Love Island’s Olivia Buckland Talks To Grazia About Villa Life, Fake Tan, And Finding Confidence

Olivia Buckland (now Olivia Bowen Buckland) still remains one of the most cherished Love Island contestants around, and speaking to her it's easy to see why. What you see is what you get. A glowing (in both senses of the word - more on the tan tips later!) individual, Olivia's infectiously cheery and refreshingly genuine from the get go.

Although Olivia came second on Love Island in 2016, she's certainly come out a winner - having married the guy she 'coupled up with' on the show, Alex Bowen. With a staggering 2.2 million Instagram followers and counting, it's clear Olivia's popularity hasn't waned. Hoards of fans stay tuned for outfit snaps, dog videos (she has two French bulldogs called Winnie and Reggie with Alex) and beauty tips.

Love Island Beauty Secrets

'I'm not sure how much things have changed in the villa now, but back then I brought all my own beauty stuff in with me. They had a deal with Superdrug back then and provided sun protection, moisturisers and some basic things. It was funny though, I remembered all my beauty stuff and yet forgot to bring enough contact lenses. They had to go out and buy me some more! I'd say my comfort blanket in there was fake tan. I take a good couple of weeks to build up a base. I'm naturally quite pale, so I needed a boost. It would be me and Tina that would be fake tanning each evening.'

A faux tanner at heart, Olivia is now the face of fake tan brand Cocoa Brown by Marissa Carter, and this isn't any old post-villa pairing. 'I'm all about fake tan being affordable,' says Olivia. 'I've worked with them for nearly four years now, and I love the team. The shoots are so much fun too, it's such a feel-good brand.'

Shop: Cocoa Brown By Marissa Carter Favourites

Finding Inner Confidence

Most would assume that stepping outside of the Love Island villa for the first time and facing the onslaught of media and social media attention would bring with it a crisis of confidence.

For Olivia, however, it seems this was the turning point where her inner confidence started to shine. 'Before I went on Love Island I was way more self-conscious. After Love Island I had a newfound confidence about me. I was happy being myself, I wear a lot less make-up now day to day, in fact I don't often wear it at all unless I'm attending an event or going out. I love a fresh face, that's been a big change. I used to want lashes, brows the lot. That sort of thing does come with age too though, I was a lot younger then.'

'A lot of this has to do with Alex. I'd had a really awful relationship prior to Love Island, it broke me and make me very self-conscious. I had no respect for myself, no love for myself, and it was going in there and finding someone who respects me and loves me for the person that I am that jolted me out of thinking that life was all about make-up, hair and how I looked. This new age of confidence suddenly arrived, I'm so lucky really.'

'I did struggle to believe it all when I first came out of the villa though. I didn't believe Alex at first, I thought he was playing me a lot - I questioned everything. It is a slow process. Not all the credit goes to him though, that growth in confidence is definitely down to me. Like I said, it comes with age too, learning to accept yourself and treat yourself with respect. It's not about being in the public eye, it's not about Love Island, it's about growing up, and I'm very lucky that I'm with a very steady, happy, nice man, too.'

The Social Media Arena

'I have such an amazing following and they all say the nicest things. You can't help but feel good being around that. Don't get me wrong, at first I would concentrate on the nasty posts, but as I learned more about the industry and grew up, it was the nice ones that ended up grabbing my attention more. I've become an expert in block-and-deleting too. I delete any bad posts - out of sight, out of mind! I tell everyone else to do the same thing too. Block and delete the negative comments. It's your page, your social media, you have the control'.

Alex's Grooming Game

'Alex is a typical man, he can't be bothered to do anything grooming wise really. I always tell him to moisturise but he doesn't. He does borrow my foundation if he has a spot that needs covering though! He won't mind me telling you that.'

Olivia's Happy Place

'My happy place in the most basic sense is relaxing with a bottle of red wine, wearing a face mask and painting my nails and toenails. Although, I'm such a tomboy and I never get round to doing it, I'm useless. When it comes to headspace I'm a huge over thinker, so I need to be at the gym to wind down. I recently started boxing and love how much it relieves stress. I started last year. At first I was quite scared of having a PT, I thought I'd find it awkward, but I got over the fear and started training with Alex's PT. I've been doing half an hour of boxing with him normaly once or twice a week for around three months now. It really helps my stress levels.'

Olivia's Best Beauty Tips

'A make-up artist once told me that if you get mascara on your face and you've finished your entire make-up look (I always do this) to wait until it dries, and then brush it very gently with a clean spoolie brush. It comes straight off! It's the most useful tip I've come across.'

'Tanning wise, I always tell people to exfoliate and moisturise before you fake tan. If your skin is dry it stops you getting that smooth finish and it can end up looking patchy and mottled - it's so important.'

READ MORE: How The £2.5k 'Love Island Face' Went Mainstream

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