Make Up Team Building Make Over

The benefits of working only with women are that when we do parties or team building together we can do girly things!
We booked a make up artist, Eliz Marin for a “Make-Up Teambuilding Make Over”. Most of us wear make-up every day and we are quite good at applying it, even if we say so ourselves. But we all needed some input on the latest trends, new colours to wear and tips and tricks to make us look even better.

Eliz arrived with a large suitcase full of goodies. We all felt like we were little girls who were going to be princesses for a day! There were a lot of the softest pen brushes, palette after palette of eye shadows, blushers, foundations in any possible colour and a range of lipsticks all from different suppliers.
We were asked to bring our favourites in make-up with us, but most of us would rather have tried something new.


Eliz chose a model that she would make over, and basically we were copying her. There were 12 of us and our tables were placed in a horseshoe with Eliz and the model in the middle, so Eliz could walk around and advise each of us. She took time to make an individual concealer and foundation colour check and suggested new colour ideas for eye make-up, blusher and lipstick for each of us.

I have brown eyes and I normally go with brown, green or purple colours for my eyes. When Eliz said I should try plum colours or dark blue, I thought that would not work. I did try the plum version and another colleague also with brown eyes tried the blue version, and I must say that they were literally eye-openers for both of us. The colour combination worked beautifully and I had a totally different look! I absolutely loved it. I never use foundation, but Eliz taught us how to use foundation and powder, so it didn’t clot. Also she taught us about brands and why the most expensive brands are not necessarily the best buy. But the best tip by far was how to blend the colours together to get a smoother look.

That evening I was wearing new colours of eye shadows, blusher and lipstick. In fact we all looked different and refreshed. Luckily for us, all our efforts were not wasted, as we went to a pub afterwards to celebrate our new looks.  And for sure we were noticed by all the other pub goers!

Written by Marianne Sloth, Social Media and Website Manager at FOCUS.


Visit Eliz Marin's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ElizMakeUp

New Year Lift Off

Here we are at the start of the New Year and Christmas seems quite distant.  However, having sourced an interesting holiday gift for my guy, it seemed a good time to add some cheer to the first week of 2014 by booking his holiday event.

My guy seems to have everything from techie stuff to sports gear and more.  I was determined to find a surprising gift without resorting to any of those items. Serious thinking led to a eureka moment.  I recalled a summer press event that introduced me to Emirates Aviation Experience, a new installation in North Greenwich that features the latest in flight simulators… the UK’s only Airbus A380 as well as a Boeing 777. This, I thought, was certain to intrigue my favourite man who always enjoys something spectacularly different.

Easily accessible by tube, you exit at North Greenwich and after a well-posted five minute walk you come to  Edmund Halley Way and the Aviation Experience centre which features not only simulators but interaction displays. The baggage handling visual is excellent. The half scale Lego model of the Rolls Royce engine, impressively made up of 165,000 Lego bricks, is amazing.

There are rows of economy class seats to try out and a life size model of the A380 nose cone. This was a good build up and excitement mounted when the overhead departure notice flashed my guys name and he was presented with a boarding pass.  We took the stairs in the aircraft model to the second level where we were greeted by the trained staff member who would give needed instructions.  After a look at the actual mega size A380 cockpit we took seats at the controls in the A380 simulator area.  My guy the pilot, and myself as co- pilot.

Our instructor explained procedure for take -off and  landing (flight is static) and asked his choice of airport, weather and time of day. Heathrow and London City in daytime were opted for.  Heathrow came naturally to my guy after familiarizing himself with the controls (coordination is important), and he pushed back, took off handily and made an impressive landing.  London City was a real challenge. Take off was harder and landing difficult. He nearly demolished some high rise buildings near O2 and had to circle several times before an almost touch down but he found it exciting nevertheless. Returning to Heathrow was fine with time to enjoy the airborne landscape.  It was voted a thrilling experience to be tried again… a great gift for any occasion.

www.aviation-experience.com

Minimum age for participation is 9 years and all 9 to 12’s must have an accompanying adult.
Adult entrance fee: £3.00    -   Child entrance fee: £1.50
Each 30 minute simulator session £45.00 per participant (e.g. pilot and co-pilot)
Open Mon-Sun 10:00a.m.-  17:30 p.m.  Coffee shop: 10:00-18:00 p.m.
A tip: Emirate’s web site is not quite up to date for 2014 so phoning 020 3440 7020 is a good idea.


Written by Doris Gilbert. Doris is a free lance journalist and an expat American who has lived in London for several decades.  She has worked with German, Irish and British magazines and is a correspondent with FOCUS, covering many diverse subjects.
For more information about FOCUS visit: www.focus-info.org

Adopting Oscar

It’s been six weeks since Oscar came home with us, and it already seems like he has been with us for his whole little life.  He has settled in with the whole family very quickly, and seems to love his new household.  You see Oscar is a six year old English springer spaniel. 

It turned out to be a long process to adopt a dog.  We registered our interest at Battersea Dogs & Cats home a couple of years ago.  They interviewed us and came to do a home visit.  All of this information is vital to the rehomers at Battersea in determining the best fit for you and the dog. 
Once approved, my youngest son began his almost daily search of the Battersea website to find ‘his’ dog.  Every few weeks we would come across a dog that seemed like a good fit for us.  We would make an appointment to meet the dog, and inevitably we would come home empty handed.  There was always a valid reason:  the dog couldn’t live with children, couldn’t live in the city, needed a private garden, had a life-threatening health condition, etc.  On one of our visits in October my son broke down in tears and asked, ‘What’s wrong with us, why won’t they give us a dog?’

I think the rehomer must have taken pity on us because 3 days later I received a phone call saying that the perfect dog for us had arrived at Battersea.  He was an older dog that had been brought in because his owner had passed away.  He could live in the city, with children and didn’t need a private garden – hooray!  My youngest son and I were there within minutes.  The initial visit went well.  Oscar was a bit nervous around us at first, but immediately settled down.  So we scheduled an appointment for Saturday with the whole family.

We arrived for the family meeting with Oscar and he came bounding into the ‘interview room’ and greeted me and my youngest with great enthusiasm.  He was more sceptical around the two new faces.  My older son won him over with a few treats, but he wasn’t interested in my husband.  In fact, he growled at him, put his tail between his legs and scampered away. 

The rehomer immediately noticed this behaviour and said that she wasn’t sure that Oscar could come to live with us. Panic!  How could we convince her that all was well?  She decided to leave us alone in the room as a family with Oscar.  Slowly he started to make friends with my husband and by the time the rehomer came back, both Oscar and my husband were relaxed with each other.  Success!  A few hours later we walked out of Battersea with the newest member of our family!

Oscar has been such a joy.  He greets us all every morning with ‘hugs’ and an enthusiasm that is overwhelming.  In hindsight I can say that it was worth the wait to find the right dog for us!

Written by Eva Stock. Eva is Director of Sponsors Relations at FOCUS

Battersea Dogs & Cats home: 
www.battersea.org.uk

My London Experience.

London Eye

It’s surreal to think that my semester abroad is already over. Study abroad is one of those things you spend months and months planning for. So much time and energy goes into it that by the time you’re finally ready to go, you feel like you need a break first!

I always knew I wanted to study abroad though, and I always knew that I wanted to go to London. I fell in love with this city long before I ever set foot here and being here has only proven me right. There is always something to do or someplace to visit. Even after spending three months here there is still so much I haven’t done!

Audi in Emirates Air Line Cable Car in London

This experience has truly been one of the best of my life. I know that I am so lucky to have had this opportunity and to do all the amazing things I’ve done and meet all the wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I have truly made some lifelong friends in the other study abroad participants and I will never forget my FOCUS family. It’s the people you meet that can really make or break an experience and mine was definitely made. 

Interning at FOCUS was one of the most unique aspects of my study abroad experience, as many of my other classmates did not participate in internships. But I think it was one of the most valuable aspects and I would encourage anyone who was considering study abroad to also consider interning abroad. I was very fortunate to get to work with the FOCUS team, which is made up of genuinely caring, hard working, and all around lovely people. I know that when I come back to London I will definitely be stopping in for a visit.

Saint Paul's Cathedral

I feel that I’ve really grown a lot as a person from my time abroad. Going abroad, especially alone, is challenging for anyone. It takes you out of your comfort zone and really tests you sometimes. But getting out there and experiencing new things and new cultures has been extremely rewarding. I feel much more confident about myself and my abilities as a direct result of study abroad.

Audi visiting Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

It’s hard to sum up the experience in a short blog post, but I tried. If I had to pick one word to describe it, it would be “life-changing”. I’ve made memories that I will absolutely cherish forever. The last three months have literally been a dream come true and I can’t wait to travel to more new places in the future, but I know I’ll be back. So instead of ‘goodbye’, this is more of a ‘see you later.’

Written by Audi Craig, who is an American student living in Indiana. Audi worked as an intern at FOCUS this autumn.