Hello! I am back for a review today. So sorry for being MIA the last few months but it has been absolute insanity with the house move, doing renovations, dealing with contractors, and then still wedding planning. Of course the world loves to throw curveballs at you, and the apartment I still own and am renting out had a pipe burst in the hallway right in front of my unit, which severely damaged the inside of my unit. The condo’s general insurance doesn’t cover things like upgraded flooring inside a unit, so I have to get my own insurance to pay for it, which has been another huge pain, not to mention very costly out of pocket due to the extent of the damage. It’s just been a ton of ups and downs lately.
Anyways, I am back with a wedding-related makeup post! Specifically, I am featuring a local Greater Vancouver-based hair and makeup company who recently did my engagement shoot with me. I really wanted to write this review of Paragon Makeup because I am incredibly thankful to Meagan, the owner. Due to forecasted rain (thanks Vancouver!), our engagement shoot ended up getting rescheduled just a few days before the shoot to a date that was earlier than the original date. With only two days to the new shoot date, my original hair and makeup artist wasn’t available at such short notice, so I reached out to Meagan. Not only was Meagan incredibly responsive and super accommodating despite the short notice, she did an amazing job on my makeup and hair.
Hair
I sent Meagan a photo of the hair I wanted (braided side crown with the rest of it down in soft curls), and she gave me exactly what I was looking for. I have dry ends so she used hair oil on it before curling, which made it look super soft and luscious. I’m writing this the next day and the curls and braid are still in-tact. My fiance usually isn’t a fan of super elaborate looks but even he really loved my hair. He said he was watching our photographer take portrait photos of me and said I looked amazing.
What sent her and what i got (she asked if I wanted the braid to start right at my hairline and I said no):
Makeup
I rarely get my makeup done by professionals but since I’m pretty good at doing my own makeup (and makeup for friends), I can confidently say that Meagan’s technique is incredible. I basically told her that I wanted to look like a polished version of myself, and that’s exactly what she delivered. I’m usually wary about using professional makeup artists because in my past experience, they tend to go a bit overboard with makeup, but I didn’t want that at all for my engagement shoot. Meagan made me skin look smooth and glowy, with my redness and discolouration covered, but my freckles still peeking through so that it still looks like real skin. This was exactly what I got in the end.
I have hooded eyelids, and the makeup artists I’ve encountered in the past have been confused about what to do with them. If you apply too little eye makeup, it disappears under the hood, if you apply too much, then it looks like I got punched in the eye. Meagan did a fantastic job with my hooded eyelids, with just the right amount of eyeshadow, which resulted in my eyes looking bigger and brighter.
Last but not least… eyebrows! I’m obsessed with a fluffy but natural brow look. I really don’t like that Instagram painted brow. Meagan used a liquid brow pen (if you’ve never tried this, I high recommend you get one, MAC and Stila both sell them) to draw on individual brows to give me that fluffy but still natural brow look. Meagan used the MAC one and I’m obsessed.
In terms of other products, my foundation was FaceATELIER, a Canadian pro makeup brand. Meagan also used Too Faced, MAC, and other pro products on me. The false lashes were by KISS (which you already know I love).
The only thing that came up that wasn’t as smooth as it could have been, was that Meagan went a bit over time in terms of what we had budgeted for. We had anticipated spending 1.5 hours on hair and makeup but it ended up taking a little less than 2 hours. I did build in about 30 minutes of buffer time in between the hair and makeup and the time we needed to leave for our photos, so it worked out really well. A tip to future brides is to definitely leave buffer time in between each event (if possible) so that you won’t go over time.
Why you should hire her
In addition to being such a gifted artist, the reason why you should hire Meagan is because she owns her own beauty truck. Yes, you read that right, a beauty truck! Think food truck but instead of serving food, you get a beautifully decorated space to relax with your friends and get your hair and makeup done at the same time. The interior is super cute, with lots of beauty lights, comfortable seating, and if you’re lucky, you might even encounter her chihuahua Louie.
Meagan said she came up with this concept because a lot of people now opt to do elopements, or have their wedding closer to nature, and there are a lack of facilities where the bride and her girls can get ready in when you are not in the city. Because of this, Meagan launched this one-of-a-kind beauty truck so that she can take her studio with her to wherever you are, and you are guaranteed to get a gorgeous look that suits all kinds of settings.
In addition to doing wedding or engagement makeup, Meagan also specializes in boudoir shoots and editorial shoots. You can check out her Instagram here.
You can book Meagan at Paragon Makeup via this link. She can also visit her studio at:
Paragon Makeup
17 Creekstone Pl
Port Moody, BC Canada
hello@paragonmakeup.com
(604) 839-4770
Not only was I super happy with the hair and makeup, I am incredibly thankful that Meagan made the time to come and help me in a crunch. It was super last minute but she made it work. Thank you Meagan for being there for me and helping me in a pinch. At the end of the evening, I didn’t want to wash my face off because I loved that makeup so much. Unfortunately a few months before this, I had already paid a nonrefundable deposit for a hair and makeup artist for my wedding, otherwise I would absolutely hire Meagan to work on my big day.
We just did the shoot very recently but once I get the engagement photos back, I will be sure to share those as well so you can see Meagan’s work shot by a professional photographer!
Thank you to Paragon Makeup for offering the complimentary service, even on such short notice. All opinions are my own, as usual.
*Maddy Loves 