“I had lost lots of weight and wanted to document how far I’d come and boost my confidence.. I absolutely loved the shoot. The whole experience from start to finish was relaxed and fun. I would highly recommend anyone to do it. It is the ultimate confidence boost. The quality of the pictures were amazing.”

— Emma (Pictured)

BOUDOIR TIPS – WAXING AND SPRAY TANS

Tip : Pluck it and wax it early! Avoid Spray Tans!

Boudoir Tips – We get asked so often in the run up to a boudoir style photoshoot about waxing and tanning. Do we recommend it and when should you do it?

OK, firstly, if you have a set routine, stick to it. A Boudoir photoshoot is something you should feel as comfortable as possible doing.

If it’s not normally part of your routine then waxing should be done at least a week ahead of your session in case you develop any reaction. Shaving is normally fine as well but keep in mind that rash under the arms is difficult to photoshop.

A much bigger issue when considering your preparation for a boudoir photoshoot is self tanning. Doing it yourself is something we never recommend. We’ve lost count of the times clients come to us with uneven, un-natural self tans. Palms and soles a complete mess. The colour, an odd shade of orange which is difficult if not impossible to fix in photoshop. In fact, I don’t care if you’ve been tanning forever and have it down to a science, tanning ultimately always looks orange in photos. Please trust me on this. You don’t want to end up looking like an Oompa Loompa in your photos.

Oh, and another thing. Tanning doesn’t make you look thinner either.

Perhaps you hate feeling ‘pale’ and prefer the sun kissed look and that’s fine but please try to resist the urge to add bottle tan yourself. I promise you, your natural skin tone is always better for your boudoir session. ALWAYS.

Did I say that clearly enough? Please don’t D.I.Y …. It’s so much easier to add ‘tan’ in photoshop than try and correct an odd shade of orange.

A light complexion will photograph perfectly well. In fact, it normally looks so much better than a light skin tone that’s been spray tanned.

Of course, if you’re lucky to have had a recent holiday and come back with that all over golden tan from the beach, then that’s just fine. Your skin will not look like a fake shade of orange, but a darker shade of your skin tone. Just be sure not to burn. Blotchy red isn’t a good look.

Natural skin is honestly the most beautiful skin for boudoir sessions.

That said, a little sun-kissed tan can give your skin a nice glow in photos and make it appear more smooth. It can also help you feel more comfortable with your body because it somewhat “hides” cellulite and stretch marks. We should all love our bodies and embrace our imperfections but sometimes that’s easier said than done and you just need a little self-tanner to feel more confident.

If you really need a tan then please, try getting a spray-tan done by a professional a few days before your boudoir shoot. A booth is fine too but can sometimes leave you streaky and a little off-colored. A professional can do a little “body-contouring” to accentuate the features you love and downplay the ones you don’t. (Emma’s tan, pictured, is an example of a nice even skin tone that looks great on pictures. )

In short…. freshly moisturised, clean exfoliated skin after lots of sleep and lots of water… This is the perfect skin for a boudoir photoshoot.

Alternatives to Tanning

Embracing your natural skin tone and choosing lingerie colours that look great against your skin. The general rule of thumb is that skin with cool undertones look best with greys, browns, blues, greens and purples. Skin with warm undertones look best with either bright or light colours. And skin with neutral undertones looks great in bold, bright colours.

Sensual Photographs Leeds – Emma’s fabulous Boudoir session in The Elderflower

What was your reason for wanting to do the shoot?

I had lost lots of weight and wanted to document how far I’d come and boost my confidence.

Would you recommend us to your friends? Yes

Where you happy with the products you ordered? Yes

Would you consider another shoot in future (Perhaps changing the style to family/boudoir/kids/headshots)

Yes

If you’d like to have your session featured on my blog, please write a paragraph or two on your thoughts about your experience

I absolutely loved the shoot. The whole experience from start to finish was relaxed and fun. I would highly recommend anyone to do it. It is the ultimate confidence boost. The quality of the pictures were amazing.

To say Emma was incredible is an understatement A pure joy to photograph. We loved Emma’s olive skin and amazingly big hair. Every stylist will say they love ‘big’ hair, especially for boudoir. Emma was also so easy to direct and willing to try out whatever we suggested. This entire session took about 4 hours including hair and make-up. The main room we used was the elderflower suite which is one of the most popular 4 poster suites in Hazlewood Castle. We also used our own private studio, built in the courtyard of Hazlewood for some of these shots as well. Emma loved the pictures from her session so much she ended up purchasing a package which included a folio box of prints and an amazing Madison Bou book of images guaranteed to last 99 years.