Meet Dlove

Hello loves! My name is Denisha; however you may know me as Dlove.

I am your Makeup Artist, Photographer & Plus size model, yes I do all of it.

I have been playing in makeup since 2011, I officially started playing on clients in 2014, charging only $20! Ive come such a long way. Ive always had a love for photos and have owned a camera since 2016 (Canon Rebel T7i) I wanted to be a YouTuber, That lasted for 5 seconds lol

Let me give you a brief of how I got here

I moved to Arizona in 2015 & moved back home to Madison, wi in 2019

When I moved to Arizona I learned soooo much about myself I never even thought was possible. I took a modeling course, and even modeled for a small boutique. I found a lot of my confidence there and started to create my own story, I decided I wanted to be in front of the camera more

When I moved back from Arizona in 2019 I worked at Ulta briefly but I also got the chance to be a makeup artist for an agency. Which got me a lot of exposure to large photoshoots & small ones. I got to be surrounded tons of people for large brand shoots as well as collaborative ones just to build portfolios. I slowly started to watch myself pay close attention to what the photographers were doing as I was insanely curious how they made these masterpieces & manipulated lighting however they seen fit. Never thinking I would be doing the same things only months later.

I quit my full time job in retail in May 2021, I had a little extra time & wanted to build a makeup portfolio, because I was impatient and didn't want to wait for the agency to book me. So I utilized my time off and started shooting with the camera I barely touched. I was mainly focusing on beauty headshots to highlight my makeup applications as an artist. My models consisted of my social media friends and more times than none, they were a normal person, not a model but moms with regular bodies. A few of those models were actually turned down from the same agency I worked with because their bodies weren’t up to society model standard.

FUN FACT: I orginally went to see if the agency wanted a plus size model, they turned me down and redirected me to being a makeup artist.

Something I started to pick up on working with the agency, was that there wasn’t enough representation for POC & normal bodies. Eventually I started to feel uncomfortable on set, barely relating with those around me. Often times my work wasn’t credited from the agency so I felt even smaller, in a world that was supposed to be so amazing.

Well even though I was only building my portfolio of being a makeup artist, my social media friends started asking “how much are your shoots?” “Can you do a shoot for my birthday?” “Will you take my maternity shoot”. My first thoughts are “NO, I have no idea what im doing, im not a photographer. I’m just a makeup artist with a camera taking photos for her portfolio.” Eventually so many people started asking if I would take their photos, I did some research on how I could combine being a makeup artist and photographer. There wasn’t a lot of results, so I made my own.

I started offering bundled photoshoots with makeup & photos in October 2021. I was surprised by how much loved I received for just starting out. Most of my clients are POC & I felt much more welcomed, as I created that environment. I was still signed with the agency at that time and learned even more with each photoshoot I attended.

Eventually a photographer from the agency asked “Denisha, where do you find your models?” I said “They’re my clients and social media friends, some are even models that had children and the agency turned them down” At that point I realized I’m creating a space, I’m putting in work that matters. I’m giving POC and amazing “regular” people, a chance to shine and be seen. I emailed the agency and asked them to release me as a makeup artist in April 2022. Have been on my own since and breaking beauty standards and capturing amazing photos along the way. I had fast growth as a photographer, which made me realize I needed to DELIEVER quality work immediately. I had many sleepless nights, hundreds of hours of research & I grew more and more with each photoshoot.

I can’t say how proud of myself I am, because photography wasn’t in the plan, but I made it part of the plan. Now my platform and business stands on being a makeup artist, plus size model and photographer who creates spaces for POC & small businesses to shine.

Being in Madison, WI unfortunately POC & small businesses tend to feel even smaller, because there isn’t a large platform for us here. I stand on creating our own platform and demanding a presence in the city and state. We have amazing, talented and beautiful people here & I want them to be seen, heard and valued. I want to show the city the amazing people I know & I want to show the amazing people I know….. that there’s so much more, we just have to find it or create it ourselves.

I thrive off of challenge and I aspire to inspire those I meet or around me. “Denisha what do you want to do? where do you want to go?” My answer: “I just want to inspire, I dont care if you’re a makeup artist or photographer on a new journey, I dont care if you’re someone who at the age of 45 wants to go back to school to follow their dreams. I simply want to inspire in any shape or form.

Women, you are safe here.

D = Denisha

Love = Love always

Studios = Endless creations

Signed a BLACK OWNED BUSINESS in Madison, WI