I found out about Annette online and after exchanging a couple of emails, I decided to go with her services. I felt really confident after reading that she had 28 years of experience under her belt. I sent her lots of pictures of the hair and make up I wanted for my wedding to show her what I was interested in.
She wasn't interested at all in getting to know more about the bride she was going to work with and did not ask me questions at all. The only things she said were: I can duplicate ANY picture and if you want fake eyelashes, they cost $25.
I also sent her a picture of a hair comb that I bought in another country (I couldn’t find anything similar here in the US and after asking many other hair stylists I found out nobody was familiar with it). She told me she had seen that style before and she knew how to use it (liar!). She didn’t know, though! She asked me how to use it during the trial run.
Annette also did my make up terribly. I couldn’t believe myself when I looked at the mirror. She had used a foundation at least 3 shades lighter than my skin tone and put on way too much blush. My eyes were the worst part. She did not know how to apply eyeliner and it turned out to be extremely smudged, crooked and thick. She applied dark eye shadow on my eyebrows which made them look way too thick. The rest of the eye shadow application was so unprofessional that I literally looked like a clown. The eye shadow she applied on my eyes looked very light for someone who really wanted a more dramatic look.
I told her many times how much I hated curls. I did not want to look like a “doll” on my wedding day, so I decided to go with waves instead. She did not want to do my hair after seeing how frustrated I was that she did not do my make up the way she had promised. When I was about to leave her salon she asked me to stay and told me she would do my hair the way I wanted. I decided do give her a second chance. She made these horrible curls in my hair and was exclaiming “look at these beautiful curls”! I felt really mad because I told her before that I did not want curls at all. I had chosen a simple style (half up, half down, waves and a hair attachment on the back of my head).
When my fiancée saw me he said, please, don’t use this on our wedding day! You look creepy. I couldn’t help but burst into tears.
Besides her terrible job, she did not make me feel like a bride. She didn’t ask me questions, and I felt she didn’t care about me at all. I felt terrible. No wonder her saloon was so empty while I was there.
So if you are looking for Hair and Makeup services in South Lake Tahoe, DON’T GO TO ANNETTE! She is advertising something she cannot do and this is extremely inappropriate and unprofessional. I don’t want brides to go through the same TERRIBLE experience I did. She als charged me $125 for this package and told me over the phone she wasn't going to give me a refund for her failure because she doesn't do refund. After many attempts she decided to give me $30 to make me happy. I do not find taking a mere 30 dollars as a "consolation" refund to be acceptable and I feel entitled to an apology for not being able to create the make-up effect and hair style I desired, since she "guaranteed" she would.
I found on craigslist a mobile hair stylist. She has less than 5 years of experience and her prices are really reasonable and she is incredibly talented and sweet! She treated me like a queen and made every effort to make me happy.
I think Annette has a lot to learn. She should realize that preparing a bride for her wedding day is not only performing a daily task, it is to make a dream come true.
