MAC Lipstick Giveaway Winner..

As many of my lovely followers will know i recently ran a giveaway for a MAC lipstick and im pleased to announce the winner..

The lovely Divya from the blog Peony and Peach has won a lipstick of her choice :)

Congratulations on winning my love, and for all the others who entered a big thankyou to you all!

Dont forget to follow my blog for more giveaways coming up soon, Lots of love Frankie xXx

High Coverage Foundations.. Double Wear VS Derma-Blend..

I think i've tried possibly every foundation out there, too light, too dewy, cakey, not enough coverage, anything sound familiar?

Estee Lauder - Double Wear Maximum Coverage £28.50 & Vichy Derma-Blend £15.50

These two beauties, the current 'high coverage' foundation favourites have finally graced my face, but what they are like in terms of covering up my acne scarring?

For a whole day i wore both of these foundations, Double Wear on one half and Derma-Blend on the other, i wanted to put them to the test literally 'side by side' and see how good they really held up!

Excuse the wonderful hairband and messy bun, i had been out all day and needed to throw my hair up :)

DW Maximum Coverage - Camouflage Makeup is described as: Soothing, natural-looking, liquid-creme makeup for concealing all skin imperfections, including surgical and acne scars, birthmarks, sun spots and varicose veins.

DW Maximum coverage is a higher coverage foundation to its predecessor the 'original' double wear foundation, as you can see from the photo it is VERY high coverage, it literally covers my tattoo completely in one application so you can see how well it will work on scars etc, this is an absolutely lovely foundation to wear, considering im usually someone who hates 'heavy coverage' foundations because of the consistency and thickness to them, this is absolutely nothing like that, it actually feels really light on the skin, as you need hardly any of the product for it actually to work, so it doesn't leave you with that cakey feeling, and you dont look like you actually have a ton of product on your face for it to actually be covering anything.

DB Cosmetique Corrective is described as: a range of camouflage coverage product for irregular skin tone, redness, minor acne scars, enlarged pores, dark circles and pigmentation disorders.

DB is not as heavy coverage as the DW, i mean it is very high in terms of coverage but with a lighter consistency meaning it is easier to sheer out than DW, if you prefer a sheer finish with good coverage than this is definitely the one out of the two for you, i thought this wouldve been my favourite out of them both but actually i suprisingly prefer the DW just because the coverage and feel is second to none, dont get me wrong this foundation looks beautiful on the skin and in the photos you cant really tell much difference, but after wearing them side by side for a whole day this one just didnt stand up compared to the DW.

Close up of my skin wearing both the foundations, you can see how well they cover any scarring, i know you can see my pores and dipping in the skin from having previous acne but my whole reasons for trying these out was solely to see the coverage and not filling pores etc (although both do a very good job at those).

Overall i do absolutely love the coverage they both give but if i had to choose one of these to use as a foundation to really cover up scarring and a multitude of sins i would hands down choose Double Wear, it lasted on my skin for the whole day without budging, smearing or looking cakey, my skin looks, in my opinion 'healthy' and awakend, dont get me wrong the Derma-Blend did match pretty on par, but there just was too many good things i could say about the DW that made it stand out as a winner for me.

If your looking for a high coverage foundation then i would 100% recommend trying these out as there are two price points there you can choose from so you dont have to spend an absolute fortune if you dont want to, they are both fantastic foundations and i would say they are worth there weight in gold if youve been searching for a the 'miracle' product that finally covers up everything youve been trying to hide for years, from acne scars to rosacea and post surgery bruising, these will be without a doubt your holy grail foundation for a life time..

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as i enjoyed testing it out and writing up.

Have any of you tried these foundations, if so what are your thoughts on them? Let me know :)

Lots of Love Frankie :)

Thought id leave you with a geeky photo of me, i dont share many photos of my face so here i am :D xXx

Revlon Photoready Skinlights - Face Illuminator..

Afternoon my lovelies, how is your bright and sunny monday going? Im currently at home today as ive come down with an awful cold and sickness fluey bug and feel absolutely awful so im dedicating today to being lazy, drinking tea and blogging from under the blanket :(

Ive been wanting to write a post about this for a while as the product has been sitting in my stash for a while now but i never really knew how to use it so i wanted to test it out first so i knew exactly how it worked so i could tell all you wonderful girls (and the occasional boy) about it :)

I decided to purchase the colour 'Pink Rose 200' as it was my favourite shade from them all and i wanted it more as a highlighter than a bronzing product, the shades you can pick up currently are:

100 Bare Light
200 Pink Light
400 Bronze Light

The above 2 photos are from the beautiful Kaye's Post:http://beautifulkayekie.com/2013/05/29/revlon-skinlights-are-back-in-photoready-form/ here, as her swatches are unreal and she has all the colours to show you and the most informative post out there on these delights, she shows you how to apply them, where and how to :)

After reading Kaye's blog post i realized how much i actually now want all of the shades as you can really works wonders on the face with all them if you know how to correctly apply them, although for now i am very happy with the shade i picked up.

Swatch on my hand above, you can see my skin colouring and how pretty it looks even on a pale toned skin.

Pink Light is a champagne toned highlight, it reminds me of the MAC Strobe Cream with a pinkier tone to it, its beautiful as a cheek and brow bone highlight over makeup just light buffed on the skin with my Mac contour brush or a Real Techniques contour brush as the are slightly tapered meaning you can really work the product into the smallest of areas, i also love to run this over the nose and on the cupids bow to really accentuate the lips, infact i used this on one of my clients last weekend for her birthday party and it looked absolutely beautiful with her complexion!

'My client, makeup done by me*'

My favourite way to use this product is to actually mix it in with my foundation, my favourite product to use is the YSL Touche Eclat, as it has radiance properties in its own formula so mixing it with a small amount of the Skin-lights gives the most flawless, radiant, dewy finish you could ever imagine, it really is the most beautiful way of applying the Skin-lights to the face and then adding touches of it in the areas i explained above over the top just to set it off, in the photo above i applied the skin-lights to my client with the YSL foundation and you can see how it gives a lovely peachy glow without looking heavy or cakey, they actually blend really well together making the formula really easy to apply!

There are a few downsides to the product, and that is, if you have large pores, scarring, etc the product can tend to reveal these slightly, so on myself as i do suffer with this i just apply it as a highlight rather than on my whole face, it can also make oily skin types looker 'oilier' so a powder is needed with this!

Overall im absolutely in love with the Skin-lights and as soon as i recover from this horrid illness i will be straight off to my local drugstore to pick up the other two as i definitely want to re-create the look from Kaye's blog post!

Hope your all having a wonderful day and dont forget to let me know what youtube videos you would like me to film as i am starting them this week :)

Lots of love, Frankie xXx

P.s I have a new facebook page for you all, search Frankie Boo Blog and like the page for more regular updates and photos from me :)

Freelance Make-up Artistry, My Story..

So i figured ive been blogging For a while now and i haven't ever really gotten into much about my personal life, of course there has been little snippets along my blogging journey but never deep enough to get much of an idea about myself, so i thought i would write a post about being a freelance makeup artist and how i went about doing so, here goes..

From an early age i'd had a deep routed love for makeup, i don't know if its because my dad never wanted me to wear the stuff or if something had swayed me down that road without me realizing, its strange because my mum absolutely hates makeup and i think in the 40 years of her being on this earth ive seen her wear eyeshadow maybe once or twice, i think maybe the fact that i was swerved away from makeup made me really intrigued into why i wasn't being told to avoid it, its like when you tell a child to stop biting there nails, they do it even more, i think i had this reaction to beauty products.

It was when i first moved out of home that i knew i could finally get into working freelance as i would have the time and space to dedicate my time to it, and the fact that i had moved from the countryside to a town made it more accessible for me to reach a bigger client base, i decided i was going to trade under my 'real' name, Frances Clarke as to me it sounded more professional than Frankie, i kept it simple: Frances Clarke Makeup Artist.

I designed and produced my own business cards and basically handed them out to everyone willing to take one, hairdressers, salons, barbers etc, and of course family and friends as they talk about you work to anyone who will listen :)

These were fairly cheap to create, i designed them on VistaPrint and i think it cost around £11 for 500 cards!

I then decided i should start up my own website, i brought a domain name and created my first ever business site, you can find it here: www.francesclarkemua.co.uk it features my portfolio of work, prices and an information section of what i can possibly do for you!

Getting my name out there at first was a slow process, i advertised through my facebook, and created a facebook page for my business for people to like and i regularly updated it with my photos of my work, questions and answers, and just simple marketing to get my name out there, it definitely helped alot as many of my friends and friends of friends got in touch with my for bridal makeup and proms etc, currently so far i have done 3 weddings, 2 proms, handfuls of birthdays and general makeup for girly nights out, ive also hosted my own pamper party at my home where i had lots of friends and family come for an evening of makeup, nails and hair, it was a fantastic evening and definitely spread my name out there even more!

Even though i havent ever had any 'official' makeup artistry training i feel i am doing well as ive only been doing it for just under a year now, ive had such good feedback from clients who have hired me and have also had a few come back to me for other occasions, i definitely do want to go and further my skills by doing a course but i just have to figure out some time in my busy lifestyle to be able to go and get it done.
I do currently work a 9-5 full time job in an interior design showroom, aswell as blogging in my spare time, i have a very hectic schedule but i love it and thrive on the fast pased lifestyle, eventually i would love to fulfill my dreams of being a fulltime makeup artist/blogger as im way to creative to be sat in a showroom all day with someone elses creativity to market!

Onwards and upwards, i will leave you with some examples of work i have done recently so you can get an idea of where i am in my career now..

I hope you enojoyed reading this post and for any of you wanting to get into a career in makeup artistry please dont ever hesitate to email me: frankiebooxx@gmail.com im always here to answer your questions, i will at some point be posting about my makeup artistry kit and what you need to start out in the business, for now i shall love you and leave you, speak soon!

Lots of Love Frankie xXx

Lancome - DreamTone..

As soon as i saw this product was being released i knew i was going to have it, a 'beautiful skin correcter' YES PLEASE.

My reasons for getting this product are, as some of you may know, my acne scarring.
The product is aimed as a 'dark spot correcter' so im hoping this could be a product that could really reduce the appearance of them, there aren't as of yet many reviews out there on this so i definitely brought it on a whim, a very exspensive whim at that, priced at £69 a bottle this is definitely on the higher price point scheme of things, but the reviews i have read have all highly praised this at reducing marks on there skin, so fingers crossed this is money well spent.

WHO IS IT FOR?
DreamTone is for the woman seeking visible dark spot correction and a more even skin tone. She wants skin so naturally beautiful, she can dare to bare her skin.

WHAT IS IT?
DreamTone is a new generation skin tone clarifying serum that not only corrects the look of dark spots, but also goes beyond to correct the appearance of uneven skin tone and color imperfections. The serum is customized to skin's specific needs — such as treating the look of dark spots or redness.

WHAT DOES IT TARGET?
A global study on women of multiple ethnicities resulted in three formulas adapted to specific skin tones:
Fair: Corrects the appearance of dark spots, uneven skin tone, dullness and provides specific color correction for the look of redness
Medium: Corrects the appearance of dark spots, uneven skin tone, dullness and provides specific color correction for the look of sallowness (olive)
Dark: Corrects the appearance of dark spots, uneven skin tone, dullness and provides specific color correction for the look of acne & blemish marks

I purchased this lightest of the three serums, because im very pale, this seemed to be suited best to my skin type.

I really love the twist cap opening to DreamTone, it houses the liquid inside the bottle nicely so theres no way of any spillage, or the lid coming off in your bag, especially good for travelling with, the bottle is nice and sleek and looks lovely in my collection.
I also really love the design of the bottle, its a pink/purple toned ombre and is so different to any other product ive seen out there, so it really stands out what the product is.

As you can see the serum is very light, it has an almost pearlescent sheen to it but this completely dissapears when applied to your face, the fact it is has the sheen to it makes the face looks really illuminated and awake, it appears to make the skin look very fresh and clean so perfect for a base underneath makeup.

Im really looking forward to trying this product, i am going to start using it tommorow morning once ive done my usual skin routine and update you all in a few weeks to let you know how im getting on with it!

Have any of you heard of this product, or brought it, let me know as id love to hear thoughts on what its like!

Frankie xXx

P.S Just a quick announcement, i am going to be starting YouTube videos in the next coming days and was wondering if there was anything in particular you would like me to film, i love hearing your ideas so it would be fantastic to give you all your own requested videos, leave a comment below for me and il be sure to get it done for you xXx

The Autumn Tag..

I just had to do this tag, i absolutely LOVE Autumn, its my favourite time of year, its cosy, you can snuggle under blankets, light warm scented candles and best of all, its the lead upto CHRISTMAS ahh :)

So here it is, the Autumn tag!


For Autumn, what is your...


Favourite thing about it? I guess i kind of already answered this question above haha, i also love the changing in the colours of leaves, and you can wear warm jumpers, scarves, hats and gloves, also starbucks christmas cups come out around this time of year too :)

Favourite Drink? My favourite drink over the autumn months would have to be tea, I love having tea and biscuits in front of me on cold evenings, snuggled under my cosy fur blanket watching youtube videos, HEAVEN!

Favourite scent/candle? My favourite that ive been burning this year is Yankee Candle - Warm Spice or a new one i just got is YK Salted Caramel.

Best lipsticks? For Autumn i love deep purple/berry toned lipsticks, my usual go to one is MAC Rebel, and just recently i brought MAC Just A Bite which is perfect for this time of year, i wore it out a few nights ago and got lots of compliments on it.

Go to moisturiser? Is still my Origins Gin-zing, i still absolutely love it, ill definitely be repurchasing it, especially in the autumn/winter months as its super moisturizing so great when its windy outside to stop my skin drying out :)


Go to colour for the eye? Definitely copper and brown tones, like the leaves at this time of year, they are my go to colours, also i like burgundy eyes too!


Favourite Band/singer or music to listen to? I havent really got one at the moment, ive been working way too much to have listened to anything although all time i do love listening to Kanye West albums over and over.


Favourite outfit to wear? Anything comfy and cosy, preferably at home in my Abercrombie and Fitch tracksuit with my fluffy slippers on haha, during the day would be a pair of leggings/jeans with a cosy jumper, chunky heeled boots and a coat!


Autumn Treat? Marshmallows on the fire whilst watching the fireworks and a cup of hot chocolate with added marshmallows in it too :D


Favourite place to be? At home under the blanket with Samuel and the cats watching a film with a cup of tea and slippers on (i think i have a thing for wanting to be at home, cosy and being lazy haha)


Well that is my Autumn tag for you guys, hope you liked it and i look forward to hearing all of yours so i tag you all to do it too :)

Frankie xXx

Ren Gycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask..

One word.. HEAVENLY.

Seriously could a mask be any nicer? It literally smells like a cocktail, or a Solero lolly, anyone remember those?
This is down to the gorgeous ingredients, Natural Fruit Acids from Passion Fruit, Lemon, Grape and Pineapple,
Papain from Papaya these exfoliate the outer layer of the skin, encouraging cell turnover and smoothing fine lines, ok so i dont have 'fine lines' as of yet but this product is great for congested skin and as we all know my skin is definitely being given a huge clear out.

The consistency of the mask is light, it looks as if it would be really sticky but when you apply it to your face its actually not atall, infact it just slides on smoothly but stays perfectly, it is described as: A potent bio active peel mask designed to renew the complexion, reduce the appearance of fine lines and dramatically improve skin tone.

This mask definitely lives upto these claims in my opinion, i only just brought this and used it a few times so far and i can say its seriously cleaned my skin up, along with my Clarisonic i feel like my skin is brighter and more radiant already, after the first time using this i can say it really brought any small spots to the surface of the skin but they have faded very quickly using the Clarisonic everyday since.

Again, excuse the no make-up, i swear every post on my blog none of you see me looking 'normal' haha, i seriously need to update my blog with some photos where im not bearing all!

You can see the consistency in these photos, it gives you a lovely looking glow when your wearing the mask, not like those awful clay ones where they dry to your face and make you look awful, not to mention feel like pottery!

I thought this was going to be a peel of mask so i was suprised to see enclosed was a muslin cloth, you actually just leave the mask for 10 minutes and rinse of with the enclosed cloth dampened in warm water, i actually really like this as it doesnt dry on your face, i find it alot friendlier to my skin this way, and using the muslin cloth i know its going to completely remove impurities and any left over mask from my face.

The product does state you might feel a slight tingling when using the mask but personally i didnt feel a thing, other than pleasantness :)

The results from using the mask are:

Removes dead skin cells to renew the complexion.
Skin looks brighter, healthier, more radiant.
Helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Combats congestion, blackheads and blemishes.

Im super pleased i picked this up and i think this could be one of my favourite masks ive ever used, infact, yep it is :)

Have any of you tried REN products or the Gycolactic Mask yourselves, let me know how you got on with them!

Dont forget to enter my MAC lipstick giveaway below, you must be a follower of my blog for your entry to count!

Lots of love, Frankie xxx

MAC 100 Follower Give-away..

Evening my wonderful followers, so today i hit 100 GFC followers and to celebrate im going to be giving away a MAC lipstick of YOUR choice :)

Just simply enter via the rafflecopter below to have your chance to win, you also have to be a follower of this blog (GFC or bloglovin) for your entry to count :) happy blogging everyone!

Lots of love, Frankie xXx

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Favourite Haircare Products..

As the post title says it all it doesnt really need much explaining other than the fact that im going to give you a run down of all my favourite haircare products that 'i couldn't live without'.

Im going to split them into sections to make it easier for everyone as there a few different types of products in here, admittedly the majority of them are 'higher end' products but these just seem the best for my hair type, that isn't to say that there aren't fantastic drugstore products, an alternative to my shampoos and conditioners are the Aussie Hair-care ones, they are amazing the only reason i havent featured them in this post is because i currently dont have any at home to photograph for you :)

Moroccan Oil - Moisture Repair Shampoo & Conditioner, i love love love this stuff, its aimed at weakened and damaged hair, i definitely had this at the time of first purchasing these products, this was around the time i had ombre'd my hair and then had blonde highlights run through it aswell so my hair was damaged on the ends from all the colour i had put on my hair (thats what working at a hairdressers does to you haha)
This seriously relieved and soothed my dry brittle ends, i had no more breakage and my hair instantly felt stronger and in so much better health, i cant praise this stuff more, theres only one downside to these and thats the prices, Shampoo £16.55 Conditioner £17.25 saying that i would 10000% purchase these over and over again as they really are such amazing products.

Phillip Kingsley - Re-Moisturizing Shampoo & Conditioner, Ive only been using these for about two weeks now but i honestly believe these are working wonders for my hair, it feels refreshed, thicker, more moisturized everything is good about these products, even the price, i purchased these from the new M&S beauty hall and you can pick them up there for £10 each, £15 elsewhere!
They are aimed at coarse textured, or very wavy curly or frizzy hair, i dont have coarse or very curly hair, its just slightly curly/wavy now but can be very frizzy which is why i chose these and my frizz is definitely eliminated using these!

Moroccan Oil - Intense Hydrating Mask, another amazing product by Moroccan Oil, i got this at the same time as the shampoo and conditioner for the same reasons above so i wont get into too much detail, its a treatment that you use 1-2 times a week for around 5-7 allowing it to penetrate the hair before your usual hair cleaning routine!

Phillip Kingsley - Elasticer, i saw Amelia Lliana raving about this in so many youtube videos, her hair is SO amazing that i knew i had to have it, luckily before i purchased it i realised In-Style magazine are giving it away with this months issue so i picked up two :)
Ive only used this the twice so far so i cant comment hugely on it but so far it has given my hair a new boost of life, another treatment you use pre-shampoo although this one you use for 10-20 minutes!

Aveda - Damage Remedy - Daily Hair Repair, this is a leave in product once you have shampoo'd and conditioned, it instantly repairs and protects from heat styling, i use this everytime i wash my hair as it has the protectant in it for when i blowdry my hair and it works at keeping my hair frizz free and moistured - a must have for dry hair!

Percy & Reed - Totally TLC Hydrating Mask, this is a lovely mask for the hair, i only use this really around once a month (generally because i tend to forget about it) but i love the smell of this which is one reason i like to use it, it has marshmallow in it, where the wonderful smell comes from, it nourishes and strengthens stressed tresses and has coconut oil for deep conditioning and moisturizing, you leave this on for 10 minutes, again pre-shampoo.

Loreal - Ever Sleek - Absolute Smooth Intense Mask, considering this is a drugstore product its probably one of my favourites out of all the masks, its aimed at frizzy, overworked hair and its seriously good stuff, it says to leave it 3-5 minutes but i
usually leave it a little longer just because it works so well on my hair, it never leaves me with any product build up and blowdrying my hair after using this is heavenly.

Moroccan Oil - Treatment, all hair types and light, COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT THESE!!!
Does that explain it enough haha, i literally use these every single time i wash my hair, in dry hair, overnight left in so it deeply penetrates my hair, its the most amazing product you will EVER use!
It doesnt weigh down hair, its so light and non- greasy, even when you add it to dry hair it just soaks it all in and doesnt leave any residue, i have these two bottles and a small 25ml size of the all hair types version for travelling as theres simply no way im going anywhere without this EVER!
And the smell AHH, i could eat it, it smells so darn good!

Loreal Elvive - Extraordinary Oil, another drugstore favourite, this is such a good dupe for the Moroccan Oil, i brought this as an alternative for the Kerastase oil as i heard this was the same formula so i had to give it a go, i was pleased from the outset, only one draw back with this is if you do apply too much it is quite greasy so a little goes along way!

Bumble & Bumble - Secret Hairdressers Oil, another good product that id heard so many good things about, this is perfect for travelling as its very light and comes in a plastic bottle so good to throw in your suitcase if you have weight restrictions on your flight.
Another formula that can be greasy if you use too much, but atleast it will last you a long time that way!

Macadamia - Healing Oil Treatment, this was a late night TK Maxx shopping trip buy which i dont regret atall, firstly i got it for around £9 which is fantastic as its the 125 ml which retails for around £20, its a wonderful oil, the reason i brought this (other than the price) was that i had heard lots online about this brand, especially the hair masks that it was a must i try it, its a lovely oil, it smells beautiful and really penetrates the hair making it super shiny and soft!

Here are a few photos of my hair in the last few months so you can get an idea of what its like now :)


Writing this post made me realise how many haircare products i absolutely love but i wouldnt change it atall, im abit of a haircare hoarder/obsessive i will literally try everything once, and as i said before i do love a drugstore product too so never disregard them as you can find some hidden gems in the supermarket aisles so if these arent in your budget dont be afraid to hunt around for cheaper alternatives!

I really hope you liked this post as much as i enjoyed writing it, please leave some suggestions of posts you would like to see in the future as i love hearing your feedback on what you would like to see next :D

Lots of love, Frankie xXx