Help - Engagement photo makeup disaster, but already signed contract for wedding with MUA?

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Oh man thats terrible to hear!!

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Maybe not possible. I know when I went for my trial, they didn't have me facing any kind of mirror or anything. I didn't know what they were doing until they were done, which is not uncommon.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I went back and forth with the head of the company and we've agreed I'll retain their company to do my and my bridesmaid's hair for the wedding but I'll be allowed to cancel the makeup portion. Even though I liked how this girl did my hair for the engagement shoot she is going to assign another stylist (probably a good thing since it'll be super awkward working with her after she knows I complained). I already contacted my regular MAC makeup artist guy and he's available and to do my wedding day makeup, and I definitely feel WAY better knowing that I've had him do my makeup several times already and always liked his work. The head of the company still kept insisting the foundation colour was fine, but I wasn't going to get into a huge argument with her over it as long as she's letting me cancel.

On the plus side, my photographer was able to edit the images so at least the colour of my face matches my neck and arms, and the eye makeup actually looks way less dramatic on photographs than in person, so I'm actually pretty happy with how my engagement photos turned out in the end! My photographer did an amazing job.

View quoted message You will lose your deposite if you cancel for sure. Use them for how much you have paid already, like say do your bridesmaid makeup or your Mother of the groom or bride makeup instead and have them do a trail this time. Get someone new for you. Just ask what services they can provide with how much you paid already

You can cancel your contract with them but you will 100% lose your deposit. i would read the contract to see what it says about canceling for your wedding date. but as she was putting the makeup on your face you should have stopped her and told her it was too much or too dark!

Thanks Kelly (nice to meet another Kelly!) Glad to hear you had a good experience in the end, did you find it was awkward or not working with the same girl after you complained about the trial? I was thinking that because I did like how she did my hair I could use her for doing my hair and the bridesmaids hair so I wouldn't have to forfeit the deposit, but then I feel like it'd be weird and awkward since she knows I complained about her.

I'm in a back and forth email with the head of the company who won't give any weight to the pics I provided her because "the lighting is inaccurate" and it's like, okay I've had my makeup professionally done over two dozen times over the years and always liked the results and I KNOW when the foundation cover is completely off because I know what my skin colour is supposed to look like lol. But yeah I'd really prefer not to flush $500 down the toilet!

I'm sorry you weren't happy with your trial, I've been in the same situation and it sucks, and I couldn't decide if I should look for a new makeup artist. The exact same thing happened to me with the foundation being way to dark for my complexion.

I ended up sticking with them. I emailed them and gave them my notes of what to fix for the wedding, and they were extremely receptive. I ended up using my own foundation for the wedding, which was preferable anyways, and they made all the adjustments I requested. My makeup turned out beautifully, and I was super happy.

I realize that you've probably already made your decision to not go with this person for the wedding...so I'm not sure if what I have to say will be helpful or not. My suggestion would be, if you don't want to be $500 in the hole, to see if the makeup artist is willing to do another trial with you since you feel like you didn't get what you asked for. Be very specific about the things that you were unhappy with, and specific about that changes you want to see.

Was this person part of a larger makeup company and was assigned to you? Can you work with the company and see if there's another artist that you can do a trial with because you left that last one super unhappy?

I dunno....personally I would see what you can make work with the company before jumping ship. $500 is a lot of money.

Thanks for the supportive comments everyone! I'm trying not to let it bother me too much and hoping that I can have the photographer photoshop my engagement photos back to the correct shade of skin so I can at least enjoy those! Other than the makeup the photos came out beautifully and I'm so happy with our photographer so at least there's that!

Megan - yeah I think the lighting was a BIG part of it, she did it in my kitchen which doesn't have great lighting and I didn't even notice the foundation was off until I got to the shooting location. But I feel like a professional makeup artist should have anticipated that and brought their own lighting equipment along? When I've had my makeup done back in my hometown my MUA always brought along her own light.

I did hear back from the head of the company and she was avoiding saying whether she would let me cancel or not, saying that my photos didn't have good lighting in them and were taken after the photoshoot so it was hard to tell if they were accurate or not and asked me to send her the engagement photo shots. I sent her a couple of them however since due to the flattering lighting the skin colour problem isn't as obvious so I'm anticipating I'll get back a "looks fine to me!"

I have a MAC makeup guy I've used several times in this city before who's great and I should have just booked him for my wedding but everyone told me I HAD to get someone who specialized in bridal makeup because they were better (ha!) .and also I figured it would be easier to get someone to do both hair and makeup. I know he does freelance so I'm thinking I'll just ask him to do my makeup, and then if this company won't let me refund the deposit maybe I can get one of their other artists to do my hair for me and my bridesmaids. Even though I liked the way she did my hair I don't want the original girl back because I feel like it'll be super awkward since she'll have known I complained about her. Although it still could be awkward because she's probably going to be friends with whomever new gets assigned I guess lol.

That is horrible! Is there another artist with the same company who could take care of you instead? If not I would insist on another trial and if that doesn't go well find someone new, even if it means losing all that cash.


Ultimately you want to look your best on your big day, and not have memories tarnished by how much you hate how your eyebrows look!

Yikes - sorry you had a bad experience! Did you voice your concerns to the MUA at your trial too? Good for you for going to the head of the company - maybe they'll let you redo your trial for no charge. I would give them the chance to correct the situation before cancelling the contract, especially since you likely won't get your deposit back.

Usually, contracts say the deposit is non-refundable. Check your contract and see if it says that, if it does - you'll be forfeiting your deposit.

They may offer to give you another trial for free but if you are dead set on not using this company, i'd take the hit and find a new make up artist.

I'm really sorry you had a bad experience, especially for your engagement photos! My hair was curled for my engagement photos by my hairstylist and it ended up not holding up . So for the wedding, I'll have to do something else.

That's such a bummer!!

I would definitely make a stink about it to the company, especially if it's more than just a freelance person doing it. I would also let the make-up artist know, politely, that you were not at all happy with your make-up. The eyes and lips there are no excuse for, but maybe the lighting was bad in the studio for foundation?? I know i've had times where i've done my makeup at home and though "wow I look incredible" and then walked outside and saw my reflection in the natural light and thought "who wiped a cheeto across my jaw line???" Oops!

Either way, you weren't happy with it. I would send her an email with your photos and the original photos you showed her and point out EVERY inconsistency. Tell her that that was not what you had signed up for, and you expect that she will do a new trial to show you the proper makeup that you had signed on for, and suggest some dates that you are available for. That makes it harder for her to say no without looking like a HUGE jerk!

Yikes, that sounds horrible! Some artists go way over board, my aunt actually had a terrible experience with her hair, but she had a separate girl doing her makeup. She had a physical photo of what she wanted and the girl totally botched it, and I tried fixing it for her after the girl left but there was just way too much hairspray in it for me to do much without damaging her hair. Thankfully, her veil covered it up and it didn't look so bad.

But yeah, if I were in your shoes I'd make a big deal out of possibly just changing artists and asking for a re-do trial with the new artist at no extra charge. I just don't see them giving you back the deposit since you already signed the contract. At least you took pictures though to back yourself up, which was a smart move so you may get lucky. But if you're ok with taking that $500 hit to find a completely new artist then you should just do it. You want to feel confident and comfortable with the way you look on your big day after all!