ren - exfoliating body balm

Seeing as summer has fast approached us, we all need to amp up on our skincare throughout the warmer season as theres a whole lot more body on show these days and dry skin is a definite no-no!

Rens exfoliating body balm is the product of choice for me, exfoliating the skin is a key part to keeping your skin smooth, supple and flake free.

The body balm is full of beautiful oils which for starters smell heavenly but adorn the skin in rich moisture, its grainy texture removes dead skin cells allowing the oils to penetrate deeply for perfectly nourished skin.

Basil, peppermint and olive oil along with guarande sea salt make this the perfect combination for dry skin, they gently exfoliate, moisturise and nourish the skin, apply to dry skin before your bath/shower or for a gentler treatment apply to wet skin and rinse off.

I've been literally loving this the past few weeks and can't see myself putting it down anytime soon, I can imagine this being a lovely winter product too as the scent is very refreshing and uplifiting, so its large size tub will keep you going for a long while!

Have any of you tried Rens body products, I'd love to hear your opinions on them!

Lots of love, Frankie xxx

foundation favourite

As some of you may know, i previously worked for Clarins, during this time i discovered a few firm favourites and one of them is the True Radiance foundation.

True Radiance is literally the most beautiful, flawless-inducing foundation i have ever used, and believe me i have tried ALOT.

The formula is very lightweight but incredibly dewy, i would say a little powder is neccesary with this product just on the T zone, im someone who is more on the drier side and even this is a little

too dewy for me, as i said having drier skin makes this foundation a god send for me as it has some really fantastic skincare properties, shea butter nourishes the skin feeding it some well needed moisture, whilst moringa seed makes the skin luminous and bright.

The photo above just shows the product lightly buffed with my fingers, personally i use a duo fibre or stippling brush to give the most natural effect, the pigmentation is very high considering it feels so sheer and lightweight on the face.

I would even go as far as saying this is my holy grail foundation, it lasts all day, is natural, yet flawless without feeling cakey on the skin and just gives everyone ive ever applied it to the most perfect looking skin whilst remain soft and dewy!

What are you favourite foundations and are there any that you reccomend i give a try, and have any of you tried this particular foundation, what are you thoughts on it?

See you all soon, Frankie ♥

P.s

I have created a group for all you fellow bloggers/vloggers out there, its a group where you can share your links for your current content and meet like minded people, feel free to join and add your work!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/507521156065289/

the five minute everyday face

Minimal makeup is definitely my go-to right now, anything that takes longer than five minutes to apply just doesnt cut it for me right now!

My approach to makeup has changed drastically since changing jobs, from working in a department store as a makeup artist/beauty manager i learned how to apply makeup quickly and effectively with minimum effort and it is something that since leaving that career i still put into practise everyday!

The Base

The best way to look fresh faced and awake is to always apply a great moisturiser which works as a base for the products you will apply later on, seeing as this is a quick and easy look, i use the Dr Jart BB cream, this has a shed load of fantastic qualities for your skin to literally drink up, it contains serum, moisturizer and fantastic coverage all in one little tube, along with a beautiful radiant glow,

 it really is amazing!

If im feeling suitably pale i will just roughly contour and bronze myself using Soleil Tan De Chanel - Chanel, using a medium sized brush i just sweep this in the hollows of my cheeks and then naturally where the sun would hit my face just to give myself a healthy glow, something my face usually never has the honour of having!

On the apples of my cheeks i dab a little of the Max Factor Miracle Touch Creamy Blusher, again a very quick and versatile product which creates a really lovely dewy glow.

Eyes

To fill in my brows i use the Sleek Brow Kit just to fill out the shape a little and make them a little darker than usual as my brows are very light, and for mascara the Chanel Le Volume is perfect for a one application wonder, its the blackest formula i know and the easiest for full foolproof thick lashes!

Lips

If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know i am a huge bold lip coveter, think Mac Candy Yum Yum & brighter and I'm all over it, but when it comes to a natural quick look it has to be something that i dont need to line my lips with and if it wears off throughout the day doesnt neccasarily need touching up, my go to shade for that is Mac Pink Plaid, it is the perfect everyday berry pink colour that is fuss free and just looks a little more polished than wearing nothing at all!

So that concludes my five minute everyday face, and even though they take little time to apply the longevity of the products generally last me a whole day without the need to retouch throughout the day which is the best part of it all!

What are you fool proof everyday products, let me know below.

Lots of love, Frankie ♥

Life Update.. Blogging again, weight loss & getting engaged..

After procastinating over and over for the past few months, i've finally logged back into blogger and now im here writing this post for you all!

Sooo, whats happened over the past 6 months?

I thought i had literally done nothing so far but writing this post made me realise actually quite a lot has happened since my last post, weve finally moved back in with Samuels parents, a major shock to my system living with other people but we are already half way through our journey here and suprisingly to me im feeling quite settled here recently (thats not to say i dont massively miss my own space and cravings for all white interiors) but thats all to come and for now i will have to lust over pinterest and gather ideas for when we move.

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In my last blog entry i had said how i wanted to lose the weight i had gained from being on medication and i can say i have succesfully managed to shed a ton of weight, 61 lbs or 4 stone 4lbs to be precise!

I lost the first 31.5 lbs myself, just by literally coming off of medication and allowing my body to adjust to the changes it had gone through, but during this transition i joined Slimming World, where i lost the remainding 29.5 lbs through there plan and also through light exerce at the gym and regular sessions at the local pool!

Losing weight has made a HUGE difference to my life, pshyically, mentally and to be completely frank, looks wise too! 

I feel comfortable in my own skin now, and finally feel like me again, a lot of the reason i hadnt posted much on here recently was due to the fact i was going through a huge lifestyle change and i really want to give you all the best of me and i just wasn't happy before.

Now you can look forward to much more fashion and beauty hauls, and i will finally feel comfortable posting outfit of the day posts on here, i literally cannot wait!

I still have around another half a stone i want to lose to be completely where i want to be but im so close now and really, if i had to stop now id be happy where I've gotten to :) 

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Im sure you can see by the title i also have some more amazing news to share with you all..

IM ENGAGED!!!

I literally never thought the day would come where Samuel would finally ask me to be his wife, i am so over the moon and so excited to be on such an amazing journey with the love of my life!

I have now become a Pinterest bride-to-be obsessor and have a million different ideas of how i would like our day to be, i believe we have a date set in our minds of when we would like it to be (around May 2017) so i have lots of time to plan everything and a lot more time to be saving!

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Andddd... finally as some of you may be aware, i have a new blog layout/background and this has given me a new lease of life when it comes to blogging again, i finally feel like im in a place where i can dust off the macbook and type away to my hearts content.

Im so happy to feel back in the swing of things again, in my life and with my little space on the internet too, everything just feels so good right now and im going to be sharing it all with you along the way!

I do hope you have enjoyed reading my little update and i would love to hear from you all how your doing too?

Lots of love, Frankie xxx

What I Got For Christmas 2014

Hello lovelies, so following from my post the other day about my the Lancome perfume i received for Christmas from my lovely Samuel, i had a few requests on instagram to follow up with the rest of what i received, so here it is!

As most people state in these types of videos, im not in anyway bragging or showing off, im simply showing you guys what i received, i am extremely grateful for all of my presents, big or small :)

I do hope you like this video and please let me know what else you would like me to film for you, i was also thinking of doing a Q&A video, so please leave your questions below for me or tweet me @frankiebooblog 

Lots of love, Frankie xXx

My Current 'Go To' Makeup Look..

With new year, brings new makeup and with new makeup brings new seflies!

Only kidding, but i have been keen to show you my current look ive been sporting over the last few months!

Ive been seriously into gold shadow all over the lids recently, no liner and a slick of black Bare Minerals Lash Domination mascara and my eyes are good to go, well it sounds easy but this gold look actually takes three different products to perfect that true 'gold' look..

Mac Paint Pot - Let Me Pop 

(please excuse the curly hair and unplucked brows - keeping it real)

Lancome Pigment - 10

Mac Mineralize Duo - Spiced Metal 

The products ive been using recently have literally become staples in my everyday routine, the Dior - Airflash foundation is literally my saviour with the cold weather weve got in the UK at the moment as it provides the perfect coverage without drying my skin out even further, a light dusting of the Clarins - Everlasting powder foundation and using my Collection concealer in light to highlight the under eye are, my face makeup doesnt budge all day, and i mean literally ALL DAY, finish off with a light dusting of my new favourite blush - Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick - Nectar and my face is complete. 

Using the Estee Lauder - Brow Pencil in 2 i lightly fill in my brows so they're more defined, i do love a good brow and this product fills them in perfectly without that obvious 'drawn on' look.

A little swipe of Mac - Sunny Seoul lipstick over my lips and im good to go.

What are your go to makeup products recently, and if you have any reccomendations for me let me know in the comments below, hope your all having a good week? 

Frankie xXx

Ps: i will be filming a youtube video this week and was wondering what you guys would like to see? let me know x

New Year, New Beginnings..

2014 left us as quickly as 2015 found us, it was such a fast year with many different things that we left there, me and samuel moved into another rental house, i started a new career, we had four lovely kittens and went on a lovely holiday with the parents, even though these seems like really huge things i didnt feel like i achieved anything in 2014.

2015 has huge things set out for Me & Samuel, we are moving out of our rental home in two weeks to go back to Sam's parents as we are saving for a mortgage, we have always wanted to own our own home and moving out at a young age meant we could never afford to do it whilst renting, were so lucky to have a second chance to go home and be able to save as, as lovely as it is having your own space, renting is such a huge waste of money, we are currently paying out around £1300 a month with rent and bills and it just seems like we are throwing money down the drain!

Im almost certain im going to miss my own space but it wont be long and we will have it back again, in the form of our very own home that we actually own!!!

During our stay at home we will both be finally driving, we both know how to physically drive we just havent ever passed our practical/theory tests so as soon as we pass those we will be buying a little car and on the road finally, we are quite old considering most people our age have been driving for around 7-8 years we again just could never afford it whilst renting so this is one of the big things i cant wait to do :)

We are going to Barcelona in three weeks time, so this will be a well needed break away after a hectic move, it will be our 7 year anniversary whilst we are there and i cant wait to finally celebrate an anniversary in another country, we have wanted to do this for the previous years before hand and never got around to doing it so im very excited and looking forward to some quality time away with Samuel <3

The last thing on my list for 2015 is to lose weight, i know most people have this as their new years resolution but i really have to, some of you may know from reading my blog that i gained weight from anxiety medication i was taking for previous years, well i am now off the medication and have already lost quite alot of weight just by stopping them so this year is the final push for me to get back to where i used to be!

So as you can tell this year ahead of us has some big things in store for Me and Sam, fingers crossed this time next year i will be writing a new blog post from my new house with a new year to look forward to!

What are your plans for 2015 and do you have any new years resolutions, let me know i love hearing about them all :)

Frankie xXx

Lancôme - Le Vie Est Belle

So i had planned to do the typical beauty blogger christmas edition 'what i got for christmas' post, uhmming and ahhing over whether or not to do that post i decided i would just stick to what i know best and keep it simple and post about the products i love, there is so much scepticism over those posts that i just wasnt sure if it would be a viable move (although if you would like to see a post about it comment and let me know, you may wangle me round!).

I had been banging on and on about Le Vie Est Belle to everyone for so long, i spray it at work continuously on myself and ive probably upped Lancome's sales over the last few months by promoting it so much, but i just didnt own it.

Everyone who knows me, knows im a pefume fiend, my collection is ever growing, but never big enough and i just knew LVEB had to become a staple in my collection!

Samuel had a nudge in the right direction by the mother in law and this landed in my present stash this christmas, i was over the moon as i didnt expect anyone to have remembered me talking about it and that i finally owned my own!

The scent at first is very sickly sweet, but bare with it, when it warms down it is the most beautiful sweet but elegant scent, the notes contain Iris, Orange blossom, Jasmine and Patchouli and considering the notes are floral this fragrance is actually not very floral at all, although you can definitely smell the Iris when first sprayed, the fragrance is warm and inviting, perfect for the cold winter months.
LVEB really lingers around for a long time so even if you only go for a small bottle it will last you a super long time, i sprayed this on my scarf christmas day and i could still smell it when i picked up my scarf yesterday, so your talking a good week and it smells just as beautiful as when i first applied it!

If you ever go past a Lancome counter please have a little test of this fragrance as im sure you will love it as much as i do, a big thankyou to Samuel for getting it for me!

Frankie xXx

Lancome - Le Vie Est Belle from £39+ 

Life Update, Birthday, Kittens & More..

Hey guys!
So I know its been a very long time since I last blogged and I do have my reasons this time!

Life has been very manic, I started a new job with a luxury skincare and cosmetics company (I wont name them as they have no affiliation with my blogging) its been fantastic and have enjoyed many weeks in London training, with the odd luxury dinner and hotel thrown in there for good measure.

We've had four little extra babies join our household, in kitten form of course ;)

 

 

They are all absolutely adorable, the final two are leaving home tomorrow and im super sad, I've been in tears this evening at the thought of them all being gone now, but very happy as they all have really lovely homes to go to with lots of new places to explore!

 

Aside from all the mania at home Myself and Samuel finalllyyyyy went on holiday this year for the first time in over 3 years, it was extremely well overdue, we actually went with his parents as we had never been away with them before.

 

 

We stayed in Matagorda in Lanzarote (where me and Sam had our first ever holiday together 7 years ago) and it was actually a really lovely time, we ate delicious food, visited beautiful underground caves and visited the old town where we first went all those years ago, of course there was a little shopping involved which I will be filming a haul video of very soon :)

 

The past few months have been a whirlwind, as my readers will know I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks and have previously been on medication for this which I can say after a manic few months of being all over the place I am finally medication free and have been for almost 8 weeks now and I feel so free and happy to finally be rid of the awful things, don't get me wrong I do still have all the same problems as before, I just manage them a lot better now with the added bonus of feeling like ME again!

 

See.. I told you I had my reasons ;)

Im really glad to be back to blogging again, I've been wanting to write a post for a while now but just needed the right time to come for me to get back into the swing of things and finally feel ready with myself to do so!

 

There are some huge things coming my way for 2015 and I literally cannot wait to share my journey with all you lovely readers, for now lets concentrate on Christmas and what the festive season brings us!

 

Lots of love, Frankie xXx

 

 

 

 

Aveda - Damage Remedy - Daily Hair Repair

Ever damaged your hair so badly you believe it's beyond repair? *raises hand* yea that's me!

After spending the majority of my late teens over dying, straightening, curling and excessive blow-drying I had well and truly ruined my lovely long hair! 

Cutting it all off was just the first step and I literally couldn't believe I had super short hair after years of growing it, but the damage was still quite apparent through my hair as I had applied chemicals to it for so long i knew it needed some extra treatment, so off I went to my local department store to seek out the miracle product to get my hair back to feeling new and nourished.

Having a little wander around the beauty department the Aveda stand caught my eye, with those super large bottles of shampoo and conditioner, how could it not? 

I knew the brand must be great as the demand must be high for their products to carry bottles that large! 

Explaining my hair woes to the sales assistant she recommended to me the Daily Hair Repair from the Damage Remedy range, a product she uses herself due to her own over-dyed platinum blonde locks, she told me this literally saved her hair from falling out, I instantly snapped it up and couldn't wait to head home to try it out! 

I was quite sceptical at first as the product itself is a rather strange consistency, it's almost like a serum/gel that you apply to wet hair and leave in, it seems almost like your applying conditioner to your hair, but after drying (no heat protectant used as it already has this in the product, perfect for lazy girls like me) my hair felt nourished, soft and supple with the hair repair literally undetectable! 

• Certified organically-derived quinoa protein penetrates hair to instantly repair damage and strengthen from the inside out.
• Wheat protein helps protect from heat stylingâsuch as blow-drying and ironing.
• Soy-derived oil detangles to help prevent further damage and breakage.
• Certified organic essential oils including bergamot, mandarin and ylang ylang provide an uplifting aroma.

I've been so impressed with this product, that along with my holy grail; Moroccan oil, I've added this to my hair routine consistently for months, I'm down to the very last drops of this and it's lasted for well over 9 months as you only need a 10p piece size amount for even long hair like I have and ill definitely be re-purchasing come payday!

Have any of you tried this or another product by Aveda as I'm super keen to try some of their other products too, let me know :) 

Hope your all having a wonderful week so far? Lots of love Frankie x

Aveda Daily Hair Repair - £22.50