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.
From chatty GRWM videos to glam make-up looks, Rachel Leary is one of our favourite content creators on the internet right now. She's honest, hilarious and quite simply radiates feel good energy - something that we desperately need after er, the whole of 2020.
She's also worked with huge brands including Missguided and Lounge Underwear, as well as launching her own babein' make-up range with Makeup Revolution.
Rachel chats exclusively to heat about her skincare routine, favourite make-up tips and her top advice for starting your own YouTube channel...
On mental health rituals
"I think for me, it's really important to take time for myself," Rachel tells heat. "My schedule, as much as it is a relaxed schedule, just because I'm self-employed, it sometimes can be very overwhelming. There's so much to do when you're working from home, as well as living at home, so it's important to make sure that I am taking that time to just put my phone down, have a bath, do things that like I like to do, and it not be to do with work."
"I think that's what, if anything, stresses me out the most. So I just need to make sure that I'm taking 'me time' and actually disassociating from that part of things and just like doing things that I enjoy and am relaxing."
On the ultimate self-care Sunday
A Sunday is the perfect opportunity to indulge in self-care rituals and take some well-deserved time out. So, how does Rachel like to spend her self-care Sunday?
"I don't know about you, but Sunday's to me are just all about food! Either, I'm scrolling on Deliveroo because I'm hungover or like a Sunday roast. If you know me and watch my content, you know that I love a Sunday roast! I actually found during lockdown, I really enjoy cooking and I actually really enjoyed that time as well, because I wasn't on my phone and focused on the cooking and just really enjoying myself. I find learning new recipes really therapeutic and it's a good 15 to 20-minute distraction from life!"
"In the evening I'll do a face mask, probably polish off a couple of glasses of wine at the same time."
A girl after our own heart.
On skincare
"I've been really enjoying face oils at the moment especially before going to bed. I love applying oil and waking up and just looking super glowy. I really love theTatcha Beauty Oil and it's quite like a boujee brand. So, I always get excited to put that on but I've also been really loving using a Gua Sha .The trend at the moment is to use this Rose Quartz stone to really massage the oil into your face and it really helps to sculpt your face, as well. I'm all down for a little lift and sculpt on my face."
"I've actually been excited to do my skincare routine because of that, I want to see if there are any results or if it's just a TikTok hype."
On her favourite make-up tip
The YouTuber is renowned for her glowy and glam make-up looks online and told us her ultimate tip for elevating your current routine. Her secret? You're using the wrong bronzer.
"When I'm doing make-up on myself and when I sometimes do make-up for my friends. something that always transforms your make-up is a shimmery bronzer. I feel like people don't consider that because they normally would just apply a matte bronzer and then they would apply their highlight for that glow. But before you apply the highlight and go in with your matte bronzer, a shimmery bronzer just gives you that glow from within, a sunkissed look."
"Whenever I do make-up on other people, I noticed that they don't have that in their make-up routine. And then when I do it on them, they're like, "oh my god, there's something about this make-up, it's so different and I really love it." And I'm like, "I'm telling you, it's the shimmery bronzer!" You just look like sunkissed all year round and it just looks amazing in photos, as well."
Rach's go-to shimmery bronzer, you ask?
"I did come out with one with Make-up Revolution in one of my palettes and it's called 'Golden Hour' . Not to toot my own horn, it is the best and it may or may not be making another appearance very soon..."
www.revolutionbeauty.com
On budget beauty buys
"I literally rave about this in all of the make-up videos that I do, it's by a brand called Welada and it's their Skin Food . Oh my goodness, it's amazing. It's a really intense moisturiser and it has a little bit of a tack to it. So it's become my number one way of priming my skin before makeup. It's just insane. But then if you've got really, really dry patches of skin, and you just want a thick intensive moisturiser before you go to bed, this is just amazing. Honestly, I heard people rave about it and then I finally jumped on the hype and it is absolutely worth it."
Other fans of Weleda's Skin Food include Molly-Mae Hague and Victoria Beckham, who can't get enough of its glossy and hydrated finish. That's us sold.
redirect.viglink.com
On #extra wellness routines
Is Rach a fan of the juicy and downright boujee beauty and wellness treatments or does she prefer to keep things low-key?
"One thing that does come to mind is that I took myself to a hotel once, just me. I just needed a break to treat myself and pamper myself and it was a really boujee hotel. Like, nobody needs to do that in the name of wellness, but I just needed a break. I just wanted to turn my phone off and be waited on and have room service and just sit in the bathtub the whole time. I feel like that's pretty extra."
"In terms of facials, I actually had one the other day and it's called the Morpheus 8 facial and that is pretty intense. It's a lot of small blades going into your skin that's going to help tighten and resurface the skin. I'm not gonna say that it was the most pleasant experience. because it absolutely definitely wasn't. It was pretty intense and afterwards, I did think, "I can't believe I've just done that". But the results are amazing. and I loved it."
On YouTube wisdom
If you fancy giving the ol' YouTube thing a go, Rachel stresses the importance of staying true to yourself. Preach it, hun.
"It's such a tricky time at the moment because they feel like especially with lockdown, so many people are wanting to just explore the whole YouTube side of things because there's not much else to do and you can film things at home and stuff."
"I think, the key to being successful on YouTube and I wouldn't actually even say that I'm at the peak of my success just yet, but it's just so important to be unique and just authentic to yourself. I feel like everyone says that, but honestly, it's so true. If you're so focused on a channel that's doing really well and you want to do what they're going to do... I feel like you need to find your own lane and what makes you unique. Why are people going to want to watch you instead of that channel that is doing the same thing?
"Everyone gets bored so easily, everyone is looking for the new person to watch or discover and just be interested in. So you need to find your path that makes you unique and different and why people are gonna watch you and not be something that they've already seen before. It's so important to embrace you. No one else is you so let's do something different."
On taking pics for the 'gram
"Definitely invest in a tripod, because they will become your best friend. Also there are self timer apps at the moment, I use one called Lens Buddy. In lockdown when we weren't allowed to mingle with anyone and you really did have to shoot your own content, that's where people got like really creative when it came to shoots. I got myself a little tripod that had a phone stand in it and I found this app called Lens Buddy, buddy, which means that you can just prop it up and it just takes bursts of pictures."
"I feel like people really love those animated pictures at the moment, especially when it comes to outfits. So it's like not just standing against a white wall, but giving a bit of motion and stuff and the app is really good at capturing that. Lighting is so important, but at the moment with this weather, it's just so hit and miss. So I use Lightroom and Colortone to really help with the lighting."
Quickfire:
Show you’re currently binging? Married At First Sight Australia, season six. The drama!
Go-to cuppa? Make-up artists will be able to relate but I always refer to my tea as a shade of MAC foundation. I'd be like, "can I please have a NC40?'
Go-to loungewear brand? I really loveCOLLUSION on ASOS or SLA The Label by Sarah Ashcroft, they do the best oversized joggers.
Favourite face mask? If I'm going to really treat myself, I love the Tatcha Dewy Skin Sheet Masks.
Go-to takeaway order? I'm trying to be vegetarian at the moment, so you can't go wrong with an Italian, either a pizza or pasta.
Favourite candle? Drake's Better World Fragrance candles. If I can't have Drake in person, then I'll just have a candle that smells like him!
Now! More news!
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Amber Gill talks journaling, self-care rituals and the £9 gel cleanser she swears by
Courtney Black talks mental health, beauty routines and her go-to fake tan for bronzed skin
Non-rubbish ways to feel er, less rubbish
- Start a new hobby: whether it's pottery or baking bread, now is the time to make the most of your free weekends and quiet evenings. Anything that gets us off our phone for a bit gets a yes from us.
- Make your bed first thing: a tidy bedroom equals a tidy brain, people. It will take you less than a minute and will help you feel more... y'know, together.
- Invest more in your friendships: the pandemic has meant we've felt more alone than ever before. Remember second and third-tier friends? Send WhatsApp messages, forward memes and even make their day with a thoughtful letterbox gift. Ah, we feel better already.