24 hours with Megan Reynolds: How The Marketing Director At MATCHES Spends Her Day

The fashion and marketing director at MATCHES tries to lead a balanced life filled with family, fashion and early bedtimes

If I wanted to commodify one of my attributes as a superpower, it would be my ability to sleep – I fall asleep quickly, soundly, with no trouble napping on planes and trains. My alarm goes off at 5:30AM.

My 18-month-old son Albie rises at 6am, and ensures our house is up before the sun most days. I have historically loved a lie-in and indulged in them a fair bit in my 20s.

Today, life consists of raising a family and building a career so rising in the early hours is nonnegotiable. There is no hack to getting up refreshed. I go to bed eight hours before I need to be up; my husband and I are in bed comically early these days. I always feel better if I have screen-free time before bed but that’s hard to achieve. And you just can’t beat Olivia von Halle’s silk set or sleep shirt. Having married a Brit, tea is an important ritual in our house.

I start each day with a cup of tea brought to my nightstand by my husband Henry. There is a serenity to mornings that I don’t like to interfere with. If I had to pick an anthem for the morning hours it would be something like Free Mind by Tems. England is temperate for the most part, so I opt for 100 per cent linen sheets all year round and just switch out the duvet. Our bed is made every morning, without fail. I sleep so much better when the bedroom is tidy! I won’t lie and say it’s always immaculate but that’s the ideal.

I ease into each morning ‘chatting’ with my son, reading books enjoying the time before the day really gets underway. We cherish the 6AM-7AM hour which is our family time before the world wakes up, no external pressures or noise.

By 7:00AM we are juggling showers and packing bags for work and nursery. A light breakfast – usually just fruit and toast – at 7:30AM and we are out the door of our cottage to catch the 8:26AM train into London Bridge station.

My commute is 25-minutes door-to-door. My morning routine honestly takes less than 20 minutes out of sheer necessity; I have always been low maintenance. I am a very patient person overall but have very little patience for grooming. I always feel there are things to be done that are a higher priority. I plan my outfits the night before. The seasons dictate my style and colour palette hugely. Brights, lights in the summer and rich neutrals, navy and black in the winter. I am quite chronological with how I get dressed. I start with base layers: trouser or dress, followed by top half, blazer, blouse etc. Shoe and bag selection comes last. I play with shape, volume and colour combinations to keep things interesting. My jewellery pieces are like tattoos, I have four rings as well as four piercings with gold earrings that never come off.

My passion lies within designers who are unapologetically authentic. They don’t ebb and flow with trends but are always offering what is true to their vision. Prada, Dries van Noten, Sacai, Wales Bonner are some highlights of mine. Showering usually takes five minutes with my Aesop Geranium scrub and body wash, followed by the super hydrating Skin Design Face Bath cream cleanser and C Antioxidant Glow serum, and Augustinus Bader body cream. Skin Design’s Fatma Shaheen is a brilliant, passionate founder who has magic hands; using her regime at home, my skin has never been better.

When it comes to make-up, I’m a fan of Pat Magrath Labs Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Foundation which is like a serum; each drop goes a long way. Westman Atelier’s Baby Cheeks Blush Stick doesn’t fade as quickly as others, and despite having dark eyebrows, my eyelashes are blonde so without mascara I look completely underdone. I like a separated, natural lash so Byredo’s Astronomical Mascara achieves that. I have long, highlighted hair which I wash it once a week. I use Oribe Bright Blonde Shampoo and Conditioner, and add in a K18 hair mask – this process easily adds an hour to my routine.

I aim to work out three times a week in the morning – Pilates and Sculpt Society are favourites – but it’s a juggle to fit them in. I grab a coffee, ideally from Monmouth in Borough Market, and get to work by 9:00AM for a day filled with back-to-back meetings. I hit the ground running when I arrive.

Whether I am in The Shard or at our Mayfair Townhouse, 5 Carlos Place, I meet designers or executives at our biggest brands to discuss the season ahead and exciting projects we may have developed together. The best piece of management advice I have been given by a mentor is, “If you left the company tomorrow, your team should operate as if you were still there.” In other words, don’t withhold knowledge. Impart all the care, empathy and skills into the team working with you. I truly believe in transparency and building each other up.

My colleagues and close friends know I cannot skip meals. My mood suffers. I am not a big snacker during the work week. If I don’t have a lunch date with one of our designers, I usually run out with a colleague or two at 12:00PM to grab a salad and we bring it back to the office. It is incredible to have Borough Market right on our doorstep. I like to stroll to the market and grab a bento box or fresh plate of salads. I have always eaten intuitively; I don’t get hung up on rules or diets. I genuinely like fruits, vegetables and whole foods but I am no stranger to a big bowl of pasta.

I was always the employee that stayed until the job was done which meant late hours at times but having Albie changed everything and now I have to be out the door at 5:00PM.

I pick up my son from nursery at 5:30PM and then we have family time in which we cook baby’s dinner, chat, play, give Albie his bath and put him down to sleep.

7:00PM I get to spend time with my husband where we have dinner, catch up on our days and get ready for the next day.

I admit to finishing up a task or two but we try to not let work take over the hour we have together. I start my quick night time skin routine of Skin Design, Face Bath, Retinol Crème and sometimes an overnight Vitamin C peel, but I am in bed by 9:30PM.

Interview: Natasha Faruque

From Harper’s Bazaar June 2023 issue