How to Do Laura Harrier’s Skincare Routine

Control Corrective Salicylic Wash 2%: “The first thing I do is wash my face, and I alternate between the Shani Darden Cleansing Serum and the Control Corrective Salicylic Wash, which helps with breakouts.”

Shani Darden Cleansing Serum: “In the shower, I use a face wash from my esthetician, Shani Darden.”

iS Clinical Cleansing Complex: “My skin loves this cleanser. I’ve been using it for years. It lathers without stripping it dry, which is a feeling I hate. My face is clean and moisturized after washing, as opposed to a tight feeling that sometimes follows cleansers.”

Clarins Hydrating Gentle Foaming Cleanser: “I love this foaming cleanser from Clarins, and I use this morning and night. I really like this cleanser because it doesn’t make your skin super tight. I hate that feeling when you’re all dry after you wash your face and it feels like your skin is going to crack off. This doesn’t [do that]. I’m going to use a moisturizer, of course, but [my skin] still feels soft and nice right now. This cleanser is really moisturizing.”

“These I really like to use on my face. I just keep a whole stack of them in my bathroom because I feel like washcloths and towels kind of scratch my face a little bit. And also you probably aren’t switching out your towel every single time that you’re using it. So it just feels a little cleaner and softer.”

Isla Tone Balance Elixir: “My advice to my teenage self would be: ‘Step away from that harsh toner, girl!’ When I was younger, me and my girlfriends would put on the harshest of toners that were so drying. No idea why, we probably just thought that was what we were supposed to do. I started using the Isla Toner recently and really like the way it completely gets rid of any leftover dirt or grime while smoothing my complexion. No biting or peeling like past middle-school toner trauma! It’s a bit citrus-smelling and very fresh, and I usually apply it with a reusable cotton pad.”

Clarins Hydrating Toning Lotion: “I sometimes follow [my cleanser] with their chamomile toner depending on what mood my skin is in.”

Clarins Double Serum Complete Age Control Concentrate: “It just really smooths all the fine lines and pimples, makes pores look smaller, gives you a glow, [and] is moisturizing without being heavy. Because it’s water and oil, so it’s not like it’s putting a ton of heavy stuff on your face.”

iS Clinical Active Serum: “If I’m breaking out, I’ll go for the Active Serum.”

iS Clinical Pro-Heal Serum Advance+: “If my skin is dry, I do the Pro-Heal.”

Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream: “This is my favourite moisturizer, and it’s Augustinus Bader. And I also really love the Body Cream, side note. It’s literally called The Rich Cream. It’s really thick. This is awesome for parched winter skin. It’s kind of nice even over your makeup because it just makes you like a little bit glowy. I hate looking powdery for my makeup, so sometimes I just top everything up with moisturizer after.”

Clarins Multi-Active Day Cream: “Probably one of the best moisturizers I’ve ever used. It pairs beautifully with the Double Serum and has a smell that’s wonderfully sweet and floral without being overpowering. Pretty awesome way to start the day, if you ask me.”

iS Clinical Reparative Moisture Emulsion: “The iS Clinical Reparative Moisture Emulsion is awesome.”

iS Clinical Eye Complex: “Another forever staple in my arsenal. I pop this guy on with my pinkies morning and night, and it keeps fine lines and dark circles at bay. A friend till the end.”

Clarins Total Eye Revive: “What I love about this is it has this cool metal ball tip thing... I use that to swipe out because it’s cold and I feel like it’s de-puffing. It feels awesome and it really relaxes you.”

Control Corrective Oil Free Sunscreen SPF 30: “I do this just as my moisturizer for daytime [in the summer], and then at night I’ll wear a heavier moisturizer. As a woman of colour, it’s so hard to find sunscreen that doesn’t make me look grey or ashy or leave a weird film on my face. It’s crazy how difficult it is to find that, honestly. So this brand doesn’t do that at all... it’s just sheer and leaves you a bit glowy. I’ve been using this one for years because it’s the best that I have found.”

Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40: “SPF are probably the most important three letters when you live in L.A.—or just live. I’m a huge fan of this sunscreen because it’s beautifully sheer and doesn’t leave a gross white film or ashiness on your face like some other sunscreens tend to. I wear sunscreen every day. I won’t leave my house without it!”

Éolésens Eau Florale de Fleur d’Oranger: “I like to do this orange blossom water that I got at a pharmacy in Paris. Mmm, it smells so good.”

Fresh Rose Floral Toner: “Rose water is a great top off that I use to lock in my whole routine. I love the smell and the dewy finish it leaves on my face. I either get it from my local health food store or use this Fresh Floral Toner.”

Bioderma Sensibio H2O: “At night, I use the Bioderma micellar water to remove makeup. That’s what I use most nights to just wipe everything off for a first round before I do my real cleansing. I’m pretty good at always taking my makeup off. I feel like when people ask me, ‘What’s your skincare secret,’ like, you just gotta take off your makeup, girl. You cannot be sleeping with that on. Because no matter how tired I am or how many cocktails I’ve had or wherever I am in the world, I always take off my makeup because when you wake up with that shit on your face it is not a good look. Number one skincare secret from me: don’t get drunk and sleep in your makeup.”

iS Clinical Cleansing Complex: “It’s a perfect base for the rest of my products, and the fact that it also removes makeup is a bonus.”

Clarins Hydrating Gentle Foaming Cleanser: “Since it’s nighttime, I’m going to use it with warm water, which I also think is better to help kind of melt down your makeup and take everything off. I just warm it up in my hands and get it all in there, and I just wet my hands, I don’t wet my face. Obviously, in the morning I wash my face in the shower so I’ll wet my face before that, but at night I feel like it really just helps to break everything down more. I love this ‘cause it’s super thick. So even if you didn’t do a first wipe off of the makeup, it kind of gets rid of everything.”

Shani Darden Cleansing Serum: “[At night] I wash again with Shani’s cleanser.”

“I like to use a muslin cloth. It’s really soft and light. You can get these online, at a drugstore, wherever. They’re really good. I just use this to wipe off the cleanser. It just really gets rid of everything.”

Biologique Recherche Lotion P50: “Next I am going to do my toner and this is P50. It’s awesome; it doesn’t smell great, but it’s worth it. Take two [cotton pads], and I get them wet first... because it can be really strong, so I like to dilute it so it doesn’t really burn my skin. So I have my wet cotton pads, and you always want to do it up. So I start with my neck, and I just blot everything going up my face.”

Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Ultra Gentle Daily Peel: “And then I really love the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta peel pads. I get hormonal breakouts, and it smooths everything over. But I use the sensitive-skin ones, because the other ones are really intense. I’ll alternate that and Shani’s retinol every other night.”

Biologique Recherche ISO-Placenta Sérum Authentique: “This is placenta serum. So I just take a few drops.”

iS Clinical Pro-Heal Serum Advance+: “I really love this stuff; I love this brand. I’ve been using it for years. I just take a few drops in the palm of my hands [and pat it into my skin].”

iS Clinical Active Serum: “At night... I alternate between the Active Serum and retinol every other day.”

Clarins Double Serum Complete Age Control Concentrate: “I got really into their Double Serum, which I’ve been using for about a year and half now, and the difference I’ve seen from using it is huge. Such a reduction in my pores and overall smoothness, and I feel like my skin is more glowy and fine lines have faded so much.”

Shani Darden Retinol Reform: “And then I use her retinol. I’m not using the retinol for wrinkles, but it helps a lot with my acne scarring. And my skin feels smoother.”

Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream: “My skin gets so dry, it’s like sand in a cactus in the desert, so just like disgusting. This is really rich and moisturizing, and I use this morning and night. Morning, I follow it with sunscreen, but at night I just put this on and go to bed.”

Clarins Multi-Active Night Cream Normal to Combination Skin: “This is really moisturizing and nice without feeling super heavy. I also do that dabbing-in motion; I really don’t want to aggressively rub my face. It smells really good and you wake up really well-rested.”

Tata Harper Repairative Moisturizer: “I’ll either use a Tata Harper moisturizer....”

Epicuren Discovery Brazilian Propolis Lotion: “Or this new one I just got by Epicuren, which is... something made out of bees.”

iS Clinical Eye Complex: “Then it’s eye cream, always. No matter how tired I am, I never forget eye cream.”

Clarins Total Eye Lift: “This is Clarins Total Eye Lift and I really love this stuff. I’ve been using it for a few months and I see a huge difference in the circles under the eyes, and the darkness, and it feels like it’s opening up the whole area and getting rid of little fine lines and wrinkles that were there.”

Kora Organics Noni Glow Sleeping Mask: “So last night I slept with this mask on.”

Sacred Rose Water Body Mist & Aromatherapy: “I like to finish with a little rose water ‘cause it’s nice and it smells good. This is just this rose water that I buy at this health food store by my house and it smells amazing and it’s just roses, I think—just natural.”

Boiron Homeoplasmine: “The OG lip balm. I can’t remember how I discovered it, but it’s a gem, and when you know about, it you know about it. Everyone who uses this knows it’s magic in a tube. Cannot recommend enough.”

Fresh Rose Petal-Soft Lip Cream: “I loved Dior’s Crème de Rose Lip Balm, which has sadly been discontinued, but Fresh has a similar one that’s really good.”

Shani Darden: “I see Shani Darden in L.A. for my skin. Shani is my OG facialist and has taught me so much about skincare—I love her classic facial. She works with my skin and knows what it loves and, more importantly, what it doesn’t. When I moved to L.A. from New York... I didn’t know anyone. The girl who does my eyebrows, Kim Nguyen, told me about Shani, and she kind of saved my face. I like that she’s straight up and tells you exactly what you need to do. For me, it’s dealing with breakouts. I text Shani pictures of my zits all the time, like ‘Help meee!’”

The Beauty Sandwich: “When I can get facials I see Shani Darden in L.A. or Iván Pol for The Beauty Sandwich, which is a really cool non-invasive treatment that de-puffs and sculpts your face in an insane way. All of a sudden my cheekbones are like knife points!”