Something for the Bonfire weekend

I like the icy-cool feel of these new Kaori's Latex Dreams shots by Luci Alice, and it seems appropriate now that winter is here!

Makeup and skincare from Mya Minerals and Bareskin Beauty respectively.

If you think you've seen that pose before, you're right... it's one of my favourites from the '40s:

Do you feel a spark? I'm looking forward to bundling up for a firework display in our garden with my home-made Portabello mushroom burgers and sweet potato fries, mmmm! And plenty of mulled cider. This is all assuming my cooker gets delivered tomorrow, otherwise it's houmous all round again :p

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Catwoman

New photo in my Lady Lucie Latex leggings from my tour round England last week, shot by StuartGL.

I'm just getting over a killer cold that's had me in its jaws for 10 days and counting- including when this picture was taken- hence suddenly having time to catch up on all my favourite horror films over on Facebook  when I got home ('tis the season). However, after sleeping a beautiful total of 15 hours last night, I am starting to feel better today, and no longer sound like Marianne Faithful :)

I also found time to read a couple of the pulpy paperbacks I found on the £1 shelf in one of my local occult bookstores ages ago (there are quite a few round here). I can recommend either if you are ill/ bored and need some easy reading. The Devil Hunter in particular is kind of written like Enid Blyton for grown-ups.

To do tomorrow:

• Call various tradespeople to lay floors, strip paint (I am so done with stripping paint myself, it is the worst job), replace lighting fixtures and open up fireplaces
• Order a cooker and some bathroom cupboards
• Finish off last bit of painting in kitchen and powder room, now that I have a stepladder and can reach it
• Figure out where I'm working next month. Suggestions gratefully received ;)

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The Witch of Wookey Hole

Another spooky photo from my Somerset Tour with Trasky, shot in my local cave :)

I was told about the witch of Wookey Hole when I visited the caves last spring. The legend goes that 2000 years ago, a cunning lady with magical powers lived in the cave. Naturally this had to be put a stop to, so a monk turned up at her home and did some sort of magic that turned her into a stalagmite, which you can still see in the cave today.

... How old is Christianity, again? I can't imagine there were a whole lot of monks here in Somerset 2000 years ago. However, the ancient skeleton of a woman was found in the cave, buried with a comb and a crystal ball, so perhaps the cave did used to be host to some sort of shaman after all. I saw the actual crystal ball itself at Wells Museum this summer, and it was the highlight of my visit.

Tomorrow I'm off on a two-week tour around the Midlands and the South Coast, with a mixture of regular and new clients, and will include shooting with some beautiful exotic co-models that I am particularly excited about ;)

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Home, sweet home. Sweet, sweet home.

We just got back from Amsterdam to pick up the keys to our first house!!!

It's taken us two whole years of setbacks and persistence, but we finally have our own home!

Add two cats and this is basically us right now.

It was built in 1850 and we're turning one of the bedrooms into a Victorian Gothic library ^_^ Our bedroom has an enormous fireplace in it, nearly as tall as me! I've always wanted a fireplace in my boudoir, it seems so romantic :) And there's another one in the library. We also have a guest room for when model friends visit, an undercover courtyard, a real-life dungeon, a cellar, a meditation room, and what will become an organic vegetable patch, as well as the usual kitchen/ lounge/ powder rooms. I don't know where to start! Having lived out of one room for that last two years, it just feels incredible.

Yesterday I just ran round the house touching the walls, doing snow angels on the carpets and occasionally crying. Today I am:

• ripping up carpets to make way for walnut floorboards
• having exactly the right shade of sage paint blended to match my retro fridge-freezer ^_^ 
• making a bed! We have a king-size mattress but nothing to put it on... luckily, Boyfy is good with his hands!

Other things I need to do/ get done include painting all the other rooms, hanging flock wallpaper, then getting all our furniture out of storage and moving it in... then unpacking! I'm going to be listening to a lot of audio books over the next few weeks ;) I'm so excited!

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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General waffle/ procrastination + butt (NSFW)

I seem to be in a permanent state of excitement/ over-stimulation with so many upcoming trips and projects atm, that I constantly feel that I hardly know what to do with myself! Part of it is nerves. e.g. "Will this damn house come through?" We are tantalisingly close to exchanging now and I can't bear the thought of it all falling through again- but I just have to be patient and wait and see! Patience is not my strong point. If something needs doing, I like to go ahead and get it done! Having something drag on for months with endless email tennis does not come naturally to me :(

I'm going to be finishing 2016 by travelling round Ireland and continental Europe, starting on 1 September and finishing in December! :) Although I've technically been to a couple of the places before, there will still be new experiences waiting for me there- e.g. I have visited Milan a couple of times, both for shooting and on holiday, but never during Fashion Week, so that will be a first (although I have walked at London Fashion Week and been invited to sit in the second row with SHOWstudio at Singapore Fashion Week, which was great). Other places I'll be going to, like Amsterdam, are completely new to me :) I'm taking care to reserve a couple of days here and there at the more interesting places to be a tourist and visit the sights I might never have got to see if it weren't for modelling.

Speaking of modelling... here are some new photos shot in natural light by Tim Bircher :) Many thanks to Bareskin Beauty for the organic skincare and Mya Minerals for the vegan cosmetics used for this shoot.

Jobs for today: dye hair, call estate agent, make a last-minute mani-pedi appointment, various online check-ins, give Dexter a bath and figure out what I need to bring with me to Ireland for a two-week trip... probably not all that much as I think everyone wants to shoot nudes.

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So... what have I been doing?

I've had a strange sort of August... waiting to see if house #3 pans out is starting to get to me. I've felt homeless for the last two years. However, I have enjoyed the luxury of a summer in Somerset with no real ties... the weather and the little towns are beautiful. There are some great restaurants, pubs and days out to be had here. But I would like my own place to return to at the end of each day.

Something I have learned through trying to buy a house here and (so far) having had two fall through, through no fault of my own, is how dumb and self-entitled rich people can be. I was sort of raised to think that if you're rich, you probably got there by being smart and working hard. Well, I'm now dealing with my second millionaire in a row, and he appears to be just as dense and lazy as the first one. I feel like if I had that kind of money, I would use it better ;) For example, we had to break off with buying the last house we were interested in (the really big one!) because at the last minute, the (millionaire) seller asked us to pay his £5000 back-taxes for him. Uh.......................... no?

So having thrown literally thousands of pounds around this summer already and still being no closer to having our own home than we were a year ago, things have felt tough. I finally have a really excellent/ scary London lawyer on my side now, who is a partner in her own law firm, so hopefully that will help move things along. I really want to be in the new place by October, in time for my favourite holiday!

I've ended up getting a lot of little bookings in a lot of different places next month, which is unexpected and exciting. I love travelling :) Here is my current list... if you'd like to book me for a shoot in any of these places, email me! contact@anitadebauch.com. I've rented a car for Ireland, which should make getting around a lot easier and more efficient!

The Milan Fashion Week booking came in just last night. It's not what you think ;) Stay tuned and keep an eye on the news.

I'm planning on giving myself a big makeover over Christmas this year, while I'm off work... let's see how that turns out. Today I'm starting small by experimenting with some wigs and the many, many Mya Minerals eyeshadows I seem to have acquired (thank you!) :) She also sent me something called Fairy Dust, which is supposed to be for highlighting your face, but I'm thinking of dusting my body with it for fashion nudes and bodyscapes. Hmm...

I'm supposed to be saving money atm, but it's hard when you have a shoe fetish... I was bad and bought these:

I plan on having a wall of floor-to-ceiling shelves in the new place, dedicated only to shoes... *dreams* One day, I want to have a whole room dedicated to nothing but shoes, hats, corsets, sunglasses, latex, lingerie, jewellery, dresses and playsuits! I will eventually need one, that's for sure.

I really feel like I should post some modelling pictures now! Here are a couple of new natural-light portraits shot this summer, if you haven't already seen them on Instagram. I did my own hair and makeup as usual, and the skincare is all from Bareskin Beauty :)

Photographer: Tim Bircher

Photographer: Shawn Spencer-Smith

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Happy Ness

To get myself back into the time-consuming yet enjoyable habit of blogging, rather than just posting on Instagram, I thought I'd blog my pictures and memories of my most recent trip to Loch Ness, one of my favourite places on Earth.

I do enjoy reading my old blogs once in a while, as they always remind me of travels and moments in my life that I know I'll especially treasure when I'm older... I think the reasons I've been blogging less in the last year or two are:

a) now that I live in the countryside, rather than in London, I tour every month at least once. I enjoy the lifestyle very much, but it would mean a lot more blogs if I wrote up every single one! I used to write quite detailed blogs about my tours when I only did 2 - 3 a year.
b) I'm just very, very busy with doing the actual modelling, touring and behind-the-scenes work, leaving less time to write about it. I do sometimes envy models who have enough time on their hands to blog extensively!

I was on tour for three weeks or so, which is pretty standard for a mainland UK tour, but this time I booked a whole five days off in the middle to go on holiday in Scotland with boyfy. I'm friends with a lovely couple who live in an idyllic log cabin on the shores of Loch Ness, who I met a couple of years ago when I took my little car off-roading and needed rescuing. After dragging me out of the woods in a 4x4, they took me back to their place to sit up drinking Scotch and getting to know each other until the sun rose the next day, and we've stayed in touch ever since.

This picture of my butt has nothing to do with my friends at Loch Ness, but it was shot during this trip to Scotland, so behold my Bettie Grable impression.

Thank you Bareskin Beauty skincare and Mya Minerals eyeshadows.

I had already driven as far as their place over the space of a week or so of working my way up from Somerset, shooting along the way. We picked boyfy up from Inverness Airport and drove along the famous and beautiful Cattle Pass to a gorgeous little pub on the edge of a loch, where the owners row out in their boat every day and serve the catch in the pub that evening, along with lots of very old Scottish whiskies.

After dinner, we "glamped" in what I can only describe as a hobbit log cabin, then continued exploring West Scotland the next day.

We dropped in on Nessie Steve, the world's foremost Loch Ness Monster hunter, and let him know that he was in the new issue of Fortean Times! He gave me a funny little Nessie he made in his converted mobile library home.

We spent our last evening in Scotland on our hosts' private beach on the shores of Loch Ness, with them and their dogs.

We even got taken out onto the Loch in their boat! Then it was party time as the sun went down over the water.

The next day, I showed boyfy Boleskine Burial Ground, and then we started driving South the scenic route via Glencoe, so that we could have a vegetarian haggis lunch at the equally spooky C18th pub, The Drovers' Inn, which is full of taxidermy and antique weaponry. We vowed to return in the winter and spend a night at the inn when the huge open fire is blazing and it's snowing outside!

We/ I have definitely been spoiled this year; we didn't go on holiday for years, but this was our second holiday this year after Paris. Next up we are going to Cornwall in September and Amsterdam for the first time in October. If anyone can recommend places to stay in Amsterdam, do let me know using the link below, as we are still looking for an apartment for four (we are going with another couple we're friends with).

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Dita Von Teese at The Crazy Horse, Paris

After champagne, oysters and ile flottante at Bofinger, Boyfy and I spent a rainy afternoon shopping in Paris. I love to visit the original Dior flagship store, est. 1949. I also don't mind being offered complementary champagne while I try on dresses, that's for sure.

I wanted to go to the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz, but when we got there, the whole place was closed for refurbishments. Disaster! I've added a book called The Cocktails of The Ritz to my Amazon Wish List so I can make them at home, but I think it will be a while before I order myself any more gifts- living it up in Paris comes with a price tag!

The evening was the highlight of our trip, Dita's Crazy Show at the legendary Crazy Horse, which has been a burlesque house since the 50s. We saw Dita perform her new acts, which made clever use of lighting technology and the small space. The Crazy Horse has a small stage with the audience almost touching distance from the action and no room for feather fans, giant Martini glasses, or the like- but there was room for the Lili St Cyr-inspired bathtub :)

I'm happy to say that photography of the show was strictly prohibited, so the audience wasn't constantly alight with people trying to record everything on their phones, blocking each other's view, checking in on Facebook, etc etc. In fact, I didn't even take my phone with me on this trip! I really wanted to just live in the moment of being in Paris, thinking only of the now, and not of how best to record it for when I'm back home. It was a good experience. I'm sure I will still take photos on my phone from now on, but probably fewer pointless selfies. I'm getting a bit bored with this "pics or it didn't happen" social media culture we have.

So, here is a photo I lifted from Dita's Instagram (I also reposted it on my Instagram) of her first of the five acts she appears in (maybe call it four and a half as her final appearance is really at the end of the finale, where she just comes out and waves goodbye). I have to say, this show is genuinely very sexy, and definitely not a family show or something toned down for tourists! It is a proper strip show- just an extremely imaginative and high calibre one!

The founder of the Crazy Horse said of the world-famous nude-dancing Crazy Girls,

"...what we do with the girls is magic, too, because they aren't as beautiful as you see them onstage. It's the magic of lights and costumes. These are my dreams and fascinations..."

There are even strict guidelines on how the dancers may appear offstage, on their way to and from work. A man after my own heart! Modelling is all about lighting, costumes and fantasy, too, or at least, it is for me. I go into this subject in depth in my book, The "Ugly" Girl's Guide to Modelling, which is £12.99 from various online retailers and should be of interest to all self-made glamour goddesses.

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Le weekend

Let me tell you all about my Easter weekend in gay Parree!

I finally made time to go on a long-overdue holiday to one of my favourite cities, Paris. All I can think about when I'm here is La Belle Epoque, the Roaring Twenties, artists and courtesans drinking absinthe in art nouveau bars, the "leg shows" at the Opera House, the New Look, Jean Paul Gaultier...

Photographer: GSC4X | Skincare: Bareskin Beauty | Cosmetics: Mya Minerals

Pink hotel room! :D One thing I love about Paris is that decor- no neutrals, plain carpets or magnolia paint in sight! No-one is afraid to try and make a room special in Paris.

After a well-deserved lie-in at a little Baroque hotel I found online, where the rooms are named after glamour icons from Parisian history like Mistinguett and Coco Chanel, Boyfy and I went for brunch at Mariage Frères, an exotic tea salon from the C19th. We shared "Le Classique", but were so full, we still had to take the sakura blossom dessert away to share at the hotel later!

I love floral scents, so I purchased a box of rose and violette tea called Swan Lake, which will look really pretty brewing in my French press at home when I have the girls round ;)

We managed to sneak into Laperouse when it was closed at midday, for a little unofficial guided tour:

I also visited Notre Dame for the first time, which was as spooky and impressive as I'd imagined from Victor Hugo's book. I wanted to learn more about the history of Paris, so we visited the museum in the crypt.

One of the highlights of the trip so far has been dinner at Maxim's, an art nouveau restaurant and my favourite in Paris. The owner who made Maxim's so wildly popular at the turn of the century did so by ensuring the restaurant was always full of well-dressed women in all manner of lace, diamonds, velvets and ribbons, tactically seated in the windows facing the street. Jean Cocteau wrote that

"To undress one of these women is like an outing that calls for three weeks' advance notice, it's like moving house."

Hilarious!

We ordered absinthe and champagne with our meal, the drinks of choice during La Belle Epoque, and it gave me a happy little buzz to listen to the pianist play and imagine how many grand dames and dandies had enjoyed the same drinks in the very same room since the late C19th...

The Bar at Maxim's

On Sunday, we went for tea and a single Marie Antoinette macaroon to share at Ladurée (I just wanted to taste). I like the Ladurée at Harrod's, but you can't beat the real thing in Paris.

The good weather lasted just long enough for a pretty boat ride along the river, where we got our first really clear view of the Eiffel Tower. Wow! Everywhere you look in Paris, there's beauty all around.

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I'm dreaming of a punk rock Christmas

I only found out this year that the Sex Pistols did a Christmas song with Phil from Thin Lizzy. So weird.

I was massively into punk and riot grrl when I was about 14 and wanted to be in a band. I can't sing, so I tried to learn to play a Fender Squire with a shoebox-sized practice amp. I was well into it for about a week and practised for a few hours after school each day. I had a clear idea of how the band were going to look, the stage shows, the album art, the music videos and so on, but no actual songs. By the end of the week I could just about play Never Mind the Bollocks from start to finish, very badly, and just kind of skipping the solos. I was so fed up that I packed it in, nursed my bleeding fingertips, and went back to just listening and going to shows.

In retrospect, it's pretty obvious than I'm a visual person- I can quickly create images in my head, come up with ideas for short art films, styling for photo shoots etc, and that's why the idea of being in a punk band attracted me, because I thought I could do all those things with a large degree of freedom from worrying about anything being socially acceptable or commercially viable.

Photographer and stylist: Jimmy Deas | Hair and makeup: me | Skincare: Bareskin Beauty
Shot at Scarlet Door Studio

I'm so glad I found my calling as a model and can now express myself in that way as often as I like. I can't sit down with a guitar and write a song or sit down with a blank canvas and paint a picture, but I can help create photos and videos with styling, posing, expression and understanding of lighting, just kind of directly using my body instead of an essential intermediary tool like a musical instrument or a paintbrush.

Here's that Sex Pistols/ Thin Lizzy Christmas song, for anyone who was wondering. Merry Christmas to all my blog readers and subscribers! :)

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The 90s is my favourite era for street fashion and music!

Some moody 90s-inspired fashion portraits shot by talented photofervor earlier this month :) I did the styling with Mya Minerals makeup, and skincare is by Bareskin Beauty.

I love 90s alt rock like Nirvana and Placebo, 90s gangster rap like NWA and Snoop, and select electro/ rave from 90s to modern, really, like dubstep and brostep. I think people expect me to be listening Glenn Miller and Doris Day in my car when I roll up to shoots, but it's the 30s/ 40s/ 50s visual style I like, not so much the music! I guess the bands of the day sounded new and exciting at the time, but it just doesn't translate to me post-60s.

Late 90s/ early Noughties music videos are my favourite, too (except Die Antwoord). Here are a couple of classics that I think really capture the flavour of what I like to imagine the decade was like!

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Too rude for Playboy

I was considering going normcore for Halloween and wearing a streaky blonde wig with lots of bronzer, sticky beige lip gloss and one of those weird peaked berets, but then I thought, even that sort of look relates to me in a way, as it is still carefully controlled, groomed and styled. Huh.

More unusual for me still is this dishevelled swimwear shot by Mark Fiddian, shot at his studio in Cambridge earlier this year, with Bareskin Beauty skincare. I really like how it came out, and what a contrast to the Orchid Corsetry campaign photos! What do you think- is this a look I should do more? ;)

PS Happy birthday for yesterday Ivory Flame! :)


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Dancing in the Moonlight

More photos from the Orchid Corsetry AW15 campaign, shot by Salleh Sparrow. I love the colours and feel of of this line so much :) I imagine the silver ensemble would be absolutely scintillating by moonlight...

Organic natural skincare for the shoot was provided by Bareskin Beauty, and the makeup cosmetics by Mya Minerals.

Celebrations of finally having somewhere permanent to live in a couple of months continues. I visited my nan for a huge homemade vegan feast, and boyfy and I went to a local firework display with friends.

I also have glamorous couture Christmas cards for sale, for anyone wanting to add a little Anita-sparkle to their winter season! The original photo was shot in the snow in London for Vivienne Westwood's corsetiere, and they're only £1 each with envelopes :) They're selling fast, so don't forget to order now xo



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