Why You Look Like Yourself, Only Better: My Approach to Retouching at Coco Haus
The question I get asked more than any other isn’t about pricing or what to wear. It’s this: “How much Photoshop do you actually do?”
It’s a fair question. And honestly, it tells me a lot about where you’re at—because most women who ask it are really saying: I want to look beautiful, but I don’t want to look like someone else.
So let me answer it honestly. The real work happens before I ever open Photoshop
By the time we get to retouching, most of the magic has already happened. During your shoot, I’m working with natural light—positioning your face so the light catches your cheekbones, makes your eyes sparkle, softens what needs softening. I’m adjusting poses in real time, not just telling you to smile and hold still. Some clients need soft, diffuse light. Others can handle something more dramatic. I’m reading your face the whole time and adjusting without making it a thing—you just feel like everything’s working, because I’m making sure it does.
And before we even pick up a camera, you’ve spent two hours in hair and makeup. You’ve talked, laughed, let go of whatever you were holding onto. Sometimes that means tears, sometimes it just means finally breathing. By the time the shoot starts, something shifts. That’s not Photoshop. That’s you, finally breathing.
What I actually do in post-production
After your shoot, I cull through everything—sometimes a thousand images down to the best two or three hundred—and run them through a light refinement process. I smooth skin slightly, brighten eyes, whiten teeth, remove flyaways, and make a small correction because lenses naturally add a bit of weight to how you appear on camera, and I auto-correct for that as a baseline.
That’s it for the automatic retouching. Everything else is a conversation.
Retouching designed for you
At your reveal session, we go through your photos together over Zoom. I walk you through every image, help you make your selections, and then I ask you directly: What do you want? Do you want scars removed or kept as they are? Tattoos removed? More hair volume? A smoother waistline? Or do you want to keep your texture, your laugh lines, the things that make you you?
There’s no wrong answer. I never want you to be unrecognizable. I want people to stop and think holy shit, she looks incredible—not wait, is that even her? But if you want more retouching, I won’t judge you for it. And if you want less, I respect that too.
This is your experience. I’m just here to make sure the outside finally matches how you feel on the inside.
The bottom line on my boudoir photography retouching style
The reason my clients look so good isn’t because I fix them in post. It’s because of the light, the posing, the music, the two hours in the chair, the way I make sure nothing feels wrong. Retouching is the final polish on something that’s already there.
You were already beautiful. I just showed you.
Ready to see what that looks like? Book your Coco Haus experience today.
