FAQs

Question: Do I need a hair and/or makeup consultation?

Answer: Great question! If you are nervous or worried about how your hair and make up will turn out or you don't know how you want your hair and make up done or if you will connect with the hair and make up artist, then yes, I recommend you schedule a trial run.However, if you have seen the hair and make up artist's website, you know the style of hair and make up you would like, you feel confident that the outcome of the hair and make up artist's work for your wedding day and you're not feeling anxious about it, then no, I don't think it is mandatory for you to schedule a hair and make up consultation. In short, If it gives you piece of mind to schedule a pre wedding consultation and see the results, do it. On the other hand, it also saves you money not to have a hair and make up consultation , just knowing that the hair and make up artist has a proven track record or comes with to you via a strong referral.

Question: Where do I even begin to figure out which makeup artist is best for me?

Answer: One of the most important vendors a bride will choose for her wedding day will be the The Hair and Make up Artist.Do your homework! !! Ask your event planner or photographer who they might recommend. Most reputable Hair and make up artists are licensed, have websites with a history of working with many photographers. A Bride can see a hair and make up artist's style by viewing their website. If the hair and make up artist is legitimate there would be many, not a few photos on the stylist's websites. All photos should have the photographer's credit/copyright on each of the photos shown. As a reference call one or a few of these photographers, ask how they liked working with this hair and make up artist.

Warning! Anyone can create a website, advertise on wedding websites, buy business cards, create a new Face Book page, upload images up on their website, claiming they did the hair and make up work... and many do! Even if it is not their work! Some just buy make up and a curling iron and call themselves " professional hair and makeup " without any training, licensing or experience! Some of these " hair and makeup artists" are phonies, claiming to have worked on many clients and brides when in fact, those photos on their website or Face Book page might just be a friend, not a Bride or a just a model off of a model mayhem website. They post fake reviews and while on Face Book, they have faux conversations with their " Brides " about a wedding that did not exist but, with heartfelt, tearful recollections of a wedding that they were never present at and never happened! Crazy, right? Don't get conned by these fly by night " hair and makeup artist.

How to spot one?

1. Ask if the prospective hair and makeup artist if he or she is licensed California State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering

go to this website to verify if they are licensed https://www.breeze.ca.gov/datamart/mainMenu.do

If they not licensed and represting themselves or promoting themselves as " Professional " hair and makeup artists, they are not..Report them! You would be helping future brides from being taken advantage of.

These " Hair and makeup artists " should be doing your wedding at NO COSTS!! because it is illegal to be paid for Hair and make up services ( Cosmetology ) or just makeup ( Esthetician ) without a State Board license.

2. Should have worked with many photographers, have many photos with photographer's credits on those photos.. Call that photographer.

3. They should have lots of references of several event planners and other wedding vendors that they have worked with, not just one or people they who they know. It's not enough to claim to know a vendor, by just listing them on their preferred vendor page of their new website.. Call those vendors!

Remember, do your homework, ask questions, contact other vendors! Don't get conned and do not pay for hair and makeup if unlicensed!

Further, In the state of California, you need a License to do hair and/ or makeup! Business license, Cosmetology and or Esthetician license. In the state of California, there is a law. Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Act Section 7319. "All persons practicing cosmetology, hair and makeup, must be licensed. If the person is practicing outside of a licensed establishment, without following the proper procedures, that is considered another violation. View the law here."

Question: How long does the hair and makeup for the bride and the bridesmaids usually take?

Answer: For the Bride, anywhere from 1 - 2 hours for hair and makeup. For the bridesmaids about 30 minutes for make up and 45 minutes for hair.

Question: What can I do to have my bridesmaids and myself ready for hair and makeup on the day?

Tips on timing:

Sometimes the Bride or the wedding coordinator go with suggested timing for hair and make up that does not allow any wiggle room. Wiggle room allows for unforeseen timing issues.

Example 1: The Bride's make up is just about done. The Bride receives a note and gift from the groom. The Bride starts crying, the sister starts crying and the Mom starts crying. Add a half an hour to get all three looking fresh again.

Example 2. Bridesmaids were supposed to have dry hair to expedite styling, Bridesmaid shows up with wet hair. Add an additional 1/2 hour

Example 3. Hair and make up artist is there, waiting to start, Bridesmaid is not, add another 1/2 hour.

Example 4. Bridesmaids are finished with hair and make up, go out to the store or to get some lunch, windy day and one of the brides has allergies. Add 1/2 hour to timeline for touch up hair and make up.

All true stories. All the more reason to allow time for such errors.

My recommendation, pad your timeline! You will be a happier and calmer Bride. Best case scenario, you walk out the door a few minutes early after having a glass of champagne with your friends!

Question: What are some beauty tips you can give me that I can use before my wedding to look my best on the big day?

Answer: The biggest complaint I hear from Bride's on their wedding day is, "I couldn't sleep the night before my wedding." The excitement, the nerves, an unforeseen problem, the emotions..... who knows why, but it is a wedding day bummer to be tired and wishing you could have had a good night's sleep. I can't recommend sleep enhancers, but I do know that most of my brides know which product they would choose to get a good night's sleep where a glass of wine or a massage just doesn't do it. If you have never tried a sleep enhancing product, I recommend you speak to your doctor and try it out way before the wedding to make sure it does not make you drowsy on the day of your wedding.

Best Beauty tips for Brides

1. Water, Water, Water and more Water... For a natural glowing face, clear translucent skin, less dark circles on the day of your wedding and will actually help with looking good in your wedding photos... Water, Water and more Water! Especially the day before your wedding.

2. Get a facial a week before your wedding. That way, if there is a break out or a reaction to the product, you still have time to recover. A facial will remove the dead skin cells and allow the make up to be more smooth on your skin.

3. Wax brows a week before the wedding. If you plan on waxing your brows for your wedding, do it early. I have seen Brides come to me with raw skin around their brow area from a recent waxing, even from someone they regularly go to. Sometimes mistakes happen... just plan that it might.

Tipping

As a vendor myself, my team apreciate gratuity. Brides ask me, if they were to tip a hair and makeup artist team, what would it be.

I recommend what you tip in the salon 10 -20% or just give whatever is in your heart, it is the thought and the gesture that count.

* Caution: If you do tip, please give it directly to the vendor. Do not leave thousands of dollars of cash l in the hands of event planners and their assistants to hand it out to your vendors for you. No matter how much you would like to trust your planner and their assistants, intentionally and unintentionally, it does sometimes, becomes " lost " and or sometimes or " forgotten " or even handed out to the incorrect people or a planners favored vendor.

Unfortunately, this year, I just found out that a 400. tip was " forgotten " to be given to my team and myself after 5 months had passed. Luckily, the Mother of the Bride and I became Friends after the wedding. It was only in speaking to the assistant of the event planner, while I was telling her how much I just loved the Mother of the Bride, " she was great! ", I mentioned that the Mother of the Bride will be flying me out to New York for makeup lessons.

The event planner's assistant didn't know what say, she actually turned white. She had no idea that I would stay in touch with the Mother of the bride, and she came clean about the tip. " Oh, I forgot, I have a 400. tip for you! " ( mind you, this was 5 months later!)

I would have never known about this tip if I hadn't mention that I am now friends with the Bride and her Family, I wonder how many vendors wouldn't have known either, that their tip was " forgotten " reduced, given to a more favored vendor or unfortunately, pocketed by the event planner or the event planner's assistant and not followed as the Bride had intended.