Why Sun-Kissed Linen Soothes Culturesse Founder Charlene Davies to Sleep Each Night

The mother and owner of Culturesse shares how screen time actually helps her wind down in the evening.

Welcome to Bedtime Stories, an interview series where we ask inspiring individuals to share their nighttime routines and sleep secrets. For this instalment, Culturesse founder Charlene Davies shares the morning and night rituals that get her through each day.

It's not often one walks into a store and feels so inspired they decide to change their career path entirely. For Charlene Davies, however, a visit to a jewellery shop in France on her honeymoon was so transformative it led her to come home and start her own jewellery brand, Culturesse. "The jewellery was quite affordable yet the joy it brought to me at that particular moment was no less than having an expensive wedding ring."

Before this, she completed a Master of Teaching and believed teaching was the pursuit of her life. "My career’s turning point was so sudden and sharp that I never expected it," she shares with Bed Threads Journal.

Her brand's initial curated collection embraced different cultures with a complimentary service of converting earrings for non-pierced ears. In the years that have followed, Culturesse has become one of the largest independent fashion jewellery retailers in Australia with an extensive range catering for all budgets and personal styles. They've collaborated with leading fashion events and runways in Australia, such as Melbourne Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Festival, Australian Fashion Week, and being styled and seen on TV shows such as Married At First Sight, Celebrity Apprentice and more.

Running your own brand and being a mother is no small feat, so we spoke to Charlene to find out how she balances her work and personal life and how she switches off from social media.

Hi Charlene! Welcome to Bedtime Stories. Can you walk us through your bedtime routine?

My bedtime routine involves washing, skin care, read-and-sip, and screen time. I know screen time is on the bedtime-forbidden list, but I’ll explain later.

Recently we moved into our new home and I'm just loving the heated tiles in our ensuite. I am a night shower person and would immediately feel a sense of relaxation when I smell my favourite body wash, Bubble Bath from Modere, which contains chamomilla recutita (Matricaria) flower extract. Some days when I feel stressed, I even place a small drop of this body wash gel in an electronic diffuser and just let the calming scent pervade the room.

Skincare is very simple for me. I always remember what my mum said when it comes to your face, more is not necessarily better. I use the Replenish Cleansing Milk from Perfect Potion, followed by their Hydration Boost Serum mixed with 1 drop of Damascan Rose Facial Treatment from Aesop.

Before my shower and skincare routine, my husband usually makes me a cup of cocoa tea using the shell of cocoa beans as ‘tea leaves’. Although not strictly every night, I do try to get in bed by 9.30 pm to read a chapter of a book while sipping my cocoa tea.

I have to admit I do like to watch something comedy-like before sleep, and my favourite is still Seinfeld. I know that no sleeping experts would encourage screen time before bed, yet I do find smart comedy shows relax me and help to switch off my mind from business. Some nights my husband will need to remove my glasses before I doze off.

Charcoal Long Sleepwear Set.

What sleep or beauty products do you swear by that you won’t go a night without?

Apart from the routine beauty products mentioned above, I cannot sleep without the Rose Petals Lip Balm from Perfect Potion and hand lotion from BYREDO – Tuliomania.

How do you create a calm and relaxing environment in your bedroom?

Lighting: One of the coolest things my husband set up in our new home is smart globes which allow me to vocally control the lighting. You’ll hear me say: “Alexa turn Charlene’s bed light to 20%” – the exact dimness I want to slide into relaxation.

Scent: I'm not a big candle fan but I do love a light-scented calming room spray made of pure essential oils. Currently, I am using Lemongrass and Ginger Room Spray from Perfect Potion.

Linen: The smell of the sun on linen deeply soothes me. I think that sun-kissed smell on linen was rooted in my memory as a child growing up in China. Every time she could, my mum would take our bed linen out to the balcony and let it soak in the sun for a good half an hour. Those nights crawling in bed smelling the sun were one of my best memories as a kid. So now, if I can, I’d leave our bed linen on our front balcony for the ‘sunshine treatment’. My husband told me those nights I fall asleep a lot faster.

What is your solution for those nights you simply can’t nod off to sleep?

I'm lucky that it’s not often I can't nod off to sleep – unless I've had too much coffee that day. When it occasionally happens, I like to still keep my eyes shut and imagine myself being in my meditation ‘visual locations’, such as the seaside, a creek, or a dark spot in the universe. If I still can't off, I’ll just put my earphones in and listen to a bedtime meditation from Spotify, which can help too.

What time does your alarm go off in the morning? Can you walk us through your morning routine?

I don’t have an alarm clock unless I'm doing a shoot or catching a flight in the early morning. I work from home and my boys’ morning school run sets the habit.

When I wake up and before I get up, I like to do a little stretch exercise in bed – imagine a cat stretching linearly and long. It's my body’s official wake-up call. After freshening up, I like to make sure that I'm wearing my home earrings on all my ear piercings (six altogether) to ensure none of the piercings close up. Then I head to the kettle and make myself a full cup of lukewarm water to drink on an empty stomach. I’d like to give my gut a gentle warm wash first thing in the morning.

Given that both of my two boys are old enough to get themselves ready for school and head to the bus in the morning, I have earned some free time to do my morning indoor exercise for 30-45 minutes each morning, followed by an Earl Grey oat milk tea, and either oats/porridge or soft boiled eggs for breakfast.

My official working hours usually start from 8.30 am to answer emails with high priority or urgency, then gradually work through the day with the rest.

What does self-care mean to you and how do you practise it?

To me, self-care means more than sitting down with a beauty mask on and sipping a glass of red wine while waiting for the toenails to dry. It means knowing myself, knowing what I want to achieve, knowing my current strength and limits, and working out a way to balance family, work, and continuous self-improvement.

I section my day into physical health/fitness, working, cooking, and reading. I find myself tending to skip the morning indoor exercise session (since I don’t go to the gym) when work becomes hectic and demanding. I've learnt to prioritise something I could easily skip, knowing it gives me a boost of energy and more confidence in the long run. Now I do it as soon as my feet touch the floor when I get up.

I used to suffer from back problems from sitting too long. Now I've learnt to break the sitting time every now and then, and still get the work done. I discovered I can write an email standing up while waiting for the kettle to boil.

I enjoy cooking and make almost everything from scratch – no frozen meals, no packaged processed foods. This also means that cooking takes up a fair chunk of my time daily. Just recently I've found listening to my favourite music playlist while cooking doesn’t seem that satisfying anymore so I've ventured into channels talking about business, human relationships, and psychology. I think the satisfaction of putting something valuable in my head every day puts my mind at ease.

How are you able to mentally and physically switch off from social media and work when you need a break?

A part of my work relates to social media and it is indeed hard to run away from. I usually leave personal content for after hours, meaning that some days of the week I will have to spend a bit more time on social media than usual. I do make sure that I communicate this to my husband and family, so that they understand. Being efficient in preparing the hashtags, captions and tagging parties ahead of posting saves me time for the actual process.

When I finish with social media, I just leave the phones charging in a different room, close the door and walk off. I disable all notifications from social media.

Apart from committed content, I've also learnt to give my creativity or ‘the urge of expression’ its right time. If you don’t feel like or have anything to post on your feed or stories, it is completely okay and no one is judging (except yourself maybe).

For more from Charlene, follow her at @charlene_ye_davies and @culturesse