BEAUTY & LIFESTYLE PROFILE

With Jennifer Haben [Singer Beyond The Black]

Six years ago the lovely and talented young German singer Jennifer Haben formed her band Beyond The Black and made quite the entrance at the highly acclaimed Wacken Open Air festival that same year [2014]. Since then Beyond The Black released three studio albums and have been frequently on the road to support household names like Saxon, Scorpions, Queensrÿche, Korn, Within Temptation, Powerwolf and Epica [to name a few]. Last year they even did their own successful headline tour. Also Jennifer’s recent appearance in the German TV show `Sing Meinen Song-Das Tauschkonzert’ gave the band an extra boost and not only the symphonic metal scene got head over heels, but also the mainstream audience welcomed rock chick Jennifer and her band with open arms. It is obvious that Jennifer and her band mates are more than ready for the next step and to do so they armed themselves with the excellent new, fourth studio album `Horizons’, which will be released on June 19th via Napalm Records. Jennifer already proved to be a talented musician, but she also glows by having a great, open and sweet personality, which made here also become an inspiration for many youngsters. Because there is more than only music HeadBangers LifeStyle’s Lilo contacted Jennifer Haben to talk about her beauty, fashion and lifestyle routine.

BEAUTY
How much of a make-up junkie are you?
,,I would say I am not a real make-up junkie because I don’t own a lot of make-up. I am also looking after my money because make-up can be super expensive. So, I find myself some products that I really love and then I am super happy to have every colour that I wanted. But to be honest, I really enjoy very expensive make-up and I have super expensive products, more than others I would say.’’

What do you consider as your signature make-up look?
,,There are two types of Jennifer make-up looks. One is a super natural look and it takes me about 25 minutes to get ready. I use very natural, kind of brown tones eye shadows for that, mascara, sometimes eyeliner and some foundation. My brows are very important to me; I want them always to look good. When I am super lazy I just do my brows, use some concealer and just mascara and I am good to go, which takes less time. My other look is my stage make-up, which is much more colourful, mostly green or red. I really love to do more with my eyes and less with my lips when I am on stage. First of all because of using a microphone makes my lipstick get smudged after a while, but also because my lips can’t handle all lip products. So I think it is better for me to focus on my eyes.’’


Photo credit: Stefan Haben Fotografie

Has your make-up behaviour changed over the years?
,,Oh yes, it changed a lot! When I started my band Beyond The Black I had one eye shadow palette with four colours. I had no good quality eye shadow brush, just the little applicator that came with it. I had one mascara and a foundation, all cheap drugstore products. This I used for my first couple of shows and to be honest it was really not cool [laughing]. About three years ago I started to be more interested in make-up. There was one make-up artist that got my attention and I became super interested in, also on a personal level. Her name is Andreea Ali [check her YouTube channel here] and she does a lot of more natural make-up. I was super excited to watch everything she did and that’s how I got more into the beauty world and into other make-up artists as well. Oh, and then I started to spend a lot more money on make-up [laughing].’’

Who else do you follow at the moment on YouTube and inspires you?
,,Nikkie Tutorials, she does a lot of amazing stuff. It is also super different from what I do so that is interesting for me how she does these sharp make-up looks.’’

What are your favourite make-up brands?
,,I love to use brands like Urban Decay, Laura Mercier, Fenty Beauty, Huda Beauty, M.A.C., actually all the expensive stuff that was difficult to get your hands on for a long time. But we finally have Sephora stores here in Germany, selling all these brands. The day Sephora opened its doors in Germany, I was so happy I almost cried [laughing].’’

What are your favourite products?
,,First of all I really love the translucent Loose Setting Powder from Laura Mercier. And my other favourite product is the Born To Run eye shadow palette of Urban Decay. I really love the colours in this palette.’’

Are there any beauty necessities that you can’t miss while being on the road?
,,Besides my stage make-up products, definitely lip balm. I can’t miss that one.’’


Do you have a skincare routine?
,,Nah, not really actually. I’m lucky that I have a good skin, not that many acne or other skin struggles. I just use a very cheap cream from the brand Nivea every day and that’s it. When I have to get up very early to do something in front of a camera I use eye patches from the brand Petitfee. It makes me look fresh and it makes sure I don’t look like I didn’t sleep enough. And once in a while I like to use a facial mask from the brand Fresh.’’

How do you deal with a facial hangover after a tour?
,,Normally after a tour I don’t use make-up for about a week and I treat myself with facial masks. I really enjoy that. But since I started to do Instagram stories, it means I need to do put some make-up on my face. I know I don’t have to but I still don’t feel very comfortable to post myself with a bare face on Instagram. Of course I like to use a filter as well. Actually there is a filter with mascara, so you don’t need to put it on yourself. Love that! I am really trying to get more comfortable in having normal situations posting on Instagram and not wearing make-up, because it is getting boring when it is all fake all the time. So besides a full make-up look I also try to post a bit more natural looking situations as well.’’

How do you deal with a bad hair day when you are on the road?
,,I always have bad hair days to be honest [laughing]. I never feel 100 per cent comfortable with my hair. I stopped straightening my hair to avoid exposing all this heat to my hair and to be more gentle to my hair. But it means I have to deal with what comes up in the morning [laughing]. But you know what? After a while you don’t care anymore. We are definitely not staying in fancy hotels, we get off the tour bus and see what the venue has to offer. It could be just cold water and then I have to deal with that when I need to wash my hair. To be honest I am an artist and a little bit of a chaotic person, still. Many times someone had to go back to the bus to get some of my stuff, but I am getting more and more into it, learning the tips and tricks. Like, make sure I have make-up wipes when there is no water.’’


Photo credit: Stefan Haben Fotografie

FASHION
What do we mainly find in your wardrobe?
,,Black, black, black, black! There are not a lot of other colours in there, maybe white or grey. I have one red dress now because of the new music video that we recently made and it is the only coloured item in my wardrobe [laughing]. Oh wait, I have one yellow T-shirt to sleep in. Not sure why I have that shirt but I love it because it reminds me of the fact that I am going to sleep now [laughing].’’

Do you have a particular shopping addiction?
,,I really love to buy pullovers and also super short tops, for summer. I love to have comfortable items that show a little bit of your skin, like shorts and crop tops.’’

Where do you buy most of your clothes?
,,Mostly at ASOS.com and a lot of my stage clothes are from this webshop as well. But sometimes I also like to shop at regular shops like Zara, H&M, etc.’’

Who is your style icon/role model?
,,Oh, that’s a difficult question. A real icon? I don’t think I have one. When I searched for inspiration I always looked at girls that have brown hair, brown eyes, just like I have, artists like Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens. Not that I love everything they wear and of course they wear a lot of amazing stuff and expensive stuff and therefor it always looks good. If they wear black, that’s when they inspire me the most. When I choose my stage outfit I very much consider if it doesn’t show too much skin or if it is not too sexy because that is not my thing. My main focus is our music and although I like to present myself feminine, I don’t want it to be distracting from our music.’’


Photo credit: Stefan Haben Fotografie

LIFESTYLE
How do you keep yourself healthy and in shape, also when you are on the road?
,,We always try to do sports when we are on the road. During the tour we did last year, we did sports together as a band for two weeks, every single day actually. We had the chance to do that because our guitarist Toby is the sporty guy and who by the way looks very good with his muscles [laughing]. He was motivating us to exercise, which was really cool. We like to keep doing that on a next tour. But it is always difficult or it gets difficult when somebody gets sick. That’s when thinks break up and no one is doing sports anymore. At home, I always go to the gym, its part of my routine. When it comes to food, in our home country Germany and also in Switzerland and Austria it’s always fine. In other countries it’s a bit more difficult sometimes, but to be honest at home I am not the best in eating super healthy. I am eating a lot of chips, chocolate and all the bad stuff you can think of and it is not much different when we are on tour [laughing].’’

How is life on the road with Beyond The Black in general?
,,It is like a big family that is touring the world, because you always have these amazing moments when you do things together, besides the view of the venue, the stage and the tour bus. We love to go out for some sightseeing, which happens not that often because of our tight time schedule, but we always try to do so. And when we do, it feels like a real family trip. Also like in families, there are days that you don’t like each other that much and having discussions, which also happens with us on tour. But in the end of the day we are always fine with each other and everything is cool. I really like my boys and crew members, that’s really important to me.’’

What kind of a band mate are you?
,,I am cool with a lot of things. But actually I sleep very long so the guys have many hours without me as well. I also do a lot of interviews during the day so they don’t see me the whole day as well. I know I can be harsh sometimes but they always tell me that I am not the worst girl on the planet and that I am in fact acting like a guy most of the time, which is very cool for them. That’s maybe the reason why we understand each other as a band.’’


Photo by Chris Heidrich

What is the best lesson you have learned as a singer and performer over the years?
,,What I learned is not to always try to be perfect in singing, because I am very sensitive when I sing the wrong note or when I hear something is going on in my voice, which makes it difficult for me to focus more on the entertainment and the performance than singing the hundred per cent right note. So that was something that I learned and now I feel comfortable as well when I miss a note or something.’’

How does your perfect day off looks like when you are home?
,,Getting out of bed a little bit later, but still early, like half past nine or something. Just having my coffee and come into the day like one hour. Then do some cleaning, something that I don’t have to think about. After twelve o’clock, I do more stuff that I have to think about, or play something on my piano or on my guitar. After that I can think about a lot of things, getting creative, do something for my Instagram or BTB social media. At the end of the day I’d like to play some more music, eating a lot and try to put on some amazing make-up for my Instagram video maybe. When I am done with playing piano and guitar in the evening I’d love to sit on my couch and do gaming for hours and then go to bed. I was totally into Animal Crossing, I started with Minecraft along the way and I love that as well and the other day I started to play The Legend of Zelda and I love that too, spending hours playing that game. You know, when I am super sad playing a game makes me happy again.’’

What are your favourite apps?
,,I don’t use my phone a lot when I am on tour. I use it for Instagram and some other social media, but that’s it actually.’’

What do you do to contribute to a cleaner and healthier planet?
,,I travel by train as much as possible and I only fly when there is no other option, like if I have to go to Japan. At the moment everything is difficult so when I need to go somewhere I drive my own car, but normally I don’t use my car that much either. Of course I separate waste, which is a no-brainer for me.’’


Photo by Dirk van den Heuvel of DCH Photography

What is the bottom-line of the new Beyond The Black album `Horizons’?
,,Break out of your negative mind and understand that you are not alone with your thoughts. Get positive and stay positive and search for people that are relating to what you are thinking about.’’

Where would you like to see Beyond The Black in five years?
,,I would love to see us going on tour again of course and play as much as we can on stages all around the world. There are many “far away” countries we haven’t played yet, it is still not possible for us to go everywhere, but we try to and it would be amazing if we would be able to see all our fans and play for them.’’
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Pre-order the new album `Horizons’ here



KEEP UPDATED:
Beyond The Black Facebook here
Beyond The Black Website here
Jennifer Haben Facebook here

HBLS live review Beyond The Black 2019 here

Header photo by Chris Heidrich

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