We love a bit of self-care and all this time at home has really given us an excuse to look after ourselves inside and out. Each week, we'll be asking the celeb lot to share their Sunday self-care routines, because taking care of yourself is more important than ever.
This week it's all about Francesca Allen, the Love Island mega-babe who is now serving us plenty of fashion inspiration, tips and knowhow on her social channels. The 25-year-old owns her own clothing store Bonnie & Clyde Boutique in Essex, as well as co-founding salon Déjà-vu.
Francesca caught up with heat to tell us all about her self-care favourites, including the skincare brand that's helped cleared her skin, how she looks after her mental health and her top tips for fluffy brows.
On skincare
"My favourite products are by Environ, it’s like a specialist skincare brand. It’s quite expensive, but it lasts for ages and their products are so good. I suffered with acne quite badly when I was younger and they have literally changed my skin using these products. I love their Hydroxy Acid Sebu-Clearing Masque which is so good because you only need to leave on for ten minutes."
Fran is a huge fan of using SPF every single day, even indoors. Say it louder for the people in the back 👏🏻
"I’ve tried so many different things for my skin, I feel like I’ve done things that are really bad, like I even started using sun beds and things like that, which were the worst thing I could have done, because they just scar your face. But now I constantly use a retinol and alway make sure in the morning, even in England, that I put a SPF on."
On #extra beauty treatments
"I’ve had a vampire facial, it’s probably one of the worst things I’ve ever done! I remember I was sitting at my friends and she was having it done and I was like, ‘oh, go on then, let’s do it!’ The next day I had all grazes on my nose, on my cheeks… I looked like I had been roaming the streets, it was awful."
While vampire facials might not be for her, Francesca is a big fan of colonics.
"I have colonics though and it was something I was always so scared to do, but I love it now! If I’ve been on a long trip in a different country, not eating the food my body is used to, I’ll go and have that and all my bloating will go and I’ll just feel like a million dollars."
On her ultimate budget beauty buy
It's not all posh skincare and vampire facials for Fran, in fact, the shampoo and conditioner she swears by is an absolute barg.
"I use lots of shampoos and stuff, but my favourite go-to every single time has to be the Mane and Tail. I’ve used that shampoo and conditioner for years and even when I try really expensive ones, that’s still my favourite shampoo and conditioner. I’ve noticed that my hair is a bit thicker and just stronger."
AmazonOn keeping fit
Fran shares how she's been loving yoga in lockdown and how it's helped calm her busy mind.
"Recently I’ve been doing yoga which I never liked in the past. I’ve always done quite high-intensity things such as running, HIT training or boxing, but since lockdown and with me being home a lot, I’ve been doing yoga before bed and it just makes me sleep a lot easier. A lot of the time, when I lie in bed, I can just be thinking of loads of things I need to do tomorrow and doing yoga before bed really helps."
As for her go-to classes?
"I just follow random videos on YouTube really, I’ve got the Peleton app and they’ve got a couple of things on there as well, which is quite good."
Aside from yoga, the Love Island star explains how she's always been into fitness and has recently taken up running again.
"I love running, it’s probably one of the only times where I don’t actually think, I just put my music in and run. I usually do either 5 or 10k. I got really obsessed a long time ago and even on a hangover I used to run to my organic shop, which was about 6km away, have my juice and then run back home with a hangover. I don’t know how, I’d never do that now!"
Her love of sports has been instilled in her from a young age.
"At school, when they did the sports days, I was always running the 100 metres or the relay. I used to do 800m for school, because I always loved PE and sports. I used to play netball after school, I’ve always been active. I even went to the gym when I was quite young with my sister."
On brows
Francesca is famous for her gloriously thick and bushy brows and we absolutely needed to know every juicy detail. First tip? Put the tweezers DOWN.
"For a really, really long time, my mum never let me touch my eyebrows. I think the first time I actually did my eyebrows I was like 17. My mum was like, ‘you’re not taking anything away, you’ll end up with nothing like me’ and my friends wanted to get hold of my brows and I was said no, because I was scared of my mum! I think the best thing is literally to just let them grow out sometimes. I’ve had times where I’ve had them threaded and they’ve taken too much off, whereas letting them grow wild is the best thing, instead of keep attacking them."
Francesca was also kind enough to share her go-to products, and we have our credit cards at the ready.
"I also regularly tint them myself, I just use a professional one, but I’ve used the Eyelure one which is quite good. I just like regularly tinting them and letting them do their own thing."
"I use a brow coat all the time, I’ve started using this brow pencil and it’s so, so good. It’s [Clinique’s Superfine Brow Pencil {href='https://www.lookfantastic.com/clinique-super-fine-liner-for-brows-various-shades/11530782.html?' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' class='add-referrer-link'}), it’s really fine so you can get real natural brow strokes. That’s really good, because I don’t like my eyebrows looking like blocks. Before I used to be really into the full-on ‘Scouse brow’ look, but now I like them a bit more fluffier."
"Oh and I always have my brows laminated by Sal, who’s salihsworldon Instagram, he’s so so good."
On law of attraction
The Law of Attraction is everywhere at the moment with many of the celeb lot championing the cult-favourite book The Secret. What does Fran make of manifesting your dream life?
"I wouldn’t say I was super spiritual or anything like that, but I do think, if you think positively about an outcome of a situation, it does always tend to happen. You know, when you can be in a very negative mindset, you can do actions that you wouldn’t really realise you’re doing, because you’re being so negative about it."
"When I was younger, I was a bit more moody and I would let people ruin my day. Just one little comment. Now I’m so used to brushing things off because I wouldn’t want to give someone else the power of ruining your day. There can be nasty comments on social media, but they don’t really know you. As long as you know yourself, you’re fine."
On Instagram secrets
Looking to up your Instagram game? The 25-year-old has spilled the TEA.
"At the moment I’m liking more close up photos, where before I used to want the full outfit in shot. Now I quite like more up close and detailed shots, so whether that be the buttons or something like that. I always say ‘from the knee up!’ now.
"It’ll be either me grabbing my sister or one of my friends, but lately I’ve been using a tripod a lot, because obviously I can’t get my friends or my mum will be busy. My tripod has become my new best friend! At first I felt like a crazy person if I took it out in the street and I’d have my clicker and now I’m just so used to it. I don’t even care anymore, I have no shame. But it does take a lot longer like that, because you have to keep going back, looking, seeing if it’s right, then when you go back, you may not be standing in the right place."
AmazonOn life-changing books
"There’s one called Instinct by T.D Jakes and I guess it’s like a Christian outlook on life, but I really like that it’s just telling you to trust your instincts, that voice that tells you whether something is a right decision or a bad decision. If my body tells me I need to be wary of someone, I tend to go with it and it’s always worked out right in the end."
On June 21st plans
"I haven’t made any, I’m terrible! I’m not organised enough to actually have something planned, a lot of the places I wanted to go to are all fully booked now! So I’m actually probably going to be at home."
"We’re also taking my shop online soon, so when we’re able to go away I would really love to do a shoot somewhere a bit more beautiful. There are great places in the UK, but we can’t really travel away from our county can we? I don’t really know how it works. There’s a really big lavender field I want to go to."
"We’re also going to have launch parties for the salon when we’re finally allowed, I can’t wait for that and just seeing my friends and going for dinner, breakfast… anything! I am so desperate to just go into somewhere like Harrods or Selfridges and just go round to all the make-up counters and refresh my whole make-up bag."
Quickfire round:
Show you’re currently binging? I watched Bridgerton recently and I was addicted. I wasn't getting my work done because I was like, 'I need to find out what happens!'
Go-to cuppa? I like a tea with oat milk and no sugar.
Go-to loungewear brand? A lot of my tracksuits are actually from my own shop Bonne & Clyde, I don't know whether it's easy access or because I choose the stock and just love it all.
Favourite face mask?Envison's Hydroxy Acid Sebu-Clearing Masque
Go-to takeaway order? It would probably be a Turkish, I love a chicken shish and always hummus. I live on hummus!
Favourite candle? I loveLime and Basil by Jo Malone.
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The Circle's Manrika Khaira talks quitting her day job, self-care and her go-to Aldi moisturiser
Surprising trends from lockdown 3.0
Little Moons: the Mochi dessert which is essentially little balls of ice cream wrapped in a sweet rice dough. The flavours are GOOD (think passion fruit to cookie dough) and they're just 69 calories per ball. TikTok is going WILD for them. Try them now and thank us later.
The TikTok tortilla wrap: old us would have attempted a sort of 'rolled up sausage' for our lunchtime wrap, but now it's all about cutting a line to the centre and folding it in quarters. Honestly, our minds are still blown.
Bridgerton: the Netflix series which is a glorious mix between Downton Abbey and Gossip girl has got us all dreaming of summer soirees, Regé-Jean Page and wearing corsets post-lockdown.