Sexy Siren

When Mindy sat in my chair, the first thing I noticed was her beautiful skin. It was smooth and tight and I that's where i wanted to put the focus. Above everything else, the skin is my favorite. There is nothing better than  flawless skin! 

For Mindy's eyes, I used some MAC shadows and the Anastasia of Beverly Hills modern renaissance palette, My obsession.  I used a light warm brown color in here crease as her transition. I then used Cyprus umber on her lid to darken it and then put a little bit of red ochre over that for a beautiful burgundy smokey eye. I then blended it all together with a bit of burnt orange and raw sienna. I lined her lids with Bobbie Brown gel eyeliner in black and smudged it out a bit with a black shadow. I topped off her eye look with some demi wispies

For her skin, I used maracuja oil for some hydration as I was doing her eyes. I then primed her skin with a smashbox primer. She had some brown marks under her eyes, so I went ahead and color corrected with an orange shade by derma color. For foundation I Used the Amazonian Clay full coverage foundation with a flat top kabuki brush. I concealed under her eyes with Tarte shape tape and blended that out with a beauty blender.  I also used the shape tape to highlight her forehead chin, and small bit on the top of the nose. I then set her skin with Laura Merciers translucent powder. I contoured Mindy's face with hoola benefit bronzer, and then used the Lorac tantalizer for a beautiful bronzed glow all over. For blush I used buff by mac, and for highlight I used Becca champagne pop. For her brows I used Anastasia Beverly Hills pencil in soft brown and then a the same soft brown powder to set it. Last but not least, Lips! I used MAC lip pencil in stridown with dose of colors in truffle and inglot #53 lip paint.  

The Anonymous Miss K | Orange County Boudoir | Grace and Lace Boudoir

I'm so unbelievably appreciative when clients allow us to share their images ... even when they are images that do not show their face.  I understand that not every woman wants her face connected to the images online but I love when they love their images so much they can't NOT share them :) Miss K pushed her boundaries with this photoshoot and I love that! She didn't shy away from any poses and let me have my way with her. ;)  Bring it, girl!  So without further ado ... Miss K and her beautiful photos.

The Sexiest Gift | Orange County Boudoir | Grace and Lace Boudoir

The stunning Miss E came to us to create a completely memorable and sexy gift for her husband.  What is more unique than boudoir for your anniversary, wedding, valentine's day, or birthday - or, heck, just because?? The best part is it's something for you, too! You get incredible photos of yourself, a self esteem boost, AND a ton of fun during your shoot! Once the shoot starts, you'll be walked through every single pose and once you see the final photographs, you'll see a supermodel staring back at you! Our hope and goal is for every woman who sets foot in our studio to have an incredible, empowering boudoir experience- a gift that every woman should give themselves at least once in a lifetime!

I was so nervous before my photoshoot but after I met Jeni and Sarah the nerves calmed down since they were both so sweet. They had snacks and wine available while I had my hair and makeup done. 
Sarah did an amazing job with my smokey eye look. I felt so comfortable the whole time during my photoshoot with Jeni as she told me how to pose. She not only tells you how to pose but actually shows you! 
 I viewed my photos about a week later and they were gorgeous. I would definitely recommend them to my friends and family. Thank you so much for an amazing experience Grace and Lace Boudoir.

Stunning Mama to Be | Orange County Boudoir | Grace and Lace Boudoir

I had the privilege and honor of photographing an amazingly beautiful woman for a maternity boudoir session. I have photographed maternity boudoir in the past but it had been years and was SO excited to have the opportunity when Miss M reached out to us. Being pregnant is such a wonderful experience and it’s so beautiful; what our bodies go through to bring life into this world is truly remarkable and it's definitely a time in your life you'll want to capture.  And what a gorgeous session it turned out to be. I'm obsessed with these photos! 

“I have never done anything like this before and can say that it was the coolest experience! I had been following grace and lace for a long time and never had the guts to reach out. I wanted to do something extra special for my husband for xmas and also to remember my pregnant body. ”
“Before this shoot I felt frumpy and huge and now I look at myself in a completely different light. Thank you ladies for bringing the sexy back into my world, I can never tell you enough how much fun this was and how beautiful you have made me feel.”

Thank you, Miss M, for trusting us to give you this incredible maternity boudoir experience.

Want your own maternity boudoir? Contact us today!

Makeup brush cleaning 101

I get asked a lot about how to clean makeup brushes and its really quite simple. I used to stand at my sink for hours on end cleaning every single brush with soap and then having to wait overnight for them to dry. I seriously don't have time for that, considering I have to wash my brushes after every client. Now, if your not cleaning your makeup brushes you should be, and yes, I'm judging you! There is so much bacteria and build up on your brushes, it's definitely not good for your skin. So what I do is grab some rubbing alcohol, make sure its 91% or higher, and put it in a small bowl. now you can dip your brush in it and wipe it off on a towel. Repeat a few times with the same brush until it swipes clean on the towel. This is a great because your smaller brushes will dry within a few minutes and they will be ready for use again. Now everyone, go grab those brushes and get to cleaning! 

The Stunning Miss K | Orange County Boudoir | Grace and Lace Boudoir

She's stunning, she's the sweetest, and she SERIOUSLY knocked her session out of the park!  Like, WAY out there! She came to the studio as a gift for her soon to be husband and, of course, herself. She had recently lost some weight but claimed she wasn't quite her goal weight yet, but she was ready to do a session anyway. I love that she didn't wait because all too often, later becomes never.  If you always wait until the "perfect" time, you'll realize that it's never coming.    

We started her session with a sweet and soft, white bra and panty set but ended it with more seductive pieces.  I love seeing the transformations of our clients from the beginning of their shoots to the end! Our clients are AWESOME! Her images just make me so happy.

I cannot say enough about Sarah and Jeni! They are truly so amazing at what they do. I decided on boudoir photos as a gift for my husband on our wedding day. I was extremely nervous and researched around a lot until I came across [them]. 

The website alone was so informative and made me feel better about what to expect. Once I met Sarah and Jeni all my nerves began to leave. They make you feel so comfortable and confident about yourself. They know what they are doing and I couldn't be happier with the photos and neither could my husband. He loved them. Probably the best present I ever gave him. I have already told several friends considering doing a boudoir session and I would recommend them to anyone. 

Overall, it was an awesome experience. Thank you so much Sarah and Jeni!

Thank you for trusting us, Miss K! And for seriously bringing your most seductive A game! :) 

My own boudoir session | Orange County Boudoir | Grace and Lace Boudoir

Before this month, I've never had my own boudoir session done before.  Yup, never; I am always the one behind the camera. It seemed so hypocritical of me to tell our clients they needed to put themselves first when I haven't exactly done that myself.  But like most women, I'm not always comfortable in my own skin - and I wasn't 100% confident the day I took the photos, either. But I decided it was time to take the leap and put myself squarely in the shoes of my own clients, to practice what I preach because later becomes never, very quickly.  So I got my outfits ready and prepared myself to feel sexy and confident, to see me how my husband sees me. I loved getting glammed up and shopping for my outfits!  My goal from here on out is to do a shoot once a year or at the VERY LEAST once every other year. I gotta tell you, that was fun and addicting and I hope all women get to have a boudoir experience at least once in their lives .  I love being able to see myself like that and I LOVE how my husband will just stare at the photos, too.  I should've done this A LONG TIME AGO!  

Thanks to Amanda @ California Boudoir for the amazing photos!  There were many more from the session that I loved, but my husband is being a little stingy and wants to keep those for himself! ;)

~Jeni

Be Soul Food | Grace and Lace Boudoir | Orange County Boudoir

Over 4 years ago, Sarah and I sat down and had a meeting about our new business venture together.  We were not new in our prospective careers - I'd been a photographer since 2002 and Sarah had been a makeup artist for nearly as long but we were joining our two forces together.  We'd been friends for 6 years at the time and we KNEW that we wanted to do this together and so we sat down, had a meeting, and we were excited!  So excited that we came up with our business name THAT day - Eye Candy.  We'd jotted down about 10 other names or so but at that time, we didn't really have a plan of just being a boudoir studio, so to us, eye candy meant pretty things and incorporated the best of both our worlds (photography & makeup).  Well, in our naivete, we went with it.  And then realized, rather quickly, eye candy dot com is not available.  Ok.  How about eye-candy dot com?? Nope. How about eye-kandy dot com? Well, you know the answer to that. You'd think we would've moved on by now, right??  Nooooo, of course not, we were stuck on some version of eye candy.  So, we finally realized eye-kandie.com was available and so we went with it.  Now you know the backstory of our name.  Deep, riiiight?? 

So we created business cards, a logo, a website, a facebook page and we went to work.  And we started shooting everything and anybody who would let us shoot and put makeup on them. But over the years, both Sarah and I felt like we were being led to shoot solely boudoir photography.  It fit us so well, it was our speed - getting to know our clients on a deeper level, we both LOVED doing it more so than any other genre, and so we dedicated Eye Kandie to solely boudoir. Over the years, though, we started to feel like our name was amateurish and we were increasingly becoming more insecure with it.  We thought about changing it but oh! the work that would create for us.  Neither of us felt like starting over.  It's a LOT of work.  Like, A LOT of work.  But a few months ago, it started to weigh heavily on me how much I dislike our name; so much so, I wouldn't even use it in a sentence.  I struggled with this because what does that say about me? About my business?  I'm not ashamed of our business, Sarah and I have built a solid foundation and we have had some AMAZING clients come through our studio.  But I couldn't bring myself to use our name in conversation.  I just really wanted our name to mean something more.  

Then I read this quote

““Don’t be eye candy. Be soul food.””

Oh, the gut punch.  All these months of prayer over whether or not we should change our name and there I thought, did God just answer me with a quote?  Yes, He did.  I didn't think of our clients as eye candy, they were so much more than just a "pretty thing" to us. We strive for our clients to love and appreciate their bodies for all it does for her but also to see themselves beyond their physical self. We want her to see what we see and what her friends and family see.  Not just a pretty thing, but a woman who allows herself some grace and does not spend time dwelling on the past and living with regret, but works toward what she wants; a woman who values quality over quantity and understands the investment of portraiture; a woman who loves and respects her husband or fiance; a mother who teaches and loves her children but knows she should nurture herself as well.  We want her to see she is a woman of worth & beauty to us and those around her.

And so, Grace and Lace Boudoir was born.  We still have a few loose ends to tie up around here, mostly on the back side of the business but we are so happy that Grace & Lace is live and that is what we will be going by from here on out! 

Thank you to all our clients for their support along the way, for reading our blog, for trusting us with your own boudoir experience and for sending us your referrals. 

Our business is booming and it is ALL because of you!! So thank you!  We love you ALL!

 

~Jeni