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Kelly
Curious February 2020 British Columbia

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

Kelly, on November 11, 2019 at 12:05 Posted in Beauty 0 13

Hi everyone! Just looking for some advice on what I should do in this situation. My engagement and wedding were a relatively quick turnaround (October to February) so I started booking my vendors as soon as possible to secure the date, including putting down a 50% non refundable deposit to secure the MUA for my wedding day. This makeup company came recommended by my wedding planner and had 100% 5 Star reviews on wedding wire, plus I looked up the girl who would be doing my makeup and hair and she had 10 years experience doing bridal makeup plus used to do the makeup for the morning news show, so I assumed she must be really good. I've also always had a good experience getting my makeup professionally done by others, usually just at the makeup counter at MAC and Sephora so it never occurred to me it could go disasterously wrong, especially with someone with so much experience and thought it was safe to sign the contract.


Well, fast forward to my engagement photo shoot. I thought it'd be a good way to get to know my MUA before so I booked her to do my hair and makeup for the photo shoot. My hair looked good, but the makeup was completely off and not at all what I asked her to do. I sent her a picture of my makeup that had previously been done over the counter at MAC which had subtle eyebrows, subtle gold shimmer eyeshadow and red lipstick. She did heavy black eyebrows, dramatic purple/brown eyemakeup half way up to the brow and berry lipstick. The worst part of all though is that she got my foundation colour completely wrong and several shades too dark. I'm Asian but my skin is actually very fair for an Asian and not yellow or orange tinged, but she had also mixed in this weird yellow/orange tinge into the foundation. When you compared my face to my neck my neck was like several shades lighter and a completely different colour. Basically I looked ten years older and my eyes way smaller with the way she had done the makeup. Unfortunately, my shoot was set to begin in half an hour and it took half an hour to drive there so I had no time to ask her to fix it.


I received a sneak peak of the engagement photos and luckily the lighting is much more flattering than how my makeup actually looked but my skin colour definitely looks off in them, although other people I've sent them to agreed the skin looks off but said they wouldn't have noticed if they didn't know me well and if I hadn't pointed it out to them. Still, it's all I see when I see the engagement photos so I'm going to see if I get get the photographer to photoshop my correct skin colour to match my neck and arms in the photos.


I've emailed the head of the company to let her know I was disappointed with the makeup and sent a picture to show her how off the foundation colour and eyemake up was and told her I wanted to cancel the contract and have my deposit refunded. Anyone here have any advice on what I can expect? I know the contract says it's non refundable and I understand that that's to protect them from flakey people who try to cancel last minute because they cancelled their wedding date or found someone else but I feel like they should make an exception if their makeup artist royally messed up? At any rate I know that there's no way I'd ever hire them for my wedding day so I guess I'm prepared to eat the $500 deposit if I have to but I'd feel like I'd have no choice but to leave them a bad review on weddingwire if that happened.

13 Comments

Latest activity by Ashley, on November 19, 2019 at 16:09
  • Ashley
    VIP August 2020 Ontario
    Ashley ·
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    Oh man thats terrible to hear!!

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  • Kelly
    Expert September 2019 Manitoba
    Kelly ·
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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.

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  • Kelly
    Curious February 2020 British Columbia
    Kelly ·
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    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.

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  • Dallas
    Newbie May 2021 Alberta
    Dallas ·
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    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
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  • Ashley
    VIP August 2020 Ontario
    Ashley ·
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    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!

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  • Kelly
    Curious February 2020 British Columbia
    Kelly ·
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    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!

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  • Kelly
    Expert September 2019 Manitoba
    Kelly ·
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    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.

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  • Kelly
    Curious February 2020 British Columbia
    Kelly ·
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    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.


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  • Amelia
    Master October 2020 New Brunswick
    Amelia ·
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    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!
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  • A
    Super September 2020 Ontario
    Amelia ·
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    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.

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  • Kelsie
    Master July 2021 Ontario
    Kelsie ·
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    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 Smiley sad. So for the wedding, I'll have to do something else.

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  • M
    Frequent user May 2021 Ontario
    Megan ·
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    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!

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  • Samantha
    Super June 2021 Ontario
    Samantha ·
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    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!


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