Jess and Eve Gale talk self-care routines, fake tan and their £3 hack for clear skin

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.

The first ever female twins to appear on the show, Jess and Eve Gale were stand-outs on 2020 Winter Love Island and have made the seamless transition to becoming influencers on the ol' 'gram.

The pair exclusively talk trolling, sleep habits and how they spend their self-care Sunday...

On mental health

Eve: I feel like lockdown can be aimless, but if I feel like I’ve achieved some of the things I’ve needed to get done, I feel a lot better. Every morning when I wake up, I write a list of everything that I need to get done. Throughout the day I try and get through the list and tick things off - it makes me feel accomplished and gives me a bit of routine.

Jess: I’m the same as Eve, I’ve started writing notes on my iPhone. I’ll write down all the jobs that I want to get done in the week and before I go to bed, I write everything I want to do the next day. It adds structure when there really isn’t any. Mainly we are doing social media content in the day, which is good because it means we have to get ready. We live in London and it’s so nice to walk around the tall buildings and the city. To be fair, I’d never really go walking before.

Eve: We try to go out for walks and everything, but everyday it’s a battle of the sunlight! The summer was so much nicer, we could go on cycle rides, that kind of stuff and it was really nice to be out in the sun. Winter lockdown is just so much harder.

On negativity online

Jess: I think I’d be lying to say it doesn’t impact me at all. I think if anyone reads a nasty comment about themselves, it’s always going to hurt a little bit. You’ve just got to build yourself up against it, don’t you? Now I just think, 'I’m not going to worry about criticism from someone I wouldn’t take advice from'. If I actually saw these people behind the screen, I wouldn’t think anything of it.

Eve: Recently I’ve started calling out trolls and actually start replying to them. Usually I wouldn’t and would think that it isn’t worth it. I got a message the other day like, ‘you’re so self-obsessed, who do you think you are’ etc, this really long and nasty message and then I actually replied to her. I think the problem is, these trolls don’t actually class themselves as trolls. They don’t actually think they’re trolling. When we think of trolling, we think of weirdos sat at home when it’s actually normal people you’d pass by in everyday life.

On taking a babein’ Instagram pic

Jess: We’ve definitely got a lot better at Instagram since coming out of the villa, I was definitely no influencer, but I’d say lighting is so important. I don’t actually think I look good in bright, bright lights because I can’t open my eyes. When it’s just after golden hour or at night, me and Eve just got this portable light, it’s like a ring light but it’s portable and it makes such a difference to pictures.

Eve: I’d say the background as well. You don't want the background to be really messy with so much going and I used to be guilty of this all the time. I think brands actually prefer a cleaner, fresher background with not a lot going on, so you’re the focus.

Jess: This sounds so stupid, but also relaxing in a photo as well. Me and Eve always joke about it, like if I really want to get a good picture to impress a brand or whatever, I get really stressed about it. When I look back through the pictures, I look so nervous and stressed. I just think, if you take that time to just relax and just feel a bit more confident, the pictures come out so much better.

Eve: Do you ever get it when you’re taking a picture and it’s always the accidental one or the one you’re not looking is the one that you actually love? It’s because you’re natural and relaxed.

Jess: Sometimes, I’ll just say to Eve, ‘aw, Eve, can you quickly take this picture of me?’ as the test shot to test the lighting or see if the background is good and then I’ll prefer that one test shot to all the other pictures!

On self-care

Jess: Self-care is very important for mental health. Me and Eve are very clean people and we’re so into haircare, over anything. I am trying to get into skincare as well, because I won’t lie, I’m not really the person who has a ten-step skincare routine. I find that the more chemicals I put on my skin the worse it gets. I just make sure I take off my make-up and moisturise. I like putting my hair in nice oils.

Eve: I’m the type of person that gets everything done, my nails, lashes, pedicures done all the time, so in lockdown it’s hard as I always feel not complete. Last lockdown I bought my own nail care stick ons. I also love using hair oil, you can use any oil to be honest, but I love using Moroccanoil. It not only makes your hair look so glossy and thicker, but it’s also so good for the growth of it.

Jess: I would never use shampoo and conditioners that aren't sulphate-free. Otherwise, it’s so bad for hair and literally coats your hair in plastic. The ones that are myfavourites are OGX,you can literally buy them in Boots and they’ve got their sulphate-free range. Whenever I use it, people are always like ‘your perfume is so nice’ but then come closer and realise it’s my hair.

On skincare

Jess: I actually use the Simple Micellar Waterand it’s the only thing I use on my skin, really. I literally just take my make-up off with that. I’ve tried all sorts of expensive things before and all the things that sell you a dream, but if I put it on my skin it normally breaks out. So I use Simple Micellar Water with some cotton wool and moisturise with the Simple Hydrating Moisturiserthat just keeps it clear really.

Eve: Sometimes I’ll try a face mask or a peel and it’ll feel really nice and fresh, but I’ll wake up the next morning with lots of spots. We use the whole Simple range, really. The micellar water and the toner.We keep it really basic. It’s really cheap as well, you can literally get it for £3. We wear a lot of tan, so we also like a good exfoliator scrub. We don’t have a set one we use, but it’s great for creating a smooth base for make-up.

Jess: I love Cocoa Brown fake tan, I think it’s like £7. What I love about it is it has a really warm tone, which is good because it doesn’t go green. I think some fake tans are made for people who already have a dark undertone, but on my skin where I’m quite fair, it goes green. It stays on your skin, but it also exfoliates off so easily and doesn’t go patchy.

On sleep:

Jess: Mine and Eve’s sleeping routine is so awful! We are such night owls. When we used to study till late and go to nightclubs, my usual bedtime is around 3am. Which is so bad. It’s probably later than that actually…

Eve: We’re just so much more productive at night time. I’ll be tired and once it hits 1’o’clock at night, I’m like, ‘time to tidy the entire flat!” I was literally hoovering last night at 2am! If I can start going to bed at 1am and wake up at 9am then I’ll be happy. It’s something I need to work on.

On favourite podcasts:

Jess: My management HLD Group have just started a podcast called Levelled Up Podcast, which we’re yet to feature on as we’ve been away in Dubai when the first episode came out. Basically all the girls from the management, we all do influencing, but are backgrounds are all a bit different. You get to see influencing from different perspectives and I definitely recommend.

Quickfire round:

Go-to cuppa?

Eve: I drink green tea because it’s good for you, but I don’t really like the taste that much.

Favourite loungewear brand?

Eve: I just love anything fluffy

Jess: She’s wearing it now! I love Zara Basics, but it’s really whatever we get sent [from brands] we just wear that.

Favourite face masks?

Jess: I love the Garnier sheet masks. In the villa they had loads of them and every night we’d go and absolutely rinse them.

Shop Jess and Eve's self-care favourites:

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Fun things you can do this weekend that don't involve a screen:

Hinch your home: whack out The Pink Stuff, some rubber gloves and your favourite podcast and make your flat SHINE a la Mrs Hinch. Pre-lockdown us would be shaking.

Try a new recipe: whether you fancy whipping up a lasagne or some healthy protein pancakes, now is the perfect time to cook something you love.

Make a vision board: manifestation is all the rage and honestly? We're here for it. Dream big and plot your goals for 2021 and beyond.