If you're a little insecure about your body, doing a boudoir photoshoot may seem like one of the most daunting things you can do — but that's exactly why everyone should do it.
Tracy Malott opened Blush Boudoir photography studio to give her clients a welcoming space for them to be the subjects of photos that make them feel beautiful and sexy, at any size or age.
“That was Tracy’s vision from the beginning," Malott's business partner and fiance, Billy Pote, told Revelist. "Every woman is beautiful and our team knows how to bring that out, no matter their body type, their age — everybody."
Blush clients aren't professional models, and most haven't done boudoir shoots before, Pote said, but "they walk out the door with a new sense of confidence, and that’s before they’ve even seen their first pictures.”
"I just knew I wanted to see myself how my friends and family see me, instead of how I sometimes see myself."
"You owe it to yourself to have fun and find the beautiful woman that sometimes gets lost in the misconceptions of society and the pressure to feel, be, and look perfect. You are perfectly imperfect and don’t let anyone tell you that’s isn’t OK."
"As a full-figured, 54-year-old woman, I had hesitated out of fear. Not feeling perfect was scary."
"I couldn't believe the beautiful woman in the pictures was me."
"I’m not the type of woman who feels very comfortable in front of a camera, and I tend to feel more awkward than sexy."
"Plus, having just turned 45, I have to say my confidence level isn’t what is used to be… [but] it was the biggest self-esteem boost of my life!"
Quote comes from a different client than pictured.
"I had a baby a year ago and haven’t worked out much since then. My body has definitely changed, but I made the appointment anyway."
"I decided I'd be accepting of my pictures, regardless how my body looked… Tracy led me through the photo shoot with such ease. She encouraged me and helped me feel comfortable with my body, even though I weigh more now than I ever have in my life."
Quote comes from a different client than pictured.
"I was so nervous for the photo shoot… all the thoughts of reasons I wasn’t ready (I am bloated, 10 more pounds, I have a zit) — bottom line is, nothing mattered."
"When I got the first few photos, I almost started hyperventilating. I couldn’t believe they were me! I was seductive, sexy and irresistible. I am woman, watch me roar!"
"I had gone through a painful car accident and lots of physical therapy and then finally surgery... I needed a little ‘self-reminder’ of how I actually looked."
"The session was only six weeks after my surgery and was done as a celebration of finally being pain free and needing to feel sexy and confident again and not just a person ruled by feeling terrible most days… Every woman needs to do this for herself — it is well worth it."
"I was on the fence about it at first. I was bald [from chemo]; I had gained weight."
"But when I saw the photos afterward, I bawled like a baby… I could see the pain and struggle, but I could also see the determination. I was so blessed to have these pictures.”
Quote comes from a different client than pictured.
"Like so many women, I have a complicated relationship with my body and self-esteem."
"As a plus-size woman, I am used to critiquing my body and searching for (and finding) flaws. I don’t think of myself as beautiful or glamorous… [but] as the shoot went on, I began to feel more confidence in myself and my body than I ever have before. It was such a change in my self-esteem."
"[The shoot] helped me find the woman I seemed to have misplaced, between being a wife and mom, and having Crohn’s disease for the past 23 years."
"For a minute I forgot I was a 37-year-old mother of three. I was completely and totally a beautiful woman that was completely comfortable and in love with herself and her body. And trust me, that feeling is priceless. It is something that EVERY woman should experience once in her life."
