A boudoir session is not quite like anything else I do. A bride has been picturing her wedding day for a long time, and a headshot has a job to do, but a boudoir shoot is almost always something a woman books for herself, and very often it is the first time she has ever done anything like it. Most of my boudoir clients tell me they are a little nervous when I arrive, and by the time the makeup is finished and they catch themselves in the mirror, that has usually turned into something closer to excitement.
If you have a session booked, or you are still deciding whether to book one, here is everything I would tell you sitting in my chair.
The thing that surprises people most is that photo ready makeup looks stronger up close than it does in the photographs. A camera flattens the face and softens everything it sees, so a look that feels perfectly balanced in your bathroom mirror will often disappear entirely once the shutter goes. I use professional products designed for high definition photography and film, and I build a little more definition than you would wear to dinner, and then the camera takes it right back down to where it should be.
So if you look at yourself halfway through and think it is a lot, that is normal and it is deliberate, and I will always show you and talk you through it.
This is the worry I hear most often and it matters to me more than anything else on the list. My goal is to listen first and then to gently emphasize what is already beautiful about you rather than to cover it up, so that when you look back at these photographs in ten years you recognize the woman in them. Boudoir does not have to mean a heavy smoky eye and a red lip unless that is what you want. Some of my favorite boudoir looks have been soft and warm and barely there.
Tell me which way you lean, and if you are not sure, we will work it out together in the chair.
Good makeup starts with skin, and the kindest thing you can do for yourself is to start a few days early rather than the night before.
Drink more water than usual, keep your skincare gentle and familiar, and this is not the week to try a new product or book a facial you have never had before. If you want a treatment, have it well ahead of the session so your skin has time to settle.
Exfoliate gently, and then leave your skin alone. Makeup over freshly exfoliated skin can go patchy, so two days ahead is the sweet spot rather than the morning of.
Wash your hair the night before rather than the same morning, because freshly washed hair is slippery and holds a style far less well. Skip the oils and the heavy serums and the strong hairspray, and let it dry properly.
Arrive with a clean bare face, no moisturizer and no serum and no sunscreen, and I will prep your skin myself so everything sits the way it should. Please also skip sunscreen on your face that day, because the ingredients that block UV bounce a flash straight back at the camera and can leave a pale cast across your face in the photographs.
Anything you have saved helps, a screenshot or a photo of a look you love or even just a color you keep coming back to. And please tell me about allergies or sensitive skin before we start, and about anything you are self conscious about, because I would much rather know at the beginning than guess. Nothing you say will surprise me and nothing about it is embarrassing!
I come to you, either at your home or at the studio where you are shooting, and I coordinate the timing with you or directly with your photographer so that you are ready at exactly the moment the camera is. Most of my boudoir clients like having the first part of the morning to sit and talk and be looked after, and that hour tends to do as much for the nerves as anything else.
For photoshoots I always stay on the set during the shoot unless we have arranged something different, so if the lighting changes or you want something bolder for the second half or you simply want your lip refreshed between outfits, I am right there to take care of it. You can read more about how I work on shoots on my photoshoot makeup page.
Yes, and you can be absolutely sure of it. Everything I use is chosen for longevity under photography, and because I am on set I can touch up anything that needs it as the session goes on. Boudoir shoots tend to involve more movement and more changes than people expect, and the makeup is built for that.
Almost everybody is, and the photographers I work with will tell you the same thing. The getting ready part is usually where the nerves go. You sit down and we talk about nothing in particular, and your face slowly becomes the version of you that you had in mind, and somewhere in there most women stop asking me whether this was a silly idea.
Yes, I serve my clients on site in Buffalo and the surrounding areas and I will travel anywhere throughout New York state as long as mileage and travel expenses are covered. I come to your home or to the studio, whichever suits the day better.
It will look a little stronger in the mirror than you are used to, and that is on purpose, because the camera softens everything. In the photographs it reads as polished rather than heavy.
Wash it the night before and arrive with it dry and product free. Freshly washed same day hair is slippery and will not hold a style.
Absolutely! Plenty of my boudoir clients do. Tell me which way you lean and bring a picture if you have one.
Yes. For photoshoots I stay on the set during the session unless we have arranged otherwise, so touch ups between outfits and looks are covered.
All of my current rates live on the menu on my services page, which is where I keep them up to date. Send me a note about your session and I will come back to you with exactly what it would involve.
If you have a boudoir session coming up in Buffalo or anywhere in Western New York, tell me the date and where you are shooting and I will come back to you with availability. You can also see the other kinds of sessions I take on over on my photoshoot makeup page.