Nikki Reed’s morning hydration hack (no lemon necessary)

Welcome to My Morning Routine, where Nikki Reed and other good-life gurus share their personal (frequently surprising, often healthy) morning rituals—to help you make your a.m.’s more awesome.

Nikki Reed
Actress and co-founder of new made-in-America lifestyle brand BaYou With Love in collaboration with Anthropologie. 

The first thing I do when I wake up is drink an 8 oz. glass of room-temperature water—I actually don’t ever drink anything too cold because it’s not good for the digestive system. This gets everything moving. I also make it a point to not check my cell phone. I happen to live with my phone on airplane mode more often than not.

We basically have a miniature farm at the house, so my morning revolves around all the animals and the ritual of waking up, taking the dogs outside, getting them and the cats fed, and making sure everyone has their supplements. I joke that your animals are totally a reflection of who you are, and there’s a reason I ended up with my shepherds: I’ve always gravitated toward larger dogs because they look at you in the morning, like, “Are you going to take me on this five-mile run? What’s going on, mom?” That little nudge in the morning to go do something is motivating.

Then I’m racing to have five minutes of a tea ceremony with myself. In the last couple of years, I’ve gotten really into both black and green tea. I get it from a man named Colin, who has a beautiful little business called Living Tea. I don’t drink coffee, so my only form of quiet time is tea meditation.

In terms of beauty, my routine has been pretty consistent for the last couple of years. I use a lot of oils on my skin, since California can be really dry. I’ve fallen in love with Poppy & Someday—she makes really beautiful face oils—and Plantfolk makes a lot of my hair oils. I use the BaYou With Love organic multi-purpose balm, which is super hydrating. I just took it with me to Hawaii, and it was kind of a lifesaver because it’s something I can put everywhere—on my face, on the ends of my hair when it’s dry, around my nose and eyes when I’m traveling.

I also have body-oil mists I make myself with water and either jojoba or grapeseed oil in a spray bottle, and I spray myself when I’m done with my shower. I don’t wear a ton of makeup anymore in my personal life—daily I mostly work with just a lip and cheek tint.

I have a mostly plant-based diet, so I do a lot of really great hemp-protein smoothies with my NutriBullet. I add spirulina pretty regularly, eat a lot of raw cacao powders as a supplement, and occasionally I put in some great stuff that Moon Juice makes. I also make my own almond and nut milks. I definitely try to get in a smoothie in the morning, because it’s hard to work out on a super-full belly. 

For more morning motivation, here are the a.m. mantras wellness pros use to kick-start their days, or maximize your rise-and-shine routine according to your horoscope.