The Midnight Glow: Our Two-Step Night Routine

The Midnight Glow is our night routine in two products, used in this order: press The Midnight Youth Potion into clean skin, then smooth the Wrinkle Reducing Ultra Peptide Intensive Night Cream over face, neck and décolletage as the very last step. The potion gives rich overnight moisture and the cream seals it in. Done every evening, it leaves skin looking soft, even and rested when you wake.

What is in the set

The Midnight Youth Potion is a night oil-serum: thirteen botanical oils, among them grape seed, avocado, baobab, rosehip, marula and Kalahari melon, blended with niacinamide, sodium hyaluronate and a vitamin C ester. It goes on silky and settles in quickly. We make it by hand in our Williamsburg workshop.

Wrinkle Reducing Ultra Peptide Intensive Night Cream is a rich, velvety cream with three peptides, Argireline, Matrixyl 3000 and Snap-8, chosen to help the look of fine lines and expression lines soften. Rosehip seed oil, sorbitol and sodium hyaluronate give lasting moisture, and centella asiatica keeps the feel calm. It is one of our two Ultra Peptide formulas, which a specialist cosmetic lab makes for us.

Your night, step by step

1. Cleanse. Wash with a gentle cleanser. Our Rose Face Wash Cream melts into damp skin and rinses clean without leaving it tight. Pat dry, leaving a little moisture behind.
2. Mist, if you like. A few spritzes of the Rose Petal Mist Face Toner, held at arm's length, keeps skin slightly damp for the next step. It is optional, but it helps the oils spread.
3. Press in the potion. Count four to six drops into your palm, warm them between your hands, and press them into your face and neck. Press and lift rather than rubbing.
4. Pause for a minute. Give the oils a minute to settle. Brush your teeth, set out tomorrow's clothes, turn down a lamp.
5. Smooth on the night cream. Take a small amount, warm it on your fingertips, and massage it over face, neck and décolletage with slow upward strokes. It goes on last, and nothing goes on after it.
6. Leave both overnight. No rinsing or wiping. Wash in the morning as usual.

Why the order matters

Skin care layers best from lightest to richest. The potion is an oil-serum, light enough to settle into the skin in a minute or two. The night cream is dense and cushioned, made to sit over everything else and hold it in. Put them the other way around and the oils have to work their way through a rich cream, which they do poorly. The potion delivers the moisture; the cream keeps it there through the night.

This is also why the pause in step four is worth taking. If the cream goes on while the oil is still pooled on the surface, the two smear together rather than layering, and more of both ends up on the pillow.

Fitting it around the rest of your week

The Midnight Glow is designed for nightly use, and it works best as a steady habit rather than an occasional one. A few things to plan around:

• Retinol nights. If you use a retinoid, give it its own evenings and skip the Ultra Peptide night cream on those nights, coming back to it the next evening.
• Extra peptides. If you own the Wrinkle Reducing Ultra Peptide Intensive Face Serum, it can go on before the potion: two to four drops, a minute to absorb, then the potion and the cream.
• Warm weather. In humid weeks, use four drops of the potion and a thinner layer of cream. Skin should feel cushioned, not heavy.

The morning after

Both formulas are made for the evening only, so the morning is a separate, lighter routine. Wash away the night's layers, then reach for a serum made for the day. The Royal Kalahari Face Serum works morning and night, and the Vitamin C Collagen Boosting Face Serum with Niacinamide is the one we suggest for mornings. Finish with sunscreen. Keeping the two routines apart gives each set of formulas the conditions it was made for.

If you want to go further down the body at night, the same unhurried minutes at the sink are a good time to smooth our Rejuvenating Body Cream over hands, elbows and shoulders.

Questions about The Midnight Glow routine

Do I need to wait between the two steps?

A minute is enough. It lets the potion settle so the cream layers over it rather than smearing into it.

Can I add the Ultra Peptide face serum?

Yes. It goes on first, after cleansing, with a minute to absorb. Then the potion, then the night cream last.

Are both products handmade?

The Midnight Youth Potion is made by hand in our Williamsburg workshop. The night cream is one of our two Ultra Peptide formulas, made for us by a specialist cosmetic lab.

What should I use in the morning?

Something lighter. The Royal Kalahari Face Serum or the Vitamin C serum, followed by sunscreen, suits the day better than either Midnight Glow formula.