L'Oréal recently released 'Les Chocolates' which are chocolate scented liquid lipsticks and I tried tested them for you.
There are nine shades that vary from a beige nude to mauve pinks to reds and to browns. I am sure there is a color here for everyones taste.
Tasty Ruby caught my eye, because I love to wear a nice red every once in a while. The mauve and pinks I didn't swatch on my lips, because with my hair and skin tone they won't look nice. Besides that I don't know why they are included in a chocolate themed Limited Edition.
They do smell like chocolate. It is not overpowering, nor very artificial. I prefer lip products to not have a strong scent to them, but I can live with that. The scent goes away quickly once applied on the lips.
I can tell you that they are very long-wearing. I wore the Tasty Ruby for a couple of hours, had dinner and I tell you it didn't move!
Overall conclusion:
+ Long Lasting
+ Comfortable
+ Opaque, great pigmentation
- Shade range
- Need to use a lip brush for precise application
Right after application and still wet.
Dry
My two favorite colors from these are Tasty Ruby and 70%Yum.
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.
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.
This episode of Chit Chat will be a bit of a rambly one. What started as a unpleasant travel day, ended in a ‘No Show’. I started to write this post after we arrived in Tunis and can now write quite a bit more about what happened afterwards. More about that in part II.
15th of August at 4 AM
On a travel/show day where I have to wake up early I am always hoping to catch up on some much needed sleep during the flight or at the hotel upon arrival.
My wish came true, during my first flight from Stuttgart (6.50 - 8.00) to Düsseldorf I closed my eyes before we took off and woke up when hit the ground.
Our second flight to Tunisia would take approx 2.5 hours. Enough time to fall asleep and relax some more. I made sure that I would get a window seat, which means the least disturbance by other people around me.
Take off was supposed to be 12.00, which ended up being 13.30.
At first the two seats next to me were empty. For a moment it looked like no one was going to be seated next to me. The flights were you have a whole row to yourself, are like hitting the travel jackpot.
This was not the case for me. A young mother with two girls, one of them a 6-months-old baby, were sat down next to me.
The mother in me thought; ‘Ah, so cute’. The exhausted singer in me thought ‘There goes my second chance of getting some sleep’. Waking up at 4 AM and having a show at 11 PM is hard. Especially when you have a long travel day ahead leading towards the show.
I could see that the mother was exhausted. I felt sorry for her, I know what it is like to take care of a little one, let alone two children and no father around to help. Traveling by yourself is already stressful.
Before we took off, the plane was unbearably hot. The AC was not working yet, so I offered the fan that I always carry with me to the mother.
Soon after the bigger sister after broke it. Nothing a little super glue can’t fix.
I fell asleep for about 10 minutes and woke up, because the girl sitting next to me liked to kick me with her feet. Nothing new to me. I often get slapped in the face by Vincent’s hands and feet in the middle of the night.
The mother handed me the baby because she needed to use the restroom. I didn’t mind at all. I love babies. They are so adorable and still let you cuddle them. I would be a bit hesitant to give my baby to a complete stranger, but I guess me showing them that I was willing to help with little gestures, made her trust me.
I played a bit with the older girl so that the mother could sleep. This was also a bit for me, because the girl was so restless and wanted to play with her mother, who had her hands full with the baby.
When the plane was decending, the girl started crying because her ears were hurting from the pressure. I offered her a candy so she could release some of the presssure. Eating chewing gum is always a great trick to battle ear ache. Of course I first asked the mother for permission.
The girl already had some chocolate from her mother and ate a bit from the food that we got offered during the flight. I didn’t touch the food. I am a bit picky when it comes to airplane food.
When I turned around to close my eyes for a bit, the girl became suspiciously quiet and then started to puke all over herself and the chair. It was a bit like the scene from Team America. I offered to hold the baby so that the mother could help her older daughter. She didn’t have any wet towels with her. Lucky for her the mother in me carries a Mary Poppins hand bag filled with all the handy things you need when you have small children.
While we were landing, I held the baby and the girl because the mother untied her and I told her that is not a good idea when we are about to land.
Suddenly I was taking care of two little strangers. My mother instinct took over and I just couldn’t ingnore all that was happening next to me.
I hope that I have taken away a bit of the stress from the young mother, and while at it, I could hold a baby while missing me own.
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.
Consider yourself warned, this Chit Chat is going to be a rant. It is a lesson that I´ve recently learned the hard way.
For this summer I wanted to get my feet done at a nail salon. I hate doing my feet and it never looks good. It is not something I am good at and also don't enjoy doing as well.
I found a nail salon close to my home and decided to go for a dark purple shellac. My first shellac and it was looking good!
After two weeks I wanted to try a new color. I get bored quickly and wanted something brighter than the usual dark colors I normally go for.
This time I also wanted to get a gel manicure as well. I was already thinking about how much time I would save by not having to do my nails every 3 days. My nail polish never lasts long, because I am always washing dishes, dirty little hands and all the other motherly things.
My first thought was to go for a nice nude. It is all I’ve been wearing on my hands, except when I have an Epic show. It just goes with everything and looks classy and sophisticated.
They didn't have any nice nude colors available, so I went for white.
A friend of mine that you might already know, Aleen, has done my nails many times. We did gell many times. I know the way she works and I was kind of expecting the same.
The lady at the salon took her torture device ( I have no clue how it is actually called) and started to drill my nails to ‘rough’ them up. They looked horrible! Alleen always treats them with alcohol to make sure there is no more oil residue on my nails.
I was shocked! My nails looked awful.
The worst part is still to come. After the manicure I wasn't sure I liked the result. I didn’t like the way my nails looked. It didn’t feel like me. After a couple of days the ends were already chipping. Time to take it off. Since I couldn’t get it off myself, I had to go back to the salon.
There was the drill again. First to take off the nailpolish. It hurt like hell! It burned and I started to let her know that I was in pain.
After she was done, there were still some small traces of the white nailpolish. She took another drill and went over my complete nails again a couple of times!
I am left with horrible looking nails that are paper thin. They keep bending if only the slightest pressure is applied. As you can see on some of the photos, I have tears underneath the nail as well.
What a horrible experience! I now have to let the damaged nails grow out. That will probably take a couple of months, maybe even half a year, maybe even longer.
I went back to doing my own nails and won’t go back to that salon anymore. It was a waste of money, time and healthy nails.
Do any of you have had bad experiences at nail salons?
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!!!
