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 Sophie Stonehouse, the only British castmate from the latest season of Netflix's Too Hot To Handle. Unlike most dating shows, Sophie explains how there is a year-long layover period from when the show is filmed to when it comes out, meaning she had to hold onto the secret for a long time.
"It's actually so nice for people to know about it and to be talking about it," Sophie tells heat." I have really enjoyed it since it’s come out, it’s been really good!"
Did Sophie watch herself back on TV with the rest of us?
"I was 110% watching it back because we film for six weeks which is condensed down to 10 hours of TV, so you just don’t know what’s going to make the cut. I decided to watch it with my best friends, my sister, and my mum which in hindsight was probably the wrong thing to do because they were just cringing the whole time!"
Sophie chats exclusively to heat about her beauty routine, wellness habits and the wise advice she lives by...
On self-care
"Self-care is huge for me. I am quite busy so it is the one time when I really do take care of myself and lock myself in my bathroom! I would definitely say that self-care to me is just having that private time with myself, to look after myself and get myself sorted. I never used to fake tan but now I fake tan because honestly, I look like a raw chicken 20% of the time! I lived my raw chicken era for too long and I was like, 'No I actually need to sort this out, I need to make myself look half alive.' My self-care is really tied into my fake tan routine.
"On a self-care day, I like to have a bath, scrub all my fake tan off, shave, hair mask, and face mask. I do it all on a dedicated day and quite early on in the day. I'll do my fake tan routine and then just let it sit for the whole day so that it is a really lovely colour. I will just take that day to completely chill and relax. It is a good excuse to let it develop for five hours so I need five hours of relaxation time. I really enjoy that and it is my reset for the week. Also, getting my nails done. Getting my nails done is a huge self-care thing for me, something that I think I will always do."
On fake tan favourites
"I actually have a really weird history with fake tan. Fake tan never use to work for me at all and I think the reason why is because naturally, I am quite fair. I wanted to be such a dark brown and I would use the darkest fake tan that it would just look horrific on me because it just didn’t match with my natural skin tone. So after years of never using it, I was introduced to Isle Of Paradise and the self-tanning face mist. It is honestly the most insane product. I live by it, I don’t think I would use another tan, it is such a nice natural, glowy tan. It applies amazingly and it doesn't break me out. I could literally sing to the choir about how good it is."
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On skincare routines
"I have had a very interesting skin journey. Prior to going on the show I developed some really horrible comedonal acne and I had it for about three years. Just before the show, it got really bad and I am also prone to picking and touching my face. So when I got cast for the show, and they said they were going to fly me out, I needed to fix my face because I knew I wasn’t going to do the show if I don’t. So I didn't touch my face, stripped back on all fragranced products and instead used plain and simple products to see what happened. It completely reversed all the acne I had on my face and my skin has now never been better.
"At the moment, I am sticking to the rich version of the Simple moisturiser which I live by and I use the Garnier Micellar Water to remove all my make-up. I live by Glamglow facemasks, you see instant results, and a huge difference to your skin when using the products - their products are incredible! I love the Glamglow Supermud Mask for when I'm having any breakouts and the Gravitymud Firming Treatment for a facial reset. Their products are pricy but so worth it based on the instant results.
"I have very sensitive skin, so the more stuff I use the worse it actually makes my skin look, but I do understand that it is all very exciting putting 1,000,001 things on your face at once. The other thing that I live by which is super affordable is the Garnier Moisture Bomb sheet mask. They make me feel so fresh after I use them. If I've ever in Boots I treat myself to one of those."
On make-up for filming
"I stick to the same products, I like to try new things but there are a couple of things that I don’t think I could change from my make-up. When I am doing my make-up I am adding lots of hydration. I am constantly putting on face mist between each step of my make-up routine because I hate matte makeup on my face and I love it to feel natural.
"I use a Lancome Foundation Stick in a dark brown shade to do my contour and I will use a very small amount of that and then blend it all in after I have just used my face mist. That has been an absolute staple in my make-up bag. I brought it just before I went out and filmed the show and I am still using the same one, that’s how long it has lasted me.
"I also live by the L’Oreal Paris 24-hour Wear Concealer. I use that for my undereye, my contouring it’s insane, it is such a good concealer with really high coverage but is super inexpensive. Contour is very important for me, and then just bronzer and blush. So I am using a Dior bronzer at the moment and I am currently using the [Benefit Rockateur blush{href='https://www.asos.com/benefit/benefit-rockateur-blusher/prd/3575119' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener nofollow'}). Blush is huge, I put blush all over my face. I prefer looking more glowy and summery rather than matte with super intense make-up."
On daily wellness habits
"One thing that I know will make me feel great is doing a form of exercise. I used to be massively into the gym and my goal is to get back into it. But doing some sort of exercise if that is a walk, getting out of the house, or being active is something that really does add to that self-care and feeling great about myself.
"Another thing is hydration. My body just reacts horrifically and I just know about it straight away that I have to drink more water. I am in a good routine of just drinking water constantly throughout the day. One of the things I find when struggling to drink enough water is that if I don’t have a water bottle with a sucky lid. If it has a twisty lid I won’t pick it up, which probably shows inner laziness! If it's in a squeezy bottle, I will drink and drink and drink all day. So I have made a good habit of having about three or four of those bottles filled with water in my fridge, so I just rotate it constantly."
On her daily uniform
"My daily uniform will always be wide-leg trousers with trainers and a blazer. Whether it is a matching blazer or not a matching blazer. An oversized blazer I could live in and I think it is such an important staple uniform for everybody’s wardrobe because you can wear it anywhere. As long as it is something that fits you well and it is comfortable.
"I think I got my first blazer when I was 15 and everyone use to call me a grandma! It’s really funny, there was this running joke with girls from my school that they called me Grandma and old lady Sophie because I dressed so much more maturely than I should have been at that time. Everyone was wearing crop tops, miniskirts and skater skirts stuff like that. I was in oversized blazers and they just thought it was the weirdest thing. But they are just classic, you can’t go wrong."
On great advice
"Especially at this point in my life, it is easy to get caught up in chasing what other people are doing and losing whatever goal you have set for yourself. Everybody in this industry in some way is comparing themselves to other people. I had some really good advice recently, 'It doesn’t matter where you are right now, you’re always going to compare yourself to other people, and that’s never going to change.'
"Even if you have everything that you have ever wanted in life, you’re still going to find a way to compare yourself to other people and that doesn’t necessarily need to be a bad thing but my dad said to me recently, 'just be healthy, be happy, work hard and put in 110 per cent.'
"Ultimately, whatever is going to happen to you will happen. I think having that mindset that it doesn’t matter if you’re not doing what that other person is doing right now, as long as you’re putting in the work and the effort and you’re taking care of yourself and just being a happy person. Life will move in the direction it should for you, no matter what direction that is."
Quickfire Round:
What show are you currently watching? I'm watching Suits, it's so good. I'm also watching Made In Chelsea from the very beginning and I'm very invested.
How do you like your cuppa? I drink way too much tea and coffee, but I love an English breakfast tea with oat milk and no sugar.
Go-to loungewear brand? Lounge is my go-to. I also love their lace lingerie, it's very comfortable.
Favourite face mask? The Glamglow Gravity Mud .
Go-to takeaway order? There's a place near me called Fat Hippo and it does the most incredible fried chicken burger.
Favourite candle? My favourite one is the Soho House Pomelo Candle, it's quite boujee.