The Frilliance founder and Gen Z entrepreneur is not only a young entrepreneur providing clean, affordable, and effective skincare for teenagers, but she is also a successful YouTube influencer with nearly 1 million subscribers. In this exclusive interview Fiona discusses her journey as a beauty entrepreneur and content creator and lets us in on what its like running a beauty brand.
By. Angel Neal
Established in 2017, Frilliance has a wide range of products, such as the cutest heart-shaped pimple patches and a soothing Perfecting Primer + Serum, which you will not want to miss!
Frilliance makeup is always:
Cruelty-free / Animal-friendly (She loves animals!)
Hypoallergenic (won't bother sensitive skin)
Fragrance-free (ideal for ALL skin types)
"My brand is clean, affordable, innovative and teen approved/tested. We standby our ingredients and are transparent about everything that goes into our products! Frillance can be found in 500 Walmart stores around the USA, frilliance.com and amazon.com … more coming soon!!"
Disrupshion Magazine caught up with the savvy beauty influencer in this exclusive interview below.
Q&A
From modeling, acting to YouTube to the owner of an emerging beauty brand. How do you manage your time running a business at the same time while becoming a young adult?
Time management is one of the hardest things ever, I feel like everyone can relate to that. With distractions of social media, your computer your phone. I would say writing everything down for the following day helps me. I have a notepad that I color coordinate my to do lists. So writing things down and planning them out has helped so much with the clarity of me felling stressed.
You got your business started as a teenager. How has that experience been and what has it taught you moving forward? Did you have a mentor?
Starting my business was very organic. I was doing a lot of YouTube videos and discussing my skin breakouts and I was intrigued to get the root of the problem. I stopped using makeup and started to research the ingredients of the makeup I was using and I was baffled. I went to my mom and said I wanted to invest the money I’ve made from YouTube and start a skincare beauty company for teenagers. In early 2016 we started working with a lab in California and the brand launched in December 2017. My mom has been my biggest supporter. Overall a beautiful package of a woman. We really did not have much help in the beginning we were very resourceful. My mom understands business so she taught me strategy and about business. She encouraged me to do me with my company but my mom was a 100% my go to mentor.
For teens who are entering puberty and battling skin changes from your collection what is your go to products?
I would say the The Clear Skin Perfecting Primer+Serum along with our Pimple Patches always save the day for me (and they are now available at Walmart stores). The primer fights acne and is an overall great hydrating skincare product. I put it on before I apply my makeup as well as at night when I cleanse my face. The pimple patches are also the best of both worlds their super cute and effective. All of Frillance products are packed Packed with great ingredientsand are , all of our products are hypoallergenic.
Congrats on having your products in 500+ Walmart stores. What was that experience like seeing your product in store for the first time?
That was insane, I couldn’t believe it. I remember the Walmart I went to was 40 minutes away from me. I walked in and I made eye-contact with the product and I got teary-eyed. I couldn’t stop looking at it. I was in the store for about an hour just staring at it. It was overwhelming and surreal and I was very proud in that moment.
What motivates you to keep going? Do you have a mantra when you’re creating a new product?
Knowing that I’m bringing products to teens that can’t afford $90 face products always gives me a reason to keep going. I'm providing a product that's effective, accessible and affordable. It's not just me or my friends, every teenager deals with puberty and acne. I wanted to make sure this brand is affordable and accessible and thats what keeps me going knowing that it helps other people. There are no parabens, no phthalates, no mineral oil, no petroleums, and the list goes on! We are dermatology tested, hypo-allergenic as well as non-comedogenic.
Makeup and skincare goes hand in hand. For young makeup enthusiasts what are some words of advice for the teenager who does not know how to take care of their skin post makeup?
If you are wearing make-up you have to remove the make-up that is a non negotiable. I honestly don’t wash my face in the morning. You don’t want to do too much to your skin. Skin just wants a little boost, but it also needs to be cleansed. Don’t overwhelm it. My best advice would be to wash your face at least once a day. NFor me washing at night just makes sense, to clear off all the oils from the entire day. I would say invest in skin care product or two, no more than 3. Read the ingredients on the back of the products you use, because brands usually are honest about what they put into their products and some stuff is just not healthy for your skin no matter how cute it maybe advertisied to you.
Skincare and beauty is big right now and constantly evolving. At this point in your life who has been some of your beauty influencer inspirations?
I ‘ve always admired Kylie Jenner and Selena Gomez even before their beauty brands, their just talented and amazing at what they do. I look up to Kylie the most, as far as the way she handles her business. In addition, Rihanna of course she's the etilmate Queen with the amazing stuff she does with Fenty Beauty and she has some of the best music. Those three are huge inspirations for me for sure.
You mentioned Rihanna and Kylie Jenner as beauty inspirations for you. Both of these women are the face of their beauty brands and they have their hands in marketing as well as the production of their brands. Are you that hands on with Frillance as well?
Yes thats my favorite part of the business! Everything based on marketing and creative direction comes from me. I cast all the models for the photo shoots, I’m there. I hire the team and photographer andfacilate anything creative for the brand. I understand the backhand of the production and finance but its not my strong suit. But with my brand being revolved around Gen-Z I’m all in on the creative direction, thats the fun part for me. So yes occasionally you'll see me in the ad placements as well.
Thought on using your influence..
I want to use my influence to help other teens with their skin and their confidence. It’s simple. I want every teenager to know clear skin is accessible and it is affordable and I can relate to their struggles with skin, My brand is effective and it actually works.
Thoughts on learning to listen to my intuition....
Intuition is a lot, its everything. You know what you’re doing deep down. You get a gut feeling that you have to listen to. Sometimes its difficult to navigate. So for me I try to make sense of it by just listening to it. Taking risks.
Thoughts on using my image...
Idon't mind being a leader. I'll be the face of my brand because I'll use my image to let other teens know they can also make their dreams and goals come true. Whatever that may be for them, but its important to reach for the stars. Follow your passions and your goals don’t listen to what anybody has to say. Work your butt off and do the work. You can do crazy things. I never thought I would have a skincare brand in Walmart stores. I’m dyslexic, I’m legally blind and I have a lot of learning issues. So everyones quirks and differences are like a super power to me. Follow your DAMN DREAMS!
Thoughts on Success....
Success is dedication, freedom and emotions, all three of these will help you become successful Dedication is what you need for anything, you have to be consistent to see results. As for emotions , they are a part of making any business successful. There's always going to be sad days, happy days and days you just may need motivation. Just remember you have to get through them all. I believe with success comes freedom. With growing a successful business you can look at the end goal, which for many is being financially free and being able to do all those thing you want to do. I’m still not close to where I want to be. I give myself another five years before I can kick and scream I’m successful. but I am proud of where I am.
Something we all know but bears repeating?
If not now, when. I have it tattooed on my arm. I live by it. Live in the moment and understand you have to start doing whatever it may be that you want to pursue. It does not matter how small or big it is. Tomorrow is not promised and you have to live now and not worry about the when. Don’t let anyone ruin your day. You choose the way you react to stuff and you can choose to be positive in any situation that you can.
What are your plans for the future?
Expanding store stockiest, goals to be in more drugstores, CVS, Target and Ulta beauty. My personal, goals, I want to move to NYC and travel more. I want to experience a lot of things. I want to live a very full life and experience everything I possibly can. Maybe vending machines in highschool for skincare, who knows. I would kill to have that but it takes permits and everything but something to consider in the future.