Yasmin Sewell on her everyday beauty and wellness routine​

The founder of cult fragrance brand Vyrao, YASMIN SEWELL speaks to MALENA HARBERS about her love of skincare layering, her penchant for a daily oil massage (and glam gown), and the one inner-health game-changer she’s learned from 25 years of meditation

The first thing I do when I wake up is scrape my tongue

I’m trained in Ayurveda and live a lot with Ayurvedic principles, so I have to do a tongue scrape and sometimes I do oil pulling, too, if I have time – although I really dislike doing it and find it quite weird. Afterwards, I hydrate with lots of water.

I rotate my skincare daily

I tend to have a bunch of serums and creams that I alternate between. When I pick my fragrances for the day, I ask myself, “What do I want today?” I do the same with my skincare. I tend to layer a lot of products, too. I’ll apply two or three serums and a moisturizer, so I walk out of the house shiny and glowing. I love Emma Lewisham’s Illuminating Oil Cleanser and Lilfox’s Amazon After Dark cleansing balm – I’ll rotate between them. I also love de Mamiel, Monastery’s oils and moisturizers, and Vintner’s Daughter’s Active Botanical Serum. The way it feels on my skin, and the smell, is just extraordinary. It’s always the one product I go back to time and again, and I really steer towards oily and balmy textures in general. If I have time in the morning, I’ll do a little bit of gua sha, too, which I find makes a big difference to my skin.

Some mornings, I do a head-to-toe oil massage

One of the principles in Ayurveda is to do a full oil massage from your scalp to your feet every morning for up to 10 minutes before you get in the shower. I have an Ayurvedic oil that’s for my Ayurvedic dosha, which is Vata, so I’ll use this. It’s easy with my short hair – I’ll put it through my scalp, massage it over my face, and take it all the way down to my feet, then jump in the shower. I also love baths. I have one every night. It’s a game-changer: life without a bath is just not as good. A ritual in the bath every night is big for me. It’s a way of rinsing off the day and starting anew. I love using an essential oil in the bath, too – Olverum Bath Oil is my favorite.

On a bad face day…

I use 111Skin’s Celestial Black Diamond Lifting and Firming Mask, which looks a bit like black rubber. I put that on before I go to an event, and it looks like I have foundation on – it evens out my skin tone and makes such a huge difference. I also do gua sha. If everything is just a bit out of balance it really works to make your whole face look better.

I wear different fragrances at different times of the day

This morning, I sprayed Vyrao’s Georgette because I wanted to feel that self-love. Then I came into the office and sprayed Free 00 because I wanted to give myself a boost; a spritz of that summer feeling. I have seven Vyrao fragrances now and I have all seven in different parts of my house – they’re in my bathroom and even my dining room. And, because we use such natural, precious oils, you can re-apply them all the time. In the morning, I’ll choose the fragrance I want to wear according to how I want to feel. That little moment when I make that choice is beautiful because I really tune in to where I’m at, which I think is so important for everyone to do.

I’m not a makeup person

Sometimes, before a big event, I might have a really great massage so that I feel balanced – and I love having an infrared sauna the day before, as it’s great for your overall wellbeing. Then, as I only wear minimal makeup, it’s all about what I wear on the night. I tend to dress like a teenage boy during the day but, at night, I really do love wearing a great gown. My go-to is a backless black dress with great earrings and boots. I’m a boots person more so than heels.

I feel amazing when I do hot yoga

I have a Hotpod Yoga studio quite close to my house that I often go to. I also love Pilates and I have a great Pilates studio near my office in Dalston [London], called Studio Anatomy. But finding the time to exercise is really hard as a working parent, so I invested in a Power Plate machine in my house, and I absolutely love it. I’m a big believer in lymphatic drainage and circulation being a big part of your overall wellness, and this vibrating machine helps with both. I can do just 10 minutes in the morning, and it feels like I’ve done half an hour of exercise – my heart rate is up, my circulation is moving, and it’s great for toning muscles. Sometimes my kids jump on it, too – they think the vibration is really funny. I also love swimming; it’s probably the only real cardio I do. Plus, it’s much easier now I have hardly any hair to dry afterwards!