Today on ‘Seoulfull Conversations with’, we’ve got the utterly delightful Fiona @fionas50life who so many of you know and love. Fiona is a Northern lass through and through, woooh big up Sheffield! She just exudes that quintessential Northern charm, she’s sassy, straight to the point, unassuming, unpretentious and she rocks pink hair like no one I’ve ever seen before. She tells me she’s on IG for ‘the bants’ and not the numbers that authenticity totally shines through in her account. Her reviews are honest and lusciously decadent cleansers make her go weak at the knees. Fiona is in fact the creator of the hashtag fifiscleanserreviews, where she thoroughly puts cleansers to the test and gives them a mark out of 10.  I have complete faith in her testing methodology and recommendations. Grab a brew (this is what we call a cuppa tea here in the north of England) and have a read to see what Fiona is getting up to these days, (she’s being super productive these days, putting me to shame frankly as I bake cakes and shamelessly eat the entire thing in 2 days), she dishes up her fail safe tips before buying ANYTHING and recommends a very British children’s series I practically binged watched in one weekend. Enjoy!

A little bit about me… My name is Fiona and I’m from the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire, UK.

I am currently isolating at home as my career as a hairstylist obviously prevents me from working. I am with my partner, who is still very busy doing his job and currently taking over my kitchen table and preventing me from doing my usual tasks such as vacuuming and putting the washing machine on (haha). I suppose that is a small price to pay in light of recent issues. 

The first thing I do when I wake up…hasn’t changed at all. I check social media to see what’s happening in the world of my Instafam and get back to any messages. This is my ‘coming round’ time as I’m most definitely NOT a morning person! Normally I would then get up and shower but since lockdown, I’ve been doing a daily workout. Obviously I can’t go to my gym so I, like most people, have had to improvise. Thank goodness for the Internet Gods and I’ve resorted to doing online and YouTube workouts. I love ‘PE with Joe Wicks’ who’s been doing a free daily live workout on his channel (Yes, I know its for kids and I don’t have any but I’ve still enjoyed doing it). Also Davina McCall has let people join her community with no fee so I’ve jumped on that to. Having these daily workouts has really given me something to get out of bed for.

After I’ve worked out, I jump in the shower. My skincare routine hasn’t really changed at all bar a few exceptions. I was supposed to be going on holiday soon and I’d already start to pack my skincare bag. I doubt we’ll be able to get away now so I pulled out everything I’d packed to use and got on with using them up instead.

I’m using a Clinique Vitamin C powder cleanser that I’ve decided I want to buy the full size of when this is all over, then either a vitamin C ( usually the Timeless Skin Care – 20% Vitamin C + E Ferulic Acid Serum) or an antioxidant serum, a much richer than normal moisturiser as I’m indoors more with the central heating on. Most days, I am still using an SPF (Evy Technology) as I’m either near a window or popping out in the garden.

Since Covid-19 hit, my days have been turned upside down. I’ve worked for myself on a self employed basis since 1986 and I’m just not used to not working. I think this is the part that’s messed my head up the most so I’ve thrown myself into jobs at home. We’d already discussed that if this happened we’d decorate the house from top to bottom so got the necessary supplies in ready. So here is my new trade, painter and decorator. I do actually enjoy decorating but as I only get Sundays off, it’s usually a struggle to find time  So now’s the perfect opportunity, see, every cloud and all that.

So I’ve done my workout, got ready for the day then stuck into my jobs. Later on in the afternoon, I’ve allowed myself some downtime, to either chill on the sofa or do some instagramming. I’ve been trying to watch as many lives as I can to support the people who are being brave enough to do them and to share their skills etc…

We usually wait till later in the day to go for our little evening walk, mainly to get some fresh air and this is when we do our chatting and put the world to rights.

This has now become our ‘new normal’ but of course,it’s anything but normal.

My OOTD now… with this new work and new day also means a new kind of OOTD.My first outfit is my gym gear,all ready for my morning workout session. The next OOTD is my painting gear which is my most attractive look haha,especially seen as half the week I’m not even wearing makeup.

Then, I change into my lounge clothes which I’m pretty much sorted for as this is my usual weekend wardrobe anyway. Snuggly soft joggers and hoodies are my new daily uniform,maybe slightly nicer ones on the day that i have to go out on my one trip a week to the supermarket to pick up things for us and for my elderly parents who I’m delivering to. 

How I’m keeping myself busy these days…I haven’t thrown myself into learning any new skills while I’m at home,except for decorating. However I do seem to have become an expert in Unified Communications, which is my partners line of work. Having to listen to him all day I feel like I’ve picked it up quite well : )

What I enjoy watching right now…up to now I’ve been to busy to start watching anything on Netflix but that might come later depending on how long this all lasts for but I have been watching one thing on Iplayer, and I’m ashamed to say (not really), it’s for kids. When I was younger, I would binge read all the Enid Blyton books St Clares and Malory Towers and I found out there’s a Malory Towers series. I’m loving it as it takes you out of the now world and transports me back to being a child again and it’s mind numbingly easy to watch. Such fun.

I also have been trying to catch up a little bit of YouTube. I just tend to watch easy viewing, mainly fashion people, or skincare pages like Angie Hot & Flashy, who is more suited to my age group. I just can’t relate to these ‘young un’s’ on YouTube, no offence but hey just wont’t have the same type of skin issues as me. I also watch lots of product reviews on there. So say I’m looking for a new washing machine or vacuum cleaner, I’ll watch as many vids as I can to get a good feel for if it’s going to be right for me or not. Also if I’m looking to book a certain hotel for a holiday I’ll search for that where someone has done a walk round of it and see if I like the look of it, top tip for you there guys.

How I’m keeping in touch with family and friends…I’ve held off downloading all the apps like house party and zoom as my partner had already warned me of some of the possible dangers of them and I’m so glad I did in light of the latest news about them. The only people I really need to check in on are my parents and I can’t imagine trying to teach an 82 year old how to use house party,especially when I’m not sat at the side of them. Impossible ha. So it’s back to good old fashioned phone calls only. But I’m just grateful that they’re both staying home and doing as they’re told at this worrying time and staying in good health. 

My night time skincare routine is…a much more boujie routine as I have the luxury of time. I’m whizzing through my stash of sheet masks and masks in general. I am really enjoying lovely fragranced cleansers as they really lift my spirits. My favourites are Deviant’s Cleansing Concentrate , Ane’s Radiance Reveal Cleansing Balm and Lime & Lilac’s Passionflower Cleansing oil. Again, I’m going for much heavier night creams and layering on the hydration to combat the dryness. 

When it comes to food…I’m generally sticking to my normal diet, based around intermittent fasting as this is the only way for me to control my weight. I do indulge in an occasional day time drink, (a gin and tonic or wine spritzer) sometimes more than once a day!

The skincare product I’m loving right now…is a facial mist. Because I’m grafting away with the decorating I’m getting so hot, especially with menopause symptoms and the fella is just sat at a desk feeling chilly, he keeps cranking the heating up. A lovely mist is so cooling, I’m going through Pixi milky mist and the Timeless Cucumber mist at a rate of knots.

What’s keeping me sane right now...is my skincare and my lovely friends I’ve met through Instagram and in real life. Always there with a comforting word and helpful advice.

When this is all over, I’m really looking forward to… giving my parents the biggest hug ever. I actually think I’m going to squeeze them until they pop. Then, I’m looking forward to getting back to work. I absolutely love my job and my clients too. I’m missing them all so much right now. 

I also look forward to a holiday too but I don’t think we’ll have time now unfortunately. But I’m going to try not to ever moan about being busy with work ever again.

I’m grateful for… my partner through all this as has been his usual practical self while I’ve been throwing a wobbly. Obviously I’m not earning any of my own money right now and I don’t like that at all but he has said he will support me for as long as necessary, so long as I do all his decorating (haha).

How I’m really feeling…I definitely have been through every emotion going over the last few week or so. It was my birthday at the start of April and it was really different to the past years, not seeing my mum and dad was the worst part. There’ll be no usual shopping trip to Leeds or meals and cocktails but as long as we’re all still here that’s the best present of all.

There have been tears, sobbing, worrying, being scared of the new and the unknown and the whole shebang but ultimately I can only offer you one decent piece of advice. And that is try not to worry about things that you can’t control. We can’t do anything to control what is happening right now, just leave that to the powers that be. Also don’t watch the news all day, try to limit it. Don’t believe half the daft stuff you read on social media either. Barbara’s next door neighbours’ uncle’s dog is not the expert on this. If it doesn’t come from the top people at the World Health Organisation, then close your ears people.

Some advice I’d like to share with you…stay inside as much as possible, keep your hands and your home as clean as you possibly can and follow government guidelines. Say thank you to anyone who is still working, thank them 10 times. Any nurses, hospital workers, post and delivery people and the staff at the supermarkets. Without them we’d be in a right old state, that’s my advice….. be humble, be grateful, be kind.