Guest post: A Gift to Myself at 75

A small intro here: this was written by an actual client! she explains better the reasons to do a boudoir session better than me :)

 

A Gift to Myself at 75

by Leigh

The idea of doing a Boudoir photo session started off as a gift to my boyfriend for his birthday.  While it still is a sexy little gift for him, it turned into a bigger gift to myself.    I’ve even showed the pictures to a few girlfriends, and they’ve been inspired to do something similar.

At first, it felt a bit indulgent to want to do this. 

Then I thought – why? If I can’t feel good about my body and feel sexy when I’m happy, healthy and in a good place in my life – when will that ever happen?

I decided to get over the self-doubt, the judgment, forget about what anyone else would think, and just go for it.  So I booked my session with Marlen. 

I trusted Marlen, and because of her, I felt really comfortable doing something I don’t ordinarily do every Saturday.  

I wanted to see what it was like to FEEL genuinely sexy and sexual through my own eyes, instead of trying to BE sexy by someone else’s standards. 

 I wanted to get in touch with my incredibly feminine side.

I wanted to remember that being a girl is FUN

I wanted to know that feeling sexy doesn’t mean you have to compromise your dignity, your pro-womanhood, and it doesn’t have to be degrading to other women. 

And, I wanted some kick ass pictures to prove it!

Well, I got what I wanted.

I can’t tell you what an amazing experience it was.  Plus, I feel a little bad ass, I gotta say.  And it feels really, really, good.

I realized that not only was I doing this for my boyfriend who appreciates me no matter what I am or am not wearing, but that I was doing it for myself and that, even though I wore red lipstick for the first time, I don’t need lipstick to feel good about myself.   

When I’m 75, I’m going to look back on these photos and appreciate them.  This gift to myself at 75 is that I had the good sense to feel good about my body and get in touch with a whole new side of myself on my own terms, with Marlen’s help.

So I say life’s short.  Go for the red lipstick and just see what a different side of you can be like.

Posing tips: The pole dancing and chair stripping poses

The benefit of taking a class like this, besides the obvious health one, is that you get over your feeling ridiculous prancing around really sexy. It is a bit liberating to be walking on your tippy-toes with your butt pushed out while playing with your hair. And the best thing is that you are not the only one doing it.

She teaches you some moves with the shoulders and even standing up with your butt in the air. You take one of these classes and you feel more confident while posing.

Below are some class exercise samples, this one is the only one I can do:

And the hard core moves:

Not for the faint of heart that is for sure.

The chair strip technique:

I love this: first is like "hello!", then "oh I just remembered I am a lady" and notice the toes? always posing :)

And then here comes the flip :

And the shoulder .

So take a class! It's fun. Take it with friends, or have you thought about having a girls night out or the bachelorette?  So do it.

Here are some samples of what types of pictures you can get with a pole, besides an abs work out and lot's of giggles.

Posing tips: How to pose for your boudoir close ups and make up sample

Yes long tittle, but interesting post! Since I had some free time, what else am I going to do? self timer fun! Well a little more advanced this time, I have a nice trigger. So, trigger happy fun!

So hey, how you doing. It's me again doing dorky things to give you samples and tips. This time the photoshop was not so necessary since it's above the waist stuff, so no putting my face on a victoria secret model this time. Its just me.

First the make up! I have to say, I am a fan of fake eyelashes. I wish I could wear them everyday but I save them for special occasions. Like a Sunday afternoon.

Then... ( I am practicing my pointing)

And from here we are ready to roll, right? You have the make up, the hairspray and the gloss, totally photo ready. But usually this is what happens. I always have to delete the first picture.

After my direction and a couple of jokes you get to relax for the result... shoulders back, tilt your head back and to the side, and suck it in and don't breath. I liked this picture on the left. And trust me it was not immediate. There are like 50 in between the one on the left and the one on the right. Pure accident sometimes. Im awesome

Ok now, the first question when we start a session is : what do I do with my hands? Can they not be in the picture? We can't ignore the ring! And even if you do not have a ring there is bracelets and the manicure you got. 

I look dorky but in general these turn out pretty decent. There is something sexy about a finger near a mouth. And yes I am thinking what you are thinking but Im not writing it. But men seem to like it. Look at playboy and maxim. 

Props help. Keeps your hands busy. It could be a  necklace, or a tie, or a nice scarf, or even the straps of your outfit. Busy hands are good pictures.

And the last one, it never fails. Touch your self. Even if you are not like "oooh this feels nice" because it really doesn't but a guy think it does. So go ahead, touch your arm, even better STROKE IT. ha. so dirty. And while you are at it, squeeze your boobs.

And to end this post, here is what not to do. With pictures pretty self explanatory. Quick, before I change my mind of posting my double chin for the world to see.

I delete these most of the time, so clients never get to see the ones that had to be cut from the top 50ish. I have to admit, I do sometimes giggle.

So there, another imparted wisdom thanks to my trigger and a little extra time on my hands.  I needed new shots for my website anyway, the ones I have are from early 2007. darn!