In this episode we chat with Allie from The Beautiful Life hair and makeup company. The Beautiful Life was established in 2016 by founder Allie Mae Perkins offering makeup application and wardrobe styling services to local women. Over time, The Beautiful Life has expanded into a Beauty Squad, featuring a team of professional, talented, and highly creative makeup artists and hairstylists who travel throughout California and beyond.
Listen and subscribe on YouTube and Apple Podcasts!
Watch the episode here!
Evermoore Wedding Vendor Show where we chat with local wedding vendors in Central California about how they help couples getting married. This show is designed for engaged couples and for our fellow wedding vendors to learn about and from each other. Browse over 1000 wedding vendors on our Central California vendor directory. This show is brought to you by Evermoore Films, Kern County’s leading wedding videography company. If you’re looking for a local wedding videographer in Central California check out Evermoore Films.
Transcript:
Ep 6 – Discover The Look That Suits You Best – The Beautiful Life – Hair & Makeup
Allie: Because sometimes our battle as makeup artists is the skin that we’re working with, you know, we can put all this on But if your skin is flaky because it’s so dry We can only do so much and so I always tell people a good skincare regimen before your wedding day and clean hair not dirty hair is two of the most important things that we tell, right?
Josh: Welcome to the Evermoore wedding vendor show where we chat with local wedding vendors I’m josh from Evermoore films the host of the Evermoore wedding vendor show Also The home of the Evermoore Wedding Vendor Directory, where we have over a thousand local wedding vendors listed in the central California area.
Let’s get into today’s show. Today we are here with Allie from Beautiful life Nation, and she is a hair and makeup artist, a whole company of hair and makeup artists. So she’s going to tell us a little bit about that. She’s part of our Wedding Vendor Directory. We’ve worked with Allie a lot over the years.
She’s fantastic at what she does. So we had her on the podcast to tell her a little bit about herself and her business. Allie, how are you doing?
Allie: I am doing wonderful. I’m doing great. Thank you for this opportunity. Yeah.
Josh: Well, tell us a little bit about yourself and your business and what you do for people.
Allie: Yeah. So you know, I’m a, I’m a local born and raised in Bakersfield, California. I moved away for a few years in the great world of. A city of Los Angeles. I was in the fashion industry. So that is something that is still, still, still, still near and dear to my heart. And I came back to Bakersfield about 12 years ago when I had my daughter, my precious baby girl who was the light of my life.
And about eight years ago I started my own company the beautiful life makeup and hair company. And I absolutely love what we get to do. I’m, I’m a wife, I’m a mother one baby girl. And so What we, how I got started was it was just myself. I was a solo makeup artist and at that time I was doing wardrobe styling pulling in some of my fashion from LA.
And then I quickly realized that Bakersfield’s not the hot commodity for luxury personal styling services. People are like, so you want me to pay you to go shopping for me? Like, I don’t know how I feel about that. So I, I, I loved it. It was so much fun. I had some great clients, but I was like, I got to rethink this a little bit.
And then I ended up hiring or bringing on a hairstylist friend that I was working with at a bridal show. Years ago and because people kept asking me, okay, you do makeup, but do you do hair? And then eight years later, we have literally grown into a full pledge. Makeup and hair company with over, you know, 24, 25 makeup artists, freelance makeup artists and hairstylists that work for the company.
Yeah. And it’s amazing. We go everywhere. We travel throughout California. So for, for brides, anyone that’s, you know, watching this and they’re wondering like, well, do they travel? Where will they go? We literally go everywhere. And so we are located here in the heart of downtown Bakersfield. We have beautiful views and our clients when they come to our studio, I get to sit in our studio and, and look at these amazing views and we just, we have a really good time here at the beautiful life and what we’re doing.
It’s all about good vibes, good energy and helping our clients look good, feel good, and simply be good for their special day.
Josh: That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Well, I know we’ve worked with you guys and your whole team a lot over the years and you guys always do fantastic work. You bring the fun. You bring the joy.
Allie: that’s great, especially the fun, you know you know, I’m sure of a Bryson watching this and. And, you know, weddings can be very stressful. And so at the beautiful life, we do pride ourselves on we’re, we’re, we’re there at the beginning. We’re the first group of people to be with a bride and her family and her friends on their big day.
So we really do set the tone for how the energy flows that day. So it is important to come in with positive energy, good times. I mean, just make sure that by the time you get there with all the photography and video footage, that everyone’s in good spirits and just ready to have like the best time of their life.
Josh: Totally. So, well, okay. And this is just a funny thing. Cause I know from working with you guys, you guys actually you stay on time and we’re talking hair and makeup, right? You stay on time. And, and, and when we go, Hey, Ali, you know how long is it going to be till hair and makeup is done?
You’re like, Oh, it’ll be, you know, 40 minutes or whatever. And like, and it is 40 minutes or you’re early, you know? Yes. I, I can remember you’ve been doing this for a long time back in the day. You know, doing this hair and makeup, they were always running late. They were always late to arrive. They were always late to finish.
And we were like, come on, waiting on hair and makeup. Like just back in the day, that was a thing. But you know, with, with your company, like that doesn’t happen. So that, that’s, that’s fantastic.
Allie: Oh, thank you. Thank you. No that means a lot. Definitely to me. And we have gotten that from multiple vendors over the years.
They’re just like, wow. Like, when we work with you guys, you guys show up on time. Everyone is professional. And. That you guys are neat. You guys are clean. And so that really does make a difference. That makes me very happy to hear. So we pride ourselves on trying to provide the best customer service that we can to, to all clients and working with our vendors, you know, it’s important because it’s a collaboration really at the end of the day, you know, we’re, we’re just a small part.
Of a big day. And so being on time is helping us help you and the event planner and everyone else that’s associated with the wedding day to make sure that that bride’s day goes as smooth as possible. So, you know, we work together. We’re all a team for those days.
Josh: Yes, for sure. So, so I know you said you’ve been doing this for about eight years.
How did you get started in makeup?
Allie: Oh my gosh. So I actually started and this might be aging me just a little bit, but I got started back in 2005 doing makeup for Estee Lauder, actually in Fresno, California, and Then I was going to be leaving to LA to go to design school. And I told the company I was going to be leaving.
And they were like, no, you’re not leaving us. You’re going to do special, you’re going to do special events, makeup, which was, you know, Estee Lauder and other companies, they might host a fashion show or they might host an event, sponsor something. And so that was amazing because I said, wait, I get to do makeup without having to like.
Sell products. Hello, this is genius. And so that’s kind of how I got started. And then professionally, I would say I put it down just for a few years. But I lived in LA and I had a lot of friends who were always in the industry going to red carpet events. So they would come to me and say, I need my makeup done.
I need you to style me. I need, I need to look good. And so that was me. And that was my thing. I’m like, I’m here to make you look good. Yeah. And and then about eight years ago. How I started the company with doing makeup is I was sitting at the table with my now husband and I was just thinking, what do I want to do?
You know, what do I want to do? I was working at wonderful company, a great company as a corporate recruiter. And you know, the, the, with, with the economy, you know, my job was eliminated and I was like, man, what am I going to do next? And my husband says, you’re really good at makeup. You’re always teaching people how to do makeup.
Why don’t you start a makeup company or start doing makeup? It wasn’t even a makeup company at that point. It was like literally just me, like just me. And I said, I think you’re onto something. And so it, like I said, it has progressed, but I just always love makeup. I love beauty. I have always loved fashion.
I’ve always been a believer that look good, feel good, be good. And so if you look good, you feel good, you feel good, you feel good, you look good, and they work hand in hand. And so that’s what we pride ourselves on. It’s not just about helping our clients look good, but we really do put the emphasis on, you know, feeling good and how do you feel about yourself?
Because that comes out as well. So yeah, probably a long story about that, but that’s how I got into makeup and how I have continued on this makeup journey over these years since 2005.
Josh: Well, that, that, that is fun. Yes. So, I mean, as we kind of transitioned just to talking about your company, what you guys do now what sets you guys apart what, what tell us about kind of what’s unique about you, your, your style, your approach to weddings, how you handle this and what makes you different.
Allie: Yeah, so I would say one of the biggest things that is the difference between us and other other companies is one We’re an actual company. We are a full, you know, pledge makeup and hair company I don’t think we are the largest glam team in Central California, and you know, we’re not a salon So I like to tell people that you know, we’re not a salon.
We don’t color. We don’t die We are literally there for your special occasion Wedding, quinceanera, maternity photoshoots, like anything that’s a big deal to you is a big deal to us. And we also have a booking coordinator that works with our company. And so when you inquire online, you know, we actually have a process.
It’s not a, Oh, let me send a text message to someone and wait for them to get back to us. It is, you know, we have a legit website where you go on a contact page, you submit an inquiry, like you will receive a whole. Brochure, I don’t even call it a brochure. We call it our smart guide that tells you about our company.
It tells you about our booking process. It tells you about our pricing. It just encompasses all this information that I don’t think you necessarily will get. With booking just a regular person, like someone who’s like, okay, I do makeup. And then we work on your timelines, like through the whole process that our brides are with us from the inquiry stage to the end, they can call us and say, Hey, I have a question and get someone, they can send us a message and know that within a short time, they’re going to get a response.
And I always say like customer service is huge for us. Even through COVID, we have never counseled an event like we are a professional legit company. Like when you hire us, you know that you are literally getting someone that’s going to show up. You’re going to get someone that’s going to be there on time.
We’re going to get you done. And that says a lot because we do get a lot of clients that call and they get ghosted by their makeup artists. They get ghosted by their hairstylist. Someone will get a. Another wedding. That’s more people in the council on them. Like, no, when you book us, we have your, your back and life does happen.
So with us having such a large team, if someone has COVID, if someone gets sick, if someone’s, you know, child is, has a fever in the middle of the night, you know, we have those resources to say SOS mayday mayday. We need someone to step in. Right. And Make it happen. And that’s not something that everyone has access to.
It’s just they are a solo act. They, they do make up and if they can’t do it, then they have to call the client and say, I’m not available. Sorry, and here you don’t do that. And so we, we work with their vendors to, you know, we work with the event planner to get information. We create those timelines. We work with you on knowing.
What is your bridal party wants? You know, what are they looking for? What do they feel comfortable with? So it’s, it’s a whole experience really at the end of the day. And that’s, I think that’s what sets us apart. It’s a professional company with professional team members that are delivering professional quality services at all times.
Josh: Yeah, that is awesome. And it’s funny hearing you explain that. It’s like, yeah, that’s totally like the difference between Evermoore and a lot of other videographers in town. You know, it’s like, there’s plenty of people that can do a great job making a video, but one of the things that sets Evermoore apart is it’s not just me.
You know, there’s a whole team. There’s a team of videographers. There’s a team of editors. You know, we’ve got admin people like we have, you know, a team and we make it happen. And even if I get sick or if something happens, it’s like, there’s, there’s backup plans and there’s other people we can call, you know, even beyond just the core team, you know?
So it’s like, yeah, there’s a, there’s a whole company there.
Allie: And that’s important because it’s, it’s a wedding day. It’s, it’s, it’s, you know, you can’t just reschedule someone’s wedding day. And so to just have that That reassurance and that confidence that when I book someone, they’re not going to flake on me.
And they’re going to understand me, you know this isn’t a Mac and, and this is no, no diss to Mac at all because, you know, we love Mac. But you know, sometimes people go in and one thing that we’ve gotten a lot is people, our clients are thankful that we listen to them. We ask them questions. We’re understanding.
What do you like? What do you not like? What do you feel comfortable with? During the trial runs? It’s not well, let me. Like, let me make you look the way I want you to look. That’s not our end result. We want you to look the way you want to look, the way you envision. And if you can’t envision that, we are there to help guide you through that process.
And so at the end of the day, it’s about the client and not about, Oh, well, I’m such a great makeup artist. I’m going to make them look like a Kim Kardashian because guess what? Not everyone, not everyone wants to look like a Kim Kardashian. Like we get so many clients who are like, I don’t wear makeup all the time.
And I want to look beautiful, but I still want to look like me. And that is probably the most beautiful thing a client can say is because not everyone wants to look like someone else, someone different on the wedding day. And I think that’s one of the areas that we specialize in is helping our clients just elevate their beauty without making them transform to someone else that they’re not.
Josh: Yeah, that is fantastic. And it actually leads into my next question, which is tell us a little bit about the styles of work that you do as relates to hair and makeup and what sorts of things you do and can do and have done and and all.
Allie: Yes. So we literally do everything. We have team members That everyone’s very diverse in their skill sets, but we have some team members that are like, I mean, they can do that highlight.
They can make you if you want to look like a Kim Kardashian. That’s their area of expertise. If you have that mom and our moms are big, they’re huge to us. We love we love when we get to glam moms up because they don’t always take care of themselves all the time. It’s always about their daughter and their big day.
So when they feel good on the day, it just elevates everything. But they don’t always want it. The whole look like their, their bride, their, their, their daughter, they’re like, I don’t want all this contour. And so we have clients who are very good at giving that soft, natural look that just, like I said, just enhances that natural beauty and not making you look like someone else that you’re not.
And so because we have such a large team, our, our style varies. And so what we do, even in the booking process, We get pictures of the client. We get pictures of their inspiration pictures so that even before we ever meet. We understand. Okay. What do they want? What are they going for? So that we can pair the best stylist with that individual client.
So that’s why the booking through the online, the contact page and people want to send some sometimes send a message and say, Hey, I want to book. And it’s like, okay, we need you to go to the contact page because there’s steps that we take to ensure Okay. That we’re the right fit, make sure that we can provide the right group of team members that are best suited for you and all that good stuff.
So yeah, we are, we are, we are all over the board when it comes to our style, we can pre, there is nothing and. That we have come across that someone has not been able to do yet. And so that’s the great thing about this, this company and this team.
Josh: That is awesome. It’s fantastic to have a team that’s so well rounded.
Allie: Yes, it is. It is a blessing for sure.
Josh: Right. So we’ll go ahead and take a quick break here. And when we come back, we’ll hear some fun stories from Allie’s career.
Allie: Ooh, yes. Fun stories!
Josh: Alright, we’ll be right back.
Ad: Amplify your business with Story King Studios. We’re not just another video production company.
We are your strategic storytelling partners. We understand the challenges of connecting with clients, employees, and customers go beyond creative visuals, crafting stories based on strategy. Our videos tell stories and drive results that move your audience to action. From small, local businesses to global players.
We’re experienced in producing tailored solutions. We collaborate with you to develop a video marketing strategy that resonates deeply with your audience and propels your brand forward. Our comprehensive video production services span a wide range, from brand storytelling to TV commercials, social media content, explainer videos, and more.
We excel in crafting customized content to fuel your business success. Elevate your brand with effective videos that inform, inspire, and influence. Action! StoryKing Studios, your partner in strategic storytelling.
Ad: If you’re planning a wedding in central California, you have to check out the Evermoore Wedding Vendor Directory.
We’ve built one of the most comprehensive directories for local wedding vendors in the central California area. You can sort by county and by category. So you can find anything from hair and makeup to cake bakers, to videographers, photographers, we have it all. Go check it out. It’s free to use for brides.
And if you’re a vendor looking to get your name in front of couples who are engaged, go get yourself listed on the Evermoore Wedding Vendor Directory. It’s free. We look forward to seeing you there at www.evermoorefilms.com. Click on the Evermoore wedding dinner directory tab on the top and check it out.
Josh: So Allie, what stories fun stories, memorable moments you have from your career?
Allie: Oh my gosh. So we, we have I have a few, but there’s, there’s oh my God, that’s such a great question. There’s one, but I think I might save that towards for another moment. There you go. Yeah, but I have some really great stories of just, we were in actually, you know, we were doing a wedding and all the family was coming in to Bakersfield for the wedding.
It was like a destination wedding. Okay. And I was like, destination wedding in Bakersfield. Okay. But so everyone had their hotels and everyone was flying in and they had got this suite and there was a mother and a mother in law who, I mean, they cooked, they were like, The over the top and I loved everything about them and I walked into this room and it looked like a buffet of like Everything like I I was just like how many people are here?
This is a lot of food And then they’re like, Oh, and then in two hours, we’re going to clean this up. And then the lunch is going to come in. I mean, they were cooking. What are the dishes called? I can’t remember what the eggs and it’s like, they put the whole thing. It’s like the egg, the meat, the vegetables.
There’s it’s, it’s called something. Oh my God. It’s leaving my mind. But it was so insane. I left that wedding with three bags of food. Wow. From the wedding. Like, they were like, we can’t take it on a plane with us. Take all this with you. I had, I had like, I mean, from food, food to snacks to drinks, I mean, and they were like piling me up and they were trying to give me more.
And I just was like, did I just go grocery shopping at this wedding? Like it was so classic. But I just remember they were such a great group of people. But I had never seen anything like that. I walked in, I mean, like every part was filled with like danishes and this had like this and this had like, they have their own like coffee curing and Express.
So machine, like it was the next level. And I was just like, is this the wedding itself? Because this is enough food to feed the whole wedding party. And that was just part of the party. And the mom, the bride was like, my mother in law does everything over the top. And so I loved it. Cause I came home with food for a whole week and it was fantastic.
Josh: Oh, that is fun. That is fun. So you’ve probably picked up a couple of tips. For, for brides as they’re looking for a hair and makeup artist you mind sharing a tip or two for brides?
Allie: Yes. So definitely some tips and it’s something that we get all the time. And I just want to debunk the myth that dirty hair is in.
Dirty hair is out, ladies. We like to style clean hair. And so it is best to wash your hair the night before or the morning of. You always want to make sure that it’s dry. On arrival that is important because sometimes we get clients where they just wash it and it’s still wet. And that takes time, you know, so we have to think about what the timeline we’re creating a timeline based off of styling the hair not having to blow dry.
But let’s just debunk that altogether ladies dirty hair is out clean hair is in. Yes, please. And really big with skincare as well is skincare is half the battle. When it comes to makeup, you know, sometimes people come in and they have these looks in mind and they want this glowy do we look but they have oily skin and it’s like, well, we can’t do it.
Do we look if you have oily skin? Because now you’re just gonna look extremely oily. So just having that, that understanding of kind of what’s realistic. And that’s, that’s the part that we come in because we want to make sure that You get the look that’s going to suit you the best. And so we have, sometimes clients will come in and their skin is extremely dehydrated.
And they’re like, Oh my God, my skin is so, so dry. And it’s this and it comes in and it’s like, it’s not about it being dry. It’s just that your skin is dehydrated and that’s. What’s so important about doing a trial run and we tell brides all the time, they will say, Oh, we love your work. We’ve seen it.
It looks great. I don’t need a trial run. Yes, you do. You need to have a trial run because this is how we get to learn your skin. We get to learn your hair. A bride might want to do like glam waves and they have all these layers and all these things going on in your hair. And it’s like, ah, that makes it a little bit more difficult.
But we recommend recommend for brides to get it. Facials done if at least one, if they can before their wedding day. We do have a makeup artist who is an esthetician on the team. And so we do send a lot of clients over to her before their wedding day, because you have to have a good foundation.
You have to have a good start to the skin. If we’re putting foundation on you and your skin’s dehydrated, it’s just going to suck all the foundation from your face. And then they wonder why, Oh my God, I put makeup on and two hours later, it’s gone. Well, that is why. And that’s information that we’re able to provide during the trial run.
But skincare is the most crucial thing to makeup. We can put makeup on and we can make you look great. But if your skincare regimen, It’s not on point. Even if it’s just for a few months before the wedding day. Like sometimes people are like, I don’t even wash my face in the shower. That’s great. Well, no, that’s not great.
That’s, that’s not great. But for at least two months before your wedding day, let’s have a skincare routine where you’re washing your face, you’re moisturizing your face and you at least get a facial so that you set yourself up and your makeup artists up to have the best success with your skin. Because sometimes our battle as makeup artists is the skin that we’re working with, you know, we can put all this on, but if your skin is flaky because it’s so dry, we can only do so much.
And so I always tell people a good skincare regimen before your wedding day and clean hair, not dirty hair. Is two of the most important things that we tell brides preparing for their wedding days, for sure, that that was a fantastic hair off. Do not chop your hair off. Do not do any drastic. Do not do any drastic cuts to your hair without your hairstylist knowing.
Please let us know if you have any thoughts or ideas.
Josh: You go to the trial one way and you show up at the wedding day…
Allie: No, it happens. We’re like, Yeah, this happened here. So don’t make any dramatic changes to your hair. Or get like a chemical pill. No chemical pills the week of or the week before your wedding.
If that’s something you’re interested in, it needs to be at least a few weeks out. So you know how your skin will react to the chemical pill and have time to calm down because we’ve had that happen. Yeah, chemical pill and then their faces like Skins coming off their skins, kind of burn. And they’re like, what are we going to do?
And we’re like, our best.
Josh: Well, that, that is a fantastic tip. Thank you for sharing, Allie. If you want to take one minute as we’re closing up here and just give, give bride some ideas on how they can budget for the category of hair and makeup.
Allie: Yes budgeting for that is really important. Because it’s, it’s part of your pictures, just like your decorations, just like your dress.
Makeup and hair is, it’s all about the vibe. It’s all about putting everything together. And even for your bridal party, we get clients sometimes that, oh, if my bridal party wants to do it or if not and then you start getting those inconsistencies. You get the people that look like they have professional makeup done, and then you have the people who don’t Some people are really good at the makeup and you’re like, Oh, my God, you look great.
And you have some people who it just looks it doesn’t look cohesive in the pictures. And so it’s important to really have a good budget of at least. $2,000, honestly, between especially if you have like six people or so, that’s about an average price for the bride, for your trial. And so, and then for your bridal party you have to think about things like onsite setup fees or travel fees, if there’s things included in that.
And then, you know, we are in the service industry, so we always appreciate, you know, a tip or a little something. We do take a lot of. We do put a lot of energy and effort into making sure that the wedding days are go off without a hitch. So that is always a beautiful thing, but for like a bridal party, they can expect to spend anywhere from one 25 up to 200 based off if they’re doing traditional makeup or airbrush makeup.
We do offer airbrush makeup. And that is a bit more. And then for a bride, she can expect to spend anywhere from about 150 up to 250 for, for services if it’s traditional or airbrush. And so that’s like the trial. And then we also have the date of makeup. So for a bride, an average cost might be 350 ish.
Depending on and that includes her trial, which is about two hours and then the day of the wedding and the same thing for hair. So, our hair and makeup prices kind of coincide and then we have pricing for men. We have for, for men’s skin touch ups, for men hair you want to consider your, your flower girls and your moms and things like that.
So, it’s important to really understand who all is getting makeup done and really kind of. Plan at least, you know, like 50 for makeup 75. You can find someone that will do it for that price, but they might be an amateur. And sometimes it’s the saying you, you, you get what you pay for. So it’s, it’s so important to go for quality because it’s a big day.
It’s a big moment. You’re going to have these pictures for the rest of your life and you want to look good, feel good and just be good. Awesome. Awesome.
Josh: Yes. So Allie, if, if brides are interested how do they get in touch with you? Website, socials, et cetera.
Allie: Yes. So they go to our website, www.thebeautifullifenation.com. We have a lot of information. They’ll find tabs on the word inquire. We have gift cards. So that’s also another really fun thing that if they have family members that want to. Support their wedding day and kind of offer a little gift card to help finance what it costs for makeup and hair.
We have digital gift cards that they can purchase and they can actually look us up on Facebook or Instagram to see some of our work, additional work @thebeautifullifenation and just yeah, just The Beautiful Life Nation. So that’s instagram and facebook and then we have our website and so yeah, yeah, that’s how they can get in contact with us.
Josh: Well, thanks Allie for being on the show.
Allie: Thank you so much for having me This was a true pleasure
Josh: If you like today’s episode be sure to like comment and subscribe on apple itunes and youtube where we have the video version of the Show be sure to leave us a comment or review Let us know what you liked what you learned and until next time i’m josh from Evermoore films Be sure to tune in next week for another episode of the Evermoore Wedding Vendor Show.