Strands of Love Hair Extensions #FanClub

My look has recently been completely transformed by Strands Of Love - the gorgeous hair extensions I can now sassily toss over my shoulder and the gorgeously vivid red colour that has me incapable of shopping incognito, courtesy of Goldwell Education Manager Craig Hopkins with Goldwell Elumen and the magical hands of stylists Cornel Moolman Nel and from Follicle Hair Atelier.

I'm thoroughly enjoying my new mane of mega femininity! I've never felt quite so close to passing for a mermaid! 

Although it's yet to be seen how my look will fair in castings and auditions this year? Not sure if I pass for your average #mommypart, but I certainly will be memorable! 

I've never sported extentions before and had to do a bit of reading up on the correct #haircare for my 'strands of love'!  

These are the major rules I've learned for myself: 

1. Don't overwash

This is my new look below for my hair's 'shower protection' - in order not to over wash and condition the hair. I can't for the life of me waste time in a bath every day (that's purely for when I can indulge with a glass of wine and a good book) so shower caps and creative water avoidance is at the order of the day. 

2. Do always dry

I use to be able to just allow my own hair to dry naturally but these babies prefer to be dried with some heat straight away, particularly close to the bonds and scalp. 

3. Brushing is the business 

So I'm yet to discover where in SA you can buy a 'looper' brush - had no clue what that was - see picture below. But the general rule is to use soft and gentle bristle brushes, to comb from the tip working your way up and to brush gently but often. 

4. Product protection 

It's important to wash with a good 'salon approved' shampoo and conditioner, but what has really been great advice from Julien Snyders of Strands of Love is to use Joico's Moisture Balm (love this product!). You can also use an argan oil to keep the hair hydrated and healthy. 

5. Don't freak out- they do fall out 

So when I lost my first strand I thought I had committed a crime and was wondering if I'm doing something wrong, but as stylist Shane from Follicle Hair Atelier explained, they do experience a certain amount of stress on the bonds and sometimes will release and come loose. Just hang onto your MIA pieces until you can get back to your salon and have them rebonded and attached. 

And I'm in good company, check out other lovers of Strands-of-Love! 

Here are some simple 'looks' I've tried since I have become an extensions-gal...

I'm having such fun with my new look! Hubby and I are pictured below at the TopModelSA event, shortly after gaining my gorgeous new Strands of Love.

So here's to happy 'hair days' for all my blog readers!! Go on, try something new - change is as good as a holiday! 

Chat soon,

Fiona 'Speakeasy' Ramsay #FanClub

I think it is safe to say that Fiona Ramsay is one of the actresses on my top list of acting icons, equal to the likes of Meryl and Judi.

Fiona's experience, credits and list of achievements is awe-inspiring and surely speaks for itself.
Only a few of her credits include...

On Screen: Homeland, Dominion, Black Sails, The Bang Bang Club, In My Country.

On Stage: Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Streets of Gold, Delirium, Sailing Somewhere, The Old and The Beautiful.

As a language, accent and dialogue coach, (her company is called Speakeasy Vocal Training) Fiona has been commissioned on several local and international film and stage productions. Notably she acted as dialogue or language coach for Stander, Hotel Rwanda, Winnie Mandela, Material and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom coaching actor Idris Elba who portrayed Madiba in the feature. In 2014 she worked as dialogue and dialect coach on The Salvation and also did work on the Charlize Theron and Sean Penn feature The Last Face that filmed in Cape Town.
Check her out on IMDb.

In December last year a few of my FADCreationS Mentorship students and I watched Fiona Ramsay in the two-hander 'The Old and The Beautiful' at the POPArt Theatre in Maboneng.


It was so great to see Fi in an intimate theatrical piece like this alongside Tony Bentel, showcasing her phenomenal skill, incredible diversity and emotional depth engaging the audience from beginning to end. The outing with my students reminded me to remain in touch with my own student spirit and Fiona reminded me to stay inspired, to use what personally moves me in my work and projects and to keep learning from the greats. 
 

How lucky am I to have had the privilege to work with her in my career (Thoroughly Modern Millie 2006) and I honestly hope that I get to do so again in the future!

I know that she is planning to bring the production Doubt to the stage soon, and will keep you posted when I find out about upcoming production venue and dates! Also, soon I will be launching the first episode of the FAD Roundtables - The Actresses online, where Fiona is one of 5 other actresses in a one hour interview chatting about our industry and their career experiences in it. I can't wait to share it with you all!!!

Stay inspired peeps!

Resolutely 2015 #PersonalPost

So here we are... 2015 is slowly grabbing hold and settling in. The last two weeks of 2014 have been wonderfully quiet and restful for me, providing plenty of time for reflection and looking forward. I am not a huge fan of resolutions, they tend to be half-hearted and unattainable goalposts that only set you up for failure and disappointment. I prefer to make true commitments for the new year and I like to create my own re-established goals, hopes and dreams as I enter a brand new season of 365 days.

So here's a fun way to create your own 2015 goals, copy the first words of the sentences below and write your own new year's commitments.

This year in 2015 I resolve to... 

Start... Preparing for our brand new home and take conscious steps to make it a reality. 

Plan... For a family. 

Have... A healthier and regular sleeping pattern.

Begin... Using my time more wisely.

Take... Disciplined and regular action to pay off debt, And flowers to my grandparents graves. 

Build... Towards a future I am excited and proud of. 

Write... Regularly in my journals and fun new posts for my blog. 

Read... One book a month.

Stop... Every now and again to take some 'me-time' and quality time with hubby. 

Make... More time for friends and family.

Pursue... A fulfilling and successful career, a more regular and ever-growing income.

Do... More of what feeds my soul.

Give... Back - My time, skill and money to those around me I can bless and serve.

Eat... A healthy, maintainable and energizing diet. 

Visit... The Florida Baby Home, my grandparents in Humansdorp and my Auntie Louise. 

Learn... Something new, being open to new experiences.

Create... More joy! A daily rhythm and lifestyle I enjoy and can sustain. 

Keep... Meditating, living prayerfully and becoming more self aware.

Stay... Committed to living a life of my own design.

Be... Joyful, creative, passionate, committed, fulfilled, loving, determined, healthy, grateful and content. 

So here's to a brand new year with a new lease to start afresh, try again, keep fighting and working towards a life you love and becoming the best version of your self.

Happy 2015 peeps!!!

Pretville Film #FlashbackFriday

Two years ago we were involved in the most colourful and vibrant Afrikaans musical feature film project called Pretville produced by Hartiwood Films. Hubby Ferdinand Gernandt was choreographer for the project, I acted as Assistant Choreographer and featured as a dancer in the film as well. Producers Paul Kruger (also DOP) and Emma Kruger, as well as Co-Producer and Director Linda Korsten, were so supportive and encouraging throughout the creative process, it was only a pleasure to create 'cinemagic' together.

We had so much fun shooting this project and creating the choreographic content for the lively musical numbers. The delightful lyrics and soundtrack was created by the talented arranger/composer Machiel Roets (@machielroets on Twitter), some of my favourite tracks being 'Skillie Skillie Skilpad', 'In die Maanlig', 'Is jy Verlief?', Skud, Skop en Hop' and 'Ek en Jy'. 

We had a week's worth of rehearsals with the amazing dance team, as well as the various characters prior to principal filming. And then we worked the final touches whilst preparing on set during the shoot days. Here are some beautiful and fun 'behind-the-scenes' shots of the rehearsals and other on set moments.

 

The challenging task of editing fell to the lovely Anel Stolp, the beautiful costume design was the work of Nerine Pienaar from The Wardrobe Studio and the magnificent art direction by Bathoni Robinson. It was a wonderful team of crew and cast; we really had such a fun time during production.

 I even have a wonderful cookbook at home called 'Proe Pretville' that was released along with the film which contains some of the most beautiful stills from behind-the-scenes of filming Pretville.

Fans can actually visit the little Pretville 'town' in Hartbeespoort Dam which functioned as the set for the film. It has now expanded to include memorabilia from other Hartiwood Productions, there's a functional 50's 'diner' where you can order yummy milkshakes, a quaint 'silver screen' bio-scope where you can watch the film Pretville (and several other Afrikaans or South African produced features) and you can also visit the Zaza Photographic Studio, take fun photographs in the little town and dress up in 50's wardrobe and accessories. It's a really fun family outing, so contact Emma on 083 283 1323 for movie tickets, times and info on the the Pretville 'dorpie'.

Hartiwood recently produced another feature film called 'French Toast' which is due for release in 2015, (I play a tiny cameo role as a nurse and loved every minute of it, read about it here) for which they built and created another magical 'set' in Hartbeespoort Dam - the lovely French Toast 'Koffiekafee' (Cafe).


It is now also open to the public, serving their customers french-inspired cappucinos, macarons and all styles of french toast.

A few of our FADCreationS Mentorship Students will also feature in this film, read this post on their behind-the-scenes experience.


Here is a trailer of the film Pretville which released in Nov 2012.

Here's to making movies in SA!
Chat soon peeps!

One Day Acting Workshop #Projects

A while ago I hosted a wonderfully successful One Day Acting Workshop for FADCreationS. We had such a great (and talented!) group of actors attending and it was an incredibly rewarding day.

I began our day with 'breaking-the-ice' and warm-up exercises and spent the morning 'breaking out of the box' - working on improvisational work in groups, rotating duets and also individual exercises. My favourite of the day was the exercise where an individual starts with a random activity and progresses into an impromptu phone call  - each one was so unique, creative and personally relevant.

In the afternoon we continued to prepare script material, firstly working on how to do an 'i.d' or 'slate' on camera, the ins and outs of preparing and delivering an on-screen audition and the performances of the scripted work. Each candidate received a piece that matched someone else's and they would read off-screen for each other. It is so great to be working together on our craft and passion and I have discovered that I end up learning so much from my own students.

A big thank you to PhotoElements' Eben Liebenberg for all the awesome 'Behind-The-Scenes' pictures. Also to Hermann Winter-Greyling for capturing and editing all of the golden footage of the day. Check these out...

We hope to host another workshop in 2015, will keep you posted!

Chat soon peeps,