The Doll Service

I chose The Doll Service for my wedding day beautification needs and they were awesome! After a prior trial, they knew exactly what I wanted and made all the appropriate suggestions when needed (ex: curling my hair a certain (i.e. REALISTIC) way to keep my veil and tiara in, advising how my makeup would look in natural vs. artificial lighting vs. night time… basically things I would NEVER think of).
On the big day, Nina used airbrush foundation on me. It was my first time using that and my makeup stayed fresh day and night! Amazeballs I say. Even despite the tears and sweat I endured! Even my lashes… which are notorious for having a mind of their own… were super comfortable and on point all night. I felt like a suuupahhh mah-​do!
They also curled my hair and braided it in such a way to integrate the handmade bead tiara and veil. It stayed in place all day… one less thing that a bride has to worry about, right?
These gals are the best to work with. So sweet, very accommodating and knowledgeable. They’re pros at what they do!

The Dets:
Nina and partner did a combo of HD makeup and airbrush for 8 women wedding day. I can honestly say that was the best we’ve all looked in our lives! When my mother saw how I looked at the makeup trial she wanted Nina to do her makeup too. The makeup lasted all day, through the 90+ degree heat, and all night dancing.
The Context:
Nina was referred by my wedding coordinator so I knew she would be a trusted partner for my wedding. What I liked most about working with her was that she was thorough in trying to understand what her bride was trying to achieve. The Doll Service was my second makeup trial and I didn’t really have an idea of how I wanted to look — other than looking good — but in going through her questionnaire I started to figure out how I wanted to look for my special day.
In reading the other reviews I did have concern about timing and if folks from her team were going to be late, or forget to show up all together, but that was all put to rest when working with my wedding coordinator.
Nina and I did have a bit of an issue with keeping the appointment time for make-​up trial, she of course was very apologetic for the delay. I didn’t sweat it though, that’s how the business goes, right. The first consultation with a makeup artist is important and I could understand why the delay. If I was the one causing the delay I would be grateful that she spent the extra time with me. Good thing I planned things with buffer time just in case — it all worked out.

I booked Nina to do hair and makeup for me and my bridesmaids and I’m so glad I did it!!! Nina and her team are very professional, talented and super easy to get along with!!! We all look amazing! When she did the trial I was so impressed, she know her stuff and what was the best products for my skin. Nina provided for my bridesmaids and me a touch up kit, which I really appreciate! My hair and makeup lasted all day and night and I simply looked flawless !!! I can wait to share my pictures with you Nina!!!
Thank you for your talent!!!

Dear Nina,
Thank you for you response while abroad. Based on your reply, I am assuming you did not receive my text which preceded this email regarding the poor service your company provided. While I can appreciate that unusual circumstances can happen, traffic on a Friday in San Diego, in the summer, is not one of them. While you say that Andrea is «sad», ask her to imagine how the client feels. This was not a timing issue, as at 12:00pm I texted you asking you if she was close by, as I expected her to be there by 12:00pm in order to prepare for a 12:15pm appointment. She did not arrive until 12:40pm and on the tight schedule for a timed event, by the time she was prepared and ready she was just on time for the second person.
Thank you for refunding my service money but I feel that this is the minimum that I would provide as the owner or expect as the consumer, considering the service was not performed at all, and created unnecessary stress for myself and my daughters. The way you have handled this, it’s as if I never ordered the service, no problem to your company. Your employee was unapologetic, rude, and took zero responsibility for being able to do my make up in the time frame allotted for me on my daughters graduation day. She actually said to me after being extremely late that I would be «required to still pay».
The refund you provided is for services not performed but it does not compensate for the fact that I had to scramble, do my make up, for which I was unprepared, and basically, «just go with it,» on what should have been a relaxing fun and special day for me and my daughters. I was looking forward to being pampered after so many days of finals, party planning, and working my own job. I was assuming that you would recognize this fact, and make amends for this. In every picture now, of which there was only one day, and now that day is gone, the services your company was to provide, to make it fun and beautiful, did not occur.
In addition, Andrea was not nice, made the event awkward, and this is despite the fact that we remained calm, respectful, and cheerful in order to insure less stress. I feel confident that your hair person, Terri, will confirm the events, and on a positive note, she was delightful, early to set up for her appointment, and thorough to ensure client satisfaction. I would re-​use her in a heartbeat.
I paid your company $ 518.00. (of which you have refunded the amount that was not performed) This is not a small amount of money. In addition, as the contract stated, «Free mini touch up kit with make up services over $ 50» (not provided) «everyone gets a $ 25.00 gift certificate» (I have receive one attached to this email) and others were not received. I certainly do not want any gratuity paid to Andrea as you have currently charged me, and I should be compensated beyond that. Andrea has had no consequences for her actions and no remorse, and neither has the company.
Someone needs to be held accountable and as the business owner, I would appreciate your support and handling of this matter. I look forward to hearing your response as I would like to be able to not only use your company again, but be able to share with my friends how you have handled this event, as many of my friends and daughters friends use make up artists in our community for a variety of events.
Thank you,
Heather Addy Crider

Had my 2^nd Brazilian wax ever. Was scared at first since my first experience was painful but Nina took care of me! She made sure I knew before and after care for down there and was super friendly and professional. I won’t see anyone else for hair removal and skin needs!

*This review is based on the business side of The Doll Service.
I got to experience the Doll Service with 3 different weddings, and the business side really needs to be looked at. While they do a great job with the actual make-​up application, the stress of dealing with them is not worth it.
Wedding #1– My sister-​in-​law used the Doll Service for her wedding July 2014. She took off of work early to get home for her trial with them, and the make-​up artist never showed. There was some sort of «miscommunication» and «this had never happened before.» While the owner was apologetic and offered to give all the ladies touch up kits the day of to make up for this… no kits were given. A few of the bridesmaids and MOB were unhappy with their hair, but the owner had to get to her next appointment so the rest of the bridesmaids (myself included) took on the job of fixing their hair.
Wedding #2– I was a bridesmaid in my friend’s November 1 wedding. Doll Service was hired for make-​up for the day of the wedding. No make-​up artist showed at the contracted time; in fact, nobody could get a hold of the make-​up artist initially including the owner. After it was a couple of hours past the time the artist should have been there, the owner FINALLY offered to come herself to do the make-​up along with another make-​up artist. Again, very apologetic and said «this has never happened before.» Hmmmm… I’m sensing a trend here.
Wedding #3– My own wedding was this past April. When I got engaged last summer (prior to the pervious weddings happening above), I immediately contact the owner to hire her team for the day of. She quote me a price… and then took a couple weeks to get the contract to me. Once she finally got around to it, the price had been upped! I understand that things happen in the business world to change pricing, but that is completely unprofessional to quote someone a price… and then change it, after you took forever to get the contract emailed to me! Fault #1, but I continued with the process. There were several times I tried emailing the service and never got a response. When I finally would get a response after trying to contact them, I would get a reply with «That’s so strange. This hasn’t happened before.» Fault #2. There were installments due every so often to pay for the services ahead of time. This was totally fine up until I started receiving very formal, almost bordering rude emails from their office claiming I hadn’t paid the latest installment. Granted, one time I did miss the payment because it just wasn’t on my calendar, but paid it immediately and apologized profusely. However, the next time I received this same email… I HAD paid the installment, and I had even emailed them to confirm they received it before the due date… to which I got a response confirming. Yet I still received an email saying that I missed the payment. By this point, I’m completely uncomfortable with moving forward with them as my day of make-​up service. On top of that, the amounts listed in the emails weren’t even correct! Again… a response of «never happened before» was given. How can someone run a business that is SO completely unorganized and unprofessional?! I finally formally requested to be let out of my contract for the above mentioned reasons. While Nina, the owner, was kind enough to let me out of my contract, she waited until the very last moment to actually give me the refund… which happened to be at the November 1 wedding… talk about unprofessional, again. It also came with a card saying «I’m sorry you won’t be working us.» You’re sorry I won’t be working with you? How about «We’re sorry for the mishaps along the way and are sad to lose your business»?! Take some responsibility.
I really hope that they can change the way they do business, and fast. This is no way to run a business, nor is it a way to get further business. Take it from me, someone who had THREE negative experiences with this service. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this make-​up service again.

I’ve had the pleasure of working on 2 photo shoots where the doll service did the styling (hair, make up, model attire). Nina and her team were on top of the game every step of the way and the photos came out beautifully! I tell the clients that I work with to make sure that the person who does their hair/​make up understands how it translates in photos. If it is too heavy, you wont look natural, you’ll look like a drag queen. If that’s what you are going for, no judgement! But most Brides I come across (I’m a wedding planner) are looking for someone to make them look and feel amazing in their photos that they will have forever! If that’s the case, pick the doll service! Not to mention, their goal is pamper you from start to finish! and what girl doesn’t want to feel pampered!

My friend contracted Nina and her team to do her wedding hair and makeup, along with the bridal party. The bride looked beautiful, and the wedding party looked great!
From Nina’s team, I was assigned to Erin for both hair and makeup. Erin was wonderful to work with. I’m not very picky, but my only request is that the style doesn’t make my face look rounder than it already is, unlike what other style artists have done to me in past events. I had received a lot of compliments on my hair and makeup that day, and cannot thank Erin enough for the beautiful work she did on me.
I look forward to contracting Nina for future events. =D

Nina and her team did hair and make-​up for a stylized session that I put together. She was wonderful and ended up being one of the few that I could rely on for the session. I highly recommend her services. She’s talented, sweet, and driven.

Nina is awesome!!! She did my hair and make-​up for engagement shoot last May and it was amazing. The make-​up she used on me didn’t feel heavy at all, more like I was wearing nothing. She is very accommodating and friendly too. We had an early morning shoot but that wasn’t a problem, she was at my house at 2:45am and started her magic right away. :) I love how she’s extremely organized from timelines to pricing breakdown!!! We got our engagement photos and they were gorgeous. Thanks NINA! Can’t wait for the big day!!!

Nina did my hair and makeup for my wedding and she did an excellent job! I felt so pretty! She also did hair and makeup for one of my bridesmaids and makeup for my mom and they also looked very pretty! She is such a sweet person, too.
Even when she finished early, Nina was there for me until the very end for last minute touches like my veil and touch-​ups after crying. I didn’t know I was going to cry before I even left the room and I got worried that I had already ruined my make-​up. Nina to the rescue! She was there help calm me down and told me what I can do so I don’t try to ruin my make-​up.
I definitely recommend her for hair and/​or make-​up. I will be using her again if I need hair and/​or make-​up done for a special occassion.

I recently had the pleasure of working with Nina from The Doll Service on a styled shoot. She was awesome! She definitely pulled off the hair style we were going for and did it with such professionalism and with a great attitude. Not only did she create beautiful hair she stuck around during the shoot to make sure that not a hair strayed out of place during the shoot. I would definitely recommend her and The Doll Service for your hair and makeup needs!

I had a privileged to work with Nina on a styled shoot in San Diego. I loved how natural she made my model look with her make up skills. I hate when models look like cake faces with tons of make up and there is why I would highly recommend Nina as she knows how to use list make up to bring up best futures and hide imperfections!
I loved working with her– she is fast, friendly and very kind person!

What can I say?! Nina has been doing my hair and makeup for the past 6 years and she really wonderful at what she does. Above all, she is really easy going, listens to her clients’ needs and makes them feel and look awesome! She is not just an awesome and talented professional, she is a beautiful person inside and out and I am very happy to have her as a friend. Highly recommend her services to anyone, anywhere! :-)

Hi everyone,
I have had the pleasure work with Nina when I was doing my maternity photo shoot. It was very important for me so I decide to choose the best and no regrets, I’m glad I went with her. Nina is very professional, friendly, passionate about her work and has great artistic skills and excellent taste. She is also did my hair and I like it a lot. She makes me look and feel good! Highly recommend her services to anyone.
Lina

Nina is a doll! My wedding was last weekend and she was by far the easiest vendor to work with (other then a family member who did all of the girls’ hair and who already knew us). She was contracted to do rehearsal dinner make up on Friday and wedding make up Saturday. Friday night consisted of the bride (me), the MOH, Mother of the Bride, and GRANDMOTHER of the bide (who is one touch cookie). Nine was on time, asked for the room number well in advance and was all set up and ready to go by the time I sat down in her chair.
Everyone looked amazing. I loved my dramatic, airbrushed makeup for the dinner and my grandfather though my grandma went to get a face lift! True talent can please a 27 year old bride and an 85 year old grandmother in the same sitting.
The day of the wedding was nothing but professionalism. Nina chose a quiet spot in the bathroom of the bridal suite where it was well lit and quite. She kept everyone on schedule and completed make up for 7 people total of all different ages. She even covered a gnarly bruise on the arm of one of my bridesmaids that no longer showed up in pictures. My mother, who did a lot personally for the wedding, was thrilled with the calming experience and being able to sit down for a minute to get pampered. Her make up held up perfectly while she continued to run around completing last minute details in the unseasonable humidity!
I was a bit worried at the beginning of the process since the communication was sparse but I guess not a lot of detail is needed when you know what you are doing. I will submit my pro pics to her website and you can all see the great job she did!
I look forward to using Nina for my next event or maternity pic!

I was recently on a commercial Editorial Shoot in San Diego, California. I am a commercial lifestyle/​editorial/​wedding photographer based in New Jersey… Needless to say, a good make up artist is hard to find, let alone, a great one!
Nina was absolutely amazing to work with! she was both professional and fun and wanted the project to turn out as amazing as I did. I recommend her wholeheartedly to anyone looking to book her. You will not be disappointed, and next time I fly out there, I will definitely use her again!

I’ve worked with Nina on a photo shoot and have nothing but great things to say about her and her work. She was punctual, professional and very friendly. She did such a wonderful job on our model’s makeup and hair. She will always be the first one I will recommend to others when asked if I know of anyone that does hair & makeup. She’s always down to do photo shoots and is always working to improve and expand her craft. I would highly recommend!

I have had the pleasure of working with Nina on a photo shoot. She was simply amazing and a true pleasure to work with. Her magic helped me achieving exactly the images I was looking for. I am looking forward to future collaborations and highly recommend her.

Nina (owner of The Doll Service) and make up artist extraordinaire is absolutely fantastic. She does make up and hair, so its one stop shopping. I’ve been lucky enough to have her do my make up and hair on two of my photoshoots.
She’s super sweet and friendly, and really tries to give you exactly what you want. She also uses airbrush, which if you’ve never had done, is seriously fantastic! Gives you that light, naked feeling but flawless looking skin.
Can’t say enough good things about her :) Book her for your wedding, your photoshoot, your special event. You won’t be disappointed.