Galentines 2018: Sexiest Shoot Yet and the Power of Female Friendships

2/14/2018

Valentines Day is always an awesome holiday! It's a time to spoil yourself and appreciate all things love, both romantic and (most importantly) your friends.

I was able to work with some of the most talented ladies I know, who also happen to be my friends! As a tribute to working with some of the most inspiring women I asked them to tell me about what it means to be a woman, strengthening female friendships and loving yourself.

Audrey, Michelle, Alex and Naomi are such boss babes! It's an honor to know them and call them friends!

Video by Joe Lotz
Makeup By Iza Maka

Alex: Being a woman is great. I love proving to myself that I deserve what I want. In the industry that I'm in is mostly dominated by women. I get to be around people that build each other up on the daily. A woman's enthusiasm of owning your identity is epic. I surround myself with woman who aren't haters, and genuinely want to see the growth of who you want to become. Being behind the scenes with only women makes me feel like I'm in a safe space to showcase my creativity. No one is trying to dominate over one another, it's normally just a bunch of laughs and sharing each others life experiences. Loving yourself is being open about who you are. Not being afraid to tell someone you don't like what they are doing and acting on your feelings. Treating yourself with the upmost dignity and making your dreams come true.
Audrey: I think what it means to be a women in general, is embracing femininity and celebrating our feminine qualities. The fact that we bring a soft, nurturing, creative energy to this world is the yin to the yang. Yang being the masculine. I think in this day and age many women are faced with pressures to adapt to a more masculine energy, we are women, but we still need to be strong, we need to work and problem solve to have a career which is what our ancestors fought for in the 60s. However, in celebrating feminine energy, women can have strength in knowing that we are exactly what we need to be. We don’t need to suppress our female side to be more like a man just to succeed in this world. We simply need to have confidence in our qualities and the amazing value we bring to the world naturally. I believe that is strength.
For that reason, it is important to empower other women. It’s important to empower everyone. I truly know that we are all beautiful souls just trying to do our best on this spinning globe. How can we criticize anyone for being imperfect when we ourselves can never be perfect? By choosing to see the best in others, we are choosing to see the best in ourselves. When we choose to see another human being equal to our own being we are choosing love, self-love and closeness above hate, ignorance and separation. At the end of the day, we yearn for closeness, understanding and acceptance from those around us. So why would we choose to deny that to others? Choose to spread the love, tis the season.