Model Life: Tidal Cool Creations Swimwear Safari Shoot

Allyn Lewis

12 years ago

Throughout the entire photo shoot process – before, during, and after, there’s never a dull moment. Take a peek…

Weeks before the shoot – Being bikini body ready

With the launch of Pretty Living PR in January of 2013, and finishing up my senior year in college, I definitely didn’t get to spend as much time working out as I would have liked to last semester. But with some more flexibility in my schedule now, I’m working my butt off (literally) with exercising six days a week. I get bored super easily, so I like to mix things up between personal training sessions at the gym, hot yoga, ballet classes, and lots of outdoor runs!

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Model tip: I like to stick to a cardio workout the day of a photo shoot. Even though strength training is key to getting results, I don’t want my muscles to look and feel bigger on the day we’re shooting.

A few days before – Getting the glow

My schedule doesn’t leave much time for sun bathing. Plus, with my tanning bed days behind me, I’m all about protecting my skin. That’s why I am in love with the Premier Airbrush Tans at Tan Me | Upscale Airbrush Tanning. No pasty white legs for me! Plus, it’s a perfect way to even out the funky tan-lines on my back from going running in racer-back bras and tank tops all the time.

Night of – Attempt to maximize beauty sleep

Call time for the shoot is nice and early, 3am to be exact. Yikes! On top of that, I live in Pittsburgh and the shoot is in Cleveland. I sleep better in my own bed, so I hit the hay at 9pm the night before (it’s not even completely dark out yet!) so that I can get a few hours of shuteye in before I have to leave at 1 in the morning.

Shoot day!

After gulping down a bottle of water and fitting in a few bites of cereal, it’s time to hit the road. To help keep myself awake on long drives, I always sing my heart out to some upbeat tunes, more often then not to Carrie Underwood. I’m sure I give anyone who drives past me a good laugh. Once I get to Cleveland, it’s right into beauty prepping. I’m going gaga over the intense hair and make-up looks for this shoot! Check out a behind the scenes video of the looks here!

After about four hours of hair and makeup, the glam squad has done a phenomenal job transforming seven sleepy models into safari animals – a zebra, cheetah, peacock, flamingo, raven, crocodile, and green treetree python!

Once at the shoot location, we add some last minute feathers, pink spray paint, hair pieces, and lipstick before getting started.

The shoot was so much fun and I cannot wait to see the final results! But after a long and crazy day, I’m ready to get back to spending some more quality time with my bed! Check back soon for actual photos from the shoot!