"Everyone is a fetishist": New interview on sex and the power of fetish

Click here to read my latest interview with SimplySxy.com.
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Sensual Smiles and Stockings

Happy Valentine's weekend, my loves!

I can't believe I haven't blogged since Christmas. Sorry about that! I was unusually busy with shoots starting 3 January and have been travelling and organising further trips a lot. Hopefully you've been keeping up with me on Instagram or Twitter anyway :)

I thought today would be perfect for sharing these romantic shots taken by my friend Adam Robertson at his house. Adam is one of the photographers I recommend to models in my book, The "Ugly" Girl's Guide to Modelling (along with a list of other solid contacts).

Adam and I have been shooting together for nearly a decade, almost since we each started model photography on our respective sides of the camera. Adam was one of the few photographers in the early days who agreed to shoot TFP with me to help build each other's portfolios. Since then, we have both progressed to doing what we love full-time, and still catch up with a photo shoot when our schedules allow.

Lingerie is by Playful Promises and organic skincare by Bareskin Beauty. I did my own hair and makeup using Mya Minerals as usual :)


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Cover of Sinical Magazine!!! :D

I'm on the cover of the latest issue of Sinical!

I'm particularly thrilled about this cover as having been commissioned to shoot it by Sinical, I was then allowed to choose the photographer (Luci Alice!), designers (mostly Playful Promises, although the corset I'm wearing on the cover was made for me by Heavenly Corsets and the bullet bra is from What Katie Did. The shoes were made specially for my feet by Fabulously Fetish), location, hair, makeup, skincare (Bareskin Beauty), everything myself! I put so much of myself into this image and the pictorial inside and I'm proud of how it's turned out.

Apologies if you already saw these on my Press page!

I've just had my first full day of shooting on this month's tour, which I've rather ambitiously made the whole of Britain. I'm starting in Wales for a few days, then doing a big clockwise lap of Scotland, before making my way back home through England. Hopefully I will get to visit some of my girlfriends at the same time :) Feel free to follow me on Instagram to see my behind-the-scenes tour snaps and videos; new followers always noticed and appreciated :)

I just bought myself a Thermos flask for transporting organic coconut milk cappuccino (new addiction)... tomorrow I have a 2 hour drive to an 8 hour outdoor location nude shoot that finishes at 8pm, then I'm going to zoom to my B&B and basically go straight to bed so that I can get up at ***3.30am*** the following day for another 8 hour outdoor nude shoot starting at dawn, followed by an 8 hour drive to Madame Bink's new house in the Lake District :p So having the ability to transport coffee to remote locations should be a major benefit, especially when teamed up with my giant bar of 74% dark chocolate.

Next up after that is four full days of shooting in Glasgow. I'm glad; it's been SO long since I had time to visit Scotland.

Anita xo

New photos from my last Asian Tour

New photos shot by lovely photographer Geoffrey Pereira in Singapore during my 2014 Asian Tour :)

First up, me modelling nothing but the $1 sunglasses I bought in the market after I managed to break the £90 pair I brought with me. Skincare by Bareskin Beauty.

Lingerie by Playful Promises, shoes by Fabulously Fetish. Apologies if you already saw this one on Facebook!

Leather jacket my own, ended up in the bin after being eaten by extreme high humidity in the Malaysian jungle later in the trip. Oh well!

Back from a last-minute weekend in London modelling for four Olympus workshops and a beauty magazine editorial. I left the house at 4.30 on Saturday morning and arrived home precisely 48 hours later at 4.30 this morning, having stopped at three sets of services on the way back for an hour of sleep here, an hour of sleep there, and finally, when that didn't work, a 3am stop-off for caramel soy cappuccino, brushing and flossing of teeth and a DIY Bareskin Beauty exfoliating facial in the toilets at the last motorway services. I'm very tired today, but at least my skin is glowing!

Here's a clearer shot of those $1 sunglasses, 'cos I know you're dying to see them.

Broke my £90 #sunglasses so bought these replacements from the local market for $1. Just taking a break between two photo shoots here in Singapore today. I don't know why my arms came out looking blue. #redhead #modeldiary #travellingmodel

A photo posted by Anita De Bauch (@anitadebauch) on Oct 22, 2014 at 11:38pm PDT

Dentist appointment first thing tomorrow, followed by seventeen full days of shooting in a row in Somerset, Kent, the Isle of Wight, London, Milton Keynes and Norfolk. Woooooo!!! So close to having the deposit for my dream house now ^_^


5.45pm EDIT: I forgot to say, if you are a freelance model like me, or interested in becoming one, and would like my book on how I do it, the posh hardback version is on special offer on Amazon UK atm, reduced from £26.99 to £16.89 + free P&P :)

'Anita De Bauch on Nylons' editorial in Sinical magazine

My second editorial in Sinical in two months is now out :) (I was interviewed about my thoughts on modelling, fetish and what I like to do in my spare time in the last issue, the Nylons Special Edition.) This time, instead of being interviewed, I wrote an article on my love of vintage nylon stockings to accompany a lovely pictorial in my Playful Promises lingerie, shot by my friend Adam Robertson. I did the makeup and bed-head hair, and the skincare was provided by Bareskin Beauty :)

^ Click the image to see a slightly larger version.

You can order a copy of the magazine here or download a free PDF of it here (I'm on pages 10-13) :)

I love this elegant style of retro lingerie... elegance really had a greater meaning in decades past! It wasn't just a costume you put on once or twice a year for a wedding or a New Year's do... it was something intrinsic to everything you created around you. Not just the visible dress at a fancy party, but the lingerie underneath, the perfect manicure with matte polish, the earrings, the chic handbag (never a knock-off!), the hair styling, the subtle hint of perfume... and the home you got ready in, the lighting there, the furniture, the wallpaper, the music you played and the cocktail you mixed while your curlers were setting... the way you straightened your hat and put on your neatly tailored gloves before stepping out to go to the Post Office, the bank and the train station that day.... oh, it was another time! I love to recreate it in my life and in my work, exactly as I imagine it!

If you are a photographer and would like to shoot something like this with me, I am currently available to shoot at Creativus Imago Studio in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, at:

• 2pm onwards on Thursday 22 January
• 10.10 - 1.10pm on Saturday 24 January

There are great all-inclusive packages on offer, e.g. 3 hours on the 24th for £167.50 for me, the studio, the sets and a professional hair and makeup artist! Please email me at contact@anitadebauch.com with your preferred date, if you have one, and I'll give you the full run-down on what's on offer :)

And now I finish today's blog so that I can carry on doing my tax return... how very glamorous!

Anita x

2014 in Pictures

2014 is nearly over and we're past the Solstice, which I now learn is considered the New Year from a yogic perspective, so maybe I was onto something when I was waffling on about it the other day ;)

I bring you my 2014 in pictures:


JANUARY

January was a lovely month, with all my shoots bursting with love and romance: bridal fashion and couple's portraiture.

I spent five days shooting bridal and couple's portraiture with my boyfriend, which I styled:

I don't think I mentioned it in my blog at the time, but we danced our asses off for hours to The Bug and Fuckbuttons at Brixton Academy for our anniversary.

We were still living in London and I don't recall doing anything for my birthday, probably because I was shooting a bridal catalogue in York outdoors that day and nearly freezing to death :) But you can't tell from the photos, right?

I did a fairly full-on strict detox for the first week or so of January to give me a little boost into having a generally detoxifying diet in 2014. It seemed to help my skin, muscle tone and energy levels quite a lot. I found I didn't need to work out every day to maintain my ideal weight and muscle tone anymore, which was good!

My photos also started appearing on Vogue Italia's website, including this one, by Marcus Jake:

And somehow, I also found time to shoot a shoe campaign for Fabulously Fetish with Phine Ka, and do the hair and makeup for it, too.

Bareskin Beauty looked after my skincare for the whole year, so a big and heartfelt thank you to them!


FEBRUARY

February was more of a high fashion month. It was London Fashion Week, and I walked for several international eco-friendly designers at the EcoLuxe show. The after party was really fun, and I still have and use some of the goodies from the environmentally friendly goodie bag :)

I had an androgynous fashion shoot with MrGlen in London, one of my very favourite photographers to work with. It was challenging to pose in a completely new way and NOT be girly in the positioning of my hands, and so on! Being a guy is tough!

Despite this, I was named one of the sexiest bloggers on the net.

MARCH

Shot one of my favourite figure nudes I've ever done at a workshop in London:

I also love this shoot I did with my sponsors, Playful Promises lingerie and Fabulously Fetish shoes:

The photographer was David Morley. We had two awesome shoots together, and then he seemed to vanish off the face of the earth. I hope he's all right and still shooting.

I toured Norfolk and did this hair shoot for Robert Owen Salon, which was shot by Andrew McMeekin. I did the makeup and wardrobe styling:

I was on the cover of Spain's BeDeSeMe magazine, with a 14 page interview and pictorial shot by Luci Alice! I was wearing Lady Allura's Latex and Fabulously Fetish shoes.

I also met Dita Von Teese in New York and shot a music video in London with SHOWstudio.

Photo by Jennifer Mitchell

I rather overworked myself in March by trying to shoot more or less every day, including ten days in New York and New Jersey, without a break, except for falling asleep on planes and trains, and ended up in bed with a cold and a lot of souvenirs for a few days when I got back home.

APRIL

I had a much-needed holiday in Somerset in April, which was a wonderful time to visit. The countryside was such a contrast to London, and I loved seeing all the trees in full bloom with pink blossoms, the lambs springing around in the fields, and the weather warm enough to visit Glastonbury Abbey. I felt so happy and relaxed that I think this is when I started to subconsciously get the idea to move here sooner rather than later, and get out of the rat-race a little.

I also had a couple of shoots in Helsinki for Damian McGillicuddy and Olympus Cameras, which was especially fun as I'd never been to Finland before.

My boots were custom made for me by Fabulously Fetish to match my hair :)

MAY

Got my butt out in Bo Ningen's music video for Slider, which was directed by Marie Schuller of SHOWstudio. I learned the whole song in Japanese short-notice, then on the day, didn't need to lip-sync any of it after all as none of the other actors had learned it so the idea was scrapped. Ha! Went for drinks with the band and the crew in Shoreditch afterwards and they were totally lovely. Cue drunkenly waffling about creative expression with the guitarist for aaaages.

JUNE

I met the legendary supermodel Twiggy at a photo shoot in June. I was almost speechless with starstruck-ness and she was very kind to me, including pulling me in for this shot and approving it on the spot so I could post it here. She approves ALL her photos before they appear anywhere. Imagine that!

Afterwards, I shot some bright sunny commercial stuff with Stephen Perry:

My most exciting news in June was that my book, The "Ugly" Girl's Guide to Modelling, got picked up by a publisher, meaning I no longer had to worry about self-publishing on Amazon or whatever. As far as I know, this is the first book on freelance modelling that has ever been deemed good enough to sell by an actual publishing house, and I was (and am) absolutely thrilled.


JULY

I had a jam-packed sold-out tour of Ireland for two weeks in July, which was very productive. I dyed some clip-in human hair extensions to match my real hair before I left, and had a go with them at shoots, both loose and tied up into a big up-do:

Photographer: John  Murray

AUGUST

My lower half made an appearance in a fashion film called The Masters for Selfridges by SHOWstudio, which involved many different "masters" of fashion like Jean Paul Gaultier and Oscar De La Renta. I was in the Stella McCartney segment. It was playing on the big screen in the window of Selfridges on Oxford Street on a permanent loop, along with a shop window dedicated to my scene with a mannequin leg to represent me, lol! I don't know if it's still playing or not.

By this this point, we had done some sums and realised that we could almost afford to buy our own place, rather than keep renting the flat in London, and also, that we never wanted to have a flatmate again, so much of August was spent packing, ready to move, at least temporarily, to Somerset, while we figured out what to do next.

SEPTEMBER

I had this fun Star Wars themed editorial in Rebelicious magazine, wearing Shh! Couture latex, shot by Magpie Tommy.

Trying to extricate ourselves from our flat in London was stressful, to say the least, which I guess is why I didn't blog much that month. I think I was just trying to take in my newly peaceful surroundings in Somerset and let go of all the nonsense.

OCTOBER

I did a couple of shoots in London in October, including for Hair Colour Clinic, but most of my shoots were in beautiful Southeast Asia :) I also had a makeup lesson with MAC at Harrod's to brush up on my skills.

Shot in a Malaysian jungle on a mountain by Raoul Alfamuz. I could see wild monkeys and gibbons playing in the trees right above my head! ^_^

NOVEMBER

I did my "Everywhere but the Southeast" Tour of England and Wales in November. The trip included a day at The Pit in Nottingham, which I'd never been to before, but will definitely be going back to. What a fab location!

Photographer: Caught in Action

I also particularly like this retro boudoir shot by LanesRo1 in Wales. I did the hair, makeup and wardrobe styling; the lingerie is from Playful Promises and the heels were custom made for me by Fabulously Fetish.

DECEMBER

The highlight of my December was taking Nan to the Winter Solstice ceremony at Chalice Well in Glastonbury. I thought she would probably enjoy it, but she LOVED it and was still talking about it on Christmas Day! It certainly was very interesting and uplifting to see such a nice group of gentle people coming together to celebrate their religious diversity- Christians, Dianic Wiccans, Brighid worshippers, Unitarians, Buddhists, Sufi Muslims and Pagan Gnostics were all represented in the lighting of the fire ceremony. The Chalice Well's motto is "One Source, Many Paths." I also got some great Christmas cards from the gift shop.

On the modelling front, I scored a great interview and pictorial in Sinical magazine, which you can read here.

I saw the Manic Street Preachers on the last night of their Holy Bible Tour, and was at Stonehenge at 7am the day after Chalice Well for the Druids' Winter Solstice/ free entry into the actual stone circle. I'm really trying to make the most of my time in Somerset because I have no idea how long I'll be here :)

Yesterday I was disappointed to learn that a traditional gypsy caravan is basically just a bed on wheels, and therefore not something I could live in for more than 24 hours (i.e. until I wanted to have a shower or plug the blender in), and that basically takes you up to where I am now.

I've definitely changed a lot this year. I've achieved a lot of my career-related goals- well, all of my goals were career-related, really- and as a result, my priorities have changed.

I no longer see money as a measure of how much I'm worth.

I no longer rate my personal success according to my professional success.

I'm not interested in box-checking anymore, as in: husband? Check! Kids? Check! Mortgage on an overpriced house in the suburbs? Check! Am I happy yet? Maybe I'd better check a few more boxes!

I was never deeply into any of that but I feel that I've managed to let go of it completely the last month or two, and truly not worry about it.

I'm 29 next month and I think it might be my most interesting year yet.

Lots of love,

Anita xxx

7 original gift ideas for the glamorous gift-giver

It's that time of year again- when busy people and procrastinators alike start the mad online dash to order Christmas presents!

You don't have to order everything from Amazon, though. I've collected some gift ideas together from brands I love, as well as things you can make at home, to make glamorous, luxurious, sensual gifts that are still reasonably priced. At least one of these seven original gift ideas for the glamorous gift-giver should work for whoever you're buying for- maybe more than one :)

Photographed by Peter Scott

Bareskin Beauty natural organic skincare

I'll start with Bareskin Beauty products because I just ordered a bunch as a gift for myself... my skin did not enjoy being without them for six weeks on tour! Their very high-end, luxurious raw organic products come in pretty glass packaging and smell good enough to eat. There is currently a sale on Bareskin Beauty gift sets.


Scented beeswax candles

Beeswax candles are the highest quality and most expensive candles. I got interested in beeswax candles after I learned that they actually cleanse the air, rather than polluting it like paraffin candles do, and discovering that their burn time is much much longer, making them just as good value for money in my eyes!

I make my own at home using plenty of essential oil to scent them, as the ones I've bought in shops don't smell nearly enough for me! I don't like a subtly scented candle, I want to light it and then have the whole room instantly have an opulent, relaxing atmosphere, without having to wait, or light five at once! They're really easy to make using this beeswax candle-making tutorial. I like tying ribbons around the jars to decorate them.


Playful Promises retro lingerie

A shop assistant in a sex shop once advised me, don't hesitate to buy your girlfriends sexy gifts, because why should we wait for the men to buy them for us? It's a good call! Receiving sexy lingerie from a platonic friend is good low-pressure fun, since they're not expecting to see you in it- they just want you to enjoy it! Playful Promises do lovely retro bras, knickers and suspender belts as well as makeup and corsets.

Playful Promises lingerie and Fabulously Fetish shoes shot by LanesRo1

Handmade chocolates

There is so much cheap junk "food" circulating at Christmas that it's wonderful to receive handmade healthy chocolates from friends. Sophisticated dark chocolate really can be very healthy, and it's great to turn up to a party with them as well as the bottle of champagne! My favourites are these Thyroid-Boosting Macaroons. I don't find the liquid stevia is necessary as they are sweet enough, and all the other ingredients can be found in an ordinary supermarket if you are willing to substitute ordinary cocoa powder for the raw cacao. I like to serve them on a vintage cake stand, sprinkled with extra coconut, or wrap an ordinary little box in posh wrapping paper to make a chocolate box for a friend.


Fabulously Fetish shoes

If you really want to splash out on a girlfriend, mother, sister or cool auntie, get their foot measurements and have the shoes of their dreams custom-made in real leather by Fabulously Fetish. It gives a sophisticated option for what to wear to impress on New Year's Eve.


The "Ugly" Girl's Guide to Modelling

Of course, I'm going to recommend my own book... because I made it the best resource for freelance models, and any woman wanting to gain body-confidence and model beauty secrets! It is designed to help anyone look better both in real life and in photos, as well as giving lots of information and inspiration for models at all levels, from total beginners to seasoned professionals, to get the most out of their career- something we think a lot about around Christmas and New Year as this tends to be our quiet time. It also makes a great companion to any new year's resolutions you might have to get fit, healthy, slim and more beautiful for 2015. You can do it :) I don't even know if it will be out in time for Christmas, but you can add it to your Amazon Wishlist here.


Lady Allura's Latex

Lady Allura is a properly trained fashion designer who makes latex couture to order, in whatever classic or avant-garde styles you can think of, and focuses on making styles that suit petite, standard and voluptuous figures too.


A photo shoot with me

If you're buying for a photographer, you can buy gift vouchers for shoot time with me- just email me at contact@anitadebauch.com and imagine their face!


Quality time

The most important thing about this time of year is to take stock of what is important to you and enjoy time off work to spend with those you love. We only get a limited amount of time to spend with anyone in one lifetime, so quality time really is the most valuable gift :) If you aren't able to see certain people over Christmas, use the time to make plans with them for the New Year. You'll remember the time you spent together more than you remember what you got for Christmas last year.

Much love, and season's greetings!

Anita

Editorial & interview in Sinical magazine, Nylons special edition

I seem to have been very lax in blogging about magazine publications this year. I used to be obsessed with clocking up exactly how many magazine/ advert/ website publications I'd made, and conscientiously blog every single one, no matter how minor. Now my credits page on my website hasn't been updated in years and I wonder if I even can update it accurately now as I know there are loads of publications that I've just forgotten about completely at this point.

These days, I seem to have gone full circle back to where I started eight years ago, just being excited about individual images for themselves, even if no-one else sees them except for me and the photographer (although of course I try to get them as big an audience as possible).

When I do get published, I think, well, I'd best not post the images by themselves like I usually do, I'll post a proper blog with scans of the magazine pages and behind the scenes natter about the shoot, and then it just gets buried under the daily onslaught of emails, phone calls, photo shoots, driving hundreds of miles, finding hotels, posting gifts from my Anita De Bauch shop, trying to keep Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram updated as well as the usual modelly-maintenance of making gallons of green smoothies, working out, dyeing hair, facials, mineral baths, picking up dry cleaning, polishing shoes, manicures, pedicures, cleaning makeup brushes and constantly unpacking and re-packing that big old suitcase on wheels ;)

The Winter Solstice is fast approaching on 21st/ 22nd December and after that, the days will start getting lighter, if only by a minute a day, as the Earth turns back towards the sun and starts warming itself again, paving the way for springtime, new life, and reborn life, like the leaves coming back on the trees, and animals coming out of hibernation (I guess that's why most people celebrate Christmas around this time of year, as it's also to do with birth?). I'm starting to see this time of year as being the "real" New Year (although being that the year runs in cycles, you could arbitrarily pick any random point in the year and call it New Year if you wanted to), as everything starts coming back to life after a cold, dark, quiet finish!

It sort of feels right to try and wrap up all my unfinished business by the "end" of the year (21 December), namely, posting all my publications that I can track down, getting The "Ugly" Girl's Guide to Modelling, my book on freelance modelling, out there, as well as home-based things like having a big clear-out and spring clean. I mainly want to wash all the windows and curtains to let in every photon of extra light that will be coming after 22nd December! I LOVE natural light! *basks*

This is supposed to be a modelling blog, so here is a link to my most recent interview (I think): Anita De Bauch interview in Sinical magazine, Nylons special edition.

^ Click the image to see more photos from this shoot, and the interview!

The photos are from a shoot I did this year for Fabulously Fetish shoes and Gio Stockings with Monochrome Set photography at a lovely stately hotel. My organic natural skincare was provided by Bareskin Beauty, I provided my own lingerie to wear, a gift from Playful Promises, and did my own hair and makeup :)

^ Click the image to see more photos from this shoot, and the interview!

I just got a text message from Madame Bink saying that she's going to be driving past on her way to Cornwall shortly, so I'd better get dressed ^_^

Bye for now,

Anita xo