A Sustainable Life With Jessica Manning

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is walk around the house and open all the curtains and shades.  Then I drink a large glass of water and take my dog for a walk.

What are you having for breakfast?

I have a few breakfast staples I rotate between depending on what I’m in the mood for. Either I’ll have a warm bowl of oatmeal with fruit and nut butter, or sometimes I have eggs and veggies, and on occasion I just make a green juice or a smoothie if I’m not feeling as hungry.  

What’s your daily beauty routine?

My beauty routine shifts and changes depending on the seasons and what my skin needs.  I also receive a lot of new skincare to try out for my job so sometimes I change it up more often than I should.  But typically on a daily basis I cleanse, use a toner, sometimes retinol serum, hydrating serums, moisturiser, eye cream and face oil.  I also always wear SPF during the day and take Moon Juice supplements for my skin and hair.  A few notable skincare brands I’ve been using and loving for a while are Moon Juice, Youth to the People, Tata Harper, Cocokind, and LESSE.

How would you describe your day to day style?

As I’ve gotten older my style has changed and continued to refine. I definitely still like to play around with things from time to time but overall I find that I lean mostly towards a classic style.  I like things that feel a bit androgynous yet feminie at the same time.  A go-to look for me is a  pair of vintage men’s trousers with an easy tank or an airy top and gold jewelry.  Also, linen is a fabric I always gravitate towards.  I love how it feels so easy but elevated at the same time.  Comfort is also important to me.

How do you inform yourself throughout the day? What are you listening to, watching, reading?

Now that I don’t find myself in the car too often as I fully work from home, I don’t listen to NPR in the way that I used to, so I’ve been really loving the ‘Up First’ podcast from NPR for some easy updates.  I love how it’s a quick digestible way to gather the current news without feeling too overwhelmed.  After this year, I’ve noticed that I definitely have to limit myself with how much news I consume. It can feel really overwhelming really fast and it just isn’t great for my mental health after a while.  I have also really fallen in love with podcasts in general.  There are a few I come back to often, but the latest that I’ve been loving for thoughtful and meaningful conversations is by an incredible woman Maxine Goynes and it’s called the MG Method.  She just launched season 2 and I can’t wait to continue to listen.

Do you have any personal life hacks for getting through the day in the most sustainable way possible?

I don’t know if I have any hacks per se, but I definitely have things I try to keep in mind as I navigate my days.  We love to cook in my house so a big thing for us is to try to cook most of our meals at home.  I will say, this past year with Covid we found ourselves ordering out a bit more and wanting to try out new restaurants and support small businesses (especially since being new to LA).  However we do cook a lot at home and we really try to be conscious of the groceries and produce in our fridge and try to find interesting and unique ways to use them up before doing another grocery or market run. 

How do you wind down at the end of the day?

At the end of the day I would love to say I’m in a great habit of reading before bed but the reality is that I like to wind down with a good show.  I find that watching something allows me to shut off my brain a bit after a busy day doing admin, shooting content for brands, etc.  I do intend to get in a better habit of less screen time in the evenings, but for now that’s what I find to be helpful for me to wind down.  Also, a nice and slow nighttime skincare routine with a face mask and some facial massage with a gua sha is always very relaxing to me.

What does dinner time look like for you?

As I mentioned, we love to cook in my house.  Or rather I love to cook, and my fiance is the best sioux chef.  We make loads of different types of meals but a go-to for us and something we usually have once a week is some variety of a grain bowl.  It’s a great way to use up whatever produce we have on hand that we then roast, and a grain such as quinoa, rice, or farro.  And then we add in a big handful of greens, sprinkle with nuts and seeds, add a dollop of hummus or sauerkraut and squeeze with fresh lemon.  Some version of this is always on the menu in our house and there are an infinite amount of ways to make it your own.

What’s your night-time beauty ritual?

My night time beauty ritual is usually more in depth than my daytime one.  I tend to take a bit more time at night to really create a comforting ritual with each step. I always start with a gentle cleanser and then follow with a slightly exfoliating cleanser on days when I’ve worn a little bit of makeup. Then I follow with a rosewater toner and Moon Juice’s Acid Potion. Then come serums (exfoliating and moisturizing) followed by a rich moisturizer, eye cream and facial oil. At this point I love to use my gua sha which I keep in the freezer and it feels so calming and luxurious after a full day.  I should also note, I usually do a face mask a few times a week and I have tons that I love but my favorite is always some type of clay mask. I just love how it feels on my skin when it tightens, and followed with a really moisturizing routine it just feels amazing.

What does sustainability mean to you?

Sustainability in my industry is of course rooted in a brand’s practices and process of manufacturing something.  However, to me in my personal life, sustainability is intentionality. Being aware of the items you’re bringing into your home, being thoughtful about what you purchase.  Buying less and buying higher quality items from small businesses doing their part to be intentional about their sustainability efforts.  It comes down to being really honest with yourself I think.  I am by no means perfect at this, but it is a lens I try to see my life through, especially when making purchasing decisions. 

What drives you to live a sustainable life?

I really worry about the future of this planet, our home.  I want to have children someday as well, and it makes my heart break to think about the fractured planet they will inherit because not enough of us have focussed our energy on finding more sustainable practices.

What are three changes you would like to take from this time to move forward with in a more sustainable way?

I want to do better about staying educated and updated with what’s going on in the world surrounding climate change and sustainability..  I would also like to continue to focus on not wasting food and finding ways to use and eat everything I bring into my home.  And lastly I want to do better by my own body so that I can show up in these conversations more and more.  I want to make sure I continue to move my body, drink lots of water, meditate, check in with my loved ones and live in a way that sustains me so that I have continued energy to give back to others and the planet. 

Finally, where can our audience find you? 

You can find me on instagram at @jessica_manning and if you’re interested you can also listen to my two previous albums on Spotify here.