Alexandra Soveral shares her skin health secrets

When we sleep, our skin detoxifies and acquires what it needs from the body in order to regenerate. For this to happen in an efficient way, we need at least six hours of undisturbed sleep. I love lying in bed doing a 10-minute meditation before I fall asleep. Whenever I go for more than a couple of days without having a full night’s sleep, my skin gets dry and dull and fine lines begin to appear.

I don’t believe in fads, and much less in superfoods – all healthy food is superfood. I enjoy a varied diet of fresh, good-quality produce that includes plenty of fatty acids and lots of vegetables of every colour. My favourite skin foods are linseeds, avocados and green, leafy vegetables. Fine sea salt is my top holistic beauty product. I put three cups in the bath to soften the water and release radiation from the body (salty water conducts electricity).

I also use it as a body scrub, applied directly onto wet skin, and then apply body oil over it.

My favourite hair and scalp treatment is Neal’s Yard Organic Avocado Oil, £7.50. I massage it on the scalp and hair, put on a shower cap and leave it for as long as I can. Then I shampoo it off for healthy, shiny hair.

My favourite beauty product is our Soveral Angel Balm, £55 –the rose geranium calms, and its silky texture means it melts into the skin. I use it to cleanse and as an overnight mask for when my skin needs extra nourishment.

I keep an uncluttered bathroom cabinet: lavender essential oil for first-aid needs; tea tree oil – I put a drop in a glass of salty water to use as a mouthwash; arnica homeopathic pills, because I bruise easily; Soveral Antidote Rescue Oil, £25, for when I feel run down, and I love Green People Toothpaste – a formulation that improves the health of the whole mouth. Next to my bed are a few issues of New Scientist and a homemade pillow spray with valerian, sandalwood and clary sage.

Find out more about Alexandra Soveral at alexandrasoveral.co.uk