This article is partially reliable. The main argument of this article is that washing the face in the morning may remove the sebum layer that our skin produces naturally during the night which has the function to protect itself from external factors like pollutants and bacteria. The whole article is based on the advice of French pharmacist Natacha Bonjout. Natcha Bonjout is a doctor in pharmacy who graduated from Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France. It is a renowned school in France ranked 200 in Best Global Universities according to USNews, which is top 1% of all schools in France. The credibility of this school helps to generate credibility and reliability for her advice. Besides, the experience described by the author, which says that Murden tried this method and saw a positive change in her skin also helps to build public trust in this argument.
However, the reliability of Bonjout’s advice may be in doubt due to her vested interest associated with the topic. By giving advice on skincare and revealing her “beauty secrets” in another Vogue article, she intended to sell her beauty products. In this case, there is a possibility that she might exaggerate the harm of washing her face in the morning to emphasize the importance of doing nighttime cleaning to create demand for her products.
Similarly, the personal experience of Murden may be just an anecdotal story as she is the only one who tries this method in this article. Lacking enough repetitions, the positive change in the skin she experiences may just be a best-case scenario that only happens to her. This may not be enough to increase the reliability of this article.
Interestingly, public opinions on this issue are quite controversial. For example, there are many posts online, consisting of dermatologist recommendations of not washing their face in the morning to prevent dryness and personal experiences claiming that they see positive changes in not washing their faces in the morning, according to Desert News. Yet, at the same time, others argue that washing the face in the morning forms a basic and healthy hygiene routine, which makes it necessary. For instance, the American Skin Association claims that washing the face in the morning and before bed is good for the health of the skin.
https://www.vogue.com/article/french-pharmacist-beauty-secrets
https://www.deseret.com/23629017/should-you-wash-your-face-in-the-morning/
https://www.americanskin.org/resource/