The Witching Hour: Why Women Are Drawn to the Dark Side
Blood baths, feminine rebellion, and the magic of embracing your inner witch.
There is something about Halloween that brings out a different side of us women, isn't there?
Maybe it's the mystery, the darkness, the opportunity to dress up and become someone entirely different for a night. Or maybe it's something a little deeper. Something ancient, wild, and beautifully feminine that's been waiting for permission to come out and play.
Maybe Halloween is the one time of year when we stop trying to be good girls and give ourselves permission to be a little wicked.
And darling, I am here for it.
A Little Blood, A Little Glamour, and a Whole Lot of Witchcraft
This year, I wanted to create something a little different for my Halloween Boudoir Minis at Pink Blush Boudoir.
Something dark, dramatic, seductive, and just the right amount of spooky.
A vintage clawfoot bathtub filled with blood-red water. Spiderwebs stretching across the darkness behind it. An elegant chandelier hanging overhead, skulls scattered throughout the scene, and dozens of candles casting their warm glow against the shadows.
Then we added smoke.
Beautiful, swirling smoke that crept across the floor and wrapped itself around the bathtub, while deep red lighting illuminated the spiderwebs behind the scene.
It was gothic glamour meets haunted mansion, with a little vampire queen energy thrown in for good measure.
And the women who stepped into this set?
Absolute magic.
There is something incredibly liberating about watching a woman slip into a bathtub full of blood-red water, surrounded by skulls and candlelight, and completely surrender to the experience.
No expectations of looking sweet or innocent.
No need to be delicate, modest, or traditionally beautiful.
Just a woman embracing her sensuality, her imagination, and perhaps a little of her dark side.
The Witch Has Always Been a Powerful Woman
Have you ever wondered why so many women feel drawn to witches?
Throughout history, the image of the witch has represented so many things. She has been feared, misunderstood, romanticized, and punished.
During the European witch trials, accusations of witchcraft were often tangled up with religious fears, social tensions, and expectations surrounding women's behaviour. Many of those accused were women, and the consequences could be devastating.
But over time, something interesting happened.
The witch began to transform from a figure we were taught to fear into a symbol of feminine independence, intuition, and rebellion.
Today, when many women talk about embracing their inner witch, they aren't necessarily talking about casting spells or dancing naked beneath a full moon.
Although, let's be honest, that sounds like a pretty fabulous Tuesday.
They're talking about reclaiming the parts of themselves they've been taught to suppress.
The woman who speaks her mind.
The woman who trusts her intuition.
The woman who embraces her sexuality without shame.
The woman who is no longer interested in making herself smaller to keep everyone else comfortable.
The woman who understands that her power doesn't come from being desirable to others, but from belonging entirely to herself.
And perhaps that's why the witch resonates with so many of us.
Because somewhere beneath all the expectations, responsibilities, and conditioning, there's a little wild woman inside each of us who would love nothing more than to be set free.
Why Do We Love Being a Little Wicked?
Think about the roles women are expected to play throughout their lives.
Be kind. Be nurturing. Be attractive, but not too sexual. Be confident, but not intimidating. Be ambitious, but don't be selfish. Age gracefully, but whatever you do, don't look old.
It's exhausting just writing it.
We're constantly navigating these invisible rules about how women should look, behave, and express themselves.
And then along comes Halloween.
Suddenly, we can be dark, mysterious, powerful, provocative, strange, or downright terrifying.
We can become vampires, witches, goddesses, villains, and creatures of the night.
We can wear something outrageous, experiment with our appearance, and step into a version of ourselves that might feel completely different from the woman who gets up every morning and tackles her endless to-do list.
Halloween gives us an opportunity to play with identity.
And I think that's one of the reasons it can feel so liberating.
Because sometimes dressing up isn't about pretending to be someone else.
Sometimes it's about discovering a part of yourself you haven't given enough room to exist.
Your Dark Feminine Deserves a Little Love Too
In boudoir photography, we talk a lot about embracing femininity, sensuality, softness, and self-love.
But femininity isn't always soft.
Sometimes she's fierce.
Sometimes she's messy.
Sometimes she's mysterious, commanding, unapologetic, and a little dangerous.
And I think there is tremendous beauty in allowing ourselves to explore all of it.
Your sensuality doesn't have to look like lace lingerie and pretty pink sheets.
Sometimes it looks like dripping red water, smoky shadows, dramatic poses, and a woman staring straight into the camera as though she could cast a spell with one look.
That's what I love about creating these specialty boudoir experiences.
They invite women to step outside their comfort zones and explore something different.
Not because there's anything wrong with who they are every day, but because there is so much more to us than the versions of ourselves the world gets to see.
We are allowed to be complicated.
We are allowed to be playful.
We are allowed to be beautiful and strange, soft and fierce, sensual and powerful.
We don't have to choose just one.
A Little Reminder From Your Friendly Neighbourhood Boudoir Witch
One of the things I love most about photographing women is witnessing the moment they stop worrying about how they're supposed to look and start enjoying how they feel.
Whether we're shooting something soft and romantic, celebrating your body in all
