Feeling beautiful after babies - My "mum makeover"

I want to talk about how important it is sometimes to feel beautiful after life changing events which in a lot of cases... is babies.

And I want to talk about body image and accepting your body after babies.

I had two children close together, my first was only 7 months old when I became pregnant, I was already marked on my stomach with stretchmarks which was at the time devastating as it was the only part left that wasn't marked by the bloody things!

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Stretchmarks plagued my early teens and I am actually covered from the back of my knees to my breasts, it was embarrassing and the reason I gave up my beloved competitive swimming at 13.

I'm not sure why I was so plagued by them, maybe it is in my genes or it was my puppy fat that stuck around for far too long... maybe is was too many pies.

After I had my second child I was larger than I was used to, and then I started to loose the weight sometimes 2kgs in a week as I lived solely on muesli and snacks, anxiety and stress.

But you know what, I am now in a place where I can actually say that I love my body more now than I did prior to babies, I look after myself more now, my health is better in terms of the food I eat, my weight has redistributed around my body differently... but I like it... I actually think i look better in clothes now.

The new stretchmarks are my reminder of my 2 kids now... not just the extra pies I ate when I was 12.

I needed some photos to reflect how strong I felt now!

So this was my Mummy Makeover! With Suede Studios!

I got me some Michelle Glamour Shots :)

Although I am an avid hater of the deceiving before and after shots, I feel I need to have them, but also make note of what actually went into creating them.

Vanessa, owner of Suede Studios is a long time friend of 15 plus years! so there is a familiarity there where we could not only chat about what photos I needed and clothes that I liked, but we could also talk about the dying plum tree and how the heck she could replace it without disturbing the burial ground of her dead cat laid to rest underneath its roots...

....RIP Shadow...

So after a cup of tea and a wander around the deck we got to work....

On me!!!

All hair and makeup is done by Vanessa in her home based studio, she gave me the perfect lip colour and created a photo ready face!

Curls were then created in my giant mop of hair and placed loosely around my face.

When we went down to the studio I was greeted by the Suede studio shop that is packed full of clothes, shoes, jewelry, bags and accessories.... Which are available to buy from Suede Studios... I walked away with a top and a beautiful black dress!

Vanessa at Suede studios has a knack for not only making you look beautiful but also FEEL beautiful! She has years of experience not only as photographer but also behind the camera in the film industry and also as a fashion designer.

If you haven't thought about doing it before, you must think about now :)

Capture yourself in your own moment in time!

I'm gonna treasure these pictures for a long time to come.

Visit Suede Studios at www.suedestudios.co.nz

They are competitively priced and sittings start at $99 for a one hour sitting for headshots.

You get your hair and makeup done & styling and as many background and clothing changes as you can fit into the 1 hour sitting time frame. You also get your favourite high res digital image included and additional digital images are $35 each.