My Beauty Shoot With Chiara Aprea

Some of you may remember a previous post I wrote about a photoshoot I did with my very talented friend Chiara Aprea. We did a boudoir themed shoot where I played around with many vintage looks and styles. Sweet and sultry, sexy and seductive, fun and silly... These were all different looks we tried out and I had an absolute blast throughout the whole process. Chiara seriously pushed me out of my comfort zone and I am so happy that she did because she made me see myself in a way that I hadn't previously. I remember my whole time in front of the camera I was eager to learn new poses, try out new things and have fun with it. The entire time Chiara was encouraging, patient and a lot of fun to shoot with. Anyone thinking of trying out something like that you really should, even if no one else ever sees the pictures afterwards. I found the experience liberating, exciting and the end result was a very happy and confident Mayah!

To see some of the pictures click here for the previous post. 

Shortly after we wrapped up the first shoot and I had received some of the images, Chiara reached out to me about a new style package she was introducing. She wanted to do some photos totally based on the face with me as the person to launch it. The beauty package is all about detailed facial expressions and interesting hair and make up. I was seriously excited to hear about this as I tend to wear the same make up everyday and I thought it would be cool to play around more with my face and hair as opposed to my clothes. Chiara wanted to transform me into a modern day geisha and an angry dominatrix; as you can imagine neither of these styles were like anything I had previously tried out and I was excited and intrigued to see what she had in mind for me. 

At first we started with my hair, luckily for me I had some extensions in because this was about to be the biggest hairstyle I had ever sported! A gigantic quiff was swept up in the front of my hair and accompanied by 2 backward fishtail plaits. One or 2 hair flowers were used with some real flowers inserted in places. Layers and layers of eye makeup was then applied to my face pinks, golds, yellows and of course some eyelash extensions. I was then treated to super bright pink lips and a delicate brow. The end result was me as a technicolor modern day geisha.

Selfie fun with Chiara before we started shooting look #1

I really loved these images when I first saw them. I had never even known I could look so nice in such a different character. Playing around with fans, parasols and fun poses is always fun but nothing beats seeing the end result. I had so much fun with this look that I knew changing into an angry dom with a totally different temperament might be somewhat of a challenge. 

I had a total transformation and what's more, I never even took off the make up from the geisha set. With a few additions and tweaks I went from sweet and earthly to a woman with attitude and a total bitch face! I have to say it was fun to be in both roles and I really liked the fact that the two looks were almost polar opposites. 

Selfie fun with Chiara before we started shooting look #2

In the space of about 15-20 minutes I went from being a sweet geisha to a chick with way too much attitude.  My hair was swept up into a tight high pony tail restrained by a black scarf. A dark and metallic smokey eye was accompanied with black and white eye liner and framed with a sharp and squared brow. To finish off Chiara applied a deep purple colour to my lips.

Standing there covered in black pleather clothes and extreme makeup on I was told to just think of something that seriously makes me angry. Channelling my inner diva and going back to my years in the theatre seriously helped me here. Pretending to be raging mad isn't as easy as you would think when you're having such a fun time working with a friend. My aim was to concentrate on my expressions and I seriously hope that the angry bitchy look was achieved. I think I most definitely got it in some of the frames. 

I love working with Chiara each time brings with it a new experience and new challenges. The first shoot really made me push myself by being shot in my lingerie for many looks, a huge confidence boost. This time I had to really focus on my face which was something I hadn't previously done when taking pictures of any kind. 

I already have some ideas in mind for another beauty shoot and I'm very sure Chiara and I will collaborate again sometime in the near future. What can I say, I don't know a single woman out there who doesn't love playing dress up and experimenting with make up. I figure if I'm going to do it I may as well take some cool pictures and have something to look back on.

If any of you have considered doing a shoot of this kind and you live in the UK you really should drop Chiara a message and make your booking. She has a variety of different packages at amazing prices so don't miss out if you're thinking about it. 

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