Want to see what a photo shoot is really like? Check out our NEW behind the scenes sneak peek! Starting with hair and makeup and then moving on......watch as Jeni poses you from head to toe! When you do a photo shoot with Eye Kandie Boudoir, you won't even have to think, Jeni does everything for you. There is lots of laughing and its also a great workout. Yes, you will be sore! Take a look......
My FAVORITE budget friendly makeup.
As I was trying to find a title for this post I kept going back and forth with synonyms for cheap. I definitely did NOT want to use that word though, because the product formulation and pigmentation is anything but cheap. When I pick a product, I want it to impress me regardless of price. For instance, I have NEVER found a mascara that I love more that my L'oreal Double extend mascara in blackest black. Not urban decay, not tarte, not benefit, not MAC, no other mascara impresses me more than this. It doesn't transfer under my eyes throughout the day, It doesn't transfer on the top of my eyelid, it doesn't budge, BUT it comes off so easy!
What I really wanted to talk about is a brand called Makeup Geek. I have a ton of their eye shadows and contour powders, and let me tell you..... this product is far superior than any shadow you will find at MAC. The foiled shadows are $10 a piece and the regular eye shadow pans are $6 a piece, which is the same price for a pan at MAC, but the quality is much better. The contour powder pan from makeup geek which you could use as a bronzer as well is $10 compared to make at $17. I will list some of the colors below. Go check it out!
Fulfillment
Do you ever just feel like "This is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing!" ?? I leave each and every one of my sessions with that feeling. I'm on cloud 9 after every photo shoot ... but I'm also exhausted - mentally, emotionally, and physically. That's because I literally pour my heart and soul into each session. I know how nervous you were sending that first email. I know you had the butterflies in your tummy the days leading up to your session. I know you may have even *thought* about turning around the minute you pulled up to our parking lot. But when you come into our studio, I want you to let all those feelings go. Let me be your brain for those few hours. I want you to know that you don't have to know how to pose. I understand you are not a paid model who has been doing this since they were 15. It is my job to tell you how to pose. It is my job to show you how to pose. Yup, I actually put myself into the poses myself to show you. I also tend to exaggerate the pose so that you can laugh at me and you don't feel so silly yourself. Boudoir photography is so different than any other type of photography. It's vulnerable and stripped down - literally and figuratively. You're sharing your insecurities with someone who's only been in your life for a very short time. I understand that. I don't take it lightly that you're in a vulnerable state with me. At the end of the day, it's not just about seductive photos, it's about embracing your God given self.
I am where I am meant to be in life. I am doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. I love each and everyone of our clients for allowing me to get to do this and call it my JOB. Thank you!!
“You have everything you need for complete peace and total happiness right now.”
― Wayne W. Dyer
And because a photography blog is never ok without a photo, here's a teaser of Miss J's session. Um, wow - it's not even fair how amazing our clients are!!
Miss J's amazing gift to her husband
A few weeks ago, I shared some teasers from Miss J's insanely amazing session. Her images seriously make me swoon over here. Her husband had a milestone birthday and she knew she wanted to blow him away with his gift. She accomplished that, wouldn't you say?!? I love how much fun she had during her session; her smile says it all ....
OMG! Best foundation tip Ever!
I'm not sure if I have shared this tip with you guys yet, so here it is!
This Technique is so great and works out for almost everyone. People with super oily skin would not benefit as much as people with dry skin or more mature skin. What we are talking about here is adding oil to your foundation. Take any beauty oil, whether it be maracuja, argan, jojoba or whatever it is that you have and add a drop to the foundation that you are going to put onto your face. Mix it together and either apply it with a beauty blender, a wet sponge or any flat top kabuki brush. Let it sink in for a few minutes and then blot off any excess oil with a dry sponge. This will leave on all of the pigment and everything that that has already absorbed into the skin. After that, Set it with powder and finish the rest of your face.
This technique will literally help your foundation be one with the skin and the outcome is beautiful. Just glowy, healthy, hydrated skin! If you give this a try, let me know how it works out for you.
Are You Ready For Some Football ... Boudoir?
We may not get much of a fall season here in Southern California, but we know fall is right around the corner because the afternoons get a little shorter, pumpkin flavor is EVERYWHERE and football is on our TV's. As pre-season is coming to an end and he's picking his final selections for his fantasy team, why not celebrate the upcoming season with your guy's favorite jersey? Go ahead and incorporate some of your man's other true love into your session and see if you don't get his attention away from the screen or fantasy football for a little while? A boudoir session will definitely be a touch down and will make him think of you when he pulls out his jersey for the next game. :)
Alicia Keys stopped wearing makeup and, for some reason, the internet loses it's mind!
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Do you find it odd that a woman wearing NO makeup on the red carpet can make a such a splash in the media? Have we fallen so short as a society that it is against the norm to go barefaced anywhere?? The fact that there’s even a debate over whether a woman should or shouldn’t wear makeup is asinine! I applaud Alicia Keys for deciding she doesn't need make up whether she’s on the street or on TV and NOT apologizing for it. It’s beautiful and inspiring and it is her CHOICE.
Don’t get me wrong, I love makeup. I love having the option of wearing it. There is obviously no shame in wanting to wear it for fun or as art form and I respect other women who simply love make-up because it's fun, too! If that were not the case, we wouldn’t even offer it in our boudoir experience. But feeling the NEED to cover our faces or being TOLD to look another way because of society’s standards is completely different. That’s not confidence. A woman showing up without make up should not be considered “courageous." No woman should ever be made to feel like they need makeup to be taken seriously or to look pretty. We are enough, just the way we are.
I've been trying to go without makeup a little more this summer so that my sons never ask me why I won't leave the house without it anymore. I don't want my sons to feel like makeup should ever be a necessity on a girl. When they’re old enough to start dating, I want them to be with a girl who is confident in her own skin to wear it when she wants to and NOT wear it when she doesn’t. And it starts with their own mom feeling confident enough wearing a natural face as much as a made up face.
It is actually my hope for all of us girls to be confident and strong enough to throw off the restraints of a society that tries to force us to make personal style choices for the benefit of others. Be true to yourself. If that means wearing makeup daily, do that. If that means wearing minimal to no makeup, I support that too! Just let your own beauty shine! Alicia Keys made the choice that's right for her and set an amazing example at the same time. Three cheers to her for giving us a chance to love her as she is and who she wants to be.
"I hope to God it's a revolution. 'Cause I don't want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing," Keys wrote in an essay for Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter in May
And just for fun, here are a few recent pictures of myself sans makeup and with makeup. Nothing special, just a couple selfies...
#WCW
Yas girl Yassss! Our woman crush Wednesday goes to this sexy lady!
#WCW
Our woman crush Wednesday goes to this beauty!
Tushy Tuesday!
Love Tushy Tuesdays!