Roxie Nafousi On Her Ultimate Beauty, Health And Wellness Hacks

Your subconscious is most susceptible to positive messaging in these waking moments, so they really do set you up for the rest of the day. Before looking at my phone, I’ll say something like, “I’m so excited for the day ahead. I am open to all opportunities. I am ready to attract abundance. I am enough.” Then I go straight for my morning coffee. Usually, I’m up before my son, so I have my little Soho Home armchair that is my nest – I sit in there and have my coffee; it’s my moment of peace. I get genuinely excited to wake up for that.

The first thing I do is ice my face. Ice rollers aren’t cold enough for me, so I get an ice cube, wrap it in a hand towel and I ice all over my face. I do this every morning and night. It’s so good for de-puffing and it’s 10 times stronger than using a roller. Then, I wash my face with Tata Harper’s Clarifying Cleanser or one from Cerave. I have really sensitive skin, so these work for me. I have bad rosacea that flares up easily, so I really need this gentle formula. Next, I put on my azeleic acid serum from Paula’s Choice. I use that night and day – it’s been a game-changer – followed by a daily SPF50 moisturizer. It’s a very simple process. To finish, I do my 10-minute makeup routine.

My daily makeup look has changed a lot and it’s much more natural now. It’s all about a good undereye concealer. I love the Hourglass Airbrush Concealer; it’s brilliant. The brand’s makeup brushes are also so good. I use Victoria Beckham Beauty’s Contour Stylus to contour my nose (it’s phenomenal) and apply Westman Atelier’s Face Trace Contour Stick on my cheekbones. Then I smudge that in and apply a liquid blush on top, which is a new thing for me – I’ve been influenced by Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber and I’m in my blush era. For highlighter, I love Charlotte Tilbury’s Beauty Light Wand, which is a liquid formula. Next, I use the Arch Brow Micro Sculpting Pencil by Hourglass on my brows, a good eyelash curler and Tom Ford Beauty’s Extreme Mascara. For lips, I put a tiny bit of Mac’s lip pencil in Cork [a dark brown] around the edges and smudge it in with my finger, so that it’s not too much. I find that when I wear lipstick during the day, I don’t feel confident. That’s my go-to makeup look. It’s so quick and easy and natural.

…and how chic my Aesop bottles look in the shower. And a good body oil. I always feel like I’m giving myself a treat if I put an oil on – and lots of it – because I mostly forget to moisturize my body during my everyday routine. But when I do apply it, I feel so good. It’s often when I’m on holiday because I have more time.

I’ve been a bio sculpture fan for ages. The gel is so strong it lasts a month for me, and my nails won’t break or peel. I sometimes do nail art. I’m really enjoying the comeback of the French mani and now French pedis. I’m obsessed. I was always a bit judgy of people who got French pedis and now I’ve become a French pedi girl. I don’t think I’ll ever go back.

My night-time routine is very simple and much the same as my morning routine. I don’t really use serums or overdo it, as that makes a big difference to my rosacea. Also, knowing what I can’t have helps – spicy food makes my rosacea flare up massively. I remove my makeup with an oil-based makeup remover (I love Nivea’s), cleanse, apply my azelaic acid – and that’s it. Currently, I don’t moisturize. It works for me. Less is more on my skin.

I take about 20 a day, including vitamin B complex, magnesium at night, zinc with food, and DIM [diindolylmethane] for hormones. I also take specialized ones that were recommended by a functional medicine doctor, who helped me after I had a hemiplegic migraine when I was going through a particularly anxious period last year. I thought I was having a stroke – my entire body was paralyzed for an hour. The supplements helped to reset my nervous system and it has been so beneficial. So, I really believe that looking after our physiology makes a big difference to our mental health.

I tend to do an LED treatment when I go for facials. I love going under the lights and feeling like I’m glowing up. I have the Dermalux device at home and I often do a visualization meditation when I use it– it forces you to not be on your phone, so it’s a great time to switch your mind off as well. If my skin feels dehydrated, I often apply 111Skin’s hydrating face masks afterwards.

…and it would really annoy me. So, I’m very much into anything that is de-puffing and de-bloating. Hibiscus tea is great for that. It’s delicious and you can have it as an iced tea – just add some sweetener to it. I also have a lymphatic drainage treatment at least once a month; and I get a massage once a week for my shoulders. It’s my treat to myself. I really believe that emotions get stored in the body, so things like massage and lymphatic drainage help to release that mind-body connection.

My hair was completely receding and pretty much gone, due to stress or hormones – I don’t really know why, but it was worrying. Hannah Gaboardi, a London-based trichologist, did little injections of exosomes on my scalp and now my hair is back to how it used to be. The before-and-afters are quite something. I also use Philip Kingsley’s Flaky Itchy Scalp shampoo because I’ve had dermatitis for ages, and I’m obsessed with Color Wow’s Dream Coat for blow dries. I’m terrible at doing my own hair, but I take it with me to every hairdresser I go to.

I used to do a lot more. I’ve flagged a little recently, but I always feel a million times better when I do work out. I love a sculpt class at Bodyism in London, which I do once a week on Tuesday mornings. And the online workouts from Form – they offer quick 20- to 30-minute light-strength sessions, which are ideal. I try to walk as much as possible, too.

…because I had such a bad sensitivity to gluten. It stops me from eating a lot more bad food than I would. I also try not to eat too much refined sugar because it makes me very puffy the next day and I see a massive difference in my skin immediately, but I don’t completely avoid it. Other than that, I try to be generally relaxed with my eating. I spent years on diets, and it actually made me unhealthier because I would binge so much, whereas now I have a healthy relationship with food. I’m obsessed with fruit. A lot of people demonize fruit for having too much sugar, but it’s so delicious and it’s from the ground, so how bad can it be?

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