The presenter and beauty brand founder shares the food, products and supplements behind her luminous skin and sky-high energy levels
If you're not already one of Trinny Woodall's one million Instagram followers, a quick scroll of her grid will tell you the TV presenter and CEO of Trinny London is as vibrant and vivacious as she is knowledgable. The latter is thanks – no doubt – to her 30-year career in fashion, health and beauty during which she's rubbed shoulders with, and gleaned tips from, the industry's most sought-after experts.
Having added ten skincare products to her best-selling line in just three months, and hosted a two-day immersive pop up in London's Soho, we were desperate to find out how Trinny, 58, maintains her boundless energy levels and perma-glow. It turns out a consistent routine spanning health, wellness and, particularly, skincare is crucial to the mother-of-one (her daughter Lilah is 18).
"Treatments are one thing – I've been having Botox for 20 years – but a daily routine gives a consistency and vibrancy to your skin like nothing else," the former What Not to Wear host told us when we caught up with her at the Trinny London Land popup. For Trinny, every day comprises the same dinner (a hearty soup and topping-laden sourdough bread – eaten on a tray in bed), an active-focused skincare regime and more than ten different supplements to boost everything from hormone balance and joint support to sleep .
Here, she takes us through her schedule...
My morning skincare routine
"Taking care of myself first thing gives me the energy to get up and go. I wake between 6.30 am and 7 am and start with a massage using Trinny London Be Your Best Enzyme Balm Cleanser , £32, and my Foreo Luna 3 Facial Cleansing Brush , £169. I wipe it off with a warm damp Trinny London T-Towel Muslin Cloth , £10 for three, leaving my skin feeling lovely and awake.
"Next, I work out, then have a shower before applying Trinny London Tiptoe In PHA Exfoliant , £34, Trinny London Boost Up 30% Vitamin C Serum , £65, and Trinny London Energise Me Niacinamide Moisturiser , £42, that acts like a supercharged shot of hydration for my skin.
"I follow with four pumps of Trinny London BFF SPF 30 Cream Skin Perfector , £36. Anyone using retinol must use SPF. The difference between an SPF 30 and SPF 50 is only about two per cent but you have to top up SPF 30 more often. I reapply mine at lunch using more of my BFF. It can go on top of makeup – I just press it in and it reinvigorates my base again."
My evening skincare routine
"As much as I love makeup, there's nothing better than taking it all off at the end of the day. I've double cleansed for 25 years! I use Trinny London Be Your Best Enzyme Balm Cleanser , £32 – really working it in all over, including my eyes, and breathing in the scent – followed by Trinny London Better Off AHA/PHA Gel Cleanser , £28.
"When it comes to applying my leave-on products, I let each sink in for a bit to avoid diluting the ingredients.
"First comes Trinny London Reveal Yourself AHA Exfoliant , £38, then I go and make my supper. Acid exfoliants are one of my ultimate skincare essentials. So many people complaining of dry skin aren't exfoliating properly so any moisture they're applying can't get beyond all the dead skin cells.
"Next, I put on my Trinny London Overnight Sensation Retinal+ Serum , £69. Retinal works 11 times faster than other retinols – this one is incredibly clever and doesn't leave you with that flaky croissant-like skin.
MORE GLOSS: Retinol vs retinal decoded
"I then have supper in bed – something I love doing. It's always a hearty soup (see below). I join my partner Charles [Saatchi] and we watch telly and totally relax. Just before I go to sleep, I apply Trinny London Bounce Back Intense Peptide Moisturiser , £49, massaging it right over my neck and shoulders, too.
"I finish with some Talika Lipocils Expert Eyelash Growth Serum , £49.99, on my lashes and brows, and the clear Trinny London Lip Treat Soothing Balm in Anna , £20."
Trinny's weekly power skincare session
"One night a week, I add in another step for a really intensive treatment that never fails to bring my skin back to life. This is only really suitable for people who have built up their tolerance to retinoids and acids for at least a year, but it shows just how far you can take your home skincare before going to a salon.
"After double cleansing and before applying my AHA, retinal and moisturiser, I put Trinny London Tiptoe In PHA Exfoliant , £34, on my Oliviere Wilson Microneedling 0.5mm Roller , £58. I've been microneedling for ten years and I particularly love this one as it's weighty which stops you from pushing down too deeply. You don't need to pierce the skin or draw blood, just do gentle feathering motions to create little channels for your products to penetrate.
"The key is to only use a microneedle with gentler acids like lactic and malic. Doing it with glycolic acid would be too harsh."
What Trinny eats in a day
"I work with personal trainer, Pilates specialist and nutrition coach Nathalie Hayward who has helped me reduce my sugar intake among other things. When you get past the menopause, glycation [the process of protein or fat bonding with sugar in your bloodstream, and a cause of skin ageing] happens ten times quicker. I used to snack in between meals but I'd have eight chocolate rice cakes in one sitting or someone in the office would have a packet of Percy Pigs and I'd have to eat every single one.
"For breakfast, I used to have two slices of bread or croissants. I still do that at the weekend but now, during the week, I alternate between two breakfasts which I have at around 8 am. I either have a little frittata omelette with broccoli and tomato – that's great for protein – or a seed breakfast with every kind of seed you can imagine. I'll include oat milk and cauliflower 'rice' to make a porridge, Brazil nuts, walnuts, sesame seeds and fresh raspberries.
"I eat very well for lunch. I always have fish or chicken, rice or quinoa and vegetables. For supper, I have the same meal every night – a filling soup with lots of chicken, vegetables and, sometimes, rice in it. I eat it with two bits of sourdough bread with different toppings, like lashings of butter, cheese, chicken and fresh tomatoes, or a lot of mayonnaise. I also have a sourdough cracker with cheese and quince jam.
"Then, 20 minutes later, I'll top some Rachel's Organic live yoghurt with berries, honey and half a bar of Green & Black's 85% Intense Dark Chocolate. A Daim bar is my extra special Saturday treat!
"I also had a delicious dessert at a friend's house the other day. You mix sliced strawberries with two spoons of yogurt and a bit of agave, then freeze it into a roulade and cut it into slices. It's cold and hard, so you take longer to eat it – it's like an ice lolly."
My supplement arsenal
"I take a lot of supplements but I think everything together really helps. Everyone has a different budget but I think the most essential things are Vitamin C (I alternate between Zooki Vitamin C , £40, and Altrient Liposomal Vitamin C , £44.50 and take 3000mg), Vitamin D (I like Better You Vitamin D Daily Oral Spray , £8.45) and a probiotic. I've just started taking Symprove Probiotic Liquid , £79, which is brilliant for the gut.
"In the morning, I also take Victoria Health Magnolia Rhodiola Complex , £28, that's great for lifting your mood, and supplements from Dr Erica Schwartz – an American hormone doctor – including Hormone Support Formula , $75, Adrenal Support , $60, and Vitamin ADK , $50. I take Victoria Health Superior Hair , £30, and Victoria Health Superior Joints , £30, which has lots of inflammation-easing ginger in it and helps with my achy joints.
"I took sleeping pills for many years but I wanted to break the habit because my mother has Alzheimer's and I was conscious that I shouldn't take them. Now I take 2mg of Circadin melatonin every night as well as Viridian Nutrition Magnesium Citrate Powder , £17.55, and one progesterone pill.
"I love coffee and have been known to travel a long way for the right one (although my favourite coffee shop in London is Hagen in Chelsea). But for energy on long days, I take Health Aid Sibergin Siberian Ginseng , £16.99, at lunchtime or 6pm – it's better than having caffeine at that time of day."
GET MORE GLOSS: The best tanning drops for a year-round glow