The party season skincare prep this top makeup artist swears by

One of the times we're at our most social, is when our skin is at it's most fragile. Party season skincare is serious business, particularly when you're a top celebrity makeup artist, like Nikki Wolff, with famous faces including Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Simone Ashley, Dua Lipa, Yara Shahidi and Hailey Bieber relying on you to bring the glow.

Winter may give us mulled wine, Christmas lights and excuse to get merry with out friends, but the cold weather, the alcohol and the quality street can infuriate our skin. Even when we're being diligent with our serum, winter skin often needs a little extra boost. That's why Nikki's hair is full of top tier skincare secrets, because she's prepped for enough red carpets, premieres and yep, parties to know what works. She's made juicy, glazed skin her signature so, um, we'd just like to know exactly how she does it, please.

Fortunately, we managed to convince Nikki to spill her best party season skincare advice (you can thank us later).

GLAMOUR: How long ahead of an event should you start thinking about skin prep?

Nikki Wolff: “Ideally you want to give your skin a chance to reach optimal health at least a week before a big event. I would recommend using gentle but effective products, such as Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant. Equally as important as sloughing off those dead skin cells is optimum hydration, so using something like Youth to the People Superberry Hydrate + Glow Dream Mask every night for the week prior to your event. I would highly recommend incorporating vitamin C in your daytime skincare routine for a visibly brighter complexion, I love Noble Panacea's Vitamin C Booster.”

What prep do you do to get your celebrity clients' skin ready for a party season?

“I like to start by icing the face, for this you can use cryo tools. Aliso Beauty makes some great cryo tools that aren't too fragile to travel with, so I always keep these in my kit, but simple ice cubes do the trick perfectly too. Everybody's skin is different, so when I'm working with clients I have some of my favourite products that I know always work well. Noble Panacea's Absolute Nourishing Lift Oil has a beautiful texture that gives me enough time to really massage the product into the skin.

A face massage helps to aid lymphatic drainage, de-puff, and get blood circulation going. This particular oil contains clever technology that allows it to encapsulate hyaluronic acid, making it extremely lightweight and therefore ideal for combination skins. It's also continuously hydrating, which means that even the driest skin will stay looking luminous at the end of the evening. I often apply a brightening under eye mask to help hydrate and de-puff the under eye area whilst I'm applying the eye makeup. I want skin to have a super hydrated and plumped glow, and obviously create the perfect base for my makeup, and therefore I apply my favourite oil or moisturiser.”

What's the one mistake you see people making when it comes to prepping their skin for party season?

“I see this mistake most often with acne prone or oily skin – people sometimes feel that skipping moisturising could help to balance their skin, when actually it can do the opposite. It's really important to keep skin hydrated and balanced, albeit with the right products. I would definitely recommend a very thorough double cleanse to remove makeup every night before you apply your serums and creams if you are looking to control sebum production.”

For more from GLAMOUR's Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk