I paid Noel to do my make up ($75), my hair (+$75) & my daughters hair (+$65) for a wedding. Prior to writing this review, Noel was contacted by us to try & make good of the situation with a partial refund. However, Noel responded rudely, not even being considerate of our frustration by stating her contract- "acceptance of completed makeup/hair application by client is acknowledgement by client that makeup/hair is done to his/her satisfaction." So, essentially, if your hair is done terribly &/or your make up (although nothing can be done to fix it because now there is no time before the wedding) she expects you to now take more time to complain and "work" everyone up. Complaints which at the time would serve no purpose. Nothing could be done given THERE WAS NO TIME. To my defense though, I did try before there was no time to make both girls aware of how dissatisfied I was in a pleasant & mature manor and nothing could be done given that there was a line of girls waiting. Here's my experience... One thing I noticed off the bat was that none of us were set up in front of a mirror. This left us wondering how things were coming out & were unable to point things out as they were happening. Let me begin with my make up. From a distance my make up looked pretty good. However, when up close, it was clearly caked on. I stated I wanted a natural look with more dramatic lashes & I do not feel that it was that. The lashes Noel put on me were poor quality & came off before the wedding CEREMONY even began. (Yes, my eyes watered when putting them on however, this is not uncommon.) I made her aware beforehand of how difficult my lashes are. I even gave her tips on how to succeed with my lashes & she chose to do it her way. However, her way did not work with my lashes & once she was "done", it was quite apparent that my lashes were bone straight & the falsies were curled leaving an obvious space in between. So I went ahead & curled my lashes however that is when the lashes came off. When I had Noel reattach my lashes, after they had come off (moments before leaving to the ceremony), they were far off from my lash line & bothered me all night. I did not complain at the time about my lashes being far off because there was no time to fix them any better anyway & who wants to add to the stress of the wedding day by complaining when nothing could be done anymore? This was not my wedding day, so I sucked it up knowing we had no time & fixed my lashes as best as I could. I figured I'd deal with it after the dust of the wedding chaos settled thinking Noel would be more understanding. Overall for the price I paid for make up, I would give Noel 3 stars. It wasn't horrendous (it was better than the hair), however it wasn't the best make up job I've ever had. As far as hair goes, I'd probably give it a 1 star rating. Her assistant Virginia did her best however, she was not qualified. She was constantly asking Noel for advice and no ones hair, done by Virginia, came out well. I had fly hairs everywhere and nearly all curls had fish hooks or were not curled to the end. Thank goodness I had taken my own curler! I redid all the curls in my hair, as well as fixed ALL 3 of the other bridesmaids. One girls bump was far off centered (which I mentioned to Virginia and Noel as it was being done so it could be fixed immediately & Noel's response was "she's not done yet. Don't worry."). Two of the girls hair parts were far off. And, all but one of the girls curls were terrible just the same as mine. When I noticed how all my curls were not to my liking once I was able to go to a mirror, I mentioned it to both Noel & Virginia and they said they would get to it after all the girls were done, which was understandable. However, once all the girls were done, there was literally no time! Thank goodness I hadn't waited! We ran so late that it ran into our photography time which was VERY disappointing. Overall I am not satisfied at all for the price I paid. I expected more understanding and professionalism from Noel especially given that she saw how much Virginia was struggling, she knew how behind schedule they both were, she knew there was no time to even try to fix things the day of & she knew we were running into photography time. The time that we were supposed to finish was 2:45 (which she knew) & the time we finished was 3:15. Her excuses for running behind schedule was our two min prayer coming in from decorating, that she didn't anticipate everyone having such "long and thick" hair & that our pinterest picture examples of how we wanted our hair was unrealistic. Yes, length & thickness does effect timing, however, knowing her own ability, she should've asked hair types prior-to rather than gambling on time. Also, my hair is bra length & has never been described as thick by any cosmetologist. If a half up, half down hair style with curls & a bump is "in-congruent with reality" then perhaps the ability of the hair stylist is in question. read more

If I could give no stars I would... Noel forgot about my appointment, and when she did show up for a "trial," she made me look like washed out white person, with more wrinkles then I care to see. She doesn't know multicultural skin. My trial cost a whopping $107.31, she does not refund what you think is a deposit, even if cancelled booking completely. Use a credit card. read more

If you're looking for a place to get your makeup done or take classes don't go here. Called over 100 times in the course of a month and Noel purposely didn't answer because she knew i wanted a refund for my classes. And was sarcastic and rude when she finally messaged me back on Facebook. It's a shame I would of loved to get a makeup certificate for this cheap. Spend a little extra and go to a real and professional studio. Would give this place zero stars if I could. read more

Horrible horrible place to go to for makeup classes!! I DO NOT RECOMMEND AT ALL. Do not waste your money going here. Noel is a very horrible teacher when it comes to techniques. Loves to accuse students of things that aren't true. She's also very horrible at makeup. I wasted $700 on classes that weren't useful at all. She ripped off me and my fellow students when I came to our makeup kits. Very condescending to her students. She takes weeks to reply to emails. My sister had to wait a month and a half for her certificate and did not keep students updated on when they would get their certificates. So save your money and go somewhere that's actually going to better you in makeup. 0 stars if I could (: read more

The Vanity Makeup is an AMAZING PLACE! With their new location Noel is one of the best in the business! Not only does she do weddings but also offers Make Up classes in both Beauty and Special Effects. She's a highly qualified Make Up Artist offering all different types of services from Make Up Application to Air Brushing. She's also available for any type of event booking such as parties or even Halloween! I have personally taken both classes and very much value and put to use what I learned there. In response to previous reviews I will say that as a small business owner you can't always get it right but can definitely learn from your mistakes and I believe that Noel does nothing but try her best. I have never been disappointed once with Noel's services! The new location also offers really amazing clothing such as Gypsy Warrior and some custom jewlery. Noel also sells Medusa Make Up and Sugar Pill Make Up. read more

If you are a bride looking for a reliable vendor, do not go here. Noel took days to respond to my emails, did not call when she confirmed she would, and ultimately sent an email - a week before my wedding - saying she could not do my wedding makeup because of conflicts with an existing bride. I cannot vouch for her makeup skills (they seem good online), but if you are looking for reliability and someone you can count on, consider going elsewhere. read more

Eyelash disaster!! I asked for a natural look just accentuating my lashes. Got drag queen lashes that were not anything close to natural and the glue damaged my lashes badly! Buyer beware!!! I've had extensions before with good experiences in other salons, this was poor materials and expertise. read more

Noël was professional and great to work with up until the day of my wedding. Her prices are reasonable and her schedule is pretty flexible. My hair and makeup trial went very well and Noël was great at listening to what I wanted. She even spoke with one of my more difficult bridesmaids about her products beforehand to ensure she wouldn't use any products that could cause a reaction. However, I have given less stars due to the quality of work on my wedding day. We were scheduled to start at 10am and we didn't start till about 10:30am, partially because we were upstairs decorating and partially because Noël and Virginia didn't get there till 10:16am. The makeup that was done on my bridesmaids was for the most part, mediocre. One bridesmaid had dark skin and her makeup made her look like a ghost due to the difficulty in matching her skin tone with the makeup. That bridesmaid completely redid her makeup on her own. Another bridesmaids eyelashes were put on poorly in that the lashes weren't even on her lash line. Virginia did a terrible job on everyone's hair that was done. Parts were not centered and bumps were uneven. Virginia, Noël's assistant, didn't appear to know what she was doing in that she kept interrupting Noël during makeup to ask her questions. Fortunately, Noël did both my hair and makeup and they both came out wonderfully after a few touch ups and tweaks to my eyeliner and eyebrows. Unfortunately, we ran very late and up until the ceremony were very rushed. Overall, I would not book with The Vanity Makeup again due to the fact that I was the only one satisfied with my hair and makeup. read more

Not only is Noel an incredibly talented and well respected makeup artist, she is also a wonderful educator as well. She goes above and beyond to give her students opportunities that they might not otherwise have. She is brilliant at what she does and so willing to share what she knows with her students. The only regret I have with her is that the class ended. Even so, she offers industry meet ups for networking and continued learning and I have even seen her offer job opportunities to students that she has had to pass on due to scheduling. I can't say enough good things about her and her artistry skills. If you are an aspiring MUA or need makeup services in the Albuquerque area, Noel is your girl. You won't regret it. read more