My overnight ritual: Dr Jaishree Sharad

She’s loved by the best in the Indian film industry, and with good reason. Over the years that I have interviewed Dr Sharad, I have never heard her suggest a radical skin treatment, unless its required. She likes to play it safe and if you don’t need something, she will not encourage it. This makes her one of the most trustworthy dermatologists around. That and her book Skin Talks: The Secrets to Glowing Skin for Men and Women. But, unlike most of us she doesn’t have an elaborate overnight ritual. Here’s why:

1. She usually gets back home between 8:00 and 9:30 in the evening and the first thing she does is wash her hands thoroughly. “I take extra care to clean the webbed parts between my fingers and under the nails.” She then cleans her face with Uriage Creme Lavante, an iconic French pharmacy product. 

2. “After that I just apply a Skinceuticals Retinol 1.0 on alternate nights on my face.” Dr Sharad has extremely sensitive skin so she forgoes any other cream or serum at night. “Even if I apply just moisturiser at night, my skin will swell up,” she says. But if she has worn makeup during the day, she takes it off with Bioderma Sensibo, then slathers her face with Laneige Waterbank Moisture Cream, as makeup dehydrates her skin. 

3. She then eats a light a dinner. “I’ll have a soup or salad, maybe some fruit, but if I'm very hungry then I’ll just boil an egg too.” Her phone has no social media, just Instagram, which she visits twice a week.” But these days she stays up working on her book till about 11:30pm.

4. Since her night routine is so sparse we were curious to know what she puts on her face in the day. “I put all sorts of things on my face in the morning.” She starts with the Skinceuticals Reservatrol BE Serum (enriched with antioxidants and skin-clearing niacinamide) all over her face, and tops it up with the Laneige Waterbank Gel Cream. Then its time for Auriga Cernor XO Eye Cream, and lastly the ZO Oclipse Sunscreen & Primer SPF 30.

5. She also pops supplements such as Centrum Multigummies for multivitamins and Ester-C for vitamin C, every day.