Love Island’s Glam Room was the best room in the villa

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Now that the cast of Love Island USA has officially reunited for more tears, confrontations and behind-the-scenes tea, fans can finally see which couples are still together in the outside world — and which friendships have survived beyond the walls of the villa. While some might argue that Casa Amor brought the biggest relationship tests of season 6, there was no place more important than the show’s Glamour Room. It’s where those real, meaningful friendships blossomed.

Located somewhere off the villa’s main stairwell, the glam room was exactly what it sounds like: a place where the women could gather and get ready for the day, equipped with dedicated hair and makeup stations, cabinets full of free beauty products and full-length mirrors. More than that, it seemed to become a safe haven for the cast of Love Island, where awkward conversations, heated arguments and sometimes even breakfast was served with hairspray and contour.

Olivia “Liv” Walker, this season’s first bombshell, tells PS that it was also where they were able to open up, get advice from the crowd and vent their frustrations – all while learning new beauty techniques and swapping clothes. “Watching the show back now, I can see how many big moments we had in the dressing room,” she says. “Our girl group was so strong; we supported each other. We fight like sisters, we get ready like sisters, we share clothes (and) makeup. But the best part about having the Glam Room as our own little space away from the guys was that we were able to open up and be very vulnerable.”

Walker says the “comfortable” atmosphere of the dressing room – a room fully stocked with Dyson styling products, First Aid skincare and Maybelline makeup, which she describes as “beautiful, stunning and every girl’s dream” – is an ideal retreat to let off steam or get advice from the other girls.

As the season progressed, you could see the islanders start swapping clothes, makeup, and beauty tips as they became more and more comfortable with one another, each trying to help the other look and feel as good as possible. Take the moment before the Casa Amor reunion, for example: The women came together as a united front in the glam room to help each other decide what to wear. The same goes for when they all ran to their closets to help Nicole Jacky pick out lingerie for her hideaway date with Kendall Washington. This led to some of the show’s most relatable scenes, which felt like friends helping someone get ready before a first date or running into an ex.

If you’ve ever bonded with someone in the ladies’ room, exchanged lipstick recommendations, complimented someone on their outfit, or gotten ready for a night out in front of the same mirror as your friends, this scenario might sound familiar. There’s no place or moment of connection that’s more universal, which is why it was particularly refreshing to see the friendships forged in this familiar terrain on Love Island.

Walker agrees, arguing that “getting ready is the best part of any night”, whether in the villa or at home. “It’s so much fun to do your makeup with your friends, get dressed up, do your hair. To be honest, a lot of us didn’t know how to use the Dyson Airwrap until Nicole came and showed us how to do curls,” she says.

On the show, Walker said the ritual of getting ready also helped ease tensions as the cast put aside their differences to help each other glam up. “One second someone’s doing it and the next they’re like, ‘Oh my God, would you mind putting winged eyeliner on me?'”

That camaraderie extended beyond filming, too; Walker revealed that the women had silly get-togethers backstage in the glam room, where they also took advantage of some of the free beauty offerings. “Leah, Kaylor and I did blind makeovers, with one of us sitting on the chairs in the dressing rooms and the other two slamming each other in the face and we couldn’t look,” she says, laughing. “We did blue eyebrows, did designs, and then moved on to the next person and the next person. Those were the funniest moments ever.”

The best thing about having the Glam Room as our own little space away from the boys was that we could open up and be very vulnerable with each other.

Walker also thanks co-star Serena Page, who helped her create a half-up braid, Leah Kateb, who did everyone’s pedicures, and Kaylor, who made sure her winged eyeliner looked nailed. Even now that she’s out of the villa, she says she still uses Leah’s favorite moisturizer, Weleda Skin Food ($20), as well as the Maybelline products that were introduced in the villa, particularly the Fit Me Pressed Powder ($9) and the 24-Hour Foundation Powder ($13). (She still gets on well with the Dyson styler.)

Ultimately, though, it wasn’t about the products or how someone had styled their hair that day. Rather, Walker says beauty was a way for her to unwind and socialise in a more relaxed way before the more stressful parts of the show. “It sounds silly, but when you’re putting on make-up and trying on clothes, you see people’s true personalities. You giggle and just talk about silly things, which you don’t necessarily always get in the villa because it’s about opening up and having those (serious) conversations.”

Amidst all the drama, relationship ups and downs, and unexpected moments of bonding that made this season of Love Island USA so compelling, the glamour room was the one constant – and that made it the secret sauce for the show’s success. The universal ritual of getting ready together helped bridge the gap between a reality show and real life, and to that we say: We’re excited.