Self-care will forever be our favourite hobby but we appreciate that recharging and putting yourself first looks different for everyone. Each week, we'll be asking the celeb lot to share their ideal self-care Sunday routines, the hard-working beauty products they recommend to their friends and which TV show they're currently binging…
This week it's all about Ellie Spence, the Love Island season 9 bombshell who served us plenty of lols, fashion looks and of course, drama. Despite being dumped from the Island just before Casa Amor (an absolute travesty, if you ask us) the 25-year-old has fast-become our favourite, providing plenty of Love Island tea over on her YouTube channel. But what has life been like for Ellie since leaving a massive reality show?
"It’s been good!" smiles Ellie, "Obviously it is a massive adjustment. You come out and your phone’s going crazy. But it’s really good. I mean, it’s super early days so I feel like it’s definitely just the beginning. But it has been really good to come out and I’m really excited to see everyone now as well."
Ellie chats exclusively to heat about make-up for filming, daily wellness habits and the beauty trick she learned from fellow Islander, Samie Elishi...
On self-care
"My self-care is a day where I can do my eyebrows and do proper skin care. I like to have a facemask on, have a bath, and exfoliate. I feel like the blonde girls will understand, we need to Olaplex our hair! Doing an Olaplex mask is honestly the best form of self-care for me. When I can run my fingers through my hair I’m like, ”Yes, I’m winning.” So a good facemask, eyebrows and a good hair treatment."
On Love Island make-up
"They stocked out the dressing room with everything you can imagine so that was so good. I have used the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation since the start of time and that was stocked up in the villa, I wear shade 5.
"I was obsessed with the Fenty Beauty Gloss Bombs, it was everybody’s go-to every day. It was fun because we could play around with our makeup every night and not stick to one makeup look, which was really good. All of the skincare products, as well. They had a lot of Fenty Beauty in there and I was obsessed. I used to be scared of fragrant face cream but the Fenty Skin Instant Reset Overnight Recovery Gel-Cream was amazing and that didn’t break me out, all of us were glued to it. It was doing wonders for our skin especially when it was getting dry in the sun."
On budget beauty buys
What's the one budget beauty buy that Ellie swears by? Spoiler alert: it was so good, the girls were fighting over the last one!
"The Rimmel Lasting Finish 8HR Lip Liner in shade Cappuccino is four pounds and it’s literally everyone’s holy grail. It’s sold out all the time but it’s the shade that suits everybody. I’ve gone up to the people that work at the make-up counters in Selfridges and I’m like “What lip liner are you wearing?” and they're like, “Cappuccino, Rimmel!” Obviously, they are, of course, they are. It's so hard to get hold of it, so if you see it in Boots, buy it!
"Everyone was using it in the villa and when we got ready, we would have people come in and tidy us up to make us look aesthetic for the camera because we would rush sometimes. All of our stuff would be moved and we all would use Cappuccino by Rimmel. There was one left by the end and we were all fighting over it. Honestly, it’s the best lipliner you’ll ever use. It's 4 pounds! I went into boots the other day and I saw it was in stock and I bought five."
www.boots.com
You can also snap one up from ASOS here.
On the Love Island getting ready process
"Getting ready completely and totally depended on the night. Sometimes they would give us an hour, sometimes they would give us three depending on if they were setting up outside and we had to be held in the dressing room. We made sure the boy's shower was outside. They were like “You can go get ready” and we would run to the shower. Tanya would have to shower last because she would take so long, she loves to just stand in that shower. We’d be like “Tanya, you can’t go in first.” So it was totally dependent on that but they gave us enough time, I think there’s a myth that you get 20 minutes sometimes but they definitely gave us a good amount of time.
On stealing products from the villa
"Oh my God, the shelves were dry when I left! I loved all of the products that they put in there. I really, really liked the Fenty Beauty concealers, I hadn't tried them before. They were amazing."
On Islander’s beauty tricks
Was there a beauty hack that Ellie learned from the other girls in the villa? PLEASE DO TELL.
"Every night, Samie used to use a Gua Sha on her face when she would do her face cream. She was like “My whole face shape has changed,” she is snatched. She influenced me, I definitely will do that every night now."
On daily wellness habits
"I drink so much water. Water is so good for your skin and when your skin looks good, your make-up always looks good. I’m not somebody who wears make-up or feels the need to wear make-up every day so my skin is so important to me. When we were in there we would have this water tab that we would need to fill out and I was like “You do not need to push me to fill this water tab out” because I was drinking all the time. Water is definitely my holy grail beauty trick."
On unwinding after a long day
"Putting my phone down is my favourite way to unwind. When I was inside the villa and even when I quarantined, I actually really enjoyed not having my phone. It was such a good detox for all of us. So putting my phone down, relaxing, spending time with family and friends and just having a minute. It’s so easy to be glued to your phone when the DMs are going, you have all these notifications but it’s really good to just put it down.
"In the villa, we just had the Google Pixel phones that we used to take pictures on and now I can message people, it’s so weird. But putting my phone down for a minute does do me a world of good."
On great advice
"Just living in the moment and taking time off of being online. I had a freak accident when I was eighteen and actually almost died, so I feel like it’s a good bit of advice that I remember even more so because of that. I lived in the moment in the villa too. I don’t focus on the past, I just live for the now."
On future plans
What's next for the Islander?
"I have some really exciting things coming up. It’s really millennial of me, but I’m really into my YouTube and my TikTok at the moment. I’m definitely focussing on that. I also have some really exciting events coming up so I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s to come.
"I honestly love YouTube, it reminds me of the beach hut. You couldn’t pull me out of the beach hut, I was in there all the time!"
Quickfire round:
What show are you currently watching? I've just started season one of Sex/Life.
How do you like your cuppa? Milk and two sugars.
Go-to loungewear brand? SKIMS.
Favourite face mask? The GlamGlow Gravitymud one, it’s insane.
Go-to takeaway order? Chinese. I get egg fried rice, chicken curry, prawn toast, chips, all the usual.
Favourite candle? The White Company’s Seychelles smells so clean. I love it.