Last week Aishling, Mammy and myself headed to Bella Makeover Studio just off South William Street in Dublin for a make over and phototshoot. Bought as a gift for mam for Christmas. We thought it would be something nice to do together and something we'd normally never think of doing, a real treat!
So what's involved? First off the the regular price is €200 each, I however got a discount after attending the Ultimate Girls Day out! For that you get; 3-4 hours in the studio, the girls will style your hair, apply your make up and paint your nails all while you quaff champagne and pretend you do this all the time darling! When suitably glamorous, it's up to the the photo room to have your photos taken. Our clothes were waiting for us, thanks to host Claudine who hung anything delicate up for us and we changed into our various outfits. The photographer Aoife was really nice and advised us how to pose while we giggled like eejits! After that your photos go to the editor and you can review them in a nice room and decide what photos you want to keep. Photos do cost extra, included in our package was one free on disk and we picked a package of photos which included 2 prints.
Here are the Results (all photos taken by Aoife at Bella, edited by Aishling O'Neill;
One of our Group shots. L-R Aishling; Dress: Littlewoods, Black Shawl: Can't remember! Necklace: Gift from my Boyfriend, Etsy.com, Earrings: Gift from Kerrie, Topshop. Mammy; Dress: Littlewoods. Kerrie; Top: Pennys/primark, Kimono: Littlewoods
Second Group photo. Aishling; Dress: New Look, Necklace: Gift from my aunty, Newbridge. Mammy; Top: Dunnes, Necklace: Avon, Kerrie; Dress; Primark/Penneys. Necklace; Carraig Donn
A photo of myself and Ash
Mammy looking awesome! Dress in the last pic is from AWear.
Me! Shoes: New Look
Dress is from New Look, Ring and Braclets Penneys
Kerrie AKA Mystic Meg!
Aishling looking awesome!
Dress: New Look, Tights: Penneys/Primark, Shoes: Schuh, Necklace & Bracelet: Newbridge
Dress: New Look, Tights: Penneys/Primark, Shoes: Borrowed off Kerrie, Necklace: Gift from my boyfriend, Etsy.com, Brooch: Gift from my boyfriend, Etsy.com, Bracelet: Borrowed off Mammy.
Dress: LittlewoodsIreland, Shawl: Can't remember! Tights: Penneys/Primark, Shoes: ASOS
Overall it was a good day and we got some good photos. I have to say however there were some things I would do differently if going again and advice if you are thinking of going.
Firstly I should have went with a theme in mind, I didn't have a clear idea of what hairstyle I wanted and ended up not loving how it turned out, I wish I'd gone for a 40's, 50's or 60's look and teamed it with makeup and clothes of the era.
Secondly, the time flies! So it does feel quite rushed and I felt under pressure to change quickly for the photos, in my rush I forgot to put on matching jewelery I had to go with my navy dress - I was still wearing the mis-matched Carraig Donn necklace with my dress and didn't notice.
Thirdly, it would have been better if there was a makeup/hair lady to fix us up between shots, when we reviewed the photos at home we noticed faded lippie, stray hairs, falling straps etc.
That brings me to my last point, make sure your photos are edited before you leave, this wasn't done for us - what you see above is Aishlings editing of the photos, she had to photoshop out sockets, bleeding & faded lippie, tray hairs, straps, tears in the background etc. I did contact Bella and they are sending me another disk with the properly edited version so no problem there, just annoying that they didn't do it initally. Airbrushing is supposed to be included so make sure that is done.
Bottom line, would I recommend this - Yes! It is expensive so it's a real treat and possibly something you'll only ever do once. If you check out http://www.bellamakeover.ie/ and Bella on Facebook you'll see the kind of photos they take and all the relevant details.
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below,
