SMOONSTYLE

Ever since I got my CLEAN 'Warm Cotton' perfume, I was hooked. I wanted to try out more of their collection. From all the perfumes I liked SKIN the most. It was a subtle scent that developed nicely on my skin. The Sephora I went to didn't have the full size, but only the big roller balls. When I was about to pay for my purchases, I saw that they had this mini rollerball collection and quickly exchanged it.

I like the idea of layering the perfumes to create your own scent. Rollerballs are also very handy for protecting yourself not to shower in perfume. Some people like to do that.

My kit contains AIR, COOL COTTON, WARM COTTON, WHITE WOODS, and SKIN.

AIR – A woody floral aldehydic fragrance

COOL COTTON – Bergamot, mandarin, green apple, lemon zest, cotton accord, mint, and peach

WARM COTTON – The comforting scent of just-out-of-the-dryer freshness

WHITE WOODS – Bergamot, Mandarin, vanilla orchid, sandalwood, praline musk, and black pepper

SKIN – Flower petals and warm musk

My favorites are 'Skin' and 'Warm Cotton'. 'Skin' is very sensual without being too overpowering. The trail of musk takes me back to when I wore 'White Musk' from the Body Shop. A friend of mine wears that perfume and I immediately recognize it. Such a lovely scent!

The Rollerball collection $20 at Sephora

💋 Simone

In the year of 1985 the Color Riche lipstick from L’Oreal was born. In that same year I also became part of this world. Funny fact is that lipstick is one of my favorite beauty items.

The color range is endless. There are nudes, pinks, reds, purples and all the colors in between. The finishes vary from creamy to matt, semi opaque and even the glitters come out to play.

I’ve swatched 14 our of the 24 lipsticks that came in the box. You all have seen me with red lipstick and L'Oreal has several red beauties in their collection.

From all the lipsticks I was most curious about the ones with the matt finish. They are actually my favorite out of the anniversary box.

Let’s get swatching!

My favorites are 228 VIP and 144 Ouh Lala and 374 Intense Plum. They are a beautiful coral, a kick ass pink purple and a sultry plum shade. Intense plum is a perfect autumn shade. Overall, I prefer creamy and matt shades.

L’Oreal Paris has a special Color Riche Charity edition in stores at the moment. The charity lies closes to my heart.

From each Color Riche Charity lipstick that is sold (they have the image printed on them that I shown above), €1 will be donated to DKMS LIFE. It is a daughter organisation of ‘DKMS Stiftung Leben Spenden’ that offers free make up seminars to help women during their fight against cancer to ‘look good, feel better’.

www.dkms-life.de

My baby is now a 2-year-old boy. I'm going to sound like an old lady now but, boy did the time fly by! Sometimes I swear that he grew tall over night. They really do. 

Everybody tells you that they grow up so fast and you know they are all right. Oliver jokes around saying that Vincent is half my size. It is truly incredible. 

Such a sweet, bright, happy and funny guy. He loves tractors and chocolate. The chocolate part he gets from me, the tractor I don't know. Oliver prefers pianos, but we both started to appreciate tractors. I think our next car has to be a tractor, even if it would mean that we would never reach the Netherlands on the same day. Tractors will definitely handle my suitcases which are chronically overweight. 

The baking went smooth. The non-bake chocolate pie was not that great. I failed twice resulting in me waking up on the 2nd of October at 4 am to find that my non-bake chocolate pie was still a pudding. I checked for all the ingredients in my house and make some easy chocolate cakes. They were for Vincent to treat his friends. It had to be chocolate because that is his favorite. None of the kids had allergies for dairy and such, so it was a success. I checked beforehand if there were any children that had allergies. 

The pie for the party of the grown ups was a huge success! I made a marzipan cherry pie. It was divine and super delicious. I will make this very soon for Oliver because we are true marzipan fans.

My savior in many baking occasions has to be Sally. I've baked a lot of her recipes and love her and Murat's Schwaebisches Geschwaetz. They also have a webshop with excellent service. I've ordered there before and the shipping and handling was fantastic.

The chocolate muffins/cakes were also from Sally, I added some extra chocolate pieces to fit Vincent's 'Locolat' wish.

Thank you Sally for your wonderful recipes and dedication! I wish you a wonderful birth of your second daughter, Ela. 

If you are interested and have some time to spare, please read my hypo birthing article: Beautiful Birth

💋 Simone

Yes, I did it. I tried on a different brand of glasses. Being kind of obsessed by OITNB glasses that Alex is wearing, I wanted to try something similar. Black frames were a must. The frame of my old Ray Ban is semi-black and semi-brown. The scratches on the glasses where becoming annoying and I thought it was time to have my eyes checked again.

Numerous black frames passed by. Glossy, matt, cat-eyed, squared and more. The vintage ones were too much of a statement and would clash with some of my outfits and overall style. I wanted them to be casual, but still chique with a slight sixties feel. No weird embellishments and minimal extras. No animal prints or jewels. Black as black can be.

Dolce & Gabbana had the right frame for me. The Ray Bans that I tried were too similar to my old ones and I wanted to try something new. It didn't matter which brand they were from.

I love them!

💋 Simone

Hi Everyone!

I'm always on the hunt for new skincare products and today I'd like to share some recent face product purchases with you. I'm absolutely in love with all these items, so much in fact that they are part of my weekly skincare routine. :)

Let's have a look!

To help keep my face fresh and clean, I recently switched to a gel cleanser as it removes more dirt and oil that I unfortunately accumulate more of in warmer weather. This product utilizes Papaya Extract to soften skin and subtly exfoliate, Coconut Water to tone and balance, and Sea Algae Extract to aid in moisturizing and promote brightness. My skin felt deep cleansed but balanced after use and it's amazing at removing makeup. I don't wear a lot of makeup, but this cleanser took my mascara and concealer off in one wash. If any readers wear full makeup and use this wash, I'd love to know how it worked for you!

This face wash perfectly cleanses, is cruelty- and sulfate-free, made for all skin types, plus removes makeup like a champion. How much better does it get?

My holy grail of exfoliation... this is a rare gem and one of my all-time favorites. I've used exfoliators for a long time and no other products, besides professional-grade spa formulas, have left my skin so refined, bright and smooth. Organic Sea Kelp and Lemon Peel are the main exfoliators and French Green Clay removes any impurities. As a bonus, Organic Chlorella and Argan Stems promote new cell growth and skin repair while Madonna Lilly Stem Cells brighten. I particularly like the brightening benefit of this product as it makes the rinse and reveal more satisfying.

To top it off, this exfoliator is vegan, Fair Trade Certified Organic, the packaging is 100% biodegradable, and the formula is free of sulfate, PEG, petroleum, phthalate, silicone, gluten, and synthetic fragrance – all of these bonuses are a major win for those concerned with animal testing and healthy ingredients.

A total splurge but absolutely worth it, the Eau Roma Water by Lush is heaven in a bottle and a must-have if your skin is sensitive. This product is a blend of Rose and Lavender Water that helps hydrate skin without causing it to overreact – especially helpful in hotter weather when skin might have imbalance and be prone to breakouts. A perfect skin refresher, this toner is great to incorporate into your morning and night skincare routines. If applied before face lotion it quickly absorbs your day cream and perfectly primes skin for makeup. When my under eye is a bit dry, I'll apply this to my face to instantly hydrate the area and allow a smoother concealer application.

In regards to aromatherapy, the scent of Lavender (one of my favorite scents) aids in mood balancing and promotes calm and relaxation. This multi-functional product feels, smells, and looks good, plus has extra mind and body benefits, so it will always be in my skincare regiment.

The newest addition to my skincare collection, this face lotion found its way into my beauty arsenal because it's cruelty-free, has SPF and helps even skin tone. I swear by a daily SPF moisturizer to protect my skin from sun damage so it was a pleasant surprise to see and feel how quickly this product absorbs into the skin – other lotions I've used tend to leave a greasy residue which isn't great for makeup application and seems to fall off the face if you go outside on a hot day.

As for diminishing dark spots, I have noticed an improvement in the overall tone of my skin. The promoted ingredients used in the formula are Grapefruit (high in antioxidants Vitamin C and Lycopene) and Moringa Oil (moisturizing fatty acids plus Vitamins A and C) – a great combination that my skin loves. When I first applied this product I had major skin discoloration from a recent breakout and was thrilled to see that after just one week of use, the dark spots disappeared nicely. Fantastic product, love it a lot and highly recommend!

Have you recently fallen in love with a new skincare product? If so, list your face product favs in the comments below! It's always fun to share beauty secrets and try out new brands. :)

❤ Rebecca

Rebecca Brayman is a graphic designer and digital consultant with clientele ranging from renowned heavy metal bands (EPICA, Kamelot, Nightwish) to well-known female entrepreneurs and professionals. She is also passionate about skin care and believes that revealing and celebrating one's natural beauty inspires self-confidence and empowerment.

Website  |  Instagram  |  Twitter

Balayage, Ombre and highlights. I got a little bit of everything. My cousin had gorgeous highlights in her hair and she told me that she always goes to 'Het Haerhuys' in Heerlen.

Normally I only get my hair trimmed at the hair dresser, so this was quite exciting for me. I took my sister with me so both of us could relax and get our hair done.

Het Haerhuys is a lovely salon, modern and chic. The ceiling is really high and gives a spacious feeling. I love high ceilings. One of their eye catchers for me, has the be the lamp. One of the pictures that I took I used as a desktop picture.

The eye for detail and color scheme is perfect. What I loved about the salon is that is also a barber shop! Too bad I don't have a beard to try out a new look.

They placed 3% bleach and dark brown layers in my hair. I call it: Autumn Hair. The different colors come alive best when my hair is slightly curly. I used my Remington hot rollers to achieve this look. I have a hate love relationship with hot rollers. I don't mind looking like a granny for 30 minutes, but my fingers don't like the heat. Practice makes perfect.

www.haerhuys.nl

💋 Simone

One of my worst fears is receiving that one phone call with bad news while being far away. It doesn't matter where you are, it won't change the bad news, but it makes things more complicated.

While waiting for my food at a restaurant in Boston, I received that phone call I feared the most. At that moment it feels as if someone pulls the ground away beneath your feet. I felt completely powerless.

My dad fell ill while riding his bike and fell on the road. Other people saw it happening and performed CPR on him until the ambulance arrived. They managed to bring him back. He went through the eye of the needle.

Seeing him lying at the intensive care unit attached to, what seemed like a thousand tubes, bruised and drugged, felt like a nightmare that came true. Truth is that reality is filled with nightmares. They come and go. Waking up the next morning doesn't always mean that the big bad wolf has run off. He was still among us. My dad was still fighting for his life and all we could do was wait.

Life has it ups and downs and the only thing we can do is take it from the moment we are currently living in and keep on looking forward. Not knowing what will happen the next days was hard. Hard for all of us. My family, the band, the fans. All was uncertain.

A fan wrote to me, "The last thing you lose, is hope." And that sentence kept on going through my head. Thank you to whoever wrote that. It really helped me a lot.

My dad is a very strong man and that was what we held on to. His recovery is a miracle that has left us speechless. I believe that we all helped him by connecting through music, something he also lives for. He loves him some Chopin. So many people were thinking about him and all the positive energy that was sent his way was very powerful.

At this moment he is doing better. We are awaiting what and if surgery lies ahead. He will need a long time to recover, but thank the Energy out there that he is still alive. He proved to us that he is one tough cookie.

Thank you for helping Epica and I, by being so incredibly understanding and caring through this unknown journey. Canceling a tour was the second nightmare that came true in a short period of time, but we will make it up to you! We were all so looking forward to go to North America finally again and then this happened. On top of that Coen also couldn't join us on this tour, but we were bound to make this tour happen.

We will be back, all six of us, full force!

I want to thank my band mates, our management and crew for being the best buddies to work with. It is unbelievable how kind and understanding you all have been. I am grateful to have you. We are a good team that supports each other through the good and the bad. It kind of feels like we're married. ;)

💋 Simone

I do not advise you to look any further if you are hungry at this moment. You have a chance to look away! These babies are so deadly tasty that you might suffer from severe drool edge.

Meet my Raspberry Pâte Choux, made again with the help of Dulce Delight. I basically did everything the way she made them except for the rose flavoring. I couldn’t find rose jelly nor did I have the time to make rose extract.

The first time that I tried to make Pâte Choux for eclairs went completely wrong. I made the dough too liquid and instead of making a second batch of cooked dough, I just threw in flour to make it thicker... So, I learned from that. They simply sucked. It was like biting in to bread rocks, the custard filling was amazing, though.

After calming down over the last few month, I decided to give it another try. I binge watched Dulce and studied her video about how to make mini rose Pâte Choux. It gave me confidence, so I put on that apron and started baking.

This time I was sweating in the kitchen during high summer. Drying out the dough and then adding the eggs one at a time. I almost failed again because after throwing in 3 medium sized eggs (instead of 4 to 5 large ones), I noticed that the dough was again too liquid. It went beyond ribbon stage. To the stove I went again to make a second batch of cooked dough. I mixed a small portion into the liquid dough and it turned out fine! Yay!

I filled them with a delicious classic custard and topped them off with a dark chocolate ganache. Delicious! My whole neighborhood enjoyed them with me. Good times, no, tasty times.

The third time I made them was just over a week ago when my parents where at my place. My dad loves backing as well, so I wanted to show him the new tricks that I have up my sleeves. I’d learned from my mistakes and was rewarded with perfect little (more like medium) choux. This time with the raspberry filling that came with the original recipe from Dulce.

Check out the recipe and enjoy baking them!

💋 Simone

Stuttgart is a wonderful city. I recently had my parents over from the Netherlands and we were exploring the surroundings a bit. One of our many favorite places in Stuttgart is Killesberg Park. We took the little railway train, had some drinks and ate ice cream. We enjoyed our stay very much. The weather was amazing and that plays a big part.

Here are some pictures shot by Oliver with my Canon 700D with the 40mm f2.8 lens. It is a great camera which I have grown very fond of. The lens is amazing too. My Nikon D300s I don't use that often anymore because it is too heavy for on the go. For studio shoots it still is amazing.

Could you recommend me a camera and a lens that would be a good upgrade from the Canon 700D, but still is kind of light weight? I have been researching the 70D and the 24-70f 2.8 mm lens. They seem like good candidates to take it to the next level.

I find the flip screen really useful for the family and self portraits. Built in WiFi is also great. The 7D doesn't have that. The 5D Mark III is very expensive, but if I were to sell both my Canon and Nikon including the Nikon lenses which are the 18-200mm and the 50mm f1.8, it would be no problem. The Canon 6D has built in WiFi, is full frame and still quite light weight. That could be the one.

A website I like to browse is: www.cameralabs.com but I still want to know the customer point of view.

Please let me know your experiences and expertise! Looking forward to reading the comments and thank you so much for helping me out!

Dress: Vero Moda Swing Dress Size XS (they have a large fit)

Shoes: Black Gizeh Birkenstocks

Sunglasses: Ray Ban Aviator size 52mm | www.smartbuyglasses

💋 Simone