Afterglow Studios is a Metro Vancouver-based company that specializes in makeup and hair artistry for brides and their bridal parties. They are a full team of mobile makeup and hair artists who are keen on enhancing every client's natural beauty and features to create a makeup look that will look stunning in photos. You will leave with a pleasurable experience, that perfect afterglow that represents what this business is all about!
Experience
Neetu Sahota is the owner and lead makeup and hair at this company. She graduated at the top of her class from the famed Blanche MacDonald Center with a Global Make-up Artistry Diploma. With more than 5 years of experience in the industry, Neetu will treat your face like an artist treats a blank canvas. She has a team of 5 artists which are fully certified with diplomas in each of their areas of expertise.
Services offered
Afterglow Studios offers soon-to-be-married couples the following services for their wedding day:
Western bridal makeup and hair
Indian bridal makeup and hair
Men's makeup and grooming
Airbrushing
Other services
Among the other services she offers, you can find:
I will start off saying that the hairs were ON POINT. The make up was good, other than my make up rubbing off on my husband and groomsmen shortly after the ceremony, though this could have been due in part to me crying. The make up kit that was left to make adjustments to the make up did not work well as I'd like it to, but this was not a huge deal to me. Unfortunately, what was a huge deal was the poor customer service the following day when I received my revised invoice.
I contracted an extra service last minute on the day of the wedding, which was agreed to by both parties. I was aware that there would be additional expenses accordingly. However, I found out when I received the revised invoice the next day that I was charged a "late fee" because our start time was at 11:30 AM, and we weren't ready for make up until 12:05 PM - though the room for make up was readily accessible right on time.
The artists were scheduled from 11:15 AM to 3:00 PM (according to the schedule e-mailed to me previously) and they were done at 2:40 PM -- 20 minutes early, not late.
When I followed up with the owner regarding the invoice, it became clear that communication, and expectations for communication regarding the provision of service, was an issue. I was advised one of the artists availability had changed, and required her to leave at leaving at 2:30 PM, as opposed to 3:00 PM on the only schedule e-mailed to me prior to the wedding. Due to the artist leaving at 2:40 PM, she was late for her next appointment. While this was unfortunate, the artist did leave prior to the last agreed upon time in the schedule e-mailed to me.
Apparently an updated calendar invite was sent to me, but not by e-mail, so I never saw it and was not aware of the adjusted schedule. No effort was made to confirm that I was aware of the revised schedule sent to me the day before my wedding, or even whether that worked for my schedule on my wedding day. It was just assumed that I would have been aware of the changes and would adjust my schedule and time accordingly.
When I followed up with the owner, she proceeded to blame me for not seeing the invite, instead of owning and taking responsibility for not communicating her desire to adjust the schedule to meet the needs of one of her artists. I found the tone of the e-mails exchanged by the owner to be slightly obnoxious, and she even mentioned "their lawyers" at one point, which seemed quite passive aggressive to me and over the top, all over a $25 late fee that could have been avoided with simply better communication.
At the end of the day, we were scheduled for 4 hours, for 5 make ups and 2 hairs; and in less than 4 hours they rendered 5 make ups, 3 hairs, accounted for the 30 minutes we didn't show and still, the owner found it was necessary to charge me a late fee. If there is one thing I learned after working years with customers, is that discounts and attitude do not fix much. An apology most times goes A LONG WAY.
Businesses stand out because of the quality of their services AND customer service. I would not recommend Afterglow Studios to anyone. There are lots of good artists out there, so going through this hassle is not worth it, despite the quality of their service.
Sent on 05/09/2018
Vanessa Correa
· Married on 18/05/2019
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Great overall
I loved my makeup and hair I got so many compliments, I never got a trial and it turned out beautifully
Sent on 29/05/2019
Afterglow Studios's reply:
Thank you so much for your kind words, Vanessa! You were amazing to work with and a stunning bride. It was a pleasure bringing your wedding vision to life, you are the perfect canvas for so many looks and your trust in us made your look effortless. Thank you.
Rachel
· Married on 11/05/2019
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Made me a beautiful bride
Neetu and Afterglow Studios did my wedding hair and make up this past May. I had an absolute blast getting to know Neetu during our trial, it was so relaxed and professional. The day of my wedding she did my hair/make up and also my mother's. My mom doesn't wear make up on a day to day basis, but Neetu made her look so natural and beautiful. She turned me into a beautiful bride, i'm not sure what kind of magic she did with my hair but the volume was incredible. My make up was natural and it lasted all day through the laughing and crying. Highly recommend!
Sent on 09/06/2019
Afterglow Studios's reply:
Thank you so much for your wonderful review. You are one of the best brides I have had the chance to work with this year and I am blessed that you selected my company for your big day. You make my job so easy and fun! Thank you 🙏
Diala El-Zammar
· Married on 18/08/2018
4.6
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
4.0
Value:
4.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Loved my hair and make-up!!
I highly recommend Neetu and her team for make-up and hair. I received lots of compliments on my hair and make-up. Neetu is very talented and honest in the recommendations that will work. I had a trial where she spent about 3 hours doing my hair and make-up and was flexible in making changes that I wanted on the day of the wedding. My make-up and hair were gorgeous and I still looked like myself which was important to me. Neetu was fantastic and did a great job working with extensions that I bought. She curled my extensions ahead of the wedding day so we can stay on timeline on the wedding day.
Neetu and her team also did the hair and make-up for my mom and three bridesmaids. They all loved their hair/make-up and received a ton of compliments. We received schedules for our hair and make-up and the team was punctual and on track.
One thing that I would have liked is to have more lipstick and gloss in the Emergency kit.
Thank you Neetu and the Afterglow Team for all of your hard work and your amazing talent.
Sent on 10/09/2018
Afterglow Studios's reply:
Thank you for taking the time to write us a review Diala! You were such an amazing bride to work with and truly so beautiful inside and out so my job was such a breeze. It was a pleasure to work with everyone in your booking and you.
We will definitely be considering your feedback regarding the touch-up kit. We are already looking into options to provided a full size lip product that would be within the pricing of the current touch-up kit or offering a touch-up kit at a higher price point that gives brides the option to select a full size lip product. We hope to have this established by the new year. We appreciate your feedback and are aways looking for ways to better our service. We also would like to apologize that you did not feel the touch-up kit you recieved at your wedding was at the value you thought it should be and have been issued a refund for the $25 value of the touch-up kit.
Please feel free to contact us at any point if you feel there is anything we can assist you with and thank you again for putting your trust in Afterglow Studios.
Paula Hlavacek
· Getting married on 05/10/2025
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Rating Neetu 5-stars all around was super easy for me. I've worked with Neetu over a dozen times and I'm always looking forward to seeing her next. She is defiantly my go to makeup artist because not only she's very bubbly and sweet, she's punctual! It's so important to me that my MUA is on time and she has never let me down! Also her kit/products look clean and smell nice, hygiene is a must. I never have to worry when she is in control of my face and hair cause she knows what shes doing! Neetu has done several of my photo shoot makeup as well as my grad makeup and hair.
Sent on 24/06/2016
Afterglow Studios's reply:
Thank you Paula for your words! Its always a pleasure to work with you whether it be graduation, phootshoot or publicity it's always a blast. Thank you for choosing me to be your go to artist ☺
