Make up trial - 4 long hours!

[SuzieBeautique]

Hi everyone

I just wanted some advice please. I fairly new still with my make up work, I have only done 2 brides, 4 bridesmaids and a couple of nights out and some prom work. Today I had a bridal trial for a 50 year old lady and I was at her house for 3 hours and 40 minutes so plus travelling time it was over 4 hours! She had rather bad skin with a lot of broken capillaries and redness to her cheeks and very enlarged pores. I used benefit pore professional which helped a lot with the enlarged pores and concealers and foundation was MAC. Although I build up the coverage, some of the redness was still visual - any suggestions please for a good product for very red skin?? I tried a couple of looks with her eyes after we discussed her usual make up, colour scheme etc but she just didn't seem happy with anything. She kept saying I hadn't done her eye make up like she has it and that I didn't put enough colour up to the brow like she does (id only used a highlighter shade in this area) I explained this is to highlight the brow area and open the eyes, as a darker shade would do the opposite but she didn't seem all that keen. Eventually after 3 and hour long hours she finally said yes it was 'fine' and I made a note of everything use and she booked for it doing on the day with bridesmaids. I left feeling physically drained! Although I have only done a couple of brides and some bridesmaids I have always felt very confident with my work and pleased with the results but today I felt feeling a little useless Does anyone have any good tips for wedding make up on the more mature skin please? All my other work has been on clients in their 20's with relatively good skin. Products in my kits are MAC, benefit, Urban Decay, Bare Minerals.

Also - do you have a time limit on the trial?? I charged £25 for trial as usually takes me 1.5 / 2 hours! Thanks x

 

[HairbyAsya]

Hi everyone

I just wanted some advice please. I fairly new still with my make up work, I have only done 2 brides, 4 bridesmaids and a couple of nights out and some prom work. Today I had a bridal trial for a 50 year old lady and I was at her house for 3 hours and 40 minutes so plus travelling time it was over 4 hours! She had rather bad skin with a lot of broken capillaries and redness to her cheeks and very enlarged pores. I used benefit pore professional which helped a lot with the enlarged pores and concealers and foundation was MAC. Although I build up the coverage, some of the redness was still visual - any suggestions please for a good product for very red skin?? I tried a couple of looks with her eyes after we discussed her usual make up, colour scheme etc but she just didn't seem happy with anything. She kept saying I hadn't done her eye make up like she has it and that I didn't put enough colour up to the brow like she does (id only used a highlighter shade in this area) I explained this is to highlight the brow area and open the eyes, as a darker shade would do the opposite but she didn't seem all that keen. Eventually after 3 and hour long hours she finally said yes it was 'fine' and I made a note of everything use and she booked for it doing on the day with bridesmaids. I left feeling physically drained! Although I have only done a couple of brides and some bridesmaids I have always felt very confident with my work and pleased with the results but today I felt feeling a little useless Does anyone have any good tips for wedding make up on the more mature skin please? All my other work has been on clients in their 20's with relatively good skin. Products in my kits are MAC, benefit, Urban Decay, Bare Minerals.

Also - do you have a time limit on the trial?? I charged £25 for trial as usually takes me 1.5 / 2 hours! Thanks x

Hi sorry I'm not trained but maybe you should ask brides to be etc to give you visual ideas of what they like - whether its pics from magazines, or pictures of them with their make up. I do that with clients hair and extensions as its good to see amps sometimes clients cannot clearly express what they want

 

[squidgernetball]

I don't have a time limit for trials, but that is very long! Unfortunately, some people have bad taste in make up, or poor application, and when they have worn their make up the same for years, if you don't do it like them, they don't feel they look right - even if that look is bad!!! So you come along, do a good application and they don't feel right. I think younger brides are a lot more open to suggestion. I do ask people to get together some ideas of the sort of make up they like, but they often think they're going to actually look like the picture! As for redness reduction, I use Jane Iredale for everything, and have managed to cover the worst skins with it, so I'm not much help! I can come over quite bossy when I do make ups - almost a case of why have you got me here if you want it like you always have it....It sounds like you did well, and as for those lost hours, just hope it all balances out with the brides with great skin who love a minimal make up and take 20 mins lol!!!

 

[Lady Murasaki]

I use graftobain hd Creme foundation on mature skins as it gives a better coverage and finish.

You should be charging more for your trial as this where the hard work , time and product usage is.

You also need to realise thought you are not however going to please everyone and you will get from time to time difficult clients, those with unrealistic expectations and people for what ever silly reason don't book.

 

[WaxGirl]

I set aside 1 and a half hours for a trial...too busy not to time limit it...if they want to come back and pay for a second trial that's ok

but usually most brides happy with that

don't be hard on yourself its sounds like in the end she was happy and she probably would have been like that with any make-up artist so don't personalise it

 

[SuzieBeautique]

Thanks for all the replies. I just got myself a little worked up yesterday as in the end I almost felt like she was saying yes just because she was getting bored. This is the first mature skin I've done since my training at college and it was defo hard work! I think like you say, some people tend to stick with the same look for years and be a bit out dated.
Just another question - if someone wants to book a trial, how far in advance do you do it before the wedding? I have had people contact me before about a year in advance. Would you do it about then for them to decide if they want to book? Or wait until just a month or 2 before the wedding x

 

[WaxGirl]

Thanks for all the replies. I just got myself a little worked up yesterday as in the end I almost felt like she was saying yes just because she was getting bored. This is the first mature skin I've done since my training at college and it was defo hard work! I think like you say, some people tend to stick with the same look for years and be a bit out dated.
Just another question - if someone wants to book a trial, how far in advance do you do it before the wedding? I have had people contact me before about a year in advance. Would you do it about then for them to decide if they want to book? Or wait until just a month or 2 before the wedding x

I find the reason they do this so far in advance is to see if they like your work or not and good make up artists get booked well in advance

if they want the trial early then go for it as it will help secure the booking

I did a wedding on sat - the mother of bride - was transformed looked stunning... I used keraja skin velvet no 3 on her and did a cleanse tone and moisturise before started working

although I will say they were all very easy going and relaxed to work on

yes totally agree ...people get fixed with one look and its hard to change them

 

[xxKeelyxx]

Dont worry hun, some people are just hard to please and not very good at showing when they do actually like something.

In the mean time I would practice on as many older relatives as you can as they are definately the hardest! They have enlarged pores and crepey thin skin and as you said broken capillaries and they are also the most opinionated because they know what they want. I tend to do a full cleanse, tone, pore minimisor, good moisturisor and then bare minerals as it gets into wrinkles easier.

Also for my trials I show them my book where I had one model and I did 'Bridal' make up for 5 different photos from natural to full gypsy wedding and had a professional photographer take it so the bride can see how much make up will look like in a photo on the same person. Eg when they say 'natural' and point to the full glamour pic I explain she has false lashes etc.

If shes booked you then she was happy!! You did a good job! £25 for a trial is norm round here but check your area! You dont want to be the cheapest and not make a living.

Look back at your happy brides and dont think of this one again until her big day and if you need to be friendly but firm! you cant take 4 hours on her wedding day!!

xxxx

 

[xxKeelyxx]

lol ive made older women sound awful but you know what I mean! The more you practice the better you will get!

Young skin is a piece of cake once youve mastered mature skin xxx

 

[noreenoconnor]

it terms of not getting the full coverage that you wanted it may be down to moving the product before you have properly set it.

I would do a thin layer of foundation over the whole face, don't be tempted to go to heavy with the foundation to build up coverage , it will only settle into any lines. Use a good concealer that has amazing coverage with very little product and buff over any areas that need it, leave for a few mins so it settle and then see if you need another layer, building thin layers will be longer lasting and look far more realistic. Only apply concealer where you need it.

Are you applying a setting powder with a powder brush? If so this is probably moving the concealer before you've properly set it, try and powder puff and rock it onto the skin, apply a finely milled powder liberally you can always knock off excess powder with a powder brush (this is what they're meant for , not actually applying powder). if it looks cakey at this point then your using to much product on the skin and need to use a lighter hand or more concentrated products.

the cheeks are probably going to be the hardest to cover and what works great for me is if after the base you still have a bit of redness showing through on the cheeks don't panic take a little scoop of your concealer and put it on the back of your hand scrape a little powder blush and mix the powder into the concealer... you now have a cream concealer that will cover anything no blush settling into fine lines and no redness showing through the cheeks. You can adjust colour intensity by adding more or less powder to the concealer ... finish with a very light dusting of powder to set.

 

[curlygirl]

Just wanted to add that I offer bridal hair and I do set a time limit of 90minutes. I always tend to run slightly over and I make allowances for that when booking but it sets a fair expectation to the client as to how long I'm prepared to be there so maybe try that? Then at least if you're there longer it's on your terms not theirs x

 

[SuzieBeautique]

When she phoned me I did say allow 2 hours for the trial so don't make any plans until later in the day. The £25 I charged is the standard price round here. Couldn't believe it when I finished though and she asked if she said so do I owe you anything for today or not!! X

 

[Lady Murasaki]

You need to get a contract in place out lining cost and trial duration.

Also state that if the trial over runs by the agreed 2 hours that their will be and addition cost of x amount for every half an hour or hour that you run over ( this in its self is motivates clients to be on time and want to finish on time lol)

Ask for a deposit in advance and get the full amount up front before you start.

By showing you are organised people will be less likely mess you about

 

[Tomme]

I haven't done makeup for a long time, but I agree with asking them prior to trial to find looks they like. When at the trial I would ask them how high they like their shadow and how deep. Some like just to the crease, some just over and others like it to almost touch the brow, this gives you a good indication as does lips, ask them if they use liner. If not then you can stick to just on the lip etc... X

 

[SuzieBeautique]

I need some more advice on this one please.

When she originally phoned me she didnt know if bridemaids would be having make up and possibly her mum. I said to find out by time I do her trial (the following weekend). At the trial she still didn't know if bridesmaids were having theirs done or not as she hadn't asked them. She is getting married at 11am so I said I would have to start at 6.30am, aiming to be finished by 10am if all were having it done. As you can see from comments above I really didnt think she seemed all that keen on her make up and was a bit of a nightmare morning to be honest but she gave me all the details of where she is getting married and I asked her to phone me with total numbers this week so I could confirm it all and give her a sort of plan of action for the morning and exact time I will arrive. I still have not heard from her 5 days later so I left her a message yesteday around 2pm and have still not got anything back. I said in the message to let me know by Monday please (its the wedding on Saturday 15th).

I just dont know if maybe she has decided she didnt like it or whether she is waiting to speak with them still. If I turn up on the day and she didnt want me anymore I will look rather foolish but If I dont turn up, thats my reputation! I thought I would leave it until Monday and try ring her again. Any advice? I stupidly didnt take a deposit because we didnt know how many were having it done. Help! x

 

[AmberExt]

Hi darling, if she hasnt booked then she hasnt booked, leave 1 more message with a deadline then move on. I hope you got paid for the trial yes? I always charge for the trial and deposit for the bride at trial if booked for the wedding, then finalise numbers and balance a couple of weeks before.

Dont feel bad she probably had a few trials with different artists

Sent from my GT-P3110 using SalonGeek

 

[SuzieBeautique]

Yes I took payment for the trial. I totally appreciate people having different trials etc but leaving it to just 2 weeks before the wedding seemed like cutting it fine to me. I will wait until Monday and leave one more message then assume she doesn't want me. X

 

[jacquelineanna]

Yes I took payment for the trial. I totally appreciate people having different trials etc but leaving it to just 2 weeks before the wedding seemed like cutting it fine to me. I will wait until Monday and leave one more message then assume she doesn't want me. X

How many messages do you think you really need to leave without seeming desperate??

If she really wanted you to do it she would have contacted you by now.

This sounds like it has been a harsh learning curve for you my lovely.

Learn all the lessons from it and never let it happen again.

You must always be in charge of the client and your time.

Never let the client have the upper hand, be firm be polite be in control.

Your trial should be priced higher than the actual day .. all the hard work goes into the trial. All your ideas are being shared with your client. And they must pay for this.

And then if they decide not to book you for the wedding day you will have been properly compensated!!

Think hard about how you are going to manage things in the future .. when I say the future what I really mean is from NOW lol.

Good luck lovely.

xx

 

[Lady Murasaki]

unfortunately she is not going to book you, as she would confirmed everything by now and she is now messing you about big time.

I do think it is rude of her not to let you know either way as from what you have said she gave you the details of the wedding venue etc and lead you to believe she was booking you and in turn you could of turned away another bride.

I would recommend that you email or write a letter to her outlining that if you do not here from her by the 10th June that no services with be rendered on the 15th June.

I would also ask her to put her reply in an email so you have her cancellation or confirmation of services in writing so your covered

if still do not hear anything just send an email or letter confirming no services will be rendered as you have not hear back form her by the 10th june. This will cover you in case she calls on her wedding day asking where you are!!!

As she has given you details of her wedding venue, it may be worth ring the venue up just to check if a wedding is going ahead that day? due to the data protection act they wont be able to give names, but it might worth a shot anyway?

moving forward for future bridal clients you need to take control!!!

start giving them contracts for the trials and the wedding day outlining costs, payment deadlines and booking numbers.

I give clients 3 days to let know if they want to book me or not for the wedding (all this put in writing via email and is the T&C in their trial contract)

If I have a client booking a wedding at short notice they have to pay 50% non refundable deposit not only to secure their trial session but wedding day booking too and they if they want to book the day they have to let me know at the trial and the remaining trial and wedding day fees are paid then as I don't want to be messed around.

 

[starburst1411]

I would use a green based primer by smashbox this will help with the redness long last the make up and minimise the pores