SMOONSTYLE

This is part II of Chit Chat #25

Our backdrop got soaking wet too and needed to dry in the sun the morning after.

During out taxi drive from the plane to the bagage claim I continued to help the mother with her children. The bus was filled to the brim and the little girl couldn't see anything, nor did she have anything to hold onto. I lifted her up and sat her on one of the higher parts of the bus and made sure she would't fall off.

The mother asked me to help her get her luggage, but when we arrived at the baggage claim, we were welcomed with an 'EPICA' sign and I couldn't join her.
There was no official goodbye and no thank you either. She must have forgotten because of the stressful flight.

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We were taken to one of the lounges where they would take care of our immigration process. We were hoping that it would speed up the whole process, because we were running out of time due to the delay.
This ended up taking so long that we were the last ones to go through immigration.

At the baggage belts there was no sign of any suitcases, it was utter chaos.
With the long drive to the hotel and venue, we were really afraid that we might miss the show. Our crew still needed to prepare the stage. The clock was ticking. The crew went straight to the venue and the band to the hotel to freshen up and have a quick dinner.

Our hotel was gorgeous. Unfortunately, there was only little time to enjoy it. We ordered some room service and had to eat quickly because we had an 'early' lobby call to drive to the venue. Rob's dinner came so late that he had  in the car on the way to the show.
On our way to the venue I thought I saw planes descending, but it turned out to be thunder....

Police men, driving on motorcycles were escorting us to the venue. It felt like we were in a movie. It was so surreal!

Our backstage was lovely decorated, we had plenty of snacks and a coffee machine we didn't know how to get working haha! I was in desperate need of some coffee to keep me going after a short night and long travel day. My energy level was non existing at that moment.

Then it happened, the rain came pouring down the skies. It was bad luck. The only time it rains in Bizerte was 30 minutes before our show. All of the equipment got soaking wet and the organization decided to cancel the show. Everything stopped working. Electrical devices don't do well if they get water on them.

All of us were standing in our stage outfits, ready to go on stage. When we heard the bad news it felt like the ground was pulled from beneath us. We worked so hard that day despite of the huge delay, our exhaustion to make the show happen, but it was not meant to be.

The least we could do was walk on the stage to tell our fans in person that we were forced to cancel the show and that it was out of our hands. We really wanted to perform and have a good time with our fans from Tunisia. Arien tried to talk to the crowd, but was struggling a bit without a mic. I admire his courage, I was at a loss for words.

I want to thank the fans for being so understanding and hope we will see each other really soon in Tunisia again!

At this moment we are looking for a new date to come back and we WILL play.


xo


Simone

It is time to introduce you the beautiful make up brushes from Jacks Beauty Line by Miriam Jacks.
Miriam is and I officially met at the QVC Beauty Night last summer. We also saw each other briefly at  some L'Oréal events, but there was always so much going on, that there was little to no time to talk.

The last time we met, was during an event in Cannes. We noticed we have a lot of common ground. Our love for our sons, make up, both being working mothers, lead to a lovely breakfast conversation.

I knew that she has her own line of make up brushes and asked her if she would be interested if I would review them on Smoonstyle. She asked what my favorite colors were, and a couple of days later I received a parcel filled with these colorful beauties.

From the get go I can already tell you that they immediately brightened up my day.  Yellow and orange are my favorite colors. They just make me happy. It's that simple.

These brushes painted by hand, 100% vegan and made in Germany. Each brush is unique.
On her website you can chose which colors you would like the brushes to be.



These are high quality brushes, the bristles are super soft and they don't shed any hairs.
The handles have the perfect length and really fit well into my hands, not too heavy nor too light-weight. I will say it again, they are so beautiful. A real eye catcher on your vanity.

After playing around with these brushes, I can tell you more about each individual brush.
Starting at the top of this picture:

#10 'Highlighter' 

This is officially a highlighter brush, but I like to use it as a setting brush to apply loose or pressed powder on my t-zone, as the finishing touch. For highlighting it is too big and feathers out too far.
I can imagen that this would also work great as a contour brush to chisel the cheekbones and to define the jaw line.


#8 'Concealer'

Works great as a concealer brush. You can really buff in the concealer or pat it on. For smaller faces it might be a bit on the large size, but on my face it works well.


#2 'Fine Eyeliner'

From all the eyeliner brushes that I own, this is definitely the smallest. I got really excited when I laid my eyes on this beauty. This is as the name suggests, a great eyeliner brush. It applies gel eyeliner like a dream. What I will probably use it for, since I am a big Kat von D 'Trooper' eyeliner fan, is for spot concealing. It has the perfect shape to do pin point concealing.
I do warn you, don't conceal after you've applied eyeliner. You will look like Pippi Longstocking, but with black freckles.


#13 'Blush and Contour'

A very densely packed brush which is great for powders. I do have to warn you, it packs on a lot of color. Use a light hand when you dip in to your blush and also when you apply it.
A little tip that I'd like to give you, is to hold the brush more towards the end. Like that you automatically have a lighter hand and will avoid the heavy blush look.


#6 'Eyeshadow'

Reminds me a lot of the maccosmetics brush #239 or the Zoeva #234, but then the slightly bigger version. Does the job, the bristles grab on to a lot of product. Great for packing on any type of eyeshadow.


#7 'Eyeshadow'

Hello bigger brother to #6. You can use this for blending, as well as for packing on eyeshadow.
It is flatter than a maccosmetics #217.


#1 'Eyebrows'

Here is a nice big spoolie to help you brush those brows in place. Another great way to use these, is to comb through your eyelashes after you've applied mascara to get rid of any clumps.


#11'Small Foundation'

Great for buffing out edges and getting in to the corners of the nose and around the eyes. To apply liquid foundation, I prefer to use a larger brush.  I use this to apply creme blush. It could work great with creme contour as well.




 Conclusion

I am really happy with these brushes. The quality is top notch, they are so fun and colorful. I already loved applying make up, now I love it even more. I will be heading over to her website to check out the rest of her brushes and all the endless color possibilities.
What I love as well, is that each brush is unique. There is so much love put in to each individual brush.



Available here:

Jacks Beauty Line

Hello beauties!

In May I was spend a couple of days in beautiful France with L'Oréal to attend a workshop with Val Garland and explore a world of new products from the 'Wake up and Glow' collection.

When I saw they organised a workshop with Val Garland, I was delighted! She is one of my favourite make up artists. Meeting her was definitely one of my highlights of that weekend.


After we arrived in Antibes, Karin and I went out to get some lunch. We found a lovely Lebanese restaurant. On our way back to our hotel, we found an ice cream shop. Both of us are great fans of the mint chocolate chip. We enjoyed our ice cream while looking at the sea. It's the little things that make me happy. Ice cream any time of the day!

Time to freshen up a bit and go out with Johanna and Meggy for cocktails and a little spontaneous photoshoot. The majority of these pictures are already up on the blog. I am still glad that I put on that dress and posed for the camera.




Fun fact, I have never slept in the Martinez Hotel, I only used the restroom once a couple years back.
Shortly after this photo was taken, we ran in to Aishwarya Rai who was on her way to the L'Oréal studios. She is drop dead gorgeous!



Val Garland in action.


Val showing off her head banging skills. She nailed it!


Meeting Val was a dream come true. She is an icon in the make up industry and very down to earth.
She created a beautiful make up look on a lovely model, using new products that are not on the market yet.

At the end of the demonstration there was still time to ask her some questions. One of my questions was how she applies mascara and uses the eyelash curler. Something I still find rather challenging when I am applying make up on clients.
Her answer was: just get in there and do it. Be confident and just do it.

She gave two helpful tips:

1- Apply lavender perfume (or any perfume of your choice) on your wrist.
This will 'distract' the client and put them at ease. This is something that I always do when I apply make up on clients. I myself don't like lavender, but I know that it does have calming effect.

2- Put your hand on the model/client's shoulder.
When you are applying make up, you are very much in each others space. If you don't know the client, it immediately creates a sort of trust and takes away the 'awkwardness' of being literally in someones face.


From left to right: Olesja, Johanna and Nadine




After my bath with lipstick photo session it was time to go to the L'Oréal Villa for more workshops.
The first workshop was at the Glow Station with make up artist Philipp Verheyen. He told us how to achieve the best glow for the skin and his favourite way to do make up.
After his workshop I had to go online to purchase an item from Net a Porter. What this item is, I will show in another future blogpost.

Time for the second workshop. This time with photographer Philipp von Rohr. We had the chance to play around with a cool gadget that would turn your the camera lens on your phone into an instant macro lens. I own a couple of these at home, but these are very tricky to work with. I prefer to use my  dslr when I have to take product pictures.

This little face chart is what I came up with in the end. Nothing special, but I liked the idea of using the highlighting drops to create the hair.





A big thanks to the L'Oréal family for inviting me again! I got to know some new lovely people and got to meet Val Garland!!!

Hello beauties!

Time for an old fashioned 'Look of the Day'.
I am wearing a mix out of my old holy grail and some new found ones.
If you are curios to find out, then have a look at the list below. Apologies beforehand for including a Limited  Edition item. I rediscovered it and fell in love. Vincent gave me a compliment and said that my eyeshadow was so sparkly.





*Pr Sample

Here is one of my favourite blogger/photography gadgets that makes photography much easier, especially when it comes to taking self portraits.

This Canon wireless remote control has been my trusty companion during my 8 years of blogging and creating the occasional self portrait.
At the moment I have two of these lying around in the house, because the first one went MIA for a while. I've attached a lanyard to them, so that they won't go missing and so that I can hang it around my neck when I need to have my hands free.

Whenever I am doing shoots with kids, I often let them take the picture by pressing the remote control. It is a fun little toy for them to play with and a great way to involve them in the creative process. They have a short attention span and this remote has been a great toy for them to help them stay focussed for more than 2 minutes, my son included ;)

Since cameras can be a bit intimidating for some people, it is great to step away from the camera and take the shot with the remoter control while you are talking to your subject to make them feel more at ease.

What is your favourite gadget?

Looking at these pictures brings back lovely memories.

Lake Garda has it all, from the many cafes, restaurants, ice cream and souvenir shops. You are sure to feast your eyes and fill your tummy. The mountains, the water, and the many tourists, myself and my boys included.

We stayed five days at a lovely hotel in Limone. It was spontaneous decision to book a mini holiday. Instead of flying, we took our car and took our own pillows with us. The drive to Limone went really smooth. From Stuttgart it took us only 6 hours. The way back a little longer, more like 9 hours...

In this little photo series I will show you my favourite ice cream shop, restaurant and much more. We did a lot of sight seeing, took boat trips and walked up an down the hills many times. The weather was very unpredictable, but we packed well enough to make sure we were prepared for the rain and time at the pool.

I almost spend a fortune at the souvenir shops, but managed to take the bare minimum. Oliver and I both love Limoncello, so we also brought some home with us for our family and friends.

Souvenir shopping!

The best ice cream shop in Limone. I recommend the flavour 'Mint'.

We had dinner here twice because we love this place so much.

Our favorite from the menu: Tomino Cheese in Filou crust. Divine!!!

Coffee with a view.

Last night before going home.