Coffee talk - Love and cultural differences

Ahhh l'amour, between the rendez-vous and the je-ne-sais-quoi floating in the air. What more can you ask for?! Being in love is wonderful. Being in love with someone who comes from a different country is even better!

Different countries or not: relationships are work.

Yes, being in love and living with someone is a great life experience but it can also be very difficult. You have to swallow your pride here and there, (I have to work on that one!), make some compromises, put your boundaries down... In a nutshell, you have to let go.

It was too tempting! - evil laugh

Two different cultures living together

Now that we set the vibe, try to picture your relationship with someone with whom you don't share the same language. Personally, I think that's the biggest obstacle, which is pretty ironic for someone who thinks communication is the key for a successful relationship! I have been with my partner Ivan for the past 3 years and I have to say that sometimes our communication is not the best.

Well nothing to be surprised about... I am French, he is Colombian and at home we speak English, which is not our first language. So you can imagine this creates misunderstandings, frustrations and fights. And the more we argue, the worse our English gets and the less we can express ourselves correctly. Which creates?... Frustration. It is a vicious circle!

Sometimes I wish we could just yell at each other in French and Spanish, like in those romantic comedies, with a dramatic music in the background. But that's not how it works and honestly, it would be way too chaotic. 

Bad words can get worse.

The solution is quite simple: we have to be careful with the words we use (easy to say but not to apply!). I had never had to be on fleek with my vocabulary - not that I was using "paraglider" instead of "tomato" or "carpet" instead of "toilets" - but I never really cared to choose the exact words until I realized it can slightly change the meaning of your sentences.

Trust me when I say I learnt the lesson the hard way. When you speak in another language, you have a tendency to translate expressions from your mother-tongue without realizing the meaning can be quite different in another language. Believe it or not, some words can sound awful in English, but not so much in French, and vice versa.

Finding balance

(Juliette stole the keyboard)
There isn't only language difference. Habits & lifestyles are also big ones, especially when you live in your loved one's country. The good news? Getting accustomed to a different culture can actually bring out a better You.

If you know me, you likely see me as a hardass. And you're right. Well guess what? I was 10 times worse back in France. If I hadn't move to Canada, chances are I would have become a French version of The Devil Wears Prada. Dating a Canadian and living with him has taught me to chill the hell out (don't you dare laughing!). On the other end, I taught my partner to shake things up here and there in his everyday life. That's just one of many examples.
(keyboard is back with Fanny)

The double-culture treat

Leaving with someone from another country is a great way to open your mind to the world and change your way of seing things. You get VIP access to a new culture, which includes: food, music, history, fashion and a way to be even more sarcastic and joke about national clichés:

- Ivan: "French people are so weird, you guys shower with perfume. French shower is gross !"

- Me: "First, not true! Second, at least we don't sell drugs. Go ask Pablo Escobar if he had time to shower!"

Speaking of... food, this is also a big avantage (food aficionados: put your hands up!). Every time Ivan goes to Colombia or his family comes here, I always get some traditional delicacies. And that, my friends, is gold.

Long term relationships are already pretty hard and while having your partner in crime from another country could be challenging, it also comes with rewards. Such as getting the opportunity to say that yes, blue cheese and wine together as a match made in heaven.

When your passion is your job: the 'Meh' syndrome

Turning your passion into a full-time job. It's a lot of people's dream. Everyone deserves to wake up energized, ready to conquer their day with a smile and be happy to start working. We are part of the "lucky" ones, we've made it happen by opening Scandaleuse full time a year ago. Yet, being a photographer full-time (or any creative careers for that matter) can also burst your creative bubble.

"Submerged: Pisces / Aquarius" by Deanna Colosimo

Meet your Little Muse

I like to think that we all have a little muse that follows us around. I picture mine as a mini-me who throws ideas out of nowhere. She's the one that's like "hey let's cover that model in pink glitter and put her under the rain okay? It'll be awesome!!". She has taken me on some glorious photoshoots, and sometimes, I have had to ignore her because seriously, this idea was way too insane. But the thing with muses is that if you shut them up too often, they just go somewhere else. See you sucker.

We wrote a blog post a while ago about dealing with creative funk when you are doubting your work and feel like you can't seem to produce anything good. Well this is a different kind of funk: it's the "meh" syndrome. Your drive has been AWOL, like it's on a vacation in Mexico or something. And Fanny and I have contaminated.

The "meh" wall is silently building itself.

Without you noticing. Sneaky SOB.

Truth is, we have been insanely busy with both of our boudoir and wedding divisions, working our first wedding workshop, booking sessions, finding new locations, taxes, admin tasks. There is no one else but us behind Scandaleuse, so naturally we have to take care of the not-so-fun stuff on a regular basis. No surprise here, welcome to Managing your business 101.

Anyway, it felt like something was wrong but I just didn't know what it was. I have been feeling constantly tired, my excitement for our current projects was close to the ground. The energy I had for new projects was slowly being shattered by real life, unnecessary stress and unreliable people (YES I SAID IT!), making the process a lot less enjoyable. Picture your little muse pulling on your sleeve to get attention and you flicking her away because, hey, you don't have time, alright?!.

The "oh sh*t" moment.

I was sitting in my living-room/office, scrolling through Instagram & Pinterest and I realized I was dodging any beautiful and creative posts from other photographers. Why? Because it gave me a weird feeling in my stomach that I had been shutting down for a little while. The ugly truth is that I was feeling envious. Envious of artists showcasing their awesome work when I felt like mine was just "meh". I was not looking at other peoples' work because I didn't want to see better work than mine. After all, we pride ourselves to push our own creativity limits here and this made me realize that we hadn't done it in what felt like an eternity. I mean reeeeally done it.

We had just stopped putting our creativity first. Which is super ironic, considering that our creativity is our bread and butter. It is why people hire us to begin with.

But life got in the way, we are dealing with other things that, yes, need to be done, but have been taking all of our time, leaving no room for brainstorming crazy ideas like we used to. The only moment my drive was back was when we were actually shooting with a client, I guess Little Muse is responsible for that too.

It is time to grab the bull by its horns.

We have been thinking outside the box our entire lives and there is no way that Scandaleuse becomes "just" a job with standard quality. We swore to make it exceptional for every session (that's actually why we shoot in different locations) and we lost sight of it for a second.

Making your passion your career involves turning it into something quite commercial to appeal to the masses. Because hey, you gotta make some $$$, your work needs to be consistent, and not everyone wants an insane photoshoot concept.

But we need to make a crazy idea come to life once in a while. We need to do shoots for fun and more importantly: we need to make time for it. So I started my own list of super cool ideas for shoots that may not happen immediately, but are here when I will need them. I have put one into place already, and I had forgotten how much fun putting together different photoshoot styles is. It is thrilling and I know I want to live my life that way.

Little Muse is back, baby, and she's ready to rock.

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Camera Roll - March 2018

If you follow us on social media, you can see that we try to go to multiples events, exhibits and other fun stuff around the city. To keep this motivation going and share even more with you, we are starting a monthtly Camera Roll in which we will show you some glimpse of what we have been up to.

Since we just started the concept, we definitely have to get better at taking (and saving!) more pictures. Duly noted for April!

We celebrated Juliette's birthday with a pretty colorful treat

Fanny took me to Versus Coffee to get a very Instagramable latte! Check them out at Adelaide/Church.

Femmes en Or down at the city hall

On March 8th, we went down to the city hall to listen to 5 women entrepreneure to celebrate International Women's Day. Francophone event organized by Oasis Centre des Femmes. On top of meaningful conversations, we also got a chance to see the Chamber of Council. They gave us way too much power.

Babes who Brunch

The Ace Class is a collective of women, originally from Calgary, who activate, cultivate and empower each other. We went to their first Torontonian brunch at the Gladstone, in which we met Julie Harrish, founder of 6ix cycle, whom you might meet sooner than later around here...

Rocked with Deadset Society

Just because we are all about girl power doesn't mean we don't love good rock bands. Not gonna lie, Deadset Society has a special place in our hearts since we did their first promo shoot a year ago. They don't play a lot in the city, so when they do, you can make sure we are there. And you should too.
(we didn't take any photos - ugh - so thanks Michael Amaral for the pic!)

Women & Fitness Panel

As you may know, Fanny and I are both into fitness via our aerial silks passion, so when we bumped into this event at the Love Child Social House, we just had to go. We heard 5 very interesting panelists, got rubbed by MyoDetox, and met the beautiful Jessie & Chloe (same, you will likely meet them soon!)

Dreaming Big & Being Bold

Again, Eventbrite is a good source for events like this. Dreaming Big, Being Bold is a book gathering multiple author's life experiences, aiming to motivate you by their stories. We have met so many insightful people during that evening. Not gonna lie, almost 90% of people were from London, ON and were fairly surprised to see random people (aka us!) coming in. Oh well, we're pretty curious and it was a nice discovery!

Our one year anniversary is coming up!

Yep, that's right! On April 4th, it's Scandaleuse's birthday! We are working on a video you shall see soon!

She Leads Conference by Her Campus

The conference brought together five female reporters to discuss the topic of women in journalism in Hart House at the University of Toronto. While we are not in this industry at all (and not even students at U of T for that matter), it was super interesting to learn more about female journalist's everyday's accomplishments & struggles. Best advice: “report like women, publish like men.”

Well, ladies & gentlemen, that's pretty much it for this month! Going to events regularly is our 2018 challenge and so far, we've been doing pretty good. Follow us on our instagram to see these in real times & feel free to message us to tag along!

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Things to know before your boudoir session

Maybe you've thought about doing a boudoir shoot.  Maybe you're about to get one done. Or maybe you went straight into "no" mode and decided that you would never be able to do it, because who would be crazy enough to get naked in front of a stranger? Buy me dinner first! Yet, like one of our lovely client said, "everyone should get the feeling of a boudoir session once in her/his life". She couldn't be more right.

Whether you belong in one of the categories mentioned above or not, here is a list of things you should definitely know before booking a boudoir session (or any sort of shoot for that matter).

Being sexy is very versatile

We are conditioned to think that sexy is personified by a 5'8 woman, thin but with curves, likely with big breasts, super feminine. Wrong. I mean, you can be sexy with that list, of course. But you can also be sexy eating your cereal in the morning, with your hair still screaming "anarchy!", wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt.

Being sexy is about your attitude, not the way you look.

Have you ever met a confident, strong-minded women that isn't sexy in any way? No. We are tired of hearing "I am not sexy enough". There are no levels. The sexy etiquette is much better when it comes from yourself.

You don't need big breasts to go topless.

I would never forget when Fanny asked a client if she wanted some pictures topless and she whispered "I don't have boobs" and Fanny responded straight from the heart, loud and clear: "well neither do I, so what?". Spoiler alert, this lady got her topless photos and loves them.

It is the same for you if you have been gifted by mother nature on that side! Big breasts doesn't mean they should always be trapped in bras.

Hell, posing topless has even helped me to get rid of uncomfortable bras and actually to start loving my boobs just the way the are!

You don't have to look a certain way

Isn't it surprising? You don't have to be skinny, curvy, white, black, blue, tall, short for a shoot. You don't have to start a drastic diet before your shoot or lift a crazy amount of iron whereas you would never do it normally.

Do yourself a favor and buy some nice lingerie that will make you feel great with your current body.

It's okay to be nervous.

Posing in general in front of a photographer is hard, but doing it when you are in your birthday suit is worse. The first pictures will be awkward, even if you're Beyoncé. Then you warm up and boom: magic happens.

If you are having anxiety just of the thought of a session, ask a million questions to your photographers (aka us uh ? ;) ) before making any decisions. You are definitely allowed.

Let go of Facetune, you'll thank us later.

We bumped into a very nice lady recently who told us she'd never do a boudoir shoot because she edits her own photos and couldn't publish one without doing so. She is making herself thinner, or adjusting whatever she doesn't like. This is exactly why she should do a boudoir session. To prove to herself that her natural body is beautiful. You don't need any sort of editing and if you think you do, we need to talk.

Bonus tips: practicing your posing is a great idea

When you're alone in your home, feel free to practice your posing. Blast your music, play around, see what you like, maybe you're happier with your left profile than the right, or your legs look great this certain way. No negative comments allowed.

So... shall we see you soon?

Hello, World!

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Free the nipples

If you've been following us since the beginning you know we love nude photography (we are not boudoir photographer by mistake!). What we love even more is being able to share the gorgeous ladies we take pictures of on our social media. And sometimes, something really stupid happens: they get deleted.

Why? Well I can tell you it is not because we shoot porn or violence like some things you can randomly bump into online. No, what we like to photograph and share is something small and beautiful but extremely sexualised by our society for whatever reason: women's nipples.

Dear close-minded people

We live in a modern world where scientists are able to 3D print organs with human cells and where you can wander around the globe fairly easily. We are so advanced in many many fields and it's a pretty cool thing. Yet, some basic topics are being turned into such a big deal that it becomes absolutely ridiculous.

you can find porn, violence, blood and detailed plastic surgeries on social media and yet a little piece of flesh is still considered as the devil. 

How can female nipples be more sexualised than male ones? Don't you also know men also get pleasure when you stimulate their nipples?! So please tell me why you can allow portraits of topless men but not women?

It's not only about the nipples, it goes way deeper: It is about gender equality. and it needs to change.

People are talking a lot about it for work positions and salary, but if we want women and men to be equal, it has to start with the human body.

So here are little reminders for you: 

• Women's periods are not disgusting, it is something natural and needed. Did you know in some countries girls and women are forbidden to go to school or enter a kitchen when they have their menstruation? Ridiculous! 

• Vagina is an actual word presents in our dictionary and not a scary gnome with sharp teeth. It is time to use it instead of trying to delete it!

•  Women should not feel ashamed when breast feeding their babies in public spaces. Once again it is a natural act and it only concerns a mother and her child!

We are 7.6 billion people on Earth, of course we don't all think the same way. If you refuse to understand that mentalities need to change, or acknowledge the slightest possibility there is to open your mind, it is your right, no one can force you to. What's not right is for you to be demeaning towards those who think otherwise.

One advice, keep your energy to create a positive impact on our world instead of trying to denigrate women. 

We can change mentalities 

Fighting for a cause is always difficult, we never know where to start. Thankfully, internet is magical and can give you all of the answers you need if you take the time to do some research. If you are man, don't run away, we need your help too: the more you talk openly about a topic, the less it becomes taboo.

There is a group of fierce women who decided to take action, it's called Free The Nipple movement. They have campaigns coming soon and they are really active on social media. We have no doubt they will help to change mentalities and they need to be supported.

But if you still consider a woman like a piece of meat or you believe women should only take care of your home and give you pleasure whenever you want, then you can go sit on a cactus... Free the nipples and the woman body!

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A boudoir shoot in Winter Wonderland

If you live in Toronto like us, you know that unexpected snow storm, while very annoying, can also be spectacular. And when something is spectacular, you can make sure your Scandaleuse ladies are there. 

Now picture us running outside when Fanny said "THERE ARE DEERS!"

We met the beautiful Jewelz on Instagram and we were blown away by her confidence. She describes herself as a body-positive and life extremist, which suits her pretty well. She's strong-minded, very kind and her smile lightens the entire room. Shooting with her was an absolute pleasure.

To make this session even better, we had our lovely make-up artist Nicola Peel tagging along to create a bold look, just like Jewelz's personality.

Last but not least, we were lucky enough to be able to shoot at the Bob Rumball Manor in Northern Toronto. Oh my goodness, the pictures of this place you can find online do not do it justice. Full of character and natural light, we couldn't get over how beautiful this manor is. If you are looking for a event venue (weddings too!) close to the downtown core, make sure to check it out. The owner Joanne is one of the nicest people on Earth. (If you are as lucky as we were, you might bump into some deers running around the manor)

We really appreciate having so many talents behind us for our sessions. It makes your experience amazing - which is why we shoot boudoir at the first place - but it also gives us the drive to keep going and keep creating shoots, bigger & bolder. Thank you.

You are making us unstoppable and we want to return the favour.

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We have an empire of confident women to build.

When you are building a business, you need to figure out the big "WHY" you are doing it. It may sound simple at first, but putting it on paper and being able to explain it clearly takes a lot more work than you'd think. Our message wasn't clear enough.

The Soul Story

If you follow us on Instagram & Facebook, you may have seen that we went to a workshop without any big expectations and it kinda shook us up. It was led by Odette Laurie, very interesting woman may we add, and she was talking about finding your soul story to explain your business. Hers was based on her painful family past and harsh moments. It made us question about ours.

We were encouraged to be strong and to not take crap from others.

By our families, who raised up right. Our parents believe we could be whoever we want to be and that we have what it takes to do so. They taught us not to give up, be creative, be kind and not be a doormat because of our gender.

We mentioned it in one of our first blog post back in the day, we have dealt with sexual harrassement. We have heard the "you shouldn't do this, you're a woman.". We have dealt with awful men grabbing us in the streets. I have personally spent an entire job interview with a man twice my age staring at my breasts the whole time, when I was 18. Or that other man that told me I must spend a lot of time on my knees as a French girl. I have heard "whore", "slut", "how much" so many times I can't even count anymore. Directed to myself, but also to others.

I remember the anger for these specific moments. What I didn't realize, is that this turned into so much more. It turned into Scandaleuse.

Don't get us wrong, yes, we are all about body-positivity like 100% of boudoir photography studios in the city. It's a given to us. But we don't want to limit ourselves to just that.

We want to make women feel free.

It is absolutely killing us that some women are still stopping themselves from doing something because it's frown-upon. It makes me so angry when I hear "I could never do that, no one would respect me/take me seriously". They will, if you make them.

I just want to give you a hug if that thought has crossed your mind before. And encourage you to change that thought by "Screw them. I want to do this and I will go for it. I don't owe sh*t to anyone" , because guess what? You don't. For real.

We want to make women feel badass.

Because being free is awesome, but not enough. We want to make YOU feel like you can conquer that freaking mountain in front of you. Because we KNOW you can. If you are already doing it, we want to encourage you to keep going until you've reached your goal. And then find a new goal because a powerful woman like you does not stop there.

We want to bring up the "good hair days"

Don't go, I'll explain: you hear/read a lot about bad hair days. And by that, I mean when someone you know woke up on the wrong side of the bed, when nothing is going well and everything sucks. We don't talk enough about the days when you get up one morning and you feel like it's gonna be a good one. You feel gorgeous, you have a great smile on, you are ready to rock your day. This is exactly the feeling we give you with our boudoir photography. Let me tell you, your inner Beyonce is about to shine!

You deserve to be confident. You have every right to express yourself by any way your wish. It's already in you whether you know it or not. We chose to express it by boudoir photography. Now that you know everything, just one more thing: We're game if you are.

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"You are morbidly obese" - Marine's Story.

We meet wonderful people all the time during our sessions. Each of you have a very specific story, and you are always so willing to share it with us, which we are extremely thankful for. We are not going to write a blog post today. We decided to let one of our most recent Scandals tell her story, in hope that it will help you if you need to.

• Version Originale Française Disponible dans la deuxième partie de l'article •

““You are morbidly obese”
This is the sentence that changed my life. My name is Marine, I am 26 years old and I lost over 90 pounds.
”

This visit at the doctor's office changed my entire life. The word "morbidly" is pretty hard to hear when you still have your whole life ahead of you. But for some reason, here I was. It was iduring this split second when I finally decided to put my life back on tracks.

Everything started when my brother passed away when I was 13. That day, I lost a piece of my soul and  heart too. This is pretty much when the whole overweight phase happened: I was eating to compensate my loss. While I was at an age when you're supposed to start understanding your body and learning to love it, but my part, I just hated it.
Years came by, so did multiple diet plans... I am losing weight one day, gaining twice as more the next, until it hit me:

I am 25 years old and I weight over 220 pounds.

It was such a shock. I start seeing specialists who tell me that together, we can beat that obesity, that the secret is not drastic diets, it's a good BALANCE. Balance is what you eat, sure, but I also learned to exercise again (and trust me, that's not easy!). I also learned that indulging myself sometimes is not the end of the world. I just think they taught me how live properly again.

“It took me two years to lose those 90 pounds.
Two years of doubts, tears, reassessment, anger... But also hope, self-acceptance and pride!
”

Boudoir photography, a rewarding challenge

While browsing online, I stumble upon one of my former highschool comrade's photography website. She and her partner take beautiful boudoir photographs and I jump on the occasion to ask if I could book a session during their trip to France.

I had a meeting with Juliette to discuss it. She was very welcoming and managed to make me feel comfortable right away. I am still having a hard time to accept myself, so taking pictures in which my body was the main focus was scaring me.

We had a chat, booked a date and worked on what atmosphere we would be going for and off we go!

The day of, I was super excited but also very nervous. Juliette started coaching with a smile right away which made me feel comfortable despite my non-experience in this field whatsoever. The session flew by and the woman I have been wanting started showing up bit by bit.

This session gave me a chance to appreciate my new body, but also to accept it. I felt sexy for the first time ever, and I never thought I would feel that way.

“There is still a long way until I accept my new self completely, but this session gave me confidence I never thought I had.”

So thank you so much ladies for this moment. I hope that I will be able to do it again one day and I know it will be with Scandaleuse.

“« Vous êtes en obésité morbide… »
Voici la phrase qui a changé ma vie. Je suis Marine j’ai 26 ans et j’ai perdu plus de 40kg.”

Ce jour chez le docteur qui a changé ma vie. Le mot morbide c’est plutôt dur surtout quand on a encore toute sa vie devant soi. Et pourtant j’en étais là… C’est à ce moment là que j’ai décidé de prendre, enfin, ma vie en main.

Tout à commencer lorsque mon frère est décédé alors que j’avais 13 ans. Ce jour-là j’ai perdu une partie de mon âme, de mon cœur aussi. Mon surpoids est arrivé à ce moment, je mangeais pour compenser ce vide. L’adolescence c’est le moment où notre corps se réveille, on l’apprivoise, on commence à l’aimer. Moi je l’ai toujours détesté.
Les années passent, les régimes s’accumulent… Je perds des kilos, j’en reprends souvent le double et puis un jour je me réveille…

J’ai 25 ans et je fais plus de 100kg.

Là c’est le choc. Je vais voir des spécialistes qui me disent qu’ensemble on peut vaincre cette obésité, que le secret c’est de ne pas faire de régime mais l’EQUILIBRE. Équilibre de la nourriture oui, mais pas seulement: j’ai appris à faire du sport (et c’est pas facile!), j’ai appris que se faire plaisir de temps en temps ce n’était pas la fin du monde, bref je pense que j’ai réappris à vivre.

“Il m’a fallu 2 ans pour en arriver à ces -40kg.
Deux ans de doutes, de pleurs, de remise en question, de crises de colère… Mais aussi d’espoir, d’acceptation et de fierté !”

La photo boudoir, un challenge enrichissant

Et un jour, je tombe sur le site d’une ancienne camarade de lycée qui fait des photos boudoir magnifiques avec son associée, je saute sur l’occasion et lui demande si c’est possible lors d’un passage en France de faire une séance.

Juliette est tout de suite très accueillante et me met en confiance. J’ai toujours du mal à m’accepter alors prendre des photos où mon corps le centre de l’attention me fait un peu peur.

On discute, on pose une date, on voit ensemble la direction que les photos vont prendre et nous y voilà !

Toute excitée mais aussi nerveuse, me voilà devant l’objectif ! Juliette est tout de suite très souriante et douce et me permet de me mettre à l’aise malgré mes maladresses de débutante. La séance passe super rapidement et je fais ressortir peu à peu la femme que j’ai envie d’être.

Cette séance m’a vraiment permis de me mettre en phase avec mon nouveau corps mais aussi de commencer à m’accepter comme je suis. Je me suis sentie sexy chose qui ne m’était jamais arrivée avant!

“Le chemin sera encore long avant une acceptation totale de cette nouvelle image de moi, mais cette séance m’a vraiment donné une confiance en moi que je n’aurais jamais pensé avoir!”

Alors merci merci merci à vous pour ce moment. J’espère qu’un jour j’aurais l’occasion de repasser sous l’objectif, et ce jour-là, je sais que cela sera avec Scandaleuse Photography!

Thank you so much Marine for sharing your story. Boudoir photography is not only about getting pretty pictures. It's also about facing your body, challenge yourself to see it through's someone else's eyes.

contrary to what you may think, it is accessible to all shapes, sizes & genders. Don't be scared of jumping in, we can guarantee you will feel like a queen (or king).

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How a boudoir session turned into so much more (feat Madmoizelle.com)

Scandals, we just had our first press publication. Buckle up because what's to follow is even better: it's a comic strip. Drawn by one of the coolest illustrator on the planet, from one of the best online women magazine. How cool is that?

During our trip back to France, we didn't only eat a lot of cheese and notices how many times French people are saying "oh hé oh hé ooooh" when they speak. No Mam', we worked.

We have been reading Madmoizelle since it opened, over 10 years ago. They target young women from 15 to late 20's. What we love about them is that they are not afraid to speak the truth, kill taboos loud and clear and share body positivity in every way they can. We naturally thought of reaching out to their office in Paris to offer a boudoir shoot to one of the writers.

The lovely Léa took on our offer and we had the best time with her. She's is the main illustrator and graphic designer there. Try putting 3 creative women in one room, we just made magic.

Enough talking, here is the strip, translated from French to English for YOU scandals!

Nota Bene: all facts Léa stated in this strip are.... true. Yes we make bad jokes, we laugh a lot, take odd positions.... That's part of the package you get with Scandaleuse. 100% accurate.

Thank you so much Léa for this. We were SUPER excited to see ourselves cartoony too, it is off the bucket list!

Now Photo time....

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Keep in touch

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Why having two shooters is the best

It is not a secret anymore, Juliette and I have been working together forever. Thanks to all of these years, we have developed an amazing team organization and creativity. We know each other very well, we work fast and in a total harmony. If you think a photographer working alone can give you great photographs, imagine what two photographers can do..

THE SECRET: DOUBLE EVERYTHING

• STRESS-FREE ENVIRONMENT AND GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR: REPORTING FOR DUTY

Getting ready for a photo shoot can be a lot of work and more stressful than you'd think: there is a lot going on. It is important for us to add great vibes and positivity during this special day of yours. Shooting as a team allows us to feel more relaxed and work more efficiently so you don't feel rushed and you still get everything covered. We also coach you, guide you and help you style your outfits. Our photo shoots are not "hello, clac clac, done", they are a full experience. We keep it professional but in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere..

• CREATIVITY AT ITS PEAK

When we work as a duo, we tend to be even more creative. We get a chance to use more props or do more complex lighting. Having two sets of eyes and brains also gives you a great variety in your final selection since you have not one but two creative spirits with you.

• Fast editing:

After your session, it is time for us to edit those awesome photographs of yours! The way we usually work is by doing a rough selection together and applying a soft edit. Once you chose your photographs, we split the editing by giving each other half of the photos selected. This means that our editing time is twice as less and thus, you get your photos a lot faster! Win-win for everyone!

• MORE PHOTOGRAPHS

More photographers means more pictures. You are maybe thinking right now that you do not need too many photographs but trust us, in 30 years from now you would love to remember and share with your partner every single details of your photo session, from how confident you were that day to the sexy lingerie you were wearing. Giving you quality is truly important for us but if we can also give you quantity on top of that, it is even better.

• EXTRA ATTENTION ON EVERYTHING YOU'VE WORKED HARD ON.

It's very likely that you are spending a lot of time in every single details of your photo shoot: taking time to pack up your bag with a lot of gorgeous outfits, hiring a professional for your makeup or becoming a ninja so your partner will not know the surprise you are planning for her/him. Might as well keep some good memories of it. By having two photographers, you will get everything captured the same way you planned everything: with extra care. There is also nothing better than a touch of french accent, two brains and four eyes to give you gorgeous photographs.

• BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY: BACK-UP

This is a little but very important detail that people don't think about (because you already have so many tings to take care off and this one should not be a stress factor). It is your photographer's job to make sure that every possible problem on his/her side will be covered: we are talking here of sickness, accident, car damage or any problem related to photography gear. Unfortunately, emergencies happened and working with two photographers decrease the risk of, for example , losing half of your photographs because something was wrong with the cards or because the camera got damaged. When we work as a duo, we double our photography gear and cards for extra-safety.

“As artists, we always need to create.
As photographers offering a service, we want to make you happy and make you feel like a queen or king.
As boudoir photographers, we want you to leave the shoot feeling like you’ve channeled your inner Beyonce and so for the rest of your life so you can keep kicking butts and being proud of yourself.”

 That's what Scandaleuse is about.

Work for me but for free - meet the artists

Sometimes I dream that I can take pictures of people for free everyday. Just for the beauty of helping them express their sexyness. All they have to do is take their clothes off and together, we create beauty and sensuality (I am still talking about boudoir photography - oh you naughty minds!)

But then reality comes back and reminds me it’s not possible yet.

A few weeks ago, the business women in us were explaining why we can’t work for free.

Today, it's time for the sequel and we decided to let our artistic side speaks.

Once upon a time…

In the wonderful world of Edith Piaf, the baguette and delicious cheese, two young ladies named Juliette & Fanny signed up in a photography school located on the north side of Paris in the dark forest who was full of trolls, gremlins and angry dragons. Fortunately, Juliette and Fanny surrounded themselves with lovely people who became good friends and all together they were able to study in a joyous and relaxed atmosphere (with some drama like in every fairy tales). For 3 years, they used their time and some gold coins to pay for their education and developed their creativity, knowledge and sense of humor.

It was time to leave the castle…

Our two lovely companions always wanted to discover the world and become international photographers. So they decided to get on board the Hogwarts Express with a first stop in London and a few other ones such as Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Rome, Prague...

Hand in hand they worked as photographers, they built their skills with different photography studios, had a good amount of mentors and worked on many projects and photoshoots to become better and better at their craft.

But something was missing, in their heart Fanny and Juliette were aiming for freedom. They knew they were the only ones who can make things change so they used their magic wands (and their brains) to create Scandaleuse Photography boudoir & weddings and finally made one of their dreams come true.

And they lived happily ever after...

There are a lot of pages to add to their story and trust me, getting married and having a lot of children is not the happy ending here.

It is all of these years of travel, people we have met and the time we invested in our profession that makes us the professionals we are today. You are not paying only for a photoshoot but investing for great quality, creativity, knowledge and the security of working with two serious ladies who can give you the photographs you are dreaming of.

Boudoir photography puts our vulnerability down and taking your clothes off in front of strangers can be a difficult exercise. Going with a photographer you trust and can reveal your personality to is a must. And this is what we have now been working on for over 8 years.

With love,

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How I Met My Business Partner - Episode 2

Episode 2 : From London to Toronto

In case you missed it, you can catch up on how two French girls ended up in London at the first place here. Grab a cookie, get comfy, here is the second episode of your Scandals-en-chef's story.

London, Wood Green, October 2012.

Our suitcases are heavy, so is the rain, but we don't care. We found a house. It looks cozy (turns out it wasn't), the rent is fairly cheap (for London), the landlord seems friendly (turns out she wasn't either) and the rooms were just re-painted (that was true. Our first night with the smell of the paint is a delirious and hilarious blur. Don't do drugs kids.)

First step was getting a job and quick. Knowing that our English was not that great, our first bet was to apply in bars & restaurants, hoping to get something fast. That's exactly what happened: we looked for 2 or 3 weeks before finding jobs as a barmaid and waitress. This is when the 17-hour shifts and the going home at 2 am started. I am not going to lie, little Scandals, it wasn't easy. But we were okay. We made enough money to pay for our basic needs. We didn't need much and we had each other. Our main activities were cooking, watching movies snuggled in one of the bedrooms (we didn't have heat for the longest time ever, told you it wasn't that cozy), and going window-shopping because with our wages, going real-shopping was out of the question. (They don't tip in the UK, guys!)

This is when you need to know one of the key element to our story: a 5"7 Canadian guy swept me off my feet and gave me the idea to start the paperwork and pack my bags to go over the Atlantic. After giving a lot of tears, time and dollars to the Canadian government, my paperwork went through and 6 months after our British arrival, I was about to leave again.

This situation was quite a bit of a pickle. See, we were kind of used to live together Fanny and I and we even started a wife/wife relationship there (our common shopping cart can be a witness of that).

Thinking of giving it up wasn't easy so Fanny decided… not to.

A blurry photo from when she took me to the airport in London

Fanny's second day in Toronto

Toronto, Yonge & Eglinton, February 2013

I will always remember when she told me "you know what, I'll come too". She applied for a working holiday visa, which she got a few days before I left, in February 2013. I landed in the Torontonian winter (during that ice storm we had back then, remember?) and I am not gonna lie, the months before Fanny's arrival were not a lot of fun. Getting accustomed to a new country, a new culture, a new job, while being away from my entire family was tough. Everything seemed just... so far. It was also the first time I was dealing with a time difference between my loved ones.

The minute Fanny landed in June 2013, everything felt like a little more like home. It was even better when she found a place literally across the street from mine. We were ready to conquer Toronto, one glass of wine at the time.

We have now been living for almost 5 years in Toronto, but trust me, it wasn't all pink and unicorns. But that will be the next episode…

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Let's talk about 2017

Well Scandals, we are living the last few weeks of 2017. We don't know about you, but this year was full of adventures for us (as I am currently writing this blog post in Prague, aka my big latest adventure of the year in 2017).

I absolutely love reading other people's feedback on their year and for the first time ever, Scandaleuse is doing it too.

Firstly, we opened.

Well yeah, it's kinda of the biggest one this year: we gathered our courage and opened Scandaleuse in April 2017. Fanny got her immigration paperwork done, I quit my full-time job and, from the Toronto Public Library, the website went live for the first time. A dream we worked so hard on finally came true. We collaborated with three awesome talents we can't thank enough: our illustrator Deanna Colosimo, our videographer James at Prcptn and our animator Jonathan Delgado.

We have successfully built amazing projects

Show Us Your Tats was our first photography project for tattooed people, in which we met, photographed & interviewed wonderful people. Thank you Mike, Betty, Liana, Kyle and Amber for getting on board.

We then worked on The Boudoir Circus with Jamie Holmes with 13 wonderful ladies who blew us away with their aerial abilities. We cannot wait to have another one in 2018!

The first Boudoir Bash was born and sold out in a matter of weeks, with 5 amazing women we are very thankful we met. We have another Boudoir Bash on January 20th and we are hoping for an even better turn out! (by the way, we have 4 spots left, contact us if you want one!)

We had a fantastic Model Call with two gorgeous women to immortalize a fantastic location in Hamilton at The 45 Wellington Project.

We spoke in public for the first time ever

Fanny and I stood in front of a group of strangers to talk about self confidence & boudoir photography, first at the Oasis and then at Good For Her. It was rocky, we stuttered, laughed, felt awkward and waaaaay out of our comfort zone but what an incredible experience that was! It made us grow in confidence 3000 faster than usual.

We opened to weddings

After working on so many weddings for other people, we opened our own wedding division with Scandaleuse! We now have a few amazing couples for 2018 and we can't wait to get more! (Pssst, our wedding instagram is here. Just saying!)

We got published

Again in Hamilton, with a team that took months to gather, we got published for a half lingerie, half bridal shoot in the mud by a waterfall!

We traveled to cities we've always wanted to see, and that for an entire month.

Airplanes hopping, walking so many kilometers we can even count, tried to speak 4 different languages, and are now back home with our loved ones in France. 

We saw 54 pairs of butts and counting, did five shoots around the world in Costa Rica, Lisbon, Rome, Prague, Bordeaux (and Paris will be the first 2018 shoot!), posted 257 times on Instagram (double that on Facebook) and wrote 37 blog posts.

And for that, we thank YOU. (And you. And youuuuuu. Love Actually reference.)

To more shoots, more boobs and butts and weddings!

What's your biggest accomplishment in 2017? We want to know everything. Sending you a lot of love for these last few weeks this year. Take care.

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