Henna Crown Photos – Saltaire, Bradford @createdbyconnie Award Winning Henna Artist

FINALLY.

IT HAPPENED.

It’s taken me two years of practicing, confidence building, networking and manifesting, but finally (!!!) I have some beautiful photos from my first EVER henna crown!

For this long awaited shoot, I put my first call out for a henna crown model in late 2015, with one light-hearted reply and a couple of shares, no solid leads were returned. I re-posted it again in 2016. Even fewer reactions that time. Then earlier this year I posted it again. This time lovely Georgina, remembered that the national charity Alopecia UK works in the same building as her – what luck! So my first henna crown model is none other than Jen Chambers from Alopecia UK! I’m so, so incredibly grateful!

And it was so totally worth the wait! Check out these truly stunning shots taken during application at Louise’s wonderful studio:

Since we were also blessed with yet another gorgeous [and very hot] summers day, we took to the garden for some Garden Goddess shots. Jen has such a natural and graceful presence in front of the camera, it was quite captivating. She seems utterly oblivious to the power she holds within. See for yourselves…

To give a fair representation of what to expect in colour and stain, we also arranged a follow-up photo shoot two days later in Saltaire Village, World Heritage Site.

Saltaire Village is near Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is named after Sir Titus Salt who built a textile mill, known as Salts Mill and this village on the River Aire. Designed by architects, Lockwood and Mawson, Salts Mill was opened on Sir Titus Salt’s 50th birthday, 20 September 1853. In December 2001, Saltaire was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

With the wonderful Salts Mill, the United Reformed Church, the canal and wonderfully cobbled streets, Saltaire is a unique and distinctly British setting for a photo shoot. Infact, Louise and I almost made ourselves late as we flitted among the Victorian streets looking at the many and varied beautiful backdrops we could use…

And as you may have already spotted in these location photos, we were also able to feature extra special guest, Gizmo – Jen’s adorable Pomeranian, Jack Russell, Chihuahua cross breed – who I had the pleasure of dog-sitting throughout the shoot, to my sheer excitement and pleasure (I love him – the lil spotlight stealer):

I am so incredibly grateful for everything that has come together in this photo shoot! From the connections, and the growing friendships that have formed within this network of hard working, passionate women and the evidence of my growth as an artist and entrepreneur. I’m so grateful for the mentoring, whether directly or indirectly, that I have been able to benefit from my family, my friends, from within the henna community, the conferences I’ve attended, the professionals I have stalked/befriended and the online henna support through the henna hub.

Many, many times I have had mentors advising to focus on my own vision and my own journey; to not be distracted by what others are doing and how they are doing it. And it’s so very true. Things really do fall into place with that focus and you begin to attract the energy and the work that you want to do