Welcome to Locarno Film Festival!
Hey Guys! I am finally BACK on the blog and am really really excited to share my latest beauty adventure with you. For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you will have seen a few pictures and discovered my Instagram Stories, while I was attending the Locarno Film Festival with MAC Cosmetics.
I am so thankful for having had the chance to discover the backstage of such a prestigious event, especially that this year the Locarno Film Festival celebrated its 70th Anniversary.
“I had never walked on a red carpet before, so I was a little bit petrified to be completely honest. I mean, I am just a normal girl who started her blog one year ago, hiding behind my laptop screen with a messy bun, wearing a white shirt way too big for me, listening to Shakira and having a jar of green tea in my right hand.”
As my blog is all about sharing cool things with you, I am super happy to tell you exclusively all about each little details of my wonderful experience and trip to the Italian part of Switzerland. By the way, for those of you who are lazy readers… You can check out my Locarno Film Festival X MAC VLOG. It is my first Vlog ever, so I am a bit worried and really hope you will like it.
Pack, Unpack & Re-pack?!
I just got back to Switzerland on August 1st from a way too short vacay wandering in the South of Europe, so I literally unpacked my luggage full of bikinis, denim short and white T-shirts, to pack some slightly more glamorous clothes and heels (yes “heels” you read correctly, although I admit it was hard to drop my sneakers for once).
Early birds on the Go…
5 AM to 11 AM
On August 2nd, my alarm clock rang super early as we had to catch a 6am train to Locarno. Once we arrived at this pretty Swiss Palm trees destination, the lovely MAC Cosmetics team was there to welcome us and three other bloggers.
Good Morning Locarno!
11:00 AM to 1:30 PM
We walked to the Piazza Grande and it was SO hot that day, my God. As soon as we arrived, we had a Roundtable Interview with the gorgeous Host of the Piazza Grande and Mr. Barre who is the Protocol Officer of Locarno. It was so so nice to meet them and here all about their perspectives, challenges and insider stories on the Locarno Film Festival. They were both so passionate and really made us feel home. What I really loved about meeting them was that we quickly realized that the Locarno Film Festival is made for truly passionate cineastes and film fans rather than for the high society peeps showing of their designer dresses, expensive diamonds and unaffordable cars.
Tic, tac, it’s time to get p-r-e-t-t-y!
1:30 PM to 2:15 PM
As soon as we finished the Interview, the lovely Rita from MAC brought me to the MAC backstage where I was about to get my makeup done. I know I repeat myself but it was SO hot that day that I was worried my makeup would not last long and that I would just melt away with it hihi. Now, my Lovelies, that did not happen as MAC is famous for its long-lasting makeup and primer fixing spray (you know, this little water bottle spray that we girls apply to prep and fix, while leaving men questioning themselves: “What the hell is going on?!”).
Anyways, once I arrived at the MAC backstage of the Locarno Film Festival, Katyln who is the MAC Trainer for Switzerland warmly welcomed me and the magic started. I am so happy I got her to do my makeup because I usually do not feel comfortable having someone doing my makeup as I find it more comfortable to do it Katyln made me totally change my mind. She was really kind and asked me quite a few question first, in order to better understand what I wanted. I felt like this was really reassuring and professional.
She then gave me so many tips and tricks such as; the type of contouring I should do depending on the result I wish to have. In my case, I like to make my face look slightly thinner to achieve a perfect oval face. If your face is the same shape as mine, hence between oval and round, know that the contouring line should start under your cheekbone and slightly curve up at the corner of your smile. So create a curve shape rather than a straight line and the change will be immediate!
Being a big fan of red lips and as I was going to wear a red jumpsuit, I asked Katlyn for a makeup that would suit my outfit and that would look cool on the red carpet. To do so, she applied a touch of purple-grey on my eyes and a variety of red lipsticks shades on my lips; I really love how she shaped my lips by the way! You can see it all in details in my Vlog. J
Regarding the mascara, as you know I cannot live without my lash extensions so Katlyn did not have to apply mascara on my upper lashes but did on lower ones.
I could talk to you for hours about how amazing and happy I was with my makeup, but instead I will just let you discover it on my YouTube channel!
Relaxing & Trying not to Melt
2:15 PM to 7:00 PM
I am makeup ready and have asked Katyln to apply as much fix spray as possible to ensure the beautiful art she did on my face would stay as gorgeous as it was for the dinner and red carpet moment… quite a few melting hours later.
We had a quick bite (that is when I realized how awesome the MAC lipstick I was wearing was, because it did not move at all!) and then we checked-in at a super cute boutique hotel in the center of Locarno called La Rinascente. Everything there was lovely and we got a cute MAC welcome bag and some yummy chocolate waiting for us on the bed.
Then after a refreshing shower, I waited until the very last moment to get dressed because the heat was just too crazy and I would have sweat in my pretty jumpsuit (which I got from Zara), so yeah I jumped in it, brushed my crazy lion hair and adjusted my heels, literally just 1 minute before heading out to join the MAC Cosmetics dinner.
Dinner & Mini Panick Attack
7:00 PM to 11:30 PM
After refreshing, we joined the MAC crew and the other bloggers again for a nice dinner and then walked on the red carpet. I had never walked on a red carpet before so I was a little bit petrified to be completely honest. I mean, I am just a normal girl who started her blog one year ago, hiding behind my laptop screen with a messy bun, wearing a white shirt way too big for me, listening to Shakira and having a jar of green tea in my right hand. So yeah, I am far from being one of those chick meant to be photographed by paparazzi on the red carpet of a film festival. Now, although walking over the red carpet was a cool experience, I am really happy to be back behind my laptop screen… hihi.
After the red carpet, we took a sit at the VIP ranks and the inauguration ceremony of Locarno Film Festival 70th Anniversary started. They announced us that the movie we were going to see was the world premiere of a French film production “Demain et tous les autres jours” by Noémie Lvovsky and we saw her and the actors on stage. I felt like a little girl because I was really excited and impressed to be part of such a special moment. The actors’ speeches were full of emotions and I could feel they were really nervous to be on stage in front of so many people, about to discover this true piece of art ALL together, at the exact same time. The emotion we all shared was really deep and wonderful.
When the movie was about to start, we suddenly saw the actors coming towards us and that is when I realized that they were going to be sitting at the row right behind us to discover the movie with us. THAT to me was absolutely amazing and so special at the same time. I will never forget this movie, nor this cute little girl, Luce Rodriguez, who is the main character of this dramatic yet beautiful movie. At the very end of the film, when all actors were in tears, she beautifully smiled with little sparks and tears in her pretty eyes and said: “Ahhh, je suis trop trop contente!” and trust me, oh yes, she could be happy and should be really proud.
I wish I would have been able to express and film all these wonderful things when filming my VLOG #1 but as it was the first Vlog I ever did, it was hard for me to manage to both enjoy this wonderful experience and filming it all at the same time.
I would like to thank Rita once again from the MAC Cosmetics team, for having invited us to be part of Locarno Film Festival. It has been really amazing to discover MAC in action behind the scene.
Last but not least, I really want to THANK EACH SINGLE ONE OF YOU, who have now been part of my blogging adventure since the beginning and for keeping on visiting my blog regularly. None of all these cool experiences would have happen without your support, so a BIG thank you! You guys are the best.
Much Love!
Cindy
Excuse my tired red eyes on this blurry selfie, but I just wanted to show you that after almost 11 hours, my makeup still looked like this, WITHOUT any catch up! Got to LOVE MAC Cosmetics 🙂
