I stopped wearing bras and something cool happened

About three years ago, I stopped wearing bras. Mostly because first: I don't have much to support and second: because bralettes became trendier and trendier. And guess what? I only got a positive outcome out of it.

Disclaimer: I am team small boobies. I don't have any back issues. If you do, you may want to try it slowly before burning all of your bras. Just saying.

Put the stereotypes down and turn off the slut-shaming.

I started wearing a bra way before high school just to do like my friends and followed this vicious cycle for over a decade. People tend to think you are a tease if you walk around without one. Like your breasts are here to turn on people only and how dare you exposing them like that? Don't you see strangers can see your... your.... *whisper* nipples?!

NEWS FLASH: we all have nipples. Mind blown.

Between you and I, a few years ago, even I was slightly uncomfortable  when I noticed a woman not wearing a bra in a public place. Why? No freaking clue. Because, seriously, there are no reason to feel that way. I realize today how stupid it was but I guess I was conditioned to see strictly maintained breasts and BOOM, these ladies were't following "the rules". God they were right!

The best feeling in the world? Taking your bra off.

We all did it. You get home, you have this thing strapped around your torso and the minute you snap it off, you have such a good feeling of freedom that you can almost get a tiny orgasm. I did this for many years.

I remember reading more and more testimonials about how some women stopped wearing these very uncomfortable things and how no one died and the Earth kept on spinning.

It slowly made its way in my head and it hit me: why the hell am I even bothering wearing one if it's so uncomfortable to begin with? So one day, I bought... a bralette. At first, the idea of walking around without anything at all made me uncomfortable. But like anything good in life, you get use to it and it is worth it!

Bralettes are LIFE my friend. They are cute, they are cheap and HOLY MOLY they are COMFORTABLE.

I can safely say now that I ditched my old painful bras for a sweet collection of these little things. And then, something quite unexpected happened...

I actually started to like my boobs the way they are.

Truth is, I never really liked my girls until two years ago. My bras were actually a way to change their shape, hide them, lift them, you name it. Because of course, I only owned the push-ups, pretty thick, underwire bras. Again, I am team small boobies and the lifting is not an issue I need to worry about.

I was very self-conscious and wearing bralettes with absolutely no support or thickness made me see them the way they are on an every day basis. And I did better than getting used to them: I started actually liking them.

I have reading articles saying that if you wear a bra constantly, the shape of your breast is affected by it. Not wearing them allows your boobs to support themselves and they get in the shape they are supposed to be. To be honest, I don't even know if it's true, but I do believe it made a difference on me.

Don't get me wrong, I still like lingerie

I do think lingerie is awesome and can give you a boost towards your sexiness. I still have a couple of classics for when I want to spice things up and I will very likely get more. But it is not out of necessity anymore. It is because it makes me feed good.

Wanna try? Here are a few tips:

• You don't have to stop everything at once, every day. Start with a few hours or even one day a week when you are home, just to test the waters.
• Get a few bras without underwiring, or again, bralettes to help with the transition.
• Nipple conscious but ready to rock the no-bra? You can get those little pasties to hide your nipples until you are ready to... stop giving a f*ck.

I can't tell you the amount of tops I can't wear a bra with because of the design that I now own proudly. Free the boobies.

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We were nudists for 3 days

We took 3 days off this week, in Tiny Ontario to relax at our friend's cottage. A short and sweet escape by the lake, more than deserved! We hiked, relaxed, had some wine and for the first time in our life, we went swimming and laid down in the sun all NAKED.

THE FIRST STEP WAS EASY TO TAKE

From the moment we put our first step on the wooden dock, we knew it would be all about relaxing and taking time for ourselves. There was cottages on each side of where we were staying but no neighbours. So I had a loud thought: "I think I will be topless today!" and here we go taking off our tops and enjoying the sun. It took us only an hour before removing our bottoms and trying nudism for the first time.

The first ten minutes were a bit difficult to adjust, especially because of the fear of having neighbours going in their backyard and seeing our little white butts. But once you decide to not give a damn, it is just 100% enjoyable.

SUCH AN EPIPHANY

If you have never tried it before, you cannot imagine the feeling of the wind and water everywhere on your skin, on each part of your body. Such a feeling of freedom!

We were never really attracted by the idea of being naturist, first because the breasts' skin is very sensitive and the idea of having it exposed in the sun wasn't attractive. Second, we are not used to walk around butt naked and taking the risk of being seen by potential strangers. But holy guacamole, we have zero regrets. We spent half of our time in our birthday suits and we loved every minute of it!

LET'S THANK BOUDOIR PHOTOGRAPHY

Being boudoir photographers and helping people feeling comfortable in their own skin, change the relationship we have with our body. It is not something we would have done a year ago, even though we saw our mothers being topless on the beach in France many times (yes it is super popular back there). Thanks to the media that sexualized the human body, we forgot the human vessel is just a protection for our organs and sometimes you need a good reminder: it is not all about sexuality!  

There is nothing to be ashamed of

Another reason why it is not common nature to walk around butt naked is because you are putting yourself in a very vulnerable position. You can't hide behind a flattering bathing suit, everything is out there. It takes a lot of work on yourself to face your body that way because of your own standards, but mostly because of other people's eyes. Our advice would be to start as privately as possible, so you can start feeling comfortable with yourself first. Then, if you feel like it, try it maybe topless with people you trust. And then keep going. Don't miss out on such a nice feeling. It literally changed the way we will tan from now on.

I feel reconnected with my body and closer to my wild side. Being naked does not make you feel more vulnerable, it is an amazing way to feel badass and free. And to avoid those nasty tan lines.

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Camera Roll - March 2018

If you follow us on social media, you can see that we try to go to multiples events, exhibits and other fun stuff around the city. To keep this motivation going and share even more with you, we are starting a monthtly Camera Roll in which we will show you some glimpse of what we have been up to.

Since we just started the concept, we definitely have to get better at taking (and saving!) more pictures. Duly noted for April!

We celebrated Juliette's birthday with a pretty colorful treat

Fanny took me to Versus Coffee to get a very Instagramable latte! Check them out at Adelaide/Church.

Femmes en Or down at the city hall

On March 8th, we went down to the city hall to listen to 5 women entrepreneure to celebrate International Women's Day. Francophone event organized by Oasis Centre des Femmes. On top of meaningful conversations, we also got a chance to see the Chamber of Council. They gave us way too much power.

Babes who Brunch

The Ace Class is a collective of women, originally from Calgary, who activate, cultivate and empower each other. We went to their first Torontonian brunch at the Gladstone, in which we met Julie Harrish, founder of 6ix cycle, whom you might meet sooner than later around here...

Rocked with Deadset Society

Just because we are all about girl power doesn't mean we don't love good rock bands. Not gonna lie, Deadset Society has a special place in our hearts since we did their first promo shoot a year ago. They don't play a lot in the city, so when they do, you can make sure we are there. And you should too.
(we didn't take any photos - ugh - so thanks Michael Amaral for the pic!)

Women & Fitness Panel

As you may know, Fanny and I are both into fitness via our aerial silks passion, so when we bumped into this event at the Love Child Social House, we just had to go. We heard 5 very interesting panelists, got rubbed by MyoDetox, and met the beautiful Jessie & Chloe (same, you will likely meet them soon!)

Dreaming Big & Being Bold

Again, Eventbrite is a good source for events like this. Dreaming Big, Being Bold is a book gathering multiple author's life experiences, aiming to motivate you by their stories. We have met so many insightful people during that evening. Not gonna lie, almost 90% of people were from London, ON and were fairly surprised to see random people (aka us!) coming in. Oh well, we're pretty curious and it was a nice discovery!

Our one year anniversary is coming up!

Yep, that's right! On April 4th, it's Scandaleuse's birthday! We are working on a video you shall see soon!

She Leads Conference by Her Campus

The conference brought together five female reporters to discuss the topic of women in journalism in Hart House at the University of Toronto. While we are not in this industry at all (and not even students at U of T for that matter), it was super interesting to learn more about female journalist's everyday's accomplishments & struggles. Best advice: “report like women, publish like men.”

Well, ladies & gentlemen, that's pretty much it for this month! Going to events regularly is our 2018 challenge and so far, we've been doing pretty good. Follow us on our instagram to see these in real times & feel free to message us to tag along!

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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.

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!

When the photographer becomes the model

You know we care. You know we would do anything to treat you the best possible way. We know there is always room from improvement. That's why we decided to put one of the Scandals-En-Chef - Juliette - on the other side of the lense for a change, to experience fully what it is like to be half naked in front of a camera.

Dear little Scandals,

Both of us went to Costa Rica last February to participate in an amazing Aerial Silks retreat. We stayed in a beautiful lodge and totally took advantage of it. We woke up early morning before the heat made us sweat more than usual and off we went, shooting!

Disclaimer : Like many women and men, I have always had body issues. They are like ghosts from my 14-year-old self when I was hiding my face with long bangs and wearing horrible push-up bras, and other uncomfortable attire to pretend my body was something it wasn't. Over the years, I became "okay" with my reflection in the mirror. Not hating it, not loving it either. While working out has helped me a lot, I still have to battle my demons here and there. This shoot was a huge challenge that I set for myself.

Now, buckle-up, you are about to jump in my head...

7:01 am - Today is the day. Can I catch up on years of non-squatting in 2 minutes?
7:02 am - Probably not. At least we are doing this before breakfast. No swollen belly, yay!
7:05 am - My hands are shaking and my buttcheeks will too. Why did I think this would be a good idea?
7:06 am - Shoot boudoir sessions they say, it will be fun they say….
7:08 am - Enough talking to yourself, more getting ready.
7:30 am - Hair? Decent. Make-up? Complete. Wardrobe? Minimal. Sex-appeal? In process.
7:35 am - I am SO ready for this.
7:38 am - Here we goooo.
7:40 am - Wait, what am I supposed to do? Listening to Fanny should be a good start.
7:45 am - I have to contract my abs.
7:50 am - Daaaaamn, I feel like a sex bomb.
7:55 am - I have never been this self-conscious about sitting on a bed. How do people sit on beds and look naturally sexy?
7:56 am - American movies are full of lies.
7:58 am - What the hell should I do with my arms? What do normal people do with arms? The human body has way too many parts.
7:59 am - Hold the pose, hold the pose, hold the pose.
8:00 am - Worth it. Looks sick. Let's do more!
8:15 am - I have never arched my back this much before. Flexibility here I come.
8:17 am - The garderner is taking a hell lot of time to pick up his lime on that patio here. Enjoy the show buddy.
8:25 am - I am getting the hang of this.
8:27 am - Call me Sexy Beast from now on please.
8:30 am - More! More! More!
8:32 am - Bra's off. I am a savage. Free the nipples!
8:37 am - There is something very cool about walking around breast-naked, let me tell you.
9:00 am - Wait, it's already over?

What I learned from this experience:

This shoot confirmed everything I thought would happen and more. I blanked for basic poses, went from feeling vulnerable, super nervous and questioning everything I did to jumping around, boobs au naturel. It is amazing how fast you become aware of your own body when it is the main focus. Every natural movement does NOT feel natural anymore for no reason.

Thankfully, I did not have to do too much thinking with Fanny guiding me every step of the way. I felt more and more comfortable after the first 5 minutes and was completely at ease by the end of the session. Even better, I am actually super proud of myself for accomplishing this.

This session also helped me become a better photographer. I am even more aware of what a model needs to hear in order to feel taken care of.

Conclusion: Will definitely do it again!

Things you should know:

• Your photographer (aka us!) does NOT judge your appearance. That is not what we are here for.
• It does take guts to pose half naked in front of a stranger. That's why we make a point of ensuring you are 100% comfortable with us, our personalities and the way we work.
• Posing you is part of our job. You shouldn't worry about having to come up with poses by yourself.
• You are allowed to say no. I personally felt comfortable enough to show my breasts.  Maybe you won't, and that's okay.
• Make the most of your session and have fun. You've come this far, you might as well go fierce!

This makes me happy for what we are currently doing with you Little Scandals.

Love,

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