Molly Marsh talks Love Island secrets, wise advice and the £5.99 foundation she wore in the villa

The Love Island star chats through her self-care Sunday favourites...

Molly Marsh

by Aimee Jakes |
Updated on

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 Molly Marsh, the musical theatre performer who came fourth in Love Island series 10, alongside co-star and now boyfriend, Zachariah Noble. She was known for her peppy TikTok videos before entering the show and the 21-year-old went on to prove to the nation she's incredibly down-to-earth, knows her own mind and is someone we need to be BFFs with IRL.

Molls made history on the show when she epically returned as a Casa Amor girl after being cruelly dumped from the show weeks before, in a twist no one saw coming. Now, Molly says she and Zach are happier than ever.

"It's really good," Molly tells heat. "It's even better on the outside. When you're in there it was fantastic, but now we're in the real world and we're outside, it's even better."

Molly chats to heat about her self-care routine, daily wellness habits and the wise advice she lives by...

On leaving the villa

"It's honestly been crazy! Do you know what though, I'm so happy to be home. I feel like I got to a point where I was ready. I'd gone into Love Island, I found love, found exactly what I had dreamt of and I was like, "I can't wait to get home now!" It's very overwhelming, but it's good, I love it.

"Me and Zach had a boyfriend-girlfriend day last Saturday. We literally had Domino's, face masks and we watched Jumanji. It was fantastic, I loved it."

On surprising show secrets

Molly tells heat she was a huge fan of the show before appearing on it, so what was the most surprising thing about starring on Love Island?

"I think how real your feelings actually are. You have so many expectations of the show and I've been a superfan, I've loved Love Island. And to be there and those feelings are real. I'm not a crier, I don't get upset whether I'm happy or whether I'm sad. I think it was day two or three and I'm there, so emotional. It's very, very overwhelming. Your feelings are so real and I keep everything close to my chest and then now you've got to speak about your feelings. I learned a lot about myself opening up."

On self-care routines

What does the ultimate self-care Sunday look like for Mol?

"For me, a pamper day always involves a bath. In the villa, I think I was the only person who really got in the bath. Everyone would queue for the shower and I'd always be in the bath. Me and Jess [Harding] jumped in the bath one day, that was a barrel of laughs.

"I also like to get out, I think fresh air is key. I also like to journal a lot. I have my journal and that is for me and me only! That has all my thoughts and feelings in there, whether that's gratitude affirmations for the day, whether it's a checklist... I'm quite an organised person where everything needs to be ticked off.

"If I've got a proper pamper day planned, I'll even have it written out and I'll tick once I've gone through them. Face mask, tick. Bath, tick. See my grandparents tick. All the things that make me happy would be within a self-care day. I love being in the bath watching old-school Zoella on YouTube. I'll have a Lush bath bomb and my Lush lip scrub and it'll be very wholesome."

On skincare favourites

"I've tried so many skincare products, anything I've ever been interested in, I've tried. From a young age, I've always suffered from under-the-skin spots, especially when I was younger. I tried so much skincare to clear up my skin, but also to learn to love my skin, especially being a role model to like younger girls. I've done social media for like five years now and I built such a young audience. It's one of those where I knew people were going to look up to me. I've always been very open on my social media with showing my skin on a bad day and showing my skin on a very good day and what products have helped me recently.

"The ones I've always advised to people... I've always used the Nivea Soft Moisturiser, it's been my holy grail since I was like 15, I've always used that. The La Roche Posay SPF Hyaluronic Moisturiser I use every morning and that has always cleared my skin up."

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"When I've had a bad breakout, I always recommend the Carbon Theory Cleansing Bars. I took the charcoal one into the villa with me and every time I found that I broke out, I'd always use that and it clears up my skin really quickly."

On beauty tips in the villa

"Whitney[Adebayo] always did her baking. I've never baked before, so I definitely learned that from Whit. Everyone used to steal my eyelash curlers, so I feel like I put everyone on to the lash curlers. Everyone did their make-up so well, you know."

On discovering new products

"I got into quite a lot of Huda Beauty. I found a bronzer that I'm still using to this day, it's the Huda Beauty GloWish Bronzing Powder and it gives such a gorgeous, summery bronze. A Huda Beauty lip liner, I wore that a lot in the villa. I also used a cream blush which I'd put on my lips as well. I like to match my lip to my blush."

On make-up holy grails

"In the day, I actually found this in the villa as well, it was a Rimmel Kind + Fresh Tinted Moisturiser and because obviously I was getting a tan, very slowly but surely, it gave such a nice tint and glow to the skin. I used that every day and that's really affordable as well. I'm still using it now, just under foundation."

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"I wore a lot of got2b Glued Brow gel because it really sets your eyebrows in place for the whole day. I also used a lot of Charlotte Tilbury in the daytime because the products are so light and glowy. I loved the Charlotte Tilbury wands. The bronzer, blush and highlight were my go-tos because they were light and glowy. The evening was just my everyday glam. A lot of pinks and still quite light and natural."

On Love Island clothes

Everyone looks mega glam on the telly, but how does the clothing thing WORK? Is it gifted rails galore or do you need to do a lot of shopping beforehand?

"Every Tuesday there was an eBay drop. We'd kind of see the team come in and change the wardrobe and you bet all the girls ran upstairs! It was kind of a first-come-first-serve, but now and then if you were randomly passing the dressing room and you saw that there were putting in the new eBay stock, I'd go to the wardrobe and take a quick look! Everyone would decide who wants to wear what which was really fun. There was a certain wardrobe for eBay and if there was a big night coming up and you wanted to wear something glam, you'd always find it in the eBay wardrobe.

"I was really prepared going in. I went shopping and bought so much stuff. And you know what, I wore everything really quickly and when I went home the first time, I had to do it all again, because I had worn everything. All the girls were really supportive, everyone just shared clothes. The amount of times we'd ask Jess if she had anything else in her wardrobe because she had so many clothes. Everyone would borrow something from Jess or Ella's [Thomas] wardrobe all the time."

On daily wellness habits

"One thing I do when I first wake up is drink a pint of water. I never used to drink water ever. I had this thing where I thought water would make me sick. I drink cups of tea, I drink squash, little did I know when I was younger it all had water in, but growing up I'd never drink water on its own.

"Now, I'm in such a routine, as soon as I wake up I drink a pint of water before I do anything. I actually think it's a really good habit to get into. And going to the gym, I love going to the gym. Before going into the villa, I was on a very good schedule and a nice little plan. I just enjoy it and it gets me in a good mindset.

"But when I got into the villa, it was so hot. I think in the first week I was in the gym every morning and then it got to a point of, 'It is so hot and hard to workout in this weather!'

"At the gym at home, you have your headphones on and you're in your own lane. I think in the villa when everyone's sat around in bikinis staring at the gym area, you don't really want to go for it, it's quite awkward! I can't wait to go back to the gym when everything is settled and I'm back home."

On life-changing books

"I never used to read when I was younger, I hated reading at school. I literally read The Diary of a Wimpy Kid and that's all that would entertain me! Now, I like books that I can learn something from, whether that's astrology, whether it's manifestation or just something I like to read about.

"I remember in my cast holding before I went into the villa, I read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and it was about living in the moment. I like things like that, especially before going into Love Island. I kind of knew everything was going to go a bit crazy and a bit overwhelming.

So that one changed my perspective on not thinking too much about the future and taking in everything right now. I'm always someone who lives for the next thing, 'Okay, what is next? What's next?' and you're never going to get to the next thing and be happy because you're always thinking about the next one after that. So just setting goals, but not too far ahead. Being happy with the present and where we are now. That book definitely changed my perspective on that."

On wise advice

What's some really good advice that Molly has been given recently?

"I think just staying true to myself really. Zach's always said that to me and I've done that every single day throughout being in the villa. And he said that that kind of really stood out to him was that I would never change to be somebody else. I always stay true to myself.

"I went into the villa knowing I probably am gonna be a little bit different to everyone else. I don't drink. I don't party, I don't go out. Don't use dating apps. So I kind of think I had a different perspective going into the villa than everybody else. So, yeah, probably just staying true to myself and not having to think I need to be like anyone else or follow any crowd."

On what's next

"Like beforehand, I definitely want to stay a good role model for younger girls to look up to. I think with having my little sister, I've always wanted to make sure she's looking up to the right big sister and making sure everyone is seeing that on social media. Now having a bigger platform, I'm so grateful for that and I just want to keep doing that.

"A massive goal for myself, I want to do a lot more hosting and presenting. I don't know necessarily what for, but that is something that I definitely want to venture down and keep performing. I love being on stage, I being in pantomimes. All theatre shows, especially when I've been in pantomime before and I've been the fairy who saved the day and all the little girls absolutely love the fairy. That is the best feeling ever. So just carry on doing all of that really, it's just on a different scale now, which is incredible."

Quickfire round:

What show are you currently watching? Selling Sunset! I needed to catch up with the new episodes.

How do you like your cuppa? I love a cup of tea. A little bit of milk, two sugars and I leave the teabag in for a very long time. Zach actually said to me, 'What do you put in your tea?' because I made him a lot of tea in the villa. I told him it was a secret ingredient, but I actually just leave the teabag in for ages and give him an extra sugar! He thinks he's drinking one sugar, but he's actually drinking two.

Go-to loungewear brand? I often chill in a lot of Gymshark Rest Day tracksuits.

Favourite face mask? I have a face mask fridge in my bathroom and it is full. So to think of a favourite one is the hardest question! I'd have to say the PIXI Under Eye Patches at the moment.

Go-to takeaway order? Indian, I love an Indian. It would be poppadoms with all the mango chutney and onions and it'd be a chicken Jalfrezi - that is the perfect takeaway.

Favourite candle? Bath & Bodyworks You're The One. I also have that scent in a body spray and a body wash. The scent is so nice I had to have it in everything!

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