Cincinnati Boudoir Photography | Roselle Photography

I have a lot of pretty friends. Seriously, I do.

Out of all of my pretty friends, almost none of them believe that they are pretty. Their hair is “flat”, their lips are “too thin”, or their tummy “flabby”. I listen to their gripes and their perceived physical shortcomings, and think to myself, “Women would kill to look like you! If you could just see yourself through anyone else’s eyes, you’d know that.”

As women, we are constantly told we aren’t good enough – that our tummies should be flatter, our butts should be more round, our eyes should be bigger, and our legs should be longer.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way that, instead of shaming ourselves, we could learn to celebrate and love our bodies? Wouldn’t it be incredible give your friend that outside perspective of how beautiful they really are?

For me that is what boudoir is. Boudoir is a chance for me to help women find their confidence, their softness, and their femininity.

One of my favorite examples of how powerful a boudoir session can be came from one of my close friends. Some back story: She is, literally, the person every woman wants to look like. She has beautiful blonde hair, and big blue eyes. She is thin and toned, while maintaining some rockin’ curves. If she weren’t so sweet to everyone, she’d be easy to hate because she has it all.

I was totally excited when she told me she wanted to do a boudoir session. We have known each other for years and years, so I knew she would be comfortable with me, and it would be an awesome session. But to my surprise, she didn’t open up right away. She acted timid and unsure.

Me, being the excitable person I am, kept showing her pictures to prove to her how gorgeous she looked. With each image I revealed, it was like a new little piece of her started believing that she was beautiful, and I could see that nervousness and insecurity melt away, little by little.

I showed her one more, and she said, “Wow. I really do look awesome, don’t I?!” Thankful that she had fully believed it, I exclaimed, “Of course you do!”

She looked at me teary eyed and started explaining to me the last relationship she was in. She had dated a serious jerk for way too long. He had told her that she wasn’t pretty, that she needed a plastic surgery, and tons of other horrible things. As I boiled with anger, she ended by telling me this was the first time she can remember thinking of herself as being beautiful.

Now, thankfully, not many of us have a jerk in our lives, actually verbalizing that we aren’t good enough like my friend. For most of us, we are our own jerk, constantly telling ourselves we aren’t good enough, and comparing ourselves to others.

Almost every boudoir session I’ve ever done has had some sort of moment like the one I described above – an “Aha” moment. The moment when a woman realizes she is beautiful. The moment when she realizes how awfully she beats herself up day in and day out. The moment when she realized she is perfect the way she is. I feel lucky to be apart of that.