Maluma's Morning Routine: Cold Water, Shaving Against the Grain, and Learning Skin Care from the Women in His Life
Vogue
In this Vogue video, Maluma, the Colombian singer whose real name is Juan Luis, walks through the skin care and wellness routine he follows every morning. The products are only part of it. As the steps go by, Maluma explains why the routine began, describes how fatherhood changed the pace of his life, and talks about the therapy practice he keeps on his phone. The routine runs alongside a broader point: Maluma says this is the most settled he has ever felt.
Starting with a Cold Plunge
The routine opens with a basin of freezing water. Maluma says he sometimes wakes up swollen and that the cold water "helps me a lot," calling it "the real deal" among everything in the routine. After plunging his face in, he notes that he is red and feels alive.
Next he lights a candle that has his name on it. He says he always travels with a candle. Once it is lit, he uses the moment to look inward: he breathes, feels grateful, and says a few words to himself. He describes this as something he does every morning while going through the routine.
Why the Routine Began: Sun Damage and Acne
Maluma cleans his face with a cleanser that his girlfriend, Susana, recommended. He shows the small amount he uses. He then explains that he only started caring for his skin after he stopped playing soccer. All the sun exposure from those years left marks on his skin. His mother had told him every day to use sunscreen ("Yo, Juan Luis, come on, man"), but he says he ignored it because he was a kid.
The bigger turning point was acne early in his music career. Maluma says the acne was severe and that he took pills for it for almost two years. It was hard for him to see himself "full of pimples," and that experience is what made him start taking skin care seriously. Later, after applying a cream, he says his skin began to look fresher and the marks from his soccer years started to fade. He presents his own case as encouragement to viewers who are dealing with the same problem: "there's a chance."
A Clean-Shaven Era and a Specific Shaving Technique
Maluma acknowledges how closely the beard has been associated with him, but says he now loves feeling clean-shaven. He describes it as a stage of his life in which he wants to feel "lighter" and "smoother."
He thanks his barbers around the world but says that in the end he is the one who knows which way his hair grows, so he prefers to shave himself and follow the right direction. He points to redness on part of his face from a recent shave he says he did badly. His method is unusual. He shaves on dry skin with no water and no shaving cream. He first goes downward, with the direction of growth. Because he loves the feeling of no hair at all, he then shaves a second time in the other direction.
Shaving leaves his skin feeling very dry. For this he uses an aftershave balm that, as he corrects himself, Susana found for him after he showed her the problem. He uses only a small amount.
Beauty Knowledge Learned from Women and from Colombian Culture
While applying the balm, Maluma credits the women in his life for nearly everything he knows. He says women "know everything about skin, about hair," and that what he is demonstrating was taught to him by his girlfriend, his mother, and his grandmother.
He also frames grooming as cultural. He starts to say this applies to Latin America, then narrows it to Colombia, where he says people are "a little bit obsessed" with wellness and skin care. His family has done this for a long time. He calls his father very handsome and says his father taught him. His grandparents, he says, are "so on point" in how they dress and look after themselves and always carry small hairbrushes. He calls this "something very Colombian."
Fatherhood and the Shift from Sprint to Marathon
Between steps, Maluma talks about how life changed after his child, Paris, was born. Before that, he says, he was "all over the place" and saw his career as a sprint. Now he says he knows it is a marathon. Paris taught him to calm down, breathe, and feel normal again. While he was touring constantly, he says, he felt as if he were on autopilot and missed the details of his life because he was moving so fast.
He is clear that his ambition has not faded. He says he is still "super hungry," still wants to be a worldwide artist known by everyone, and is still working toward that. The difference is that he no longer feels rushed and is comfortable where he is now.
Sleep, Early Mornings, and Acting on Positive Thoughts
As he applies eye cream, Maluma says sleep is part of the routine. He tries to get eight to nine hours a night, going to bed around 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. and getting up at 5:00 or 5:30 a.m. He calls himself an early bird and says he loves being awake before everyone else, while it is still dark. His morning goes in this order: coffee, breathing, meditation, stretching, the gym, and then the skin care routine as he gets ready.
He quotes a Spanish saying, la acción premia el pensamiento, and explains it to mean that thoughts feel good when you act on them, and that the brain feels good when you take action. He says he feels he has to stay positive to see results, and he tells viewers they will have a beautiful life.
"The Juan Luis Era" and Daily Therapy
While putting on a facial cream, Maluma is asked whether he is in his "pretty boy, dirty boy" era. He says no. He calls this his "Juan Luis era," a time when he likes who he is and doesn't need to play a character. He says he is grateful for earlier moments and wouldn't change anything that happened, but that what he feels now is the best he has ever felt.
Then he shows something he says no one has seen before: a childhood photo of himself that he keeps on his phone. He calls it part of his daily therapy. He keeps it because he needs to be compassionate toward that child, and he says he is still working on that. He says that everyone needs therapy and needs to talk about their "own demons and ghosts" so they stop being afraid of them.
Sunscreen, Hair, and Music
Next comes sunscreen. Maluma tells viewers directly to use it, which echoes his mother's advice that he ignored as a kid. He follows with a refreshing facial mist, which he calls the best freshness in the world, and then a styling product that he says gives his hair movement and that he works through all of his hair.
To get into the zone, he says he turns to salsa, specifically Héctor Lavoe, and mentions the song "Tu amor es un periódico."
The Singer's Hack: Oregano Oil
He ends with what he calls a hack that many singers may not know: oregano oil. He says he has taken it for about a year and that in that time there has not been a single occasion when he couldn't sing because he was sick. He calls it "the key," admits that it tastes bad, and takes some on camera before thanking Vogue and signing off.
Hey, what's up, Vogue? This is Maluma, baby, and this is my skincare wellness routine. Ta-da!
You guys see this? Cold, cold, cold, cold freezing water, but it's very good because sometimes I wake up swollen and stuff, and this helps me a lot. Trust me. For everything I'm about to show you, I would say this is the real deal.
Oh my God. First step, done. Wow, look at this. I'm red. I'm alive.
I always have a candle with me, and look at this. How cool is this? It says Maluma. You can see it. Yeah. Of course I light it up. Lighters. There you go.
Once you light the candle, it's good to also look inside yourself, breathe a little bit, feel grateful, say a couple words. That's what I do every morning when I'm doing this routine.
I do those kind of words. I do it pretty often. I need to clean my face, and I love cleaning my face with this. This is one of these things that Susana, my girlfriend, she told me about. This much. You see?
I started taking care of my skin after I finished playing soccer. All the sun that I was receiving was crazy. So, I started checking, I have marks and stuff. Of course, my mom, she used to tell me every day, "Yo, Juan Luis, come on, man. You need to use sunscreen." Whatever, but I was a kid.
I had a lot of acne when I was starting my career. It was crazy. I used to take these pills for my acne for almost two years. And it was pretty tough to see myself full of pimples. And that's when I decided to actually take this thing serious.
You guys know how important is the beard for me. Now that I shaved, I love feeling clean. I'm in that era of my life. I'm in that stage of my life. I want to feel lighter, smoother. I love my barbers. Shout out to all my barbers around the world. You guys are amazing.
But at the end of the day, I'm the one who knows the way the hair is growing. So, for me it's important to go with the right directions. So, that on grown, because look, I did it the other day. I did it bad here and then you see the redness over here. That's because I did it in a bad way. I do it with my dry skin, when it's dry. I don't do it wet. I don't put any shave cream here. You go down.
Here, I did the massage this direction, everything in this direction going down. But then, because I really love when I don't feel any hair, so then I do it in this direction. Look.
My skin after shaving, it feels super, super dry. But I found—actually, I didn't find it. It was Susy. She was the one. I told her, "My love, look at this." Because women, you know everything about skin, about hair. All this stuff that I'm showing you is because my girlfriend, she taught me. My mom, she taught me. My grandmother, she taught me. So, she found this amazing aftershave balm. Look at this. Wow. So, I take a little bit, not too much.
So, guys, to be honest, in Latin America—or let me talk just for Colombia—we're a little bit obsessed with all this wellness thing. And yeah, all this skincare routine. My family, they've been doing this for a while. My dad, I have to say he's a very handsome man, and he's been showing me. Even my grandparents, they're so on point, the way they dress, the way they take care of themselves. They're always with these little hairbrushes everywhere they go, and they're always taking care of how they look. And that's something very cultural. That's something very, very Colombian.
Okay, next step, next step. We're going to this cream. I started checking, my skin was looking more fresh. And all these little marks that I told you that I was seeing after many years playing soccer started disappearing. So, guys, there's a chance. Like me, I had crazy acne, guys.
After being a dad, after Paris was born, my life changed. I used to be all over the places. I used to think that my career was a sprint. Now, I feel, or I know, it's a marathon. I'm enjoying it. Paris taught me how to calm down, how to breathe, how to feel normal again.
When I was just touring everywhere, I feel like I was in automatic. I wasn't checking on the details in this beautiful life. I was just going fast. So, it's beautiful because I'm still working. I'm still super hungry of my career and getting there where I want to be. I want to be a worldwide artist and I want everybody to know me. But there's no rush. I feel good in the space that I'm right now.
Okay, next steps, guys. You have this cream for your eyes. So, it's pretty, pretty good. Put it around. This is the way I do it.
You better sleep, also. I sleep every day. I try to sleep eight hours and nine hours per day. I go to bed at 8:30, 9:00 p.m. every day and I wake up 5:00, 5:30 a.m. I'm an early bird. I love waking up before everyone when it's even dark outside. I take my coffee, I breathe, I meditate, I stretch, then I go to the gym, and then after that I do the skincare routine when I get ready.
There's a saying in Spanish that says, "La acción premia el pensamiento." So, the thoughts feel good when you act. Your brain feel very good when you act. So, that's what I do every day. I feel that I have to be positive so I can see results. You're going to have a beautiful life, trust me.
The Ultra Facial Cream. There you go. Am I in the Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy era? No. I'm not in that era. I'm in the Juan Luis, Juan Luis, Juan Luis era. I'm feeling myself. I love who I am. I don't have to show a character.
I feel grateful, and it was beautiful, and we already had amazing moments, which I wouldn't change anything that happened. But to be honest, what I'm feeling right now is the best I ever felt in my life.
So, I'm in that, when we say—I don't know if you guys knew, but my actual name is Juan Luis. Let me show you. I'm going to show you this that no one has seen, but this guy, this is my therapy every day. This is me when I was a kid and this is actually the picture that I have on my phone, but it's because I have to be compassionate with that kid, and I'm working on it, and it's part of my therapy. I need therapists. We all need therapy. We all need to talk about our own demons and ghosts so we don't fear them anymore. So, that's the therapy I do.
We're going straight for the sunblock. Sunscreen, guys. Use it, please.
Next, this freshness is the best of the world. You see this? I use this product because it has movement. I put this amount, the whole hair.
Oh, yeah. I have many songs that help me get in the zone. But it's salsa, salsa music. Héctor Lavoe. "Tu amor es un periódico." I play.
So, this is a hack that maybe not a lot of singers know, maybe. I've been using this for a year. And there is not one time that I feel like I cannot sing because I'm sick. But this is it, guys. This is the key. Oregano oil. Oregano oil. This tastes bad, guys. But I'll do it just because of you. There you go.
Well, Vogue, thank you very much. I love you, guys. I hope you enjoyed the whole routine. I had so much fun. Thanks for your time. Thanks for listening to me. We were crazy to go back and now we're here.
Bye, Vogue. Love you.
Article published · Updated