Take a moment and think about your best friend. (Ah, now isn’t this nice?) What’s funny about best friends is that more often than not, the two people involved are quite different. Earlybird workout warriors befriend snooze button loyalists, skincare fanatics connect with skincare nihilists, Carrie and Charlotte, you get the picture. So it’s no surprise that best friends Suki Waterhouse and Poppy Jamie take two different roads to skincare, fitness, and sleep hygiene. But the through line that keeps them connected? For one, it’s an appreciation for gratitude, which led them to launching an app called WithGratitude to celebrate it. “A friend who lives in London—I live in LA—and I started sending each other 10 things that we were grateful for every single day. Then Poppy and I started doing the same, and it turned into a massive habit purely from us enjoying it,” says Suki, who outside of building apps, balances a life of touring, acting, and being a mom. On the heels of the app’s launch, ITG caught up with Suki and Poppy to chat about all things skincare, fitness, and of course, gratitude. Their guide to living well below.
Skincare
Poppy Jamie: Suki’s the queen of skincare. You just have to look at her to know that. I can literally see my face in her skin because she’s so glowy.
Suki Waterhouse: I’m a complete skincare junkie, but I’m really into iS Clinical and Biologique Recherche, even though they have literally the smelliest products on Earth. If I’m wearing any Biologique products, my mom will literally tell me to get out of her car because I stink. [Laughs] But I’ve probably used iS Clinical products the longest. I love wearing the Active serum at night and Pro-Heal serum during the day.
During the pandemic, I got very into facial massages and even did an hour long class with FaceGym. They train you and then you can give yourself a completely lifted face with just your hands. It’s incredible. Also, this amazing lady at Biologique told me that we should be cleansing for at least a minute and that blew my mind because I throw my cleanser on and off quickly most of the time. And I will admit that I’ve ignored my neck and my chest. For some reason, there’s a mental block and I just cannot get around to cleansing—and generally applying skincare—there. That’s the next stage for me. Otherwise, I’m going to have a very different-looking face and neck.
PJ: Personally, I’m obsessed with drinking electrolytes. They’ve really helped my skin. And if I’m being honest, I historically have had terrible digestion—and magnesium has been super helpful—but electrolytes have been an absolute game changer with that, too.
SW: Anne Hathaway and I have the same movement coach, Danny—shout out to him, and I found out which brand of electrolytes she takes. It’s called Pique. I obviously then ordered a stack for myself and my skin looks more glowy and all around feels better.
Sleep hygiene
SW: Sleep is Poppy’s big thing. Me? I’m terrible. I’ll fall asleep on the couch in a furry jacket with my shoes on. But Poppy does not play around. She’s going to get eight hours or bust. When we go on a trip together, I’m under a strict regimen.
PJ: It’s all about the wind down. When I’ve had a really busy day and I’m answering emails late at night or I’m watching a really intense program, I’m too wired to fall asleep. I always say you have to treat yourself like a baby. You would never put a baby in its crib and say, ‘Sleep now.’ You would give the baby a bath, read them a story, and give them a bottle. So to wind down, I make Cuddle [Poppy is a co-founder of the brand], a hot chocolate mix with magnesium, which is literally the queen for sleep. Making the drink is also a good way to train my brain into knowing that when I do this certain activity, it’s time for bed.
SW: Cuddle’s also the most delicious thing ever. It’s helped me a lot and is something that I actually look forward to drinking before going to sleep every night. And, of course, Poppy’s right about treating yourself like a baby. I think about that a lot now that I have a baby of my own. The amount of time we put into soothing her and putting her into a cozy state before going to sleep has made me go, ‘Oh my God. This would be great for me.
Gratitude
SW: I don’t have that many rituals in my life, but I find so much pleasure and a sense of peace when I do. And just through the nature of everyone having busy lives, I don’t always know what’s going on with some of the people closest to me. By writing gratitude lists, not only do I have a daily ritual but I’ve also found that it is actually a way to create deeper conversations with people. Sometimes Poppy will see my list on WithGratitude and call me to ask about something I wrote down, like if I’m grateful for resolving some kind of conflict. I feel really deeply connected to the journey that she is on as a person more so than ever before. My empathy for everyone has just grown.
PJ: We’ve been doing writing lists for a year and I haven’t missed a day. It was maybe after two or three months that I realized it was also fundamentally changing the way I think and look at my life. Naturally, we look to the negative, right? Humans are wired to spot danger, and so of course, our brains want to worry about any and all potential threats. To have a practice that forces you to look for the blessings in your life, it really does have an effect on you. I could have the worst day on record, but when I make my gratitude list, I can always find something good, which then allows me to change my perspective and recognize my own resilience.
Plus, aside from making me feel grateful to have friends like Suki reaching out about something I wrote, there’s actual science to doing something like this with your friends. You’re way more likely to turn up to the gym if your friend tells you to meet them there at 10AM because you don’t want to let them down and you’re held accountable. The same applies here.
Fitness
SW: I always feel much better when I hang out or spend the day with Poppy. She always tells me that we have to go outside for an hour every day and she really enforces going for a walk, which I’m not great at. I’m definitely the one that will roll out of bed, order a coffee, not drink any water, go to the studio for eight hours, and not see the sunlight all day. She’s horrified by that.
PJ: The morning walk is critical because none of us get enough vitamin D. It’s so important that you see the daylight during that first hour of your day because it sets your circadian rhythm in motion, which then affects your sleep, too. It also refreshes your mind. I always feel better when I start my day that way. I’m more creative, more productive, and better at processing my thoughts. No one’s walking enough in LA either, but for me, 10,000 steps is a good number to focus on.
Photo courtesy of Suki Waterhouse and Poppy Jamie
