Meghan Markle’s facialist
shares her wedding skin secrets

Meghan Markle has impossibly beautiful, glowing skin. It's something she attributes to her favourite facialist, London-based Nichola Joss.

Beauty guru and celebrity facialist Nichola Joss is in high demand. Among her A-list clients is soon-to-be-royal Meghan Markle, but she’s also worked her beauty magic on Scarlett Johanssen, Gisele Bundchen, Hilary Swank, and Margot Robbie.

Nichola is revered for her approach to facial massage—an uncomplicated practice she believes is vital to every skincare regimen, and one that can soften fine lines, and brighten tired skin.

Long-time client Meghan has attributed her glowing complexion and “sculpted” cheek bones and jawline to Nichola. “There’s a reason she’s in high demand around award season when every actress wants to look A-plus,” Meghan said.

With the royal wedding around the corner, we quizzed Nichola on the secret to great skin, her ultimate guide to a glowing complexion, and how Mehgan will be preparing for the big day: the best morning and night routines, how to snap back from a late night, and how to prime your skin for special occasions.

Take a little time in the morning

"It’s really important to cleanse in the morning to awaken the skin. I like to suggest an oil—something that’s refreshing but that will also encourage you to massage. You want to cleanse away the night and open up the face; to start getting the blood circulating so that you’re draining the lymph nodes on your face and neck, and cleaning away any puffiness at the same time."

"Refresh the pH balance of your skin with either a toner, facial mist or exfoliating solution. After this, I advise people to put their actives on—their serums, antioxidants, acids, or peptides—those sorts of things. Then maybe have 10 minutes—do your hair get dressed, have a little time in between. Then you put on your moisturiser and your SPF, and then you’re ready for makeup."

Double cleanse at night

It’s really important to double cleanse when you get home from having your day. For the first cleanse, I would suggest using an oil, which will remove topical dirt, pollution, grime, and makeup. For the second cleanse, I'd suggest a cleansing milk, or a lotion type-cleanser to drive deeper into the skin to actually clean the skin layers."

"After this, I recommend using a facial toner, mist, or exfoliating water. We often don’t remove our cleanser thoroughly enough, and we leave cleansing particles in our skin, and that causes topical congestion and disruption, and that can cause breakouts and pimples."

Why massage is so game-changing

"It is really simple to immediately refresh your skin if you're tired. Makeup is one thing, but massage is a simple way to refresh and awaken the skin—even if you have 60 seconds, it's about using your hands with a good facial oil, or even your morning cleanser. You should sweep from the centre of the face, and work outwards and upwards, in fast, flowing movements to get the blood flowing around the face."