Episode 1 - GOODBYE BELLISSIMI BEAUTY

Hello, and welcome to On the Sofa with Simi: The Brains Bellissimi Beauty. This is a safe space where I’ll be sharing and discussing everything related to marriage, motherhood, makeup, and everything in between for women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. 

If you don’t already know me, I’m your host, Simi. I have over 10 years of experience in the beauty industry, specifically in makeup, aesthetics, and microblading. In those 10 years, I’ve gone from traveling the world doing makeup and generally living the dream, to almost giving up during the pandemic, to becoming a wife and a mum in my early 30s. 

Are you stuck in a rut with your skincare or beauty routine? Do you feel pressured to buy products off TikTok or Instagram without really understanding what they are? If so, then this podcast is for you! I'm here to be the best friend you never knew you needed, who just happens to have over a decade’s worth of experience in the cosmetics industry.

I offer my unbiased, objective opinions on products, treatments, techniques, and services to give you the truth. I will always be my most authentic self as we navigate these new challenges in life together.

Whether you're interested in getting a whole new makeup wardrobe, a skincare refresh, or even a total makeover haul, I'm here to save you money and time! I’m here to share all the knowledge, tips, and tricks I’ve learned along the way, like the best friend you never knew you needed! 

So grab a cuppa, get cozy, and let’s sit on the sofa and have a chat!  

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Transcript

Hi and welcome to on the sofa with Simi, the brains behind bellissimi beauty. This is a safe space where I will be sharing and discussing all things related, from marriage, motherhood, makeup and everything in between. For women in their 30s, please bear with me, because this is my first podcast and video recording. So if you see my eyes kind of flitter between the screen the camera down below, I'm reading my notes. Hopefully it doesn't sound as bad on the podcast version, but please let me know, and please bear with me. So without further ado, if you don't already know me, I'm your host, Simi. I have over 10 years experience in the beauty industry, specifically makeup, Microblading and esthetics. In those 10 years, I've gone from traveling the world doing photo shoots for celebrities, magazines brides, to almost giving up in the pandemic, as I'm sure we all felt like doing once or twice, and then becoming a mum in my early 30s, as well as becoming a wife. So what I intend to do with this podcast is essentially try to break down those stereotypical rules and new norms that society has seemed to put on us. It's already hard enough being a woman. On top of that, add motherhood, add marriage, it just gets super tricky. So I'm here to try and bridge that gap, like I said, between the seemingly out of reach expectations of beauty standards, we see, bring it back to Earth and try and apply it to the everyday, busy, hardworking mums like you and me. So grab a cuppa, get cozy like me. I've got my blanket if you can see, and let's sit on the sofa and have a chat. So one of the reasons I decided to start a podcast was that I really, really miss having my own radio show. I used to have one back when I lived in Teesside in the Northeast, and it was actually called Bolly Simi beauty, which was a play on bellissimi. My business name, then Bollywood and then beauty. So it was great all my favorite things combined into one. So from that, I then moved on to video tutorials on YouTube. And YouTube is absolutely great, but I found it really overwhelming because there was always new techniques, always new crazes. And I found tutorials quite difficult because I was applying makeup and products to my face, which is fine if you have exactly the same shape as me, or the eye colour or same hair colour, but obviously that's not possible. So doing makeup on myself, using products, brands, etc. Was fine to do a demonstration, but how easy was that for you to then replicate? I didn't like that. I felt like it was a very biased kind of one way method of teaching, you know, or sharing my tips and experience. On top of that, obviously, now that I'm a mum, time is my greatest asset, and I know you can feel me the mums out there say it louder for the ones at the back. So now I can't sit there and watch YouTube videos or scroll through Tiktok, which I don't do anyway. I don't really get Tiktok, but that's a story for another day. Hey. So I thought maybe doing a podcast would allow me to access the mums who are on school run. Pop it on on their it's not mp three players anymore. Is it showing my age? You know, play it through your Spotify on the car. Or if you're out in the supermarket, pop your headphones in. Have a listen. We can have a natter. Hopefully you get some value from this, whether it's just understanding my experiences and things, or maybe getting some tips and tricks on products, techniques or services that you may be interested in, not only from me, but in general, I think it's really important for you to get to know me. The world is changing, and we're kind of moving towards a more online base. So don't get me wrong, I will still obviously be doing physical treatments. If you have been a real life client of mine, you know that I know your life story, and you probably know my life story, and I absolutely love that. I love that you feel comfortable enough to tell me things. And I love the aspect of almost being like a therapist, because we all need someone to talk to. And if you find someone that you really genuinely connect with, then why not? And that's where podcasting came in, I suppose, to me, because I moved from the north east to Manchester in 2019 covid happened, obviously early 2020 then fast forward to 21 I got married after meeting my husband on Tinder in six weeks. Yes, that could be an episode for another day. And then four months later, I got pregnant, and now my son will be two in October. So I haven't really had a chance to connect with people on that real, organic level. So this way you get to know me. Hopefully I can give you some advice, give you some tips and techniques, and if not, then it's just nice for you to know a little bit of more in depth information about the industry or potential treatments that you may have been interested in. I don't want to try and sell you anything. I just want you to know a little bit more about me, my ethos, my values and why bellissimi is different. One of my most favorite compliments. I. Ever got was someone walking in in my salon in the Northeast saying, Wow, you're not what I expected. And most people might have found that a bit odd. But what I really liked about the ladies kind of explanation was, was that she'd done a research prior to booking and various salons popped up, but she was a bit concerned when she read on my bio that I used to be a Mac girl in income, in commerce, being a Mac girl, you know, you feel like you've made it. I'm not gonna lie to you, especially if you're in the makeup industry. Mac is, and was one of the industry leaders, actually, I say is, but I'm not too sure about that anymore. And again, this is something I will discuss in later episodes. So she said I was really down to earth. She didn't feel pressured. She didn't feel like she had to have her full face makeup on walking in. And funnily enough, prior to her even being a client, I implemented a no makeup policy in my salon because I essentially wanted clients to walk in feel like they're just at the mate's house and feel no pressure. Because if you feel more relaxed, you're able to give me your honest feedback. You can say, Simi, you know what? I love you. This is great, but could you just amend this? Could you amend that, or, say, with makeup or add a little bit here, add a little bit there. If you didn't feel comfortable, you would have gone feeling disheartened, left the salon, and I never would have seen you again. For me, and what I do, it's really important in cultivating long, lasting relationships, I don't chase the money. You know, money is great to a certain extent, but for me, it's not about making you look good, and you're paying for that. It's about how I can make you feel good. So if someone has a little bit of confidence that they didn't have from walking into my salon door to walking out, then I have done my job tenfold. And that is something personally, I don't think you can put a price on. So with that being said, I want this podcast to basically be that. That's why it's called on the sofa with Simi. As I said, I'm sat on my sofa. I'm cozy. I've got my blankets, even though it's like 21 degrees out there, the middle of September. Very confused right now, but I want you to know that my DMs on Instagram are always open. If you want to have a bit of feedback for my podcast, if you want to ask any questions or any suggestions for further content, I am here. I'm all ears. And even if you just want someone to talk to. Please just send me a message, and I will always respond. What to expect from this podcast. I don't know about you, but I feel like I've lived multiple lives since covid, and I'm kind of confused as to who I am, because on top of covid, where the world stood still for three years, I couldn't work because obviously face to face industry was closed for a long time, and then they had the tears and all that nonsense. So I am a bit confused as to who I am. And then on top of that, I became a mum and a wife in very quick succession. So I'm just kind of figuring out, well, who is Simi? And if I don't know who Simi is, then how can I be the Simi in bellissimi? And then who the hell is bellissimi? Like? What is bellissimi? I went from pre glam makeup used to take me an hour to do my makeup, the full contouring, baking, highlighting to obviously not wear your makeup for almost two or three years, and then mum makeup in adverted, advert commas. What even is that? What is mum makeup? What is mum dressing? Is that even a thing? I don't know. I'm kind of walking into this a bit blindly, but I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying the rediscovery, and that's why I thought it was important for me to say goodbye to bellissimi. You know, it's time to say goodbye to bellissimi beauty and say hello to Simi. I know that sounds very cheeky, just to clarify, I am not going anywhere. I'll still be doing treatments in clinics and in person, but online and in these podcasts. We're going to be looking into the face behind bellissimi and what makes me me, and what makes you you, and why those things make us the way we are and how we implement those thoughts and processes and ethos and values into our everyday and also just sometimes being that sounding voice to help you get through the day. And I hope I could be that for you. I know it was short and sweet, but I really hope you enjoyed listening. I aim to bring out podcasts every week, so stay tuned, and until then, I really enjoyed chatting with you, and I'll see you on my sofa next time. Bye.