Despite Genk being not that far from Sint-Truiden, where I live, I don’t really visit the city often. However, for this hotspot I love to make the extra mile! Naais Time is so much more than just a cute coffee spot in the city centre: it’s a place where you can live out your creative dreams. Let Fatima, the lovely owner of Naais Time, surprise you with a delicious drink or some fresh baked goods and you’ ll find it hard to drag yourself away from this cosy hotspot.

Fatima Ezzaamouri started Naais Time after working in the fashion industry and wanted a change from the hectic life. She started this project to create a getaway for creative minds. The name originally referred to the Dutch word for sowing – naaien – and although you can find a fully equipped sowing area next to the coffee bar, it is so much more than a sowing atelier. “For coffeelovers and people who love to create their own style” is its suitable motto. Inside Naais Time, Fatima really wants to focus on every aspect of lifestyle and this shows also in the products that she sells. Every item is handmade and bought from local entrepreneurs (coffee, tea, sweets,…) or young designers that deserve chances. You can also enroll yourself into one of the many workshops they organize: sowing, leather processing, make-up,… For everyone something!

And so, on a Saturday afternoon I drove to Naais Time for a workshop basic make-up. The workshop was taught by Nathalie Cavini, a real ladyboss who has been working as a freelance make-up artist for more than eight years. For 2,5 hours she shared her experiences with us and at the end of the workshop we had all created a beautiful day- make-uplook on ourselves. Although I am no stranger to fooling around with make-up, I learned a lot in those few hours. I’m not going to spoil everything but I’ll share with you some of the tips that I picked up from Nathalie.

• Before applying any products to your face, make sure that you remove the excess oil from your skin.
• Applying make-up works best with your fingers, because they warm up the product and therefor the product blends more easily.
• Make sure to powder your face gently after using foundation or a BB/CC creme.
• Start applying your blush from the cheekbone at the height of the upper side of your ear but make sure you don’t take it up too high into your laughing wrinkles.
• When making-up your eyes using two colours, don’t bring the darkest colour further down then the pupil of your eye.

For more tips and tricks, I’ll guess you have to go and see for yourself at the next workshop at Naais Time. Oh, and while you are there, don’t forget to try out their high-tea which sounds delicious and let me know what you think!

Love, Sofie