Makeup or not makeup?

We always tell our Scandals to put more makeup than usual for their boudoir shoot. The reason behind this is because, on our sensors, it doesn't look as intense as you would think. Lighting, lenses, angles and so on can change makeup very dramatically! The ideal goal would be to get a makeup artist and guess what... we have one for you. Let us introduce you to Nicola.

Hi, who are you?

Hi! I’m Nicola but everyone calls me Nic.  I’m relatively new to the makeup scene on a professional level but have tons of experience on and off camera, as a model and makeup/hair artist.  I studied makeup and hair styling at Sheridan College but looking back I always found myself getting involved in projects that required hair and makeup!  I love what I do and with every job comes a new and fun experience I get to share with the person in my chair!

How long have you been a makeup artist/hairstylist for?

I started out working in amateur theatre five years ago and over the past few years have started experimenting with different photographers and creative people to develop my style and techniques.

Why would you recommend our clients to have their makeup done professionally?

Having a makeup artist on board for your shoot adds all the more fun to the experience! It's one less thing to worry about and having someone who is experienced with all ethnicities, ages, and various looks, like myself, will help create your desired look with ease!  It adds a little something more to the photo too, because these aren't your typical day-to-day photos your makeup shouldn't be either! This is your time to relax and get pampered.

What makeup advice can you give to our next Scandal?

A flawless makeup application starts before you touch any makeup to the face.  Taking care of your skin not only helps you get the most out of your makeup but it will help delay wrinkles and other signs of aging! And the best products aren't always the most expensive ones; don’t be afraid to grab those drugstore products!

Is there anything a model should do before getting pampered by you?

For hair, it’s typically best if the hair hasn’t been washed in the past 24hrs.  Clean hair is stripped of all of its natural oils which actually help with the styling process! Skin prep is always appreciated but not necessary, the only thing I would recommend is washing and moisturizing your face the night before.

What about the gentlemen?

Same ways for guys! Hair is easier to style if it hasn’t been washed in the past 24hrs.  With that being said if you typically style your hair with product, wash it out the night before your shoot and try to come with no product in your hair.  Let your stylist know how you like to typically style your hair as well, we want to enhance who you are and bring any of your “must have products”! Don’t be scared of makeup! It washes off I promise and I always have makeup remover if you don’t feel comfortable leaving your shoot with makeup on. All the guys on fitness magazines and fashion magazines have tons of makeup on! It can look super natural and just enhance your best features!

Last word for the road?

Never be afraid to ask questions and ALWAYS let your artist know prior to the session if you have an allergies or sensitivities to products.  Lastly, it’s all about having fun & I’ll do everything I can to make sure both you and I are enjoying our time together and that you feel fantastic on camera!

You can book your pampering sesison with Nicola with any of our packages!

Boudoir Bash or meeting 5 wonderful human beings

We put together our first Boudoir Bash: 5 women, 5 sessions for one day only. A boudoir marathon. And a pretty successful one. We had the perfect combo between a gorgeous place and five amazing personalities.

To be completely honest, when we first started Scandaleuse, we weren't sure about booking multiple shoots a day. Since we are all about creating individual experiences, we were a little worried that it would lose authenticity and creativity. We first thought "how can you be 500% creative after 5 hours in the same space?"

Then, we had a little contest on our instagram and it made us realise that so many women who couldn't afford a VIP session were dying to try it still. And we had an opportunity to shoot in a very special location. Everything started getting together. It kinda looked like a sign so we decided to follow it. I am glad we did.

One house.

Before talking about the wonderful models, we need to talk about the location. We got extremely lucky to have access to a full house, recently renovated with modern touches and full of variety. We could never thank the owners enough. Thanks to them, our concern of potentially lose creativity during the process faded.

Two brains.

The fact that there are two of us made the entire day a lot easier. I took one shoot, Fanny took the other one, which gave us a chance to "recharge" between two people. We were also able to shoot the video below simultaneously while one of us was shooting.

Five models.

Within a few weeks, all the spots were taken. We knew practically nothing about our models. For our regular sessions, we always take our clients for a coffee to discuss location and vision, but in this case, since the location was set, we were ready to roll after sending them a few tips & tricks. Frankly, we expected our girls to bring similar outfits from one another. We were pleasantly surprised by the thoughts the girls put into their props and outfits.

We saw beautiful nightgowns, vintage bras, sophisticated bodysuits, gigantic feathers, delicate robes and so much more. Each of them have a very distinct personality which made the whole process even nicer. And the standard was already pretty high!

A challenge for all of us.

Usually, the challenge during a boudoir session is stronger towards the model, since she/he is likely the one not being familiar with it. Don't get me wrong, we do challenge ourselves by thinking outside the box for every shoot, but let's face it, the one getting naked is taking on a bigger step. This time however, we were seriously on the line too. Boudoir Bash forced us to adapt ourselves quickly and think 4 or 5 steps ahead so each of the girls would get something special. I am happy to say that the mission was accomplished.

Boudoir Bash gave us a chance to open our doors to models we wouldn't have necessarily met otherwise. It broadened our horizon and challenged us. I do believe that this little adventure made us better photographers and we are seriously considering doing it again. We are always so proud of each of our Scandals who have reached out to us to try this new experience.

How to Avoid NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

Here is the context: you managed to score a gig on a very nice project. You gathered all of your creativity, worked without counting your hours (for the greater good!), maybe ended up losing money rather than making some but you put your heart on the table and did not regret it. Until…

Until you received feedback. Negative feedback. This is when your client took your heart out of your chest and kicked it like it was just a piece of garbage.

I experienced this in the past and I would be lying if I said that I handled it okay and it did not affect me whatsoever.

This unfortunate scenario happens more than you would think and more importantly, hurts a lot more than you would expect. Because it is your craft. Because we are human. Because our visions are different. Because you were not prepared. Because there was a misunderstanding. Thankfully, learning the hard way can also force you to move forward quickly and efficiently.

Since this feeling is definitely something we would rather avoid, here are some leassons that I learnt from this experience:

Get your client's vision

Congratulations, you made the cut, your client believes you have the talent to accomplish their request and are ready to pay you for it! Now it is time to get down to business and understand what the hell they need you to do. Ask for inspiration photos or other examples. Ask as many questions as you need to, to make sure you understand exactly what they are looking for.

Educate your clients

Chances are that whoever will contact you for your services has no knowledge whatsoever on how to do your job. That is probably why they are reaching out at the first place. Now that you have a more precise idea of what they need from you, you MUST evaluate the time and budget allocated for this project and let them know exactly what they will get for this price/time. Is it very unlikely they will get 500 edited photos for one hour of coverage for their event. They probably won't get a very complicated studio lighting for their corporate shoot for $200.

Have a contract

Sounds simple but it actually isn't, at least for me. I got blinded by the excitement, agreed to work fast, didn't take the time to write everything down and have it signed. Bad, bad idea. This can only backfire. Write something that can protect you in case something out of your control was to happen the day of the shoot that would stop you from giving what you were asked.

Explain the final product.

While it does relate to the previous point, I believe it needs a different paragraph. People need to know prior to shoot what they will get at the end. Edited, RAWs, low res, high res, your watch, whatever. This needs to be set in stone. If you have delivering  RAW previews for your clients to choose, it is important to explain that this step is not the final product. Again, they might not know what a RAW photo looks like (and it looks pretty bad usually.). If I REALLY have to show some RAWs - which I try to avoid as much as possible - I like to give an edited example with it to show the before/after process. This also give you a chance to get approval for the editing style you went for.

Charge a fee for additional hours.

Make it worth your time. If after giving exactly what you were asked, you get additional requests, you need to charge for it. This will avoid wasting money on billable hours. And no one likes to waste money.

Let it go.

This is the hardest point for me. And this is still something I need to learn myself. Despite of all your efforts, sometimes it just doesn't work. It happens. If you feel like you gave your best and there is nothing else you can do to adjust the products, it is time to let that boat sail away. There is only so much you can do. It doesn't make you a terrible artist, it just means that people are different. Take what you can from it and move on.

That's it dearest Scandals. Now go work on new amazing projects and blow people's mind, we are right behind you.
Love,

How photography can change the way you see yourself

Today I wanted to write about me, myself and I. It can sound a bit pretentious but this is not the point of this article. I am going to share with you a part of my life that was pretty difficult with a life experience that happened 8 years ago. 

Believe it or not, it’s not because I have a Boudoir photography business that I always felt in harmony with my body. Let’s go back in time and see how photography helped me to feel more self-confident.

When you are 15 years old and you look like 11!

Middle school was rough

If there is a period of my life where I don’t want to go back, it is definitively middle school. I hated it, even if I met one of my best friend then, I don’t have lots of good memories. You are still young, but yet old enough to care about other people's opinions. It was pretty much when my self-esteem went "hasta la vista baby!".

When I was a teenager, I was very thin. Too thin. Some people told me I was anorexic (you know how children can be mean!). I come from a tiny little family and I took everything from my mom side: small boobies, not tall, thin bones. We could have been a lilliputian family (the only interloper is my butt, my mom got it too, I truly don’t know where it comes from!). I was and I am still a pretty short person but on the top of it I had buck teeth. Not because I was sucking my thumb, no I wanted more than that, I was sucking 3 of my fingers (at the same time!). Then of course I got braces at the age of 15.

When you are in your teenager phase, you are way more vulnerable and you take all of the negativity from others as if it was the truth. Even if I never felt ugly, I had no self-esteem for several years because of all of the tough teasing I got from others.

Apprenticeship, the beginning of freedom

Long story short, middle school sucked and I was happy it ended. What hapepned after? Well, before we start, just know that, in France, you have 3 options after middle school: you either go to high school, university or apprenticeship. I went for the last one because I wanted to learn a profession and get a paycheck. It works like this: first you need to find the field where you wanna work in, second you find a business ready to hire you and then a school who teaches the profession you choose.

I have done 7 years of apprenticeship (2 years of dog grooming, 2 years of sales and 3 years of photography) and every year was one more step towards freedom and self-development.

The time I won back my self-esteem

When I started my first year of photography school, I was still a bit shy. My arms were often crossed and my shoulders were tense. I remember my classmates telling me to relax and put my shoulders down.

When you learn photography, you also have to learn how to pose. It is very important to understand how modelling works if you want to be able to guide your model in a better way. The first times as a model was tough for me. I felt awkward, stupid. It was so not natural and I was afraid of smiling. Then there is a moment, you decide to take it as a game, an experience that happens few times in a life. After a few times, you start to relax, smile more naturally, pose by yourself and you take off your clothes more easily.

For me it was pure freedom, especially when I saw the results on the screen. I was like: “oh man, I look gorgeous, is that me?!”

The final step of my self-confidence goal, was to pose fully naked, which I did! Trust me, once you put down your vulnerability and your clothes, you feel ready to dance naked in the street!

As a photographer, it has been a while since I met someone who loves 100% of his/her body.  Even me, sometimes I catch myself thinking that I would like to change a physical part of my body. But what is the point of those thoughts?

Here is a good exercise

Find a mirror where you can see yourself, from your head to your feet. Go naked and look at every centimeters of your body, even your intimate parts. Start to think about what you like in yourself, don’t let negative thoughts coming through.

Then everyday you are facing a mirror, take 5/10 min to think about the parts of your body you don’t like and for each of those, start telling yourself out loud that you are beautiful, those parts are awesome, it is not a big deal to have something physically different, that it doesn’t change the fact you are strong, smart, sexy and pretty. It sounds silly and ridiculous but trust me it does work if you work on it daily. Telling yourself something positive everyday will help your brain to believe in it.

And you, what is your story?

With love,

5 reasons to spend more time in adult stores

Sexy Sunday talk: Sex shops! I am pretty sure most of you have been to an adult store before, if not then it’s okay, you probably will after reading this.

The first time in an adult shop is like the first time you make love. It is confusing, we don’t really know where to go, what we can touch… So yeah, not the best experience. Like sexuality, you need to practice to make it feel better and be more confident about it.

It's very likely you will end up doing what 99% of people do: go once, feel weird and you won't try again because you will just rehash that first experience. I personally do not go often, but when I do, I aim for the classy and friendly ones.

Before giving you the reasons why you should embrace your curiosity and take this step, let me tell you about my first time there... when I was 4. Yes, you read right. I actually had to ask my mother to remind me this story, as you know, your memory is not the sharpest at that age.

My mom, my godmother and the four-year-old me were walking downtown Paris, in les Halles area (if you're familiar with Paris!) after our casual Toy Story moving outting. We turned into a street full of sex stores and peep-shows at that time. Because I was very curious, I could not stop asking my mom about those “shops”. She thought it would be a good idea (because of Toy Story) to tell me they were selling toys for adults. Oh mom...

I was just staring at the windows, while my mom and godmother were talking. And suddenly, I just crawled under the curtain (for people who never been to les Halles, lots of those peep-shows don’t have entrance doors per se but velvet curtains instead).

My mom had to go in, get me out and the young salesman was too surprised to catch me while I was running towards the dildos. It was such an awkward moment for the clients who ended up leaving the store because they felt too embarassed to stay. Talk about cockblock.

It took only 2 minutes to my mom to take me out not without bumping into a gentleman going in. He became as red as a tomato and pretended he was going in the wrong store.

I apparently created a big mess that day!

I went back years later with my friends, when I was a teenager. I have lots a great memories about laughing and making jokes at the products.

Here are 5 reasons to spend more time in sex stores:

An other world

I am always amazed to see the diversity of products you can find for sexuality and desire. It is open for all level, either you are looking for something sensual or erotic: massage oils, dildos or silicone vagina, you will find something for you. They have amazing and high quality pieces, like those colorful glass sex toys, they are captivatingly beautiful.

Body-positivity

Sex stores are part of this category of few places where you are free to be yourself. No judgement and everybody is welcome: young adults to older people, women and men, straight or LGBTQ community… No one cares about the way you look or your career, the money you have or the places you are going to. 

Educational

Believe it or not, you can learn very interesting things. Lots of sex shops organize different workshops, from learning how to do a blowjob to communicating your desires to your partner or even getting prepared with your next challenge (being half naked in front of a camera) with a boudoir photography workshop. Oh wait, the last one is done by us!

Personally, I found pretty interesting ones like: “Bigger, better, multiples: orgasms for every body” or “compassionate communication: crossing the bridge to connection”. If you feel attracted by those workshops, Good for Her has great ones.

Amazing lingerie

Oh ladies, the lingerie they have is marvelous and so tasteful.  I am in love every time I am going in a sex shop. Bras, panties, bodysuits, jumpsuits, tights, stockings, thongs, sexy, fancy, with straps, lace, leather… Disneyland for women! Prices are affordable and you have lots of choice.

Great people

Why are adult stores great? Not just because of the products they have but also because of the people who work in those places: open minded, professional, friendly and knowledgeable. They will guide you, answer your questions, show you the new arrivals and make you have a great experience. But no worries if you prefer to not talk to anybody, they will leave you alone.

The time of creepy and crappy places is over! We love clean and friendly stores.  For our scandals who live in Toronto, BlogTo did a great article about the best Sex Shops in town.

It is now your turn to tell us your first experience or best memory from those adult stores!

With love

What changed since we opened Scandaleuse?

Five months ago, Fanny and I took the decision of changing our lives and get on the entrepreneurship boat towards new adventures. We have had a great start so far. Thank you for following us on our instagram and our facebook page, we are building a nice new community of butt cheeks we are very proud of.

While we’ve always wanted to create our own company, we never actually took the plunge. My life was more about reading books and testimonials from people who actually did it and then tell myself the ”I will do it too someday”. Then I turned 25. Then Fanny got her working visa, which allowed us to legally get into a partnership. And it clicked. I quit my job and 4 days after, our shaky fingers finally showed Scandaleuse to the rest of the world from the Toronto Reference Library.

Quitting your full-time job to follow what you really believe in and give yourself a chance wasn’t easy. But oh boy is it worth the risk.

Being photographers, we were already quite far from the 9-5 office job, we were used to long, odd hours and last minute requests. Maybe it helped with the full time business women transition. We have always been organized, hustlers and not scared of hard work. More importantly, we have each other. It's a no-brainer that jumping into something like with someone is easier.

Here are our 5 best perks of running Scandaleuse and many many other projects. Don’t worry, we are not giving you the usual  I-work-from-home-so-that’s-awesome that you can find online. Here we go:

1)    We are not paid less because we are women.

This had to be my first point. I am blown away that in 2017, women are still earning less than a man for the same exact job. A lot of companies take advantage of it. So yes, one of the biggest perks of running your own business is that you price yourself the way you want to. So, no less dollars because we have vaginas. BOOM.

2)    We don’t have to deal with creative frustration.

You want to work on a brand new project? Well then do it. No approvals to get, no time wasted. Of course, all the work is on you, but since we are kind of organization ninjas, it’s definitely not an issue. Now, on top of shooting, we are about to start giving workshops and being keynotes speakers at events and that’s pretty sweet. (The amount of terrible jokes people will hear is unreal. Sorry.)

3)    We are very good company.

I was a little scared of getting lonely and getting bored working from home. Hell no. Fanny and I work together face to face multiple times a week and from our places the rest of the time. I am seeing my apartment a little more (only a little, because seriously, we are always out somewhere) and I am loving it.

4)    The constant learning position

We are the kind of people that need to learn constantly. We are naturally curious. After working at the same job for a couple of years, I started being unhappy because I felt like I wasn’t learning anything anymore. This was when I realized I needed to go. Building your own thing teaches you something new all the time.

"Once you stop learning, you start dying.", right?

5)    The Brownie Points

Everyday is a new little victory. It could be from booking a shoot, working on a new idea, fixing the website or finalizing a project. That sweet feeling of "Damn, we did it” is so good!

This could sound like we live in a world full of unicorns and glitter, and trust me, we don’t. Consider us just well-prepared and determined to make things work. We have our tough days, a crap ton of stress and disappointments. Would I go back to working full-time for someone else? Not anytime soon.

For the road

• If you expect to start business without knowing a minimum what you are doing, think twice. Read, go to seminars, get as much information as possible
• While having a business bestie is awesome, pick the good one. Fanny and I have known each other for 8 years and have worked together on multiple occasions before officially doing it on paper. Trust your gut.
• Have savings. Business don’t pick up right away. We are lucky to have projects on the side and savings to save us from sleepless nights. Don’t start your business being broke.

Now, go YOU!

What to wear for your boudoir session

Look at you! You just booked a boudoir session, or you are about to book it. Congratulations! The excitement is here, the ideas are boiling all over the place. What to do, where to do it and even better: what to wear??
Well, we are here for you and we like shopping, so buckle up!

We pride ourselves to make boudoir accessible for every body type, shape and gender. We make sure that whoever is facing our lense is having an unforgettable experience. However, when people think about boudoir, they automatically picture the vintage pin-up look and a full lingerie attire. Don't get us wrong, we do think the pin-up style will never go out of time (you are talking to an eye-liner master since 2007 after all) but at Scandaleuse, we are working hard to dust off the natural boudoir style and make it shine like your mama's silverware. Au naturel baby!

Let's talk about your (sexy) attire

If you are a bustier, garter belt/stockings combo and stilettos lover by all means, bring it on! But it is also okay if you are not. We have so many opportunities to bring sexy back (hello JT) with other outfits, that it would be a shame not to use them all.

You also may not be comfortable with showing certain parts of your body. Take a deep breath, it is absolutely fine. Why dress up in a way to won't make you comfortable and spend your entire session worrying and being self-conscious about how you look? You're supposed to have fun, remember? A boudoir session is supposed to be stress-free.  If you are a little lost and need some help, we have put together some guidelines with what we have heard so far during our bookings:

"I hate my arms."

Think loose sweaters falling off the shoulder, with a cute lace bra strap showing. Or even a man's shirt for the "I woke up like this" look. Lace robes are also a great option not a lot of people think off, but they are sexy as hell.

"I don't want to show my belly"

 What about a high waisted pair of panties to improve posture? Have you thoughts of a sassy bodysuit? (we love bodysuits. Who doesn't? It works with all size and shapes. Love them.) Last but not least: night gowns. Not like the ones your grandma is wearing. The ones with lace, a little see-through, showing without showing too much. Same goes with lace rompers for a more cozy look.

"My thighs are not my best friends" or "Cellulite is Satan"

First of all, we all have cellulite. Like seriously, it's part of being a woman. If really this is a problem for you, you might want to think about some shorts, tights and stockings. They all make your legs look longer and they look great with high heels.

Looking for an even more flattering booty? Get brazilian panties, they got it right! Never seen a butt not looking good in those.
If you are a thong fan, avoid the stringy ones, unless they are perfectly fitted. Higher waist line usually highlight your beautiful hips a lot better.

"My chest is too flat/too big"

So. Many. Options. Bralettes are ridiculously trendy for small breasts. Between strapped, meshed, different colours, see-through, patterned and more, you should consider them. Crop tops or see-through shirt look great, especially with nipples showing a little. Very sexy and not too revealing.

Mother nature gave you some goods? Rock the bustiers and bras with underwiring to avoid hurting your back. Make sure they are the good size, there is nothing more uncomfortable than extra skin sticking out on the sides. Bras are just not supposed to do that. You can also get some open sided shirts, to show your side boob. Don't underestimate sideboobs.

By the way, topless works too. Just saying.

Extra tips

Bring heels. Even though you might not pose with them the entire shoot, it's amazing how wearing heels automatically helps your posture and makes you look more confident.

Always bring more outfits than necessary. We will help you pick what's best. Better have more options than not enough.

Accessories can go a long way. Jewelry, stockings, body chains, harnesses, garters, hair pieces, ankle chains. Anything to make your shoot different from others.

If you don't know what to do, always pick simple and elegant. A cute pair of panties, topless, barefeet, and you're good to go.

There are all kinds of sexy. Remember, your session needs to look like you only.

Shopping selection

Now the fun part. Here are some local Toronto vendors we have worked with (or want to work with!).

Less Is A'mor - Online

Seduction - Yonge/Wellesley or Queen/Spadina

You get 10% discount with us by the way. Yes mam.

Jordan de Ruiter - online

Secrets from your sister - Bloor/Bathurst

Photoshoot in Costa Rica

It was about time that we wrote about this trip. Don't procrastinate kids.  Fanny and I had the opportunity to go to Costa Rica last February, to escape the canadian cold and follow an aerial silks retreat. Because, yes, we also do aerial silks!

This retreat is put together by the lovely Jamie Holmes, The Circus Fix genius and aerialist extraordinaire. If you are following us on our facebook and instagram, you are probably already familiar with her beautiful face! (and if you are NOT following us, it's not too late!)

While it was a pretty busy trip full of workouts and good food, we clearly saw that a shoot had to happen. We had it all laid out right in front of our eyes: gorgeous girl, outstanding country and a brand new business we were starting to nourish.

Now that we had 90% of the elements for a successful shoot, we needed one thing: the perfect spot.

We were located in a super small town called Santa Teresa, where if you don't have any sorts of transportation, you have to use your legs for 45 minutes in average (except the beach. That was across the street!). Been there, done that, Fanny and I started our little adventure for a solid 3 hours. As usual, we climb stuff, we crawl on the floor, and occasionally yell to one another "do you think this is safe???" And honestly, we didn't find what we were looking for. Until we walked home.

There it was, that super close by, easy to access, little path that no one noticed. Some sort of mini jungle, by a deserted beach. Across from the main street we are staying at.

We walked down that secret trail and fell in love. Everything was magical. The light was absolutely gorgeous at any time of the day. The greens of the jungle were mind blowing. After a thousand "wow" and "WOOOOOOW, we had it.

Side note: do not try to call monkeys there, they will throw coconuts at you. Fanny dodged one.

It felt like the photos were taken by themselves. Despite the heat, it was one of the easiest shoot we've ever done. Jamie did a fantastic job posing and we are so happy we got a chance to give her that. I only wish the shoot lasted even longer.

This is not only a "look-at-our-shoot" post. This is our first boudoir when Fanny and I worked together as a team.

This shoot triggered our love to shoot boudoir outdoors to create those out of the ordinary contrasts. This session showed us how well our ideas clicked together and how solid we are. It's thanks to this specific moment that we opened Scandaleuse a couple of weeks later.

To the next crazy shoot!

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Fancy a personal shopping session?

Scandaleuse is not just about a boudoir shoot. We pride ourselves to create a full experience and make it unique to your sexy self. If you are having a blast, then so are we. That's why we just teamed up with Ashley, the lovely advisor from Seduction, downtown Toronto, to help you pick outfits and kill your shoot.

What's the deal?

Upon booking your shoot with us, you can schedule an appointment with Ashley for an hour long personal shopping session. The good deal? On top of the great lingerie selection that Seduction has, you get at 10% discount on your purchase at the shop. This deal is available for any of our packages.

Now, Scandals, meet Ashley:

Who are you?

Hello Scandaleuse World! My name is Ashley.
I would describe myself as an old soul, who marches to the beat of my own drum. I would also say that I’m maybe a little bit of a workaholic… but when you love what you do, it’s easy to let it take over.  I’ve been working in the Adult Retail environment for 5+ years and honestly, it’s been a lot of fun. In my spare time, I’m also a freelance model, a netflix binger and a book worm.

Let's talk about your job at Seduction:

I’ve been with Seduction for just about 3 years now, and I keep myself busy in all things creative around the store. While I spend a lot of my time on the sales floor, coaching couples and singles on how to keep their sex lives interesting, I organize and style photoshoots for advertising which can be found in newspapers, online or even posters around the city. last but not least, I’m also a main contributor to our social media.

Why should our models go to you before their session?

I believe that everyone deserves to feel sexy in their skin. What you wear says a lot about who you are, or what you want to represent. Fashion, to me, is an outlet of creative expression. What I wear on a day to day basis makes all the difference in how I feel. During photoshoots, especially boudoir, it’s important that the models are comfortable, and confident in what they’re wearing. I want to make you stand out because you are beautiful and deserve to be noticed. When I accomplish that with a new client, it makes me that much more proud of what I do.

What can our Scandals expect from an hour with you?

We want you to feel special, so when you book an hour with me, you’ll get an hour of undivided attention. I want to get to know you. Asking questions will allow me to get a better sense of what kind of style or vibe you want to go for, and that will help me select outfits that will be appropriate. After the question period, we’ll walk around the store together collecting a handful of items that might be of interest, and then you’ll spend time trying the outfits on to ensure that you look and feel good for your photoshoot. When we’re done, you’ll walk out knowing that you made the right choice.

We don't know about you guys, but we are hooked. Check out our selection of lingerie and accessories we found when we met Ashley for her headshot.

Find Seduction:

• 577 Yonge Street Toronto, On, M4Y 1Z2

• 493 Queen St W, Toronto, ON, M5V 2B4

 

 

Scandaleuse gave up on meat

Bonjour bonjour our vegetarian, vegan and meat lover scandals.

For those who eat meat, have you ever asked yourself what life is like for people who gave it up? Have you ever been curious about how they can still be healthy? Have you ever heard this little voice in your head saying: “come one…Try it, you might love it!”? I'm sure you know what I am talking about…

Well ladies & gentlemen get ready, Scandaleuse will demystify all of the meatless urban legends!

Why and when?

About a year ago, Juliette and I decided to stop eating meat. But we didn’t do it at the same time (believe it or not, sometimes we do take our decisions separately, we are not always Thomson & Thompson).

Juliette was first. She started decreasing the amount of meat in her diet, after reading a few blog posts about how it is not necessary. She tried it for a couple of weeks and now and she doesn’t want to go back!

Concerning my experience, it was an article on a french online magazine called “Mademoizelle” that was the trigger. It was about the founder who stopped eating meat right away after watching Cowspiracy.

Two days later, here I was, in front of my computer, with my pasta dish and my boyfriend Ivan, watching this famous documentary. Let me tell you, we both got slapped in the face big time! We looked at each other and knew we had to stop eating meat. All we cared about (sustainability, deforestation & global warming) was right in front of us and we were able to change things starting with our plates.

The decision was easy to make but educating our brain wasn't…

How?

While it is not complicated to give meat up, it is not easy either. It takes time, knowledge and willpower. Our brain is a little evil, it can make you crave something you don’t need and this is the toughest part!

I never really ate a lot of meat except things that people don't enjoy such as liver, veal tongue, duck gizzards and of course chicken, ham, prosciutto... (well I am gonna stop here cause now I am craving Italian ham!). But truly, when you are strong enough to fight for what you care about and you can see your actions lead to results, this is a damn good reward!

Take your time, you don’t need to stop meat or animal proteins in one day. Start with beef because it is the worst for our planet, then remove the chicken. And please don’t listen to those people who try to rush you. Like in politics, they can be too extreme.

If you are thinking of becoming vegetarian, pescetarian or vegan, you need to know why. You need to have a solid reason to be able to go through it. Is it because you want to be healthier? Do you care about animal cruelty? Do you want to change the way we act on our beautiful planet? Finding your own purpose will make it much easier.

If you feel ready or want to satisfy your curiosity, check the Cowspiracy website (they have lots of great articles, videos and tips) and of course watch it. For those who are worried about seeing blood and disgusting slaughterhouse scenes, don’t worry you won't. This documentary is full of datas, interviews & facts but no awful footage.

 Meatless urban LEGENDs:

-Did you force your partner to give up on meat? Yes totally. Every night I handcuff Ivan at the bed, feed him with broccoli and order him to call me his Green Mama!

 -You don’t eat meat! How can you be so healthy? I grow this magical plant on my balcony which is perfect for baking little muffins. It gives me wings and makes me indestructible! No let’s be serious, I just make sure to replace all of the animal proteins I don’t eat by a plant-based diet. And I still eat a bit of fish, eggs and cheese.

-Ok you eat fish but don’t you know it is also animal cruelty, fish have feelings! Yes you are right but my first reason in this choice was not animal cruelty, it was sustainability. I never wanted to think about animals suffering in slaughterhouses when I was eating meat. But since I stopped, I now care about it.

I am not against hunters, farmers or meat itself. I am against industrialization, big factories and against all of this waste of energy we consume to produce meat. Oh and also palm oil, but this will be an other topic.

-No meat? Cooking must be sooo boring!!! I am actually having more fun than before. I love transforming regular meal into vegetarian/vegan ones. You have so many way to be creative while cooking. And I feel lucky to live in Toronto because Canada has lot of options for non-meat eaters.

 -I am a man, a real one, I will never stop meat! Good for you my friend… but you’re right we never know... A vagina could grow between your legs if you become vegetarian! Starting a plant-based diet or just being careful with your consumption is not gonna make you less of a man. Lots of male athletes for example don’t eat animal products, does it mean they lost their testicles on the road? Of course not!

I have a friend who told me once “Fanny I will never ever give up on meat, I love it so much!!”, then guess what: he doesn’t eat meat anymore. Please gentlemen, don’t let your fears stopping you from trying. I promise you will still look handsome.

-I truly don’t give a damn of our planet! Well no comment but one day you will change your mind…

Voilà folks, it was just an introduction. We promise to write an other article with more details, tips, advice and recipes (but only if you have been good followers, Green Mama is watching you!)

 With love.

Fanny

The day we spoke in public

Last week, Fanny and I did our first workshop. And since we never do things half-way, we chose to do it at the easiest place on the planet for regular people: the Oasis Aqualounge.

If you were to remember only ONE thing about us, it's that we believe that you should be able to do whatever the hell you want with your body, as long as you are not putting yourself or others in danger. We pride ourselves to be respectful of people's choices even though they might be different from ours. In case you are not familiar with the Oasis, it is the only high end sex club downtown Toronto. Meaning that you go there with or without a partner and you do or don't do things. No it's not dodgy, and yes it's safe (and clean).

Now that we cleared the air, you must wonder why we ended up here at the first place.

We actually contacted them. It's that simple. They were pleased with our body positivity approach and the diversity of our models, and offered to give us a timeslot during their monthly event. We saw an opportunity to talk to people directly and took it. However, here is the difference between this specific adventure and a regular workshop: people pay the entrance ticket to the place, not to your speech. It is available to them if they feel like it. Meaning that people came or left half way through.

We had NEVER spoken in public before, especially in English. We had no idea what to expect. I seriously had notes with me that just said "SPEAK" so I remembered.

How do you practice for an event that you know no one is coming for specifically? You can't introduce yourself multiple times if new people show up. What happens if it's boring and people leave in the middle of it? To be honest, all of these thoughts kept me up at night.

If you don't follow us on Instagram, you should. We love stories!

So here we were, a few days before the workshop, rehearsing in my living room, and timing our speech to keep it short and sweet. We got frustrated by our accents we think are too thick. We changed our speech 20 thousand times. We rehearsed for 6 hours non-stop one day. Again, again and again. 

The day of, we grabbed two glasses of wine, generously offered by the Oasis, took a deep breath and stepped on the stage, in front of strangers. "Picture people naked" they say. Well they already were. Surprisingly, after 3 minutes and a second glass of wine, we didn't even notice it. We did our speech - with technical difficulties and our awkward English - and we started asking for volunteers to take pictures of.

Then something pretty cool happened.

Instead of having one couple and one woman volunteering like we planned initially, we had 6 couples. We managed to make people trust us even though the first thing they said before listening to the workshop was "I don't want my picture taken". Our short intro did work. We even had to turn people down because we were out of time (and releases).

We met amazing people. All shapes, age and gender. The connection they share with their partners is unbelievable. We only had a few minutes per person and yet, we got amazing images. We saw the trust, the love and the complicity between two people and we were so honoured to be given a chance to capture it.

A lot of things didn't go as planned. We messed up quite a bit, we stuttered, we made jokes no one laughed at, saw people leaving when we were speaking, and had tough lighting conditions to shoot in. But we did it. We. Freaking. Did it. Because at the end, all that matters is that:

Some people stayed
Some people laughed
Some people were excited to have their pictures taken
Some people sent us nice emails
Some people believe in what we do.

Mission accomplished. To the next workshop!

Behind-the-scene - The Scandaleuse Logo

Your logo is the face of your business. It needs to be smart and strong. It needs to illustrate perfectly your quality of work. After all, it is the first visual aspect of your branding people will see and, hopefully, remember.

While we can do many things, drawing is definitely not one of them. We then had two options: try designing something by ourselves and have something completely messed up OR find the person that already had the talent to do it for us. Needless to say we thought about this for exactly… 2 seconds. Why wasting time and end up with a sketchy (pun not intended) logo that will follow you forever (oh the internet) when you already know a wonderful, talented soul who could help you make your logo dreams come true?

This is when Deanna appeared like an angel, her and her magic fingers.

Deanna Colosimo is an illustrator based in Toronto and she also turns out to be one of our Scandals! We have had the opportunity to work with her on multiple occasions and we always came back over the moon with the results.

Fanny and I already had a fairly precise idea of what we were looking for. We wanted something hand drawn, edgy and sexy.

It took one phone call with Deanna to found ourselves with a few differents sketches the next morning. Talk about being efficient.

Because, of course, on top of being talented, Deanna works fast. She is seriously an illustration ninja. We could never thank her enough for standing by our sides when we were debating the amount of freckles or when the nose needed to be changed by a few millimeters. Over and over.

Do not underestimate the power of having talented people around you, little Scandals. It is not about competition, it is about building amazing things together.

Thank you Dee.

Find Deanna
Her website | Her instagram

More than just a parade

Hello our little scandals and happy Canada day!

Today’s blog post is about Pride. One more fabulous year, full of happy people, colors, fun and most importantly: love

A month ago we received an inquiry for a boudoir shoot, from one of our customer who was wondering if we were open to homosexuals and same-sex couples. We are always surprised to see in 2017, some people still have anger towards the gay community and refuse to help or serve people who are different. It always breaks my heart when I hear stories about homophobia but even if those people are making it difficult, it is important to focus on the ones who fight against that.

We enjoy the Pride because it is not just about homosexuality anymore but about us, Human beings. It is about the right to love whoever you want. It is about owning your body and sexuality, about welcoming the difference with open arms and a warm heart. It is about freedom!

We all deserve to live the life we want and it starts with being ourselves.

Bonjour Monsieur Trudeau!

We were at the pride parade this year and found a great (and tiny) spot to enjoy the show. We danced, laughed and yelled for 2 hours. We caught some gifts and we got wet (take your mind out of the gutter, it is not what you think!)

Budlight had a pretty sweet setup!

But it was not the best part. You know the French have a reputation to naturally be kinky right? Well, we decided to own up to it.

We went down the street in the village, and we asked strangers to kiss while we were taking pictures. Kisses. Kisses everywhere! We only have one thing to say, you guys were brave! Believe it or not, kissing in front of two photographers you meet for the first time is though (and there was no foreplay).

Some couples were passionate, others were shy but they all were beautiful. It was few hours of pure love and this my friend, is more important than all of those frustrated people who can’t understand what being Human means.

Thumb up for our lovely Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, always nice to see him in the parade. This guy is amazing.

Love you all!

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