Sophie Habboo may have launched her glittering media career via E4's Made In Chelsea, but now she's making big moves. She co-hosts two chart-topping podcasts, Wednesdays and NewlyWeds - the former with best friend Mellissa Tattam and the latter with husband Jamie Laing - has launched her own gym wear collection with USA Pro and is regularly praised for her impeccable glow that could only be emulated with daily green juices and fancy facials - or so we thought.
Despite her perpetually busy life, she carves out time to perfect her everyday beauty routine and wellness essentials. Habboo opens up to Grazia about her current skincare routine, the secret to achieving 'the glow' and the brilliant make-up tips she's learned from make-up artist and sister, Georgia Habboo.
On her daily skincare routine
She tells us, 'I've spoken quite openly about having melasma and that's like pigmentation but it's sort of with you for life and it's really hard to get rid of. Mine flared up around five years ago and particularly in summer when it's really rife I have to be careful and minimal with what I put on my skin.'
'At the moment I'm using a brand called Dermaviduals and it's really gentle and organic with nothing harmful in it. I believe you can get them personalised to your skin. I use their cleanser and vitamin C. The INKEY List Tranexamic Acid Serum, £16 is really good for pigmentation and discolouration. I'll put that on and then I love the Tatcha Dewy Skin Moisturiser, £67, it's unbelievable.'
An overnight treatment that targets hyperpigmentation, uneven patches, and dark spots.
'Then I'll wear lots of SPF, I recently got 111SKIN Repair Sunscreen SPF 50, £95 and I'm in love with it. SPFs can normally be quite thick, it's sticky, it's tacky, but this feels like you're putting on a really thin moisturiser on your skin.'
'On top of all that SPF, if I'm not wearing make-up I will still put on a tinted SPG because with pigmentation they say that a tinted SPF actually does something to protect your skin even more. I love the Ultra Violette Daydream Screen SPF50 Tinted Serum, £38 at the moment. I use shade six and it's so good.'
On the products we'll always find in her make-up bag
'I love Merit Beauty and it's toxin-free, it's all-natural. I love their Perfecting Complexion Stick, £40 which I'll use over my tinted SPF and then as a concealer, I use Kosas, £25 which is unreal. Then I'll use the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Vanish Colour Corrector, £27 under my eyes because it gets rid of all the dark shadows and then the Kosas concealer on top.
Habboo continues, 'I love the Charlotte Tilbury Contour Wand, £30 and then for highlight, it's always the Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand, £30 - I just don't think there's one that's as good as a lot of highlighters are too oily and they melt off your face, whereas this one is just so pigmented but creamy. It's just the texture for me and I love it.
'The Hourglass Unreal Liquid Blush, £38 is a new blush I love. I also love the Wonderskin Lip Stain in shade Adore, I am obsessed with it.'
The viral lip innovation promises a transfer-proof, smudge-proof natural lip stain that lasts hours.
On the make-up tips she's learned from her sister
'Always put blusher on your cheekbones, where people put highlighter is where I put my blush. I never put it in the apples of my cheeks it just doesn't give the look I want to have.'
She tell us, 'I also have really long bottom lashes. You can either have a doll eye or a cat eye and if you want a cat eye, you never put mascara on your bottom lashes, you keep it clean, which is a good tip.'
'She also taught me how to contour my nose which I’m obsessed with, I literally cheat the size of my nose every day. You can just contour the shape of the nose you want and then my favourite tip is to put highlighter on the tip of your nose and it gives you that lifted button nose.'
On her everyday perfume
It is, of course, an iconic choice. 'I just bought Byredo Gypsy Water, £150' she says, 'but every day - for years I’ve worn Jo Malone London Freesia & English Pear, £86.'
On her favourite budget beauty buys
'Willis, my hairstylist, literally swears by L'Oréal Elnett hairspray, £7.49, he won’t use anything else and we go through bottles. I think that’s pretty affordable and it’s been around for years. Every time he uses it, I feel like I’m back in school!'
Humidity resistant, a decent hold and brushes out well - it's no wonder it's still hailed as the crème de la crème of hairsprays.
'I always think moisturisers you don’t need to spend much money on, I think it’s a bit of a waste to buy an expensive moisturiser because a moisturiser in my eyes is just locking in all those other ingredients. As long as you have a really nice thick moisturiser if you’ve got dry skin, or if you have oily skin, maybe you want more of a water-based one. You don’t have to spend on the big brands, get a Nivea one, or The Ordinary or Elf have some really good ones.'
On beauty and wellness treatments
'I did a course of NAD IV drips and they call it the ‘fountain of youth’. I don’t think it has to do with how you look, it’s more about regenerating yourself. I probably won’t know the effects until I’m 96, maybe I’ll feel 40! I also don’t think you have to throw money at exotic treatments, you can have a Cryo facial, but you can easily just get a bowl of cold water, put loads of ice in it and get the same results.'
On face yoga
Habboo says, 'I really believe in face yoga. We work out our bodies to keep them healthy and looking our best and keeping everything high, so we should be doing the same for our face, because our face has loads of muscles in it.'
And, to our delight, it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. 'You don’t have to spend a lot of money on an electrical device. I do have the ZIIP Halo from Current Body, £379 which is a nano and microcurrent device which is amazing, but you can just as easily go on to YouTube and look up face yoga and start doing it. My mum does it and she looks kind of ridiculous doing it but she really believes it works.'
On her daily wellness habits
'I’ve been writing gratitude lists and journals for years. I’m not journaling at the moment but I always say thank you for five things before I go to bed, that’s part of my daily routine. I’ve also got Jamie into it and he’s loving it and I honestly think it rewires your brain.
'You’ve got to do it for at least a month and the longer you do it the better you feel. I can’t recommend it enough. It rewires the brain to be positive rather than negative. The more you do it, the better you’ll feel and the better things will happen to you. I’m really into all of that sort of stuff and it’s probably my most incremental wellness thing that I do every single day and I never don't do it.'
On bedtime must-haves
'I cannot sleep without a Drowsy sleep mask, £69. I will not close my eyes, I don’t know what it is. I could be in a blackout room but unless I have a Drowsy sleep mask on, I’m not getting any sleep. My mums a bit of an insomniac and I tell her all the time, 'Get that mask!’'
Promising a sublime slumber - these are easily the silkiest and squishiest sleep masks on the market. No wonder the A-List are hooked.
Aimee Jakes is Grazia’s trending content editor. As well as writing about skincare launches, high-street fashion and gym bag essentials, she’s forever chatting to celebs about their fancy beauty routines. Follow her on Instagram here.