Yes, you did read that correctly: bonkers as it sounds, I am among a growing band of women who have had a go at painting with my boobs.

And I don’t mean in the comfort of my own home, either – I mean in a room full of complete strangers I had never met before.

painting with my boobs

I first came across the concept when I was invited to women’s wellness retreat RestFest, a day-long festival in Worthing, West Sussex, aimed at giving busy women a day off with a host of relaxing and inspiring activities in the tranquil setting of a converted manor house and barns.

The event featured a plethora of workshops and classes, from learning the art of facial massage as an alternative to botox to mask painting led by a psychotherapist (to find out more see Helen over at RelaxYaSelf to Health’s post here). Oh, and painting with your boobs.

painting with my boobs

Designed to promote body confidence and acceptance, boob printing workshops are popping up all over the country – even the Real Housewives of Cheshire have had a go – and RestFest’s offering was run by ‘unapologetic body acceptance coach’ Harri Rose and Anti-Diet Riot Club founder Becky Young.

They’ve been running the workshops for the last year in a bid to challenge the idea we’re sold one image of what the ‘perfect’ pair of boobs should look like and empower women to celebrate theirs – imperfections and all.

painting with my boobs

Now, obviously I’m not a real housewife of Cheshire – I’m just a knackered mum of three whose boobs have seen far better days following a combined total of six years breastfeeding – but I am immensely proud of the three babies they have single-handedly fed and nourished.

So, what the hell? After a day learning all sorts of new things at RestFest, like how to make my own body scrub with Himalayan salt and sugar, I felt empowered to give it a go!

So what’s it all about?

The theory is that we are all perfectly imperfect and the diversity of our boobies is what makes them so glorious. There is no such thing as too small, too big, too wonky, too saggy, all nipple or not enough nipple, and the boob printing workshop is all about celebrating that.

painting with my boobs

What actually happens?

We were encouraged to get ‘into the zone’ of being at one with our bodies by closing our eyes, taking some deep breaths and placing our hands on our boobies (not in that kind of way though). We were encouraged to feel them, be aware of them and embrace them.

Paper and paint was already laid out in front of us and we were given a demonstration by Becky, who showed us how to apply the paint to our boobies (you start from the bottom up) before printing them onto the paper.

painting with my boobs

There’s a knack to it – standing up and bending over the paper before pressing it to your chest works best – and it wasn’t long before we were all covered in paint and nervous giggles had turned into fits of laughter.

painting with my boobs

In honour of the fact I have just stopped breastfeeding for what will probably be the last time I painted a pink heart on each boob to represent the nurturing they have done, surrounded by blue. I then printed them three times on paper – one for each baby – before going a bit mad with the glitter (now’s probably a good time to reveal I failed A level art!!)

painting with my boobs

What did I learn?

It’s a lot of fun – but there’s also a serious side. The lady next to me tearfully admitted to the group that we had seen more of her boobs during the workshop than her husband had in the last year – and she now felt empowered to change that. Which is quite something when you think about it.

Would I do it again?

Yes! Sloshing paint over my lady bits was quite liberating – and I’m rather proud of my finished art work too!


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❤ My boobies ❤ This may LOOK like a piece of art one of the kids produced but it is in fact my boobies, by, er, my boobies (bear with me) Today I left Misery Guts in charge of the kids & headed to @restfest_wellness_festival, a women’s wellness retreat where, amongst other things, I took part in a boob printing workshop If you’ve been following me on social media lately you’ll know I’ve been a tad emosh about stopping breastfeeding the youngest, so this seemed like the perfect way to celebrate everything my boobies have done. I painted a pink heart on each one surrounded by blue (yes I actually applied paint to my boobs with a brush ) & printed them three times on paper, one for each baby Then I added some glitter – because you can’t beat a bit of glitter & I wasn’t at home so it didn’t matter if it went everywhere – & ta-dah! What do you think? Can you tell I failed A-level art? #thismamaloves #busywomensdayoff #uflourishRESTFEST @harri_rose_ @antidietriotclub

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Have you ever taken part in any unusual workshops? Would you take part in a boob printing one? I’d love to know!

I was gifted entry to RestFest Wellness Festival where I took part in the boob printing workshop. All opinions are my own and based on my own honest experience, and huge thanks to Paloma from Photography by Paloma for capturing the workshop so discreetly and giving me permission to use her images. To find out more about the next RestFest event in October 2019 and other events like it click here

If you liked this you may also enjoy reading:

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Breastfeeding at two – now what?

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