9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Tasha Ghouri swears by product she's used since before Love Island
We initially fell in love with Tasha Ghouri when she made history as Love Island's first - and currently only - deaf contestant, stealing our hearts all over again in the 2024 season of Strictly Come Dancing. Now, three years since first hitting our screens, Tasha has even bigger dreams of proving that 'disability is beautiful'.
The 26-year-old and proud cochlear implant user has often showed her 1.4 million followers exactly that, regularly sharing her go-to makeup looks and skincare picks. And this week, we sat down with the beauty enthusiast to talk about her summer essentials, favourite brands and future career goals as part of our desert island beauty series.
For Tasha, the one thing she won't leave the house without is a polished brow (a girl after my own heart) - and to achieve that snatched, freshly-laminated look, she uses the Eyebrow Sculpt from minimalist beauty brand, Refy . 'I always like to have my brows done,' she said. 'That's probably the one beauty product I couldn't live without.'
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Tasha, who's become known for her effortless, fresh-faced beauty, has long been a fan of the 'clean girl' aesthetic, which is something Refy as a brand embodies. 'I've used Refy since before Love Island,' she explained. 'Their products are super, super clean girl and that's the vibe I really go for. I like a natural kind of glam.'
Priced at £18, Refy Brow Sculpt is a wax-gel hybrid that works to sculpt, shape, and set eyebrows for a 12-hour hold. Flake-free with a zero-residue finish, it's sweatproof and waterproof, and was recently reformulated to be even better, infused with nourishing ingredients like Provitamin B5 and Glycerin.
Wax-gel hybrid to sculpt, shape, and set eyebrows for a 12-hour hold
It's racked up a near-perfect 4.9 star rating from shoppers, based on more than 3,800 reviews, which is a real testament to its adoration. One shopper commented: 'Brow sculpt has been the best product for my brows . I love it. I tell everyone to use it. It's perfect for creating that laminated look and they don't move all day. I'd never use anything else now.'
Another added: 'This is my favourite product for my eyebrows, once I style them and brush them they stay like that all day.'
However, while the product was reformulated, the applicator remained the same and some users haven't got along with it as well as others, commenting: 'I really like this product. I use it every day, it keeps my eyebrows in place from morning to night. However, I can't get a result I like with the integrated brushes so I use another one.'
Refy's Brow Sculpt isn't just useful for taming brows, though. Tasha admits the Refy Brow Sculpt has come in handy for more than one beauty emergency. 'If I have greasy hair, I can just use the glue to slick my hair back.' Hack well and truly noted.
Similar products come in the form of Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze Gel, which is £24, and according to Space NK, has sold more than 100 this week alone. Like Refy, it's a hybrid wax-gel formula that lifts and locks the brows in place while increasing volume. For a more affordable alternative, e.l.f. Brow Laminating Gel has more than 16,000 ratings on the Boots website, costs £8 and has been described as 'e.l.f's strongest hold yet for nailing that laminated brow look'.
While Refy sits comfortably somewhere in the middle of budget and high end in terms of pricing, Tasha's makeup kit is a real mix of high street heroes, cult favourites and premium beauty. 'I use Refy, L'Oréal Paris, Rimmel, Maybelline, Rare Beauty, Armani - their Eye is incredible - and Charlotte Tilbury. It's a complete mix of different brands. I'm lucky to be in a position where I get gifted beautiful makeup and get to play around with it.'
When it comes to her current go-to products, though, Refy tops the list, particularly their cream bronzer. She said: 'My favourite bronzer is the Refy one as well, I use shade tan, especially if I'm a bit more tanned, that's the one I like to use.
'Blushes I use a completely different mix, the Armani blushes are really really nice, a nice cheek tint. I recently discovered Morphe. They have a really nice new triple palette , I just used that on holiday and it added a really nice glow. And then if I want a more subtle blush I like Charlotte Tilbury Pinkgasm .'
It's no surprise that Tasha holds Refy close to her heart. She's long admired founder Jess Hunt, both for her brilliant product formulations and her commitment to real inclusivity. 'I've actually been a fan of Jess Hunt from day one, so I followed her for many, many years. She's one influencer I've looked up to who's been in this industry for such a long time. I remember when she launched Refy and thought, 'She's going to nail this.'
'But what was so great about the brand was the diversity. That's what I really love. It wasn't all the same people, everyone was different. I think she used people with disabilities, and I think that's so lovely. Refy knows what their brand stands for and it's about showing your beauty, not hiding it.'
But while Refy might be doing it right, Tasha is candid about how much work still needs to be done in the industry. 'There definitely still needs to be more movement,' she said. 'Even on brand trips, I never see anyone with any kind of disability. It's actually really sad. There's a big space in the industry for that, but it's often overlooked or treated as a tick box. True inclusivity means continuing the momentum, not just doing it once.'
As a beauty enthusiast and disability advocate, Tasha's dream is to be the face of a makeup brand. 'I'd love to be the face of Charlotte Tilbury one day. Or Refy, I think that would be so lovely as I've used them for so long. I can see myself doing that. Or a skincare brand like Aveeno. Just to show that disability is beautiful because we need to be included so much more.
'There's still such a stigma around what beauty is, that it has this perfect, gorgeous look when everyone is beautiful in their own way. I feel that it still needs to break down those barriers and push beyond that.'
