SMOONSTYLE

Guten Abend meine Liebe,

SMOONSTYLE is being redesigned since a while now. To cross the long wait, I wanted to freshen up the blog a bit to enter 2013 with a new look.

The lovely header picture is also made by Pauline Darley. Here is a little teaser from our second photo shoot for KRYOLAN.

May you all enter the new year safe and sound! I am trying to keep all my fingers, cooking can be dangerous. I will document all the 5 courses and post them on smoonstyle.

Love,

Hi Sweets,

This is nothing new for those of you that already follow me Instagram, but since I love this picture so much I thought I'd upload it on my blog as well. This is Minou's Cat Grass. It grew incredibly fast and has these little water drops at the tips that I had to take a photo of it.

I shot this picture with my iPhone 4s and then put a Instagram filter over it.

Love,

Hi Sweets,

Enjoy your time off with family and friends! Thank you for another great year with Epica and my little blog.

Hi sweets,

During my day off in beautiful Paris, I had a photo shoot with Pauline Darley and Maxime Stange. I knew Pauline's work from Louise Ebel (miss pandora) and fell in love with her style. She agreed to take my pictures and we had a lovely time while doing so. These pictures were made at Le Jardin des Plantes, an absolutely stunning location! We ate crepes with nutella, banana and coconut and shared our stories about cats, while their cat was warming my lap.

Merci Pauline et Maxime!

Bisous,

I can remember it so well, on the 15th of December 2002, Epica (called Sahara Dust back then) had our very first show. It took place at the 013 in Tilburg.

When Mark told me that we had an option for a first show, I was thrilled. When he told me that it was in front of a lot of people at a big venue, supporting Anathema, I got a little nervous. Another problem for me was that I actually already had a gig that day with the choir I was singing in. I had to leave after the first part of the show with the choir to be in Tilburg on time for the sound check.

The show was a complete shock for me. It was over in a flash. I felt like a tiny little mouse out on an open field. Singing in a choir makes you feel safe. There are a lot of people around you. In the 013, it was just me and the boys. The guys from Anathema were extremely nice to us. Their CD 'Judgement' is a part of me and I am thankful that we were given the chance to have our first show in front of a great crowd, together with a great band.

Now, ten years later, I have travelled the around world many times. Seen and experienced lot's of beautiful things. I've experienced pain, been severely ill numerous of times, but got back on my feet again. It's been blood, sweat and tears, but worth every second of it.

We are all in a very privileged position and thankful that we can call our hobby, our job. Epica has grown out to one of the biggest symphonic metal bands around nowadays and is still growing strong. When fans give us our CD's to sign, I look at the artwork and get flashes from the past. 10 years is a long time, and it went by so fast.

On the 23rd of March 2013, we will celebrate our 10 year anniversary together with you in the 'Klokgebouw' in Eindhoven! Our biggest show ever will be called 'Retrospect' and will also be the longest EPICA show ever. Together with a choir and orchestra we will go back in time and create a magical evening for you.

We would love it if you guys would come by and celebrate this milestone together with us.

Love from Newcastle, England

Hi Sweets,

In January 2013, Sally Hansen is bringing out 13 lovely new colors. All of them will include a 7 in 1 formula that contain:

I love the brush, it's nice and wide and applies like a dream. Perfect for me, the manicure expert... Here's the first one for you to see, a lovely grey shade.

Love,

Our newest addition to our family; Minou. We got her from our local animal shelter. She's 2 years old, already had kittens and is very shy but cheeky at the same time. We have her now for one week and she is already taking over the house, and kitchen. Today we lost one plate and some pancakes that she was trying to take of the counter while flying through the kitchen.

You can expect more pictures on SmoonStyle and on my Instagram from now on.

Kitty cuteness below:

Hello sweets,

I am proud to let you know that the renowned make up brand KRYOLAN is now my official make up sponsor for our 'Requiem for the Indifferent' tour.

I know Kryolan since many years, and have been using some of their products for EPICA shows in the past. They have amazing products and I can't wait to show you what I have been using during our recent live shows. You can expect video's where I am recreating my stage make up looks and lot's of beauty posts filled with my favorite KRYOLAN products.

Below are two pictures of a day time KRYOLAN look that I have been wearing a lot lately. The products are listed below.

 | Face |

| Eyes |

| Lips |

I love this peachy day time look. It compliments blue eyes and warms up the face beautifully. Winter, spring summer or fall, I wear peachy shades all year long.

Do any of you like to wear peachy shades?

Love,

Love from San Antonio, Texas

With all the colorful photo shoots that I've uploaded lately, I thought it would be nice to share a classic black and white shot. This was made in Paris during my promo tour for 'Requiem for the Indifferent'. Photographer 'Unknown' unfortunately, I had many photo shoots that day. Feel free to fill me in on this matter.

During my stay in Worcester, I was thrilled to find out that I was going to have another photo shoot with Jeremy Saffer. I love his work and find him a great photographer to work with. He knows what he wants and he is fast. My kind of guy.

Here you find a little selection of our photo shoot.