contains squalane from olives, aloe, and vitamin E for extra nourishment.

“Practical wisdom means making wise decisions in everyday life, and it involves self-reflection, emotional regulation, empathy, compassion, and more,” says Dilip Jeste, MD, senior associate dean at the University of California San Diego and author of Wiser. And the more wisdom you have, the less likely you are to be lonely. Find out which components of wisdom you are strong in and which you are not with the San Diego Wisdom Scale (SD-WISE). “It will give you scores on each component of wisdom as well as total score, and tell you what the score means,” Jeste says.