Everything You Need to Know About A Milk Bath Maternity Photo Shoot

Cleopatra the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt was known for her beautiful radiant skin and stunning beauty. It is said that she indulged in milk and honey baths.  Milk baths were a luxury only the wealthy could enjoy and such an extravagant thing to do at that time. Today milk bath's have grown wildly popular especially in the photography scene. They range from boudoir, maternity, and even mother and child.

I am so thrilled to share with you my milk bath maternity shoot.  I wanted to share this to other moms that have the same vision as I did and hopefully everything that I share with you, you can find useful in planning your milk bath maternity shoot.

Why I chose to do a milk bath maternity shoot and what was my inspiration?

When I was pregnant with my son I did not take any professional maternity pictures for different reasons.  Looking back I wish I had.  When I got pregnant for the second time I knew I wanted to do so many things differently.  I started thinking of what kind of maternity shoots I wanted to do.  I kept coming across maternity milk bath shoots and instantly I was drawn to it.  I knew that was something I wanted to do.  I liked the idea of it being a "boudoir" like maternity shoot.  I thought to myself, if there is a time in my life I want to embrace my body, it is definitely during pregnancy.  And I wanted my children to have beautiful memories they could pass along.  My inspiration came from various milk bath maternity photos online and on instagram.  From there I came up with this vision to tailor it to my own vibe and style and made it come to life!

Materials used for Milk Bath 

• Powdered Milk
• Corn Starch
• a gallon of water
• a bucket to mix mixture

When making the milk mixture I poured a gallon of water in a bucket, added about 3-4 packs of powdered milk and about a cup of corn starch.  I stirred this with a  large mixing spoon to make sure no bubbles surfaced.  After that we filled up the bath tub with warm water to desired level and poured mixture slowly making sure we didn't create any bubbles.  Bubbles will completely ruin the desired look.  The corn starch and the powdered milk give the water a very opaque milky look.  If you need more opaqueness you can mix up more powdered milk, corn starch, and water and slowly add it in the tub.

Everything I used on myself

For the Milk Bath I made my own flower crown.  I purchased some artificial roses, ranunculus flowers, and baby's breath at Hobby Lobby.  I originally wanted to buy a flower crown from Etsy.  A lot of them were over priced, or it was going to take a while for them to come in and I did not have a lot of time. But overall I was happy with my decision because mine turned out BEAUTIFUL!

I also bought the lace dress.  This was such a great purchase!  I ordered it through Amazon for $15 in a size Medium.  I wanted to make sure it fit around my belly and I didn't want to have any issues with sizing. Thankfully it turned out to be a great fit and true to size. The cool thing about this dress is I can use it for another occasion like Halloween, or even another photo shoot.  For the price it was totally a steal.  I even included the link so you can get your own! Long Sleeve Lace Dress

Flowers! I totally lucked out on this one...no actually it was God!  I set the date for my milk bath shoot sometime after Valentine's.  My original plan to get the flowers was to buy them  at Trader Joes, Central Market, or Whole Foods.  But as I was baby shopping at target that weekend after Valentines I saw all these beautiful bouquet of flowers reduced to $6.  You're talking about stunning colorful roses, and floral arrangements. I could not help myself and snagged the prettiest pink dozen roses along with another floral bouquet.  These are all the flowers I used for my milk bath however if you want a lot of flowers you will need more than a dozen and perhaps more than one floral bouquet for additional greenery.

I decided to wear my hair down in long lose curls giving a romantic soft look. I added lots of volume by doing a blow out first and then went back and curled with a curling iron.

I wanted my makeup to be soft, romantic, with hues of pink.  I used the Modern Renaissance Pallet from Anastasia Beverly hills to achieve those luscious soft pinks.  My foundation was Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Foundation.  I wanted to make sure my makeup looked impeccable and long lasting for the shoot.

For jewlery  I wore my wedding ring and some beautiful dangling diamond earrings my mother bought me for Christmas.  It was a sentimental touch I had to incorporate into that photo shoot and I'm glad I did.

Undergarments! Oh I went back and forth with this one.  I could not decide if I should do nude or white undergarments or bra or no bra.  I would look through milk bath shoots to compare and see what I liked and finally decided on a nude bra and underwear.  Looking back I might have done white or if I had more time I would have gotten a nude bra that was a lighter shade.  I could have gone braless and chosen to use the nipple covers but I totally felt I needed that extra umph in that area if you know what I mean!  In the end I was pleased with everything.  I'm sharing these tiny details because these are certainly things to consider when you are preparing for your shoot.

It was really hard to find a claw foot bath tub.  I was asking photographers and even searching through Airbnb.  Thankfully my boss's family had a beautiful claw foot bathtub they were willing to let me use just for the photo shoot! I specifically wanted a claw foot bath tub because it was more elegant to me than using mine at home.  It could have been totally doable but I again I had a vision of what I wanted.

I recommend a maternity milk bath shoot for every woman who is expecting.  It is such a beautiful experience to get glammed up  and sit in a bath tub full of milk with gorgeous flowers surrounding you.  I must say it was so relaxing as the photo shoot was taking place.  And lets not mention those gorgeous photos that are completely priceless and will be seen for generations to come.  There are moments I am totally self conscious with my body and of course things I don't like or wish I could change but I'm grateful and thankful for my body, for my health and for the blessing of a miracle to grow inside me.  I would love to hear from you  if you will be planning a maternity milk bath soon.  Leave me a comment on the comment section or follow me on instagram @marilu_segura.  I will make sure to follow back! ;)  Huge thank you to White Orchid Photography who took these stunning images of me and my baby girl!

xoxo,
Marilu