I had a £1k Love Island makeover and spent TWO hours in make-up, battled a non-stop wedgie and got asked out by a stranger – The Sun

I’M praying my boobs don’t fall out of my bikini as I try and look sexy for the camera while posing next to a pink pool float.

Never in my life have I worn so little while caked in so much make-up: my eyes are weighed down with heavy falsies, my pout is three times its usual size and my skin is the colour of Ronseal.

As per my editor’s request, I’ve been given a Love Island makeover. I was deemed the ideal candidate because I’m more at home in my trackies with my hair scraped back in a bun.

For the uninitiated, Love Island is the most successful show in ITV2’s history.

Three million people tune in at 9pm every night to watch 11 singletons try and find love in a swanky Mallorcan villa, while also trying to bag a £50,000 prize.

The girls are gorgeous, wear a lot of thong bikinis and bucketfuls of slap, and this Love Island effect has resulted in thousands of women trying to achieve the glamorous look.

The hit ITV2 show has even tried to harness this beauty frenzy by launching their own make-up line, including lipstick, highlighter and bronzer in their collection.

In the villa, the women do their make-up themselves, but I enlisted Mikey Phillips, beauty guru to numerous Islanders from previous years, including Laura Anderson, Megan Barton-Hanson, Olivia Attwood and Kady McDermott.

Mikey (who is known as @MakeupByMikey) is famous for creating big hair, striking pouts and bronzed skin, and leaves all his clients leaving with his trademark bombshell look.

To become Love Island royalty you need the highlight to be blinding and the hair to be blowing as if it’s in slow mo

Mikey, originally from South Wales, who has been doing make-up for over ten years, took one look at my natural face and said: “To become Love Island royalty you need the highlight to be blinding and the hair to be blowing as if it’s in slow mo.” Yikes.

Assuring me I wasn’t a lost cause, he began the transformation by talking me through the 30 products he planned whack on my face.

I typically wear Max Factor foundation (£13.99), Benefit's BadGal bang mascara (£18.70), Charlotte Tilbury lipstick (£24), Urban Decay's Naked Palette 2 (£33.60), and whatever blusher, powder and pencil I have to hand.

Typically my bag is worth £90.29, whereas this haul comes to a staggering £1,300.

I stripped off and Mikey started slathering on a £29.95 tan called Body Blur, which also works like a foundation in covering any blemishes.

I watched my Snow White skin transform into David Dickinson-orange in seconds.

After a moisturising facemask to achieve the Islanders dewy glow, Mikey spent two hours piling on the make-up.

This was a far cry from the ten minutes it usually takes me to whack on some mascara, concealer and lipstick.

Typically my bag is worth £90.29, whereas this haul comes to a staggering £1,300

It’s easy to be dismissive but beauty is an integral part of gen-Zers life.

The beauty industry in the UK is worth a staggering £13.4 billion, according to Statista Research, and Love Island has certainly helped to boost the make-up bags of many viewers.

Past contestants have made a fortune from partnering with beauty companies, with Megan Barton-Hanson becoming an ambassador for Avon, and Dani Dyer signing a six-figure deal with Mark Hill Hair as the face of the brand.

PRODUCTS MAKE-UP BY MIKEY USED TO DO MY LOVE ISLAND TRANSFORMATION

• Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist – £59.95
• Tatcha The Silk Canvas – £70
• Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream – £33
• Revive Intensite Moisturizing Lip Balm – £45
• Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector – £30
• Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation – £35
  
• Nars Sheer Glow – £34
• Nars Soft Matte Complete Concealer – £24
• Armani Luminous Silk – £42
• Hour Glass Seamless Foundation – £42
• Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra Longwear Concealer – £25
• Laura Mercier Translucent Powder – £30
• Mac Give Me Sun – £25.50
• Mac Stripdown Lipliner – £14
• Fenty Gloss Bomb – £16
• Becca Champagne POP – £30
• Too Faced Brow Quickie – £17
• Urban Decay Brow Endowed – £18
• Tatti Lashes – £9.65
• Eyeko Mascara – £19
• Huda Beauty Matte & Melted Shadows – £22
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Eyeshadows – £46
• Becca Royal Glow – £30
• Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Sublime Skin Highlighting Trio – £45
• Morphe Continuous Setting Mist – £11
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Dewy Set Setting Spray – £27
• Guerlain The Bronzing And Contouring Palette – £42
• Laura Mercier Blush Colour Infusion – £24

TOTAL – £866.1

Mikey warned me “the perfect foundation doesn’t exist” before mixing five different foundations together, totalling £181.

Then he made my nose look slimmer with the nifty contour trick of adding shadow to each side. Who needs surgery, eh?

The beauty guru “baked” – when you allow the heat from your face to set your foundation before dusting it off – my skin to finish it off and applied liberal amounts of his swear-by highlighter, the £45 Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Sublime Skin Highlighting Trio.

Mikey warned me 'the perfect foundation doesn’t exist' before mixing five different foundations together

Fake eyelashes from Tatti Lashes – worth around £10 – were applied as he “never uses natural eyelashes”, and my eyes were made to look larger by adding eyeshadow underneath my eye.

Having big, pouty lips is essential to being a Love Island bombshell, so to make mine look three times the size without an injection of filler, he lined outside my lips.

He then drew over my lips with the pencil so I wouldn't have an obvious line that didn't blend.

Then it was the moment of truth and time for the big reveal – and I was stunned when I saw the finished result.

I looked totally unrecognisable and I not only looked like a different person, but felt like one too.

With my pores gasping for air, Mikey moved onto my lacklustre hair.

Ensuring I looked like the ultimate reality star show pony, he fixed a £180 hair piece from Flip In Hair onto the top of my head within seconds.

Ensuring I looked like the ultimate reality star show pony, Mikey fixed a £180 hair piece

Giving me instantly fuller and longer wavy locks, I fell in love with my new hairstyle immediately and never wanted to take the real-hair extensions out.

No Love Island transformation is complete without strutting your stuff in a bikini and towering heels.

I enlisted the help of celebrity stylist Ellis Ranson, who works with I Saw It First, the fashion brand that dresses the girls in this year’s villa.

HAIR PRODUCTS MAKE-UP BY MIKEY USED

• Flip In Hair – £180
• Cloud Nine Waving Wand – £109
• Cloud Nine Wide Iron – £149
• Show Beauty Working Texture Spray – £30
• Living Proof Body Builder – £10

TOTAL – £478

I was relieved when Ellis picked a neon bikini Amber has worn and a bright pink, high-waisted two-piece off the rack instead of the more revealing thong or underboob options.

Stripping off for the camera was nerve-racking, but with my hair and make-up fully transformed, I said goodbye to the old me and embraced my inner Love Island diva.

While some people come alive in front of the camera, I was an awkward mess and had no idea how the girls look so at ease and care-free in their shots.

I was relieved when Ellis picked a neon bikini off the rack instead of the more revealing thong or underboob options

Thankfully, for the official Love Island cast pictures, the girls usually opt for poses that are as cheesy or sassy as possible, so there were plenty of positions to copy.

We even threw in a float for the full effect.

So what did I learn from spending two hours in the make-up chair and doing multiple outfit changes in wardrobe?

Being a villa babe is certainly not an easy task at all.

When it comes to the fashion, you have to constantly make sure you don't have a wedgie and haven't fallen out of your outfit.

And you literally can't touch your face at all or you'll have to spend an extra 15 minutes in hair and make-up to make it look flawless once more.

But, let’s be honest, dressing like an Islander is A LOT of fun.

Not ready to say goodbye to my Love Island alter ego, I kept the make-up on for an evening event after the shoot and it's clear the effect certainly has pulling power.

I got asked out on a date by a stranger who seemed to love the OTT, glam look and who wanted to go for a drink.

All I can say is Love Island villa 2020….watch out!

Here are Love Island’s lookalikes – from Paul Hollywood to Michelle Visage and more.

And get the Love Island merchandise, from water bottles to phone cases. 

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