Denise Van Outen talks great advice, The Secret and her favourite £9 eyeliner ‘that lasts all day’

We love a bit of self-care and all this time at home has really given us an excuse to look after ourselves inside and out. Each week, we'll be asking the celeb lot to share their Sunday self-care routines, because taking care of yourself is more important than ever.

This week it's all about actress, presenter and all round telly legend, Denise Van Outen. From making us laugh on Celebrity Gogglebox to narrating every single TOWIE episode, she is a very busy lady, indeed. In fact, she's currently hosting the very glamourous Cabaret All Stars on the West End.

The star has also penned a tell-all autobiography, 'A Bit Of Me' coming out in March this year which you can pre-order,here.

Dense chats exclusively to heat about her self-care must-haves, really great advice and her exciting new campaign with Haliborange...

On self-care

"I’ve got two little French Bulldogs, so I love taking them for a walk. We often go as a family and I always leave my phone at home, I think fresh air and conversation is really important. I’ve got an 11-year old, I say she’s a 'tweenager' and it’s really important to ask her questions about her day and if anything is bothering her. Really taking the time to have meaningful conversations is so important to me."

"Also, because I'm so busy at the moment with my cabaret show in London, I spend a lot of my time in high heels running up and down flights of stairs. So as a real treat, I like to have a massage, but it’s a rarity. It’s all about looking after yourself, especially as I’m getting older and I’ve sustained a couple of injuries through different jobs. Early last year, I did Dancing on Ice and I’ve got a shoulder injury. It’s been a year and I’m still having physio. I’ve found the most amazing Osteopath, her name is Anisha [osteoanisha.com] She's been working on my shoulder and realigning my body and she's been fantastic."

On skincare

"Looking after my skin is really important, especially now I’ve got older. I wear an SPF as much as I can, even in the winter. I don’t put my face in the sun anymore or I wear a hat. I used to be a real sun worshipper, a typical ‘90s chick, you know. I never used to have facials, but now I do have this one called the BYONIKand it’s amazing. They also have their own skincare products that you can use between treatments and I try to stick to them."

"I’m also a big fan of Dr PAWPAW, especially this time of year. I get quite dry skin because I wear a lot of show make-up. I love their Original Balm and will use it on my lips or around my eyes."

On show make-up favourites

"My favourite is Mac Ruby Woo lipstick , I’ve worn it since my Chicago days. It’s my go-to when I need to get into show mode and feel glam. I put that on and I’m like, I’ve become a showgirl! It’s just a classic and it always works."

On budget beauty buys

"I’ve tried all the really expensive black liquid eyeliners and I have to get that really perfect flick for that burlesque cabaret look. NYX do a waterproof one and it’s fantastic. It really stays on all day."

On manifestation

"I love it, I’ve got the book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne by the side of my bed and I also loveThe Power Of Your Subconscious Mind and Feel The Fear But Do It Anyway . I love stuff like that, I like anything that creates positivity."

"Fearne Cotton’s a really good friend of mine and so is Amanda Byram, we all come from that same place. It’s one of our bonds between us that we like to have positive energy and happy moods. I was never into crystals, but Fearne, bless her heart, sent me a little box of crystals and I love them. I keep them by the window so they get the energy from the sun."

On #extra beauty treatments

"I tried cupping when it was all the rage, you know when you have the cups on your back? I then walked around for a while looking like a squid because I had these tentacle things on my back! So that was interesting, but I can't really say that I really felt any benefit from it."

On picking yourself up after a hard day

"My daughter asks me this question a lot because she’s at an age now where it’s not all unicorns and fairies. She had good days and bad days at school. So she said to me, "What do I do?" And I said, Well you have to take deep breaths and just say to yourself, "I’m having a bad day, tomorrow will be better." And it always is. If things go wrong, you just have to think, 'I’m having one of those days'. We all have them where everything goes wrong."

On really good advice

"One of my teachers when I was really young at school always used to say to me, "what you put in, you get out" and I apply that to everything. If you put 100% into something, whether that's friendships, a hobby, could be work, you’ll then reap the rewards. If you do things half-hearted you'll only get a half-hearted response."

On Haliborange adult gummies

"The collaboration between me and Haliborangeworks really well because the whole campaign is about getting people to reconnect with their inner child and I like to have lots of fun. It’s so easy in life to get bogged down, we’re all guilty of it, we just have so much pressure on us to try and be everything to everyone. Sometimes you forget to actually enjoy life. The thing that really helped me reconnect with my childhood was through the first lockdown. Suddenly, I wasn’t as busy as I normally am. I’ve always worked and I was like, what am I going to do? So I spoke to Eddie and Betsy about how we can still exercise during the restrictions and we decided to build an assault course in the garden. We initially made it a bit silly for Betsy to keep her spirits up but what we found was that we were all laughing and we’d really look forward to it. No phones, no social media, no watching the news and we don't need another doom and gloom broadcast. Let's just get out in the garden just be a bit silly."

"Another friend told me that whenever she feels a bit down she goes for a skip and I was like, but you’re in your forties! But she said, I know, but it makes me laugh and she made me go skipping. Honestly, instantly I felt a million times better because you just such a simple thing to do."

Quickfire round:

Show you’re currently binging? I’m about to start Sex And The City from the beginning.

Go-to cuppa? I’m a big tea drinker, my tea has to resemble a pair of American tan tights.

Go-to loungewear brand? I love Chelsea Peers pyjamas.

Favourite face mask? My favourite are the Byonik Concur face masks.

Go-to takeaway order? I love Indian food, it’s just so varied. I try to never order the same thing twice.

Favourite candle? I love anything from Neom.

Denise Van Outen is working with Haliborange Adults on the launch of its new Adult Gummies. She’s been trying the ‘Play From Home Guide’ created by Haliborange Adults to show how you can introduce creativity and mindfulness into your everyday. To release your inner child head to the @HaliborangeUKAdults Instagram account to download your very own Play from Home guide, and click the link in the bio.

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