DFS PRESENTS: DO'S AND DON'TS FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR Auckland

As the color of luck & prosperity, red is the color to wear for a very auspicious new year. When visiting relatives and attending gatherings, everyone dresses in red. For those born in the same year as the year's zodiac animal, you should wear red for weeks, months, or even the entire year for extra good luck, in which you can incorporate the color in underwear, socks, or even replace the inner soles of shoes with red ones.

A color of luxury and symbol for wealth, gold is the way to go for the new year. Get ready for a prosperous year ahead with a piece of gold statement jewelry to add a refined touch to a monochromatic outfit, gold nail polish or a light touch of gold bronzer to add some sparkle to your look.

To prepare for a fresh start to the new year, Chinese culture calls for us to wear new clothes, especially during Lunar New Year festivities. In Hong Kong, locals like to buy pants for the new year because the pronunciation for pants "褲" in Cantonese sounds like the character for wealth "富" and they believe that buying new pants will bring you good fortune for the rest of the year.

Add a touch of red from head to toe for good luck and don't miss out on including hues of pink to your Lunar New Year makeup look. Stray away from looking pale with a dash of rosy blush on your cheeks. Be sure to look glowing and radiant for a lucky year ahead in love and relationships.

Make sure to get new shoes for your lucky festive looks before Lunar New Year because in Hong Kong, the Chinese character for shoes "鞋" sounds like sighing and sadness, making shoe shopping frowned upon at the start of the year.

In China, counting down to the new year with family is an important festive tradition. Locals keep the new year lanterns on throughout the night to ward off evil spirits and ensure continued prosperity for the family. To tackle black circles showing up under your eyes the next day, be sure to have some eye cream at sight.

For good fortune in the new year, the Chinese tradition is to not wash your hair on the first day of Lunar New Year. The Chinese character of hair "发" has the same pronunciation and the same first character of "发财" which means “to become wealthy.” Therefore, washing your hair would be equivalent to washing your wealth away. If you need some hair care before the holidays, remember to do a deep clean hair treatment before the new year.

Sending Lunar New Year greetings of happiness, good luck, health and prosperity are key to receiving good wishes in return. Add our Lunar New Year stickers to your sticker collection on WeChat or search "DFSOfficial" on Instagram stickers to start sending new year greetings to everyone on your list!