Fionnuala Jay on being an eco-conscious influencer and why being from Cobh is a privilege

Fionnuala Jones is pictured at the launch of the new ‘Recycle at Boots’ scheme. Picture Andres Poveda

If you are concerned about the environment, love fashion, beauty and/or reality TV, you probably already follow Fionnuala Jay.

Fionnuala Jones, who more commonly goes by Jay instead of Jones, is one of Cork’s most recognisable faces on Instagram and is fast becoming a familiar face on TV with her pop-culture slot on The Six O’Clock Show.

And an upcoming show, Relove My Space, will see her promoting second-hand furniture and a DIY mindset (she’s just become a first-time homeowner).

She’s also the face of a new Boots scheme, which sees the retailer roll out a first-of-its-kind recycling scheme in 50 stores up and down the country, enabling customers to recycle ‘hard-to-recycle’ beauty, health, and wellness products like mascara, lipsticks, compacts, toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and more.

It’s the perfect gig for the Cobh native.

“I gave up fast fashion in 2020 and I’m trying to be better in other areas,” she tells me. “But I’m big into make-up, I’m big into beauty and the issue with a lot of those products is that they are not easily recyclable.”

“They cannot be put into the recycle bin at home. You end up [putting them in] landfill when they shouldn’t really have to.”

Fionnuala, who has close to 53K followers on Instagram, and another 20K on TikTok, says while she loves trying out and sharing new beauty products with her followers, she is conscious of not promoting “a lot of plastic stuff” when we’re facing a climate crisis.

“This [scheme] is an absolute no-brainer for people. We all get to the end of a mascara and ask, ‘where the hell do I put this?’”

• For every five products you deposit with the scheme, customers will receive a voucher for 500 Boots Advantage Card points (worth €5 when you spend €10 or more) which can be used in-store or online within three days. For details see boots.ie/shopping/boots-recycling-scheme

How do you stay fit?

I’ve been pretty inconsistent in my workout routine, but when I’m in it, I do love it. I’ve just signed up for my first sprint triathlon – not really sure how that’s gonna go.

What are your healthiest eating habits?

I eat a good variety of food, I am not a fussy eater. And I love a bit of oily fish.

Fionnuala Jay wearing a vintage outfit on The Six O'Clock Show

What are your guiltiest pleasures?

If I could, I’d have a cup of Barry’s tea probably every half an hour right up until bed. I’ve realised that’s not great because of the caffeine, so I try to cut it off at three or four o’clock, which is probably still too late. Also, I can’t resist a big bag of popcorn multiple times a week.

What would keep you awake at night?

I tend to overthink work – and commutes. My timekeeping doesn’t tend to be great anyway, so I’ll be thinking about that a lot. Prior to that, it was buying the house, and I was having stress dreams. But now that that’s sorted, thankfully I’m not kept up at night much.

How do you relax?

When I go to bed, the phone is downstairs now, a great new year’s resolution I’ve managed to keep. I’ll try and read or I love playing video games. Or catching up with my friends over lunch or a lovely spa treatment.

What is your favourite smell?

I love when you go into a cafe and you can smell fresh pastries. If I could live in a loaf of bread I would.

When was the last time you cried?

Watching Last of Us, episode three.

What is the best health advice you’ve ever been given?

My mam always says ‘your health is your wealth’. When things get too busy for me, and I stop taking care of myself, my mam’s voice kicks in, in my head, and I realise I need to slow down and pare back.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

Davina McCall. She has a really interesting life and as a reality [TV] freak, I would love to pick her brain about the Big Brother heydays. And maybe Pedro Pascal – I’m pretty sure he’s single. And I’m sure my boyfriend wouldn’t mind.

Where is your favourite place in the world?

If you were talking to my boyfriend, he’d say bed because I have to be dragged out of it. I just love a good snooze. But, I have to say Cobh. I think lockdown and covid and not being able to get there as much really solidified what a special place it is. Just being near the sea and having my family there – it was such a privilege to be able to grow up in a place like that.