Zara McDermott Reveals The £9.99 Face Oil She Uses Every Day

When Zara McDermott pops up on screen to talk all things beauty with me on Zoom she's smiling, make-up free and relaxed. Sitting in loungewear in the cosy surroundings of the house she shares with boyfriend Sam Thompson (who can't help but put his head around the door at one point and get in on the interview action).

Zara McDermott first found fame on the 4th series of Love Island back in 2018 and more recently endeared herself even further to the nation on E4's Made in Chelsea. Her recent BBC documentary Zara McDermott: Revenge Porn struck a chord with the nation last yer and many, even her most loyal Instagram followers (of which there are over 1.7 million), feel like they are getting to know her all over again. Zara's ongoing success was none more evident than when she signed with Storm Management back in 2020, the same legendary model agency that discovered Kate Moss at the tender age of 14. After such a whirlwind few years it was only natural that we would want to get the lowdown on Zara's beauty, make-up and skincare favourites. So here goes...

Interview original conducted in 2021.

On Her First Memories Of Make-Up

'Black eyeliner, that's my first memory of make-up,' Zara laughs, 'I used black kohl pencil, just a tiny bit on my lower lash line. My mum always used to wear it so I was copying her. I was about 10 years old when I started trying the look out at home. That was my first taste of make-up, a tiny bit of black eyeliner.' That said Zara hasn't always been on board with getting glammed up. 'I was always real tomboy when I was younger. I was the least girly girl ever! Aside from copying her eyeliner trick I was never that girl that sat around playing with her mum's makeup.' So what does she remember putting into her makeup bag at school? 'I started wearing makeup properly when I was around 15 and it was around the time that everyone was obsessed with Maybelline New York's Dream Matte Mousse Foundation, £7.99. There was a Superdrug on my route home from school and I used to save up my pocket money to buy products like that there. I definitely didn't get my foundation shade right either. In fact I look back at pictures from those days now and it's all foundation, eyeliner, mascara and no brows!'. We've all been there.

On The Love Island Look

'My relationship with make-up is all about the less-is-more approach now. I have a hugely different relationship with make-up today than I did straight after Love Island. I feel like everyone from Love Island ends up looking the same. I don't have any issue with that, there's no hate, it's all down to circumstance. Everyone uses the same make-up artist. Everyone uses the same hair stylist. Everyone wears the same false lashes and hair extensions.'

'Life immediately after Love Island is all about shoots and glam squads and after a while you realise you don't need it. Now if I'm doing a shoot I tend to do my own make-up. Sure, I love it if someone can add a few curls to my hair but I don't want to look the same as everyone else, I want to look like me. Life is about being an individual and being yourself. Make-up is about expressing yourself and sometimes, for me at least, that means not wearing any at all, even when you feel under pressure to. I've learned to use make-up for me and not for anyone else.'

On Her Make-Up Routine Today

'In the last two years I've stopped wearing as much make-up as I used to. I used to wear a lot but nowadays I'll only really wear it once a week, sometimes just once every 10 days.'

'If you look back at the Made in Chelsea episodes I was in I often barely wore any make-up. I'd turn up for filming with no make-up on at all. I actually feel more confident without make-up on. I don't know what it is. I like being able to touch my face. I feel more myself.' So what are her go-to beauty buys when Zara does reach for her make-up bag? 'I'll use a small amount of NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, £24, or the L’Oréal Paris Infallible More Than Concealer, £9.99, and if I apply a base it's always Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted Moisturiser SPF15, £68. It's very lightweight and sheer. Mascara wise I love the Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Wet Mascara, £30, and I've just discovered Gucci's Mascara L'Obscur in Black, £30, it's unbelievable. I keep my eyes minimal. If anything I'll apply a little brown eyeliner and I use Refy Brow Sculpt, £16, on my brows. When it comes to my lips I just use balm. I love Weleda Skin Food Lip Balm, £6.95, I always have that with me. I don't often use blusher as my cheeks are naturally quite red. I have started using a face tan too, the Isle of Paradise Self-Tanning Drops, £19.95. I put it on at night and rinse it off in the morning.'

On Her Skincare Routine

'I just put a big Drunk Elephant Order in actually, I love the Drunk Elephant C-Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream, £54, and the Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream Moisturiser, £50. I love the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream, £48, too, Sam and I are both obsessed with that.' At this point Zara hops up saying 'I'm going to show you our little skincare drawer', and angles the her camera towards, sure enough, a drawer full of skincare buys. 'We use the same products a lot of the time, which is quite fun,' Zara smiles, 'I love this face oil too,' Zara shows the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Skin Therapy Face Oil, £9.99, to camera. 'I use that every day. I also love the Kielh's Midnight Recovery Concentrate, £41.'

In big news it seems that Zara and Sam have both taken the next big step together in their skincare routines. 'Sam and I have both just started using retinol!' Zara reveals excitedly, 'the [Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol Cream 30ml, £62](http://Zara McDermott Favourite Beauty Products).' And while Sam might pinch a couple of Zara's skincare staples he's meticulous, Zara tells me, when it comes to curating his own bespoke skincare routine and sticking to it. 'He loves the Exuviancerange and has a whole routine,' Zara confides and it seems his dedication knows no bounds. 'Sometimes I'll tell him dinner's ready and he'll tell me he's going to be a few minutes yet because he needs to let his skincare sink in.'

On Winding Down

Zara keeps things simple when it comes to relaxing after a busy week. 'I love getting settled on the sofa with Married At First Sight and a hot chocolate,' we can relate. Then Zara reveals that she and Sam formed a Friday evening ritual out of sitting in the shower together and taking the time to catch up. 'Honestly it's not as fancy as it sounds,' Zara laughs, 'but it's so nice to sit in the shower together and talk our weeks through. It's like a comforting space and we have quite deep conversations. We go through everything that's happened during our week, what we're stressed about, what we're worried about, it's really healthy.'

On Beauty

'Beauty to me is having the confidence to be vulnerable. There's so much to be said for being open and being unapologetically you. You are as beautiful as you believe yourself to be.'

Shop: Zara McDermott's Favourite Beauty Buys

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