EMPOWER ME - FASHION FOCUS A/W18

Janine Brink & Patricia Dolz

The 2nd of May 2018 was a fun, informative and glamours evening at the stunning Visa Marina Restaurant (V&A Waterfront, Cape Town)
Approximately 60 ladies gathered for this monthly event "Empower Me"  and this time the theme was "Fashion Focus A/W18" in the picture above I'm with Janine brink who is the founder.  
I met Janine in March this year at the official launch of Empower Me, she is a mother, fashionista and a Financial advisor.

I'll be sharing some fashion and beauty tips from the last event but before we get into it, here's a little back ground on Empower Me.

How it all began

The Empower Me Journey started back in August 2016…

Janine Brink, a financial advisor at Liberty Life, noticed a serious need to empower women in the field of financial planning. She planned an event for National Women’s Day, but, knowing how much South Africans love their public holidays, she doubted many would exchange their public holiday to attend a financial planning workshop. So she decided to create an event that she herself would love to attend, which included hosting guest speakers on different topics that women would be interested in. The first event was such a success that she knew this had to become an annual event. In 2017, the second Empower Me event went even better than the first!

While attending a few other women’s events during the month of August in 2017, she noticed a common energy present at all these special events – a positive and uplifting energy. The women loved getting together to be motivated, inspired and empowered by knowledgeable guest speakers. Something they loved, just as much, was a reason to dress up and enjoy being feminine at a glamorous affair. At these events, women all complemented each other and shared their mutual feelings on the various topics presented on stage. An energy that has become absent in our daily interaction with other women.

Janine realised that in order to truly empower and motivate women to transform into the best versions of themselves, Empower Me had to become a monthly event, not an annual event. Women need positivity and empowerment now more than ever. We are in a time of transformation and we cannot expect the women of our country to make a change, to take a stand or to be heard, if we attempt to empower them only once a year. It just had to be a regular event.

It's great that Janine decided on  monthly events, attending these  is so uplifting and one can look forward to dressing up, having a good meal with champagne (Veuve Clicquot) and networking with other women.

Their Moto is INSPIRE.MOTIVATE.EMPOWER

and this is exactly how I felt when I attended their last event which focused on Autumn & Winter 2018 trends (A/W18), I'm always keen on  fashion and beauty talks so I listened attentively to the guest speakers Renee De Sambento & Marilize Boshoff.

Renee is a professional makeup artist and owner of Gorgeous2go mobile Hair & Makeup artists.
She has been in the industry for about 22 years. She spoke to us about autumn/Winter makeup trends and demonstrated as she had a model on stage. She transformed her model into a super model in no time with her makeup tricks. Renee mentioned that Red lipstick is her super power, it makes her feel great, she showed us how to apply red lipstick properly to ensure it's neat. 

Marilize (left) Renee (right)

Makeup tips & trends 

• If you are age 40 and older, avoid matt makeup as it shows creases (I'll be 40 in 6 years, I'm glad she mentioned this)

• Makeup is empowering if done properly, invest in good brushes 

• Blue eye shadow is  great and currently trending (especially when used on the entire eye lid)

• Wash your makeup brushes once a week using mild shampoo (don't squeeze)

• Skin care is everything!

• she recommends a primer by "Smash Box" as it's great to eliminate shine

• For dry and crusty winter lips, use lip balm and exfoliate your lips (for this she recommended 'SwiitchBeauty" a makeup brand founded by 18  year old Rabia Ghoor (I must say it was my first time hearing of this brand)

• Foundation with serum is great as it hydrates the skin, giving you a youthful look

• don't buy cheap beauty blenders, they waist product (makeup)

• She also touched on JLO's recent collaboration with the makeup brand Inglot and she loves the highlighter from this range (It was stunning indeed she did the demonstration and I'm keen to try it)

• Your eye brows don't have to be twins but try to balance them (I needed to hear this, getting them to look the same can be tricky sometimes)

• Use castor oil on your lashes and brows to stimulate growth 

• using lip balm on your brow bone makes you look vibrant

Fashion Trends A/W18 & tips

Marilize spoke about fashion and the current trends (this left me very eager to experiment with my wardrobe)

• Red is the colour of the season, there are various shades to choose from (what I gathered from this is that there's a shade of red for everyone)

• This season it's okay to wear all red "everything" (I've seen a few local and international celebrities pull this off)

• Don't just buy items because they're on sale, you will not wear them!

• She spoke about understanding your style personality (similar to my blog post titled "defining your style")

• This winter is all about statement coats, no boring or ordinary costs so prints are essential, go for one that complements your figure

• Collared coats work well for ladies with small boobs as they create an allusion of drama in the bust area 

• When shopping, ask yourself if you can wear it next season (I suppose if you won't wear it next season, it's a waste of money but if you're into trends then that's not a problem)

• Mixing red with pink is hot this season (I personally like this combo)

• Polonecks are huge this season but usually don't work for women with a bigger bust area (I suppose they draw unwanted attention to the area) however if you use your polo neck for laying this is fine

• Over the knee boots are hot this season and are a must have!

• Ankel boots are also hot this season, try them in velvet fabric

• You can never go wrong with a leather jacket, it can be layared any how. Go for one with charector this season (this means that you should be brave enough to go for studded or jewelled leather jackets)

• Pants with stripes on the side are in this season and you're never too old for striped pants or jackets

• A white shirt is a must have and button-up shirts are hot this season especially for women with narrow shoulders and a small bust area

• Fanny/bum/moon bags are back and better (Colette By Collette Hayman have just received new stock, check them out)

• She suggests buying a nude (colour) handbag as it goes with everything 

• White sneakers are trending and a must have for all ages 

• Tracksuit pants can be worn with heels (I love this look)

• Tucking in your knitwear gives you a sexy look, try it this winter

• Gloss and metallic fabrics are hot, wear knitwear to tone down your metallics during the day

• It's okay to mix your silver items with gold (I'm glad to hear this as I've always made an effort not to combine the two colours, I found it conflicting)

• Plastic/transparent handbags are a hot trend this season (I need one)

• Wearing your work  blazer with your sneakers is apparently the thing lately

• Silver is the new basic colour, try a silver coat (I'm also keen on trying metallic silver thigh-high boots)

• And lastly she mentioned one is never too old to wear trends however the older you are the less "rip" you should have in your denim, so your jeans can't be too ripped if you have mature skin (she was referring to people a little older)

Style

The guests looked amazing and I enjoyed the fashion show, here are some of my favourite looks.

 

 

Thank you for reading this blog post, I hope it has inspired you to upgrade your wardrobe, I was certainly inspired to upgrade mine when I attended the event. 

Kindly leave your comments and let me know what tip or trend you liked most.

XOXO