Hi guys, I hope you are well.
It’s been a bit of time since I posted to my blog. Myself and the team have been working so hard on my latest project, Talking is Medicine (shameless plug!).
If you haven’t heard about Talking is Medicine, I suggest you go and check out our website asap! You can sign up (for free!) and receive a bi-weekly newsletter straight to your inbox written by industry professionals. I spoke about the where and why of TIM in a recent blog post which you can read here.
Anyway, aside from the launch of our amazing TIM, June was a very exciting month where myself and my husband, Dylan, got to shoot our very first cover since our wedding in August 2017.
As we’re six years married this August (time flies, as they say!) VIP had reached out to us to see if we’d like to do a cover together, and I was delighted when Dylan agreed, as this usually wouldn’t be his thing.
We knew we wanted to do the shoot in our villa in Portugal, as we have been out here since May, and we wanted to up the ante. Within the last few years, I have really grown into my sexuality (sound the sirens for the s*x police!) and especially in the last few months, as I have grown to love myself more, I knew I wanted to speak about that and embrace it. We Irish tend to shy away from confidence and admiring our bodies. Too often, people are brought down by phrases such as ‘she loves herself’ or ‘she’s too cocky’ instead of being supported for having confidence in ourselves, and I’ve just decided it’s not anything I’m ashamed of.
Dylan loves to work out, he loves health and fitness, and it has really started to rub off on me. We’re a young couple, and so we said; let’s do a sexy photoshoot and really embrace the life we have been living in Portugal!
In early June, my team flew over to us in Portugal. There was Evan Doherty (photography), Jane Walsh (Hair), Sarah Cummins (make-up), Megan Fox (stylist) and Lynsey Bennett (my PA). It was a quick trip, but we really made the most of it, and we were determined to get those shots!
Shoot days are long days. It was a 6am start to get showered and start hair and makeup. We wanted to get out before the sun got really hot, and we had a couple of different shoot locations in mind.
We shot a couple of photos in the villa with myself and Dylan I will leave a few images below:
After we got the pics at the villa, we headed down to the marina to take out the boat and head to the stunning caves at the beach. Here’s how it went; so we had to stop the boat in the middle of the ocean and get a jet ski over to the shore. There was only one skipper who could drive us back and forth from shore to boat, so we were all brought over one by one. Megan and Evan headed over first to get themselves set up, and Evan had all his equipment packed into a bag pack and was holding onto it for dear life on the back of the jet ski. Bear in mind, Evan’s equipment costs a fortune, and when the jet ski pulled up at the shore, Evan didn’t realise that it was still quite a bit deep, so off he jumped and dunked into the water, head under, and equipment went with him! Thankfully it was a quick dunk, and he got everything out on time to save it (could you imagine if it had all been damaged!!). So then it was my turn to head over, hair and makeup done, dolled up to the nines! So in an attempt to save the hair, I had a towel wrapped around my head, and I held another one over me as we drove over. I did the exact same thing as Evan! I jumped off the jet ski and right into the water, haha!! Thankfully, we had some wet images in mind!
There we were all crowded under this cave at the rocks whilst people enjoyed a sunny day on their holidays, and some were passing by on boats on tours. I’d love to know what they thought was going on!
We’re absolutely thrilled with how the photos came out – thank you, Evan, the best as always! We will get to cherish these photos for the rest of our lives.
After the day was done, we headed for a gorgeous dinner and some drinks to celebrate! It was a great shoot, and we really had the best team.
Shortly after, we had our interview with Bianca, the Editorial Director of VIP. I am lucky to say that over the years, Bianca has become a good friend of mine and always looks after us when doing our shoots. I am always so honoured when I get to work with Bianca and the team. In the interview, I speak about how I’m finding handing over the reins of my businesses SOSU Cosmetics and Dripping Gold, my latest project (as mentioned above). Talking is Medicine, mine and Dylan’s life in Portugal and more. It’s a very honest interview, and I hold nothing back. We’re stepping into a new chapter of our life, and whilst not always rosy, it’s something we’re so grateful to have, and we are very excited to welcome you guys into that part of our lives.
VIP Magazine is on shelves now.
Chat soon,
Photo credit: Evan Doherty
