Bella Freud’s AM/PM routine

I’ve done this for a couple of years and, each morning, I still think, “Am I actually going to do this?” But, apart from getting the blood going, the unexpected side effect is it puts me in a good mood. I can wake up a bit gloomy, but this switches on my optimism.

I wash my face under the cold shower and then religiously use an Environ cream, which is light yet very moisturizing. Occasionally, I’ll use a mask – the Sisley Black Rose Cream one is so good – and I really love Dr Sebagh products, particularly the Deep Exfoliating Mask and Pure Vitamin C Powder Cream. I wear a tiny bit of makeup, usually a brown eyeliner rather than a black one, and I curl my eyelashes; sometimes it feels very unnecessary, but it’s a heavenly thing to do. Recently, I’ve been using Augustinus Bader’s The Body Cream – what a product! It’s totally incredible as you can see the difference; it’s like you’ve been Photoshopped.

…is black coffee and gluten-free toast with marmalade, which gives me so much pleasure. I’m never that hungry in the morning. I’m gluten-free and I don’t enjoy dairy, and sugar has a really bad effect on me. I love it, but I can only have a little or I get very bad headaches.

I recently went to the Health Optimising clinic in west London. Instead of giving you blood tests, they get all the information on your organs, stress levels and emotional state by placing your hands and feet on a pad that is connected to electrodes. It’s all very scientific, using this refined machinery from the US and Japan.

It should affect your head and your heart. My signature scent is Bella Freud, which is very amber-fuelled. A fragrance should never mask; it should always reveal something about you.

I take Lyma and have noticed a real difference – when I stopped taking it for a bit, the “afternoon crash” came back. Lyma balances me out and my energy has really improved. My hair is always pretty thick and healthy, but it’s become even more lively. Nutritionist Rosemary Ferguson does some great powders and I use them, but I like to take them in bursts and not all the time.

I go to Idris Moudi in west London. I lived in Morocco as a child with my mother and, when I was seven years old, I went to stay for a time with a woman who had a polio clinic for kids. Years later, I discovered she was Idris’s mother. He is brilliant as he’s also an osteopath, so his work is very remedial as well as good for maintenance.

…I use Charlotte Tilbury’s products, especially her Wonder Glow and Magic Away Liquid Concealer. I got the Marc Jacobs O!Mega Lash Volumizing Mascara in a beauty advent calendar and have been using it ever since as it’s great. I still need to find the perfect cleanser, though, ideally a cream one, as using water dries out my skin too much. At night, I use Neal’s Yard Reviving White Tea Eye Gel and Augustinus Bader’s The Rich Cream.

I used to sit for my father [artist Lucien Freud], and he hated a suntan, so I never went in the sun and was always as white as a sheet. If I was going on holiday, he would give me shirts to wear. But it’s served me well, as when I was recently tested for sun damage on my skin, I didn’t really have any.

I just enjoy reading and mooching around. It gives me huge pleasure.

…I go to see aesthetician Joanne Evans – she’s a total genius and I’ve been seeing her for 15 years, so I don’t feel I need to do anything else much at home. I also try to see Beata Aleksandrowicz every couple of months for a face massage. She is so amazing – I had to wait a year before I got my first appointment.

…a lovely diary that my cousin gave me. Also, some painkillers in case I get a headache in the night, and always a book. At the moment I’m reading a memoir of writer Lucia Berlin that my sister Esther gave me.

…I have an app called Daily Calm and I’ve been practising the meditations on it for forgiveness and happiness. Should I wake during the night, I particularly find listening to the sections with basketball’s LeBron James helpful, as he has an incredibly soothing voice.

…the Interference Archives, a tiny museum in Brooklyn, New York, that archives Resistance pamphlets and artwork. I love how people expressed themselves in protest and how it has been carefully nurtured in this beautiful miniature museum.