La vie en “Rouge”

A few months back… OK a year ago… I woke up one morning to the vision of a space dedicated to making beautiful portraits for women.

This idea had grown slowly and was nurtured by many discussions with friends, clients and other photographers. Years of hearing women not feeling beautiful… and I don’t mean that in a narcissistic unhealthy way, I mean real beautiful people who can’t see that they are, just because they don’t fall into the stereotypes of unrealistic beauty that we are fed on a daily basis. Millions… if not billions of dollars are spent every year in advertising to make us (women and now men) feel inappropriate, with the sole objective to make us buy something (clothes, beauty products or treatments, plastic surgery, make-up, slimming cream, etc…).

It’s sad enough to hear this from a grown adult, but when this hit my 14 year old daughter who is gorgeous, but definitely not in your typical beauty boundaries, I just knew I had to do something.

That’s when Rouge started to become a reality. Years of conditioning through constant hammering is not going to go away easily, but we are seeing a shift and I knew I wanted to be part of this “real beauty” revolution. So, we sat down with my dear husband who has been amazingly supportive and decided to take a leap of faith. I travelled to the USA to learn from the best boudoir studio The Boudoir Divas in San Diego, found a beautiful and safe location in the new north plaza in DB and with the help and support of many friends, opened Rouge on December 1st 2011.

The response has been beyond my dreams and I have been overwhelmed by the beautiful transformations I see in the studio. Rouge is exactly what I had dreamed it to be… a safe and fun experience for women to feel and look ahhh-mazing and sexy, and leave with photos of themselves that show just how beautiful they really are.

Why talk about this here?   Well… Rouge has taken over most of my time and bookings now and I have decided for the time being to put my family photography with deelee “on hold”.  I will of course continue to work with my existing clients on our open projects until the end of the year, but will not be taking any new clients on from now on. It has been a difficult decision to take, but one that makes the most sense to me now.

I guess it’s time also to say a big huge thank you to all my friends and clients whom I’ve shared great moments with over the last two years… and I hope to see you soon at Rouge.