My experience with this company was extremely disappointing, and I feel as if they lied to me. Here…read moreare the bullet points of the overall process, from booking to final product.
(1) The Lying: Upon booking I was asked, "What made you think of us?" I told them I was a Collinsville Student, and I remembered the women who used to go to their salon. The woman's response was, "The one with the picture of the lion on it?" I said, "Yes, that's the one." She replied, "How fun! Yup, that is definitely us." The day of my wedding she asks me the same question. Confused as to why I'm being asked this question twice, I provide the same answer. Her co-worker laughed, and I asked, "Why is that funny?" The same woman's response was, "Because that's not us." The woman then informed me, "You must have been mistaken honey." Um. NOPE. Sure wasn't.
(2) The Payment: I ordered hair and makeup service for five women on location. I paid for all services in full up front including taxes and transportation. Not only did they ask for payment the day of because they were unprepared (which we quickly remedied) but they also tried to charge me an additional $20 "No-Show," fee. I'm sorry, but the purpose of a no-show fee is to recoup from lost commission. When a patron prepays everything, then there is no lost commission. Finally, they were expecting a tip. I've been informed this is somehow still a standard in the business. Please watch Adam Ruins Tips on YouTube and begin charging your clients what you think you're worth while paying your staff what they are worth versus placing the burden of appropriate compensation at the mercy of customer. Thanks.
(3) The hair: The one thing no one had a problem with was how their hair turned out. Everyone had an absolutely lovely hairstyle. We did take issue with the fact that their blow-dryers blew the fuse to our room. Rather than wait for the fuse box switches to be flipped they escorted us in turn to the hallway where we stood naked in our robes and had our hair blow-dried in front of total strangers.
(4) The Service: I was promised there would be four technicians. There were only three. I asked if there were two for hair and two for makeup. She told me all four did both hair and makeup. I asked to create a profile for what each girl wanted, and to have a schedule. They said, "We'll start at 10 a.m. and have one technician for each girl, then do your makeup (the bride) last." I asked how long they would be with us, and I was told they would be with us from 10 a.m. until 1:45 p.m. I asked ahead of time if they would be able to provide us with samples of our gloss, so we could retouch throughout the night.
None of that happened. Three girls showed up, two for hair and one for makeup. They did my makeup second in a lineup of four women. I GAVE THEM a picture of me, full hair and makeup from two years ago, and said "This is what I want." My makeup looked okay by the time the girl was done, but it was NOT what I wanted. She noticed I was unsatisfied and said, "I know it's not what you wanted, but I tweaked it to fit your theme better." NO, THE WHOLE POINT WAS FOR EVERYONE BUT ME TO LOOK DARK AND GOTHIC. (I had a Nightmare Before Christmas Wedding.)
(5) The Technique: WHO doesn't use primer? Apparently this place doesn't, because the only one who received primer was me. WHO doesn't use setting spray? You guessed it! This place. The only person who liked their makeup was one of the bridesmaids. Everyone else absolutely HATED their makeup, and we had to rely on another bridesmaid to fix it to be manageable for the night.