Like most women, Ms. M. came to Belle Boudoir to create a beautiful gift for her husband. She wanted to celebrate the decades she had spent married to him and give him something beautiful and vulnerable. She didn’t anticipate the session being as empowering and emotionally healing as it was. At Belle Boudoir we provide a safe place for each person who enters the studio to say “damn, I am beautiful.” We show you that everyone can look like a super model and that women in magazines go to through a lot of production and post production to look they way do on the pages of nearly every major magazine and ad campaign. Ms. M started in hair and makeup as all Belle Boudoir clients do and slowly her excitement for the day grew as her nerves began to melt. As she got into wardrobe and began to pose she could feel her inner sensuality take over and couldn’t wait to see the pictures. An hour after her session ended, Ms. M met with Cheryl to look through her images and decide on which ones she wanted to turn into a beautiful leather bound book for her husband. When she sat on the couch in Cheryl’s office and gazed at the screen she was nearly brought to tears seeing how incredibly beautiful her images, and her, were (and are!). She felt beautiful, sexy, and sensual.

For Ms. M., feeling sexy and sensual were feelings she struggled with most of her life after experiencing sexual abuse when she was a child. A grim reality for 1 in 3 American girls and women. She spent her adulthood coming to terms with the trauma she had experienced and took on every opportunity to continue moving past it. When speaking with Miss. M following her session, she told me that her experience with Belle Boudoir was the final piece of the puzzle that allowed her to lock up the box and throw the key away – she was finally able to be mentally and emotionally free from her tormentor. We at Belle Boudoir work with strong women who have survived a number of things in their in lives and helping each and every one of those women see the power and beauty within themselves is what keeps us in the boudoir business. It is stories like that of Ms. M. that touch us to our core and keep us excited about making a difference every day.

After Ms. M.’s session was complete, she only had one question remaining: how would her husband respond to his gift? Needless to say, he was over the moon. Full of joy and excitement and couldn’t believe that she had went through with her session. The best part was that she overheard her teenage son talking to her husband saying “Mom is a super model now. You better be extra good to her so that you don’t loose her!” Not only did Ms. M. notice an overwhelming internal change, but it was so obvious externally that even her teenage son noticed. How spectacular is that?!