Co-founder and CEO of Peanut, the app that helps mothers connect, Michelle Kennedy isn’t just an entrepreneur extraordinaire, it turns out she’s also a beauty obsessive. We take a peek at what her Sunday night looks like, and the products she likes to buy in bulk…
The Wind Down
Sunday is a lazy day; we might have stayed in our pyjamas all day and we’ll probably have had a roast. I’m always trying to get my son Fin to have a bath so once I get him in and get him to bed I have my shower at around 8pm. I’m not into baths really. Once in a blue moon I’ll have one but I can’t wash my hair in the bath so it feels a bit pointless. I’m always thinking about my hair as it takes the most time. My bathroom is my bathroom, but it’s quite a functional space. Everything is in a certain place and it’s quite a “get in, get out” situation. I’m not a mad luxuriator, I would rather potter about in my bedroom after my shower; that’s where I try things out. Sunday is a great chance to play with things that I haven’t had time to play with all week and my routine is a lot more playful in general. In the week I have to have a really short regime because I just don’t have time; every minute counts and from a practical point of view I just can’t sit and watch TV with a face mask on, on a Tuesday night. Sunday night is my time so I get to do all that stuff then and I think it’s important to have that time.
Sunday night I will know exactly what my Monday looks like and what I’m going to wear. I know exactly where I need to be, and I’ll have made Fin’s lunch too. I make sure I do all of that because no one wants that rough entry into a Monday. How my week looks differs from week to week, I travel a lot and always have lots of events on, so there’s a lot of stuff and I have to be planned accordingly. Everyone has had the Sunday night blues and the Monday morning dreads, but I just don’t get it in the same way now that I’m working on my own thing. Generally speaking I love it, I enjoy it and I want to work hard at it, so I don’t feel that in the same way I maybe used to. It’s definitely changed my perspective on things; I’ve never been more tired and I’ve never worked as hard, for sure, but I definitely don’t get the dreads in the same way.
The Routine
I always exfoliate before I get in the shower, and I’m all about the Ameliorate Exfoliating Body Mitt. I’m diligent — almost obsessive about that. I used to have keratosis pilaris and I got obsessed with it before my wedding day, and have just carried on doing it. The same goes with the Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion. I always do a scrub, I like the Laura Mercier Almond Coconut Scrub. The smell is divine but I love all those milky, honey smells anyway. I love the hand cream of that too. I only use the Kiehl’s Crème de Corps on my body because you just can’t get anything better than that. I wash my hair in the shower, so I go to bed with wet hair. It means Monday isn’t the best hair day for me but my new trick is to dry just my fringe and put a bit of Living Proof dry shampoo in it the night before. Then, when I wake up it looks “done” and then somehow the rest of you looks “done” too. It’s much better than putting it in the next morning, it looks cool and slept in, and there’s no chalkiness. I love Living Proof in general; the PhD range is great. My hair gets quite heavy and I also use lots of dry shampoo and styling products so I like to get everything out at the end of the week. That range just gets it all back to basics. I do love Oribe products too. My hair used to be wavy but it became straight when I started using straighteners, it was very weird. It depends what I’m doing the next day but I might add a little bit of Bumble & bumble Surf Spray when it’s damp. Once I’m out of the shower I head into my bedroom. That’s also the only time I do a hand cream or a cuticle oil, usually with terrible TV in the background. I’ve just finished How To Get Away With Murder season 3, it’s amazingly bad. I loved Scandal too.
This is a really bad admission, and all my friends tell me off when I say this, but I use face wipes in the week to take my makeup off. Yes, I am that person. I know I should stop but it’s a laziness thing, just a lack of discipline because I’m tired and I’ve been working and I just want to get into bed. I try to compensate with a big old slather of face cream though and I love the Malin + Goetz Advanced Renewal Cream. There’s something about it that’s so fresh, and I love the scent. Anyway I slather that on and I never wake up the next morning feeling greasy. Generally speaking my skin is pretty normal but now I’m just very aware of ageing and am starting to notice lines more than I used to. If I’m not using a wipe I use the original Eve Lom Cleanser with the muslin. Your skin feels tight in a super clean way, afterwards. I had a facial with them years ago and have basically been a convert ever since. I love it and just buy it on repeat. I rely on expert recommendations and have been given so many great ones from Space NK store staff over the years. The Institut Esthederm Adaptasun Protective Milky Body Spray was another recommendation and something that I would never deviate from for my holidays now. I love sheet masks; I love the 111SKIN Rose Gold Brightening Facial Treatment Mask and I’m also trying the Rodial Snake Oxygenating & Cleansing Bubble Mask, which my husband just bought me. I also love the Talika Eye Therapy Patch Masks, which are great if I’m going on a night out. In the summer, I love the Tan-Luxe Sleep Oil, it’s so good. It smells nice and I feel like it’s good for my skin as well. You apply it and then wake up the next morning and you look so good! It just lifts your face. I love their The Water too, it’s just so easy and there’s no fuss. When you’re feeling rubbish and under the weather it leaves you really glowing.
Bedtime
I try not to have set times for bed. I used to do that but then when I didn’t manage it I felt like I was getting stuff wrong and it was just another stress; I think we’ve got enough pressures. I love a chamomile tea before bed, and on an ideal Sunday night I would be in bed at 9pm watching TV. Then it would be lights out at 10.30pm – that’s my idea of heaven. All of my beauty stuff is by my bed including my By Terry Baume de Rose Lip Care. I also have the Rodial Dragon’s Blood XXL Lip Plumper. It always makes my lips look nice, but that’s more for day time. I used to be a great sleeper — I used to be that person who could fall asleep in a club –but not anymore. I think it’s age, work, being a mummy. Now I use the Calm app on my phone for their bedtime stories. They’re called Sleep Stories and you just choose whichever one you fancy and have it read to you. My favourite is called Expedition to Antarctica. I’m not into meditation but this is amazing and I’m quite religious about doing it. I sleep with both an eye mask and ear plugs because my husband snores really badly, which is a bit of a problem when it comes to being able to listen to my stories as well. The earphones muffle the noise of his snoring a bit but not completely. Often I’ll wake up after I’ve fallen asleep listening to the story and pop my ear plugs in then.
Monday Morning
Fin is my alarm, actually my French Bulldog puppy is, because she starts crying at 6am every morning. It’s a very chilled routine on a Monday morning. Everyone has breakfast, then I get Fin dressed and then I do my makeup on the way into work – yes, I am that annoying girl! I don’t want to miss time with Fin so that’s when I have to do it. It’s really just tinted moisturiser, bronzer and my brows and then I feel okay. Oh, and the By Terry CC Lumi Serum. There was a time when I couldn’t get hold of that — the pure terror! So now I’ve learnt my lesson and I buy lots of it when I can, just in case…
