Hair & Makeup Artist - Ashley Berglund
- Business: Style Me PDX
- Location: Gresham, Oregon OR
- Experience: 6 years
- Profile: Style Me PDX
- Website: www.stylemepdx.com
1. Introduction: What's your story?
Hi, my name is Ashley Berglund, proud owner and lead stylist of Style Me PDX in Portland, Oregon.
Ever since I was a little ballerina at 4 years old, hair and makeup has always been a part of my life. When it came to my dance career and performing on stage and for competitions, we always had to have enough makeup on to showcase your facial expressions and hair that had to be hair sprayed to the high heavens so it didn't move while you performed. My mother was a very big influence when it came to hair and makeup because during my high school dance team days she was called the "Hair Goddess," everyone wanted to get their hair done by her every single competition. I was always one to help with makeup application for dance team girls because I know how much was needed to be applied for perfect performer application.
I originally went to college at Western Oregon University and graduated in 2011 with my bachelors in Criminal Justice, with a human biology minor. I wanted to become a police officer and then become a detective one day and do some good for the community!
Even with my degree it was a struggle to become a police officer and after 5 years of not being able to get the job I thought I wanted, I took a year off to really think about what would be the best career path I could take that I knew I could succeed in while I worked my minimum wage job at a bikini coffee stand.
I still always had a passion for makeup and hair and missed being able to perform again. After meeting my husband Jared Berglund, he was the one who encouraged me to really dig deep down inside of me and do what was going to make me happy in the long life ahead for a career.
It was then I made the choice to work my tail off at my coffee job, and go to Beauty school (Beau Monde Academy of Cosmetology) and earn my license to become the stylist you see today!
I am an Independent Contractor and have my licenses in both Hair Design and Esthetics. My services include hair cuts and coloring, eye lash extensions, full body waxing, and makeup application. Of course my specialty service is Bridal Hair and Makeup Styling!
One of my favorite things when it comes to my brides for their special day is also being able to help prepare them for their special day! We are not just hair and makeup, we want our brides to not only look their best, but FEEL their very best! My team also offers an amazing nail tech who specializes in bridal nail styles and does hair extensions and an amazing airbrush tan artist to help give girls that beautiful bronze glow to their skin that looks even more amazing with their wedding dress!
It's been amazing as an owner of a small bridal business to grow in this industry in the Great Northwest. I have loved learning about each and every bride that has chosen our team for their special day because every bride is unique to us! I value continuing my education because hair and makeup has changed so much in style over so many decades and has only continued to grow more in popularity with new trends every year! It is our job as specialist to continue learning and keeping up with all makeup trends, especially when it comes to bridal styling.
If your looking for a Stylist who truly specializes in bridal and dedicates their heart to helping their brides achieve the look of their dreams on such an important and special day, I am the stylist for you!
2. What's your experience as a bridal hair & makeup artist? How many brides are in there in your portfolio?
I personally have been doing Bridal hair and makeup professionally for over 6 years now.
I started very young with hair and makeup when I was a ballerina. When I became a teenager in high school I was on a competitive dance team and hair and makeup always had to be done at every competition. I always helped with makeup and my mother always did the hair for all the girls on the team. I was also very artistic when it came to a brush, so my mother put me in oil painting classes when I was in 5th grade as well because I worked so well with a paint brush and color and a steady hand.
What really encouraged me to pursue my dreams was my husband Jared Berglund (Pure Vision Entertainment, DJ services and more). He wanted me to be happy and do what I truly felt I was going to succeed in and make a name for myself. I always knew I was artistic, and knew I needed to do something in the arts to keep me happy and thriving because art is so unique and always changing. Who knew that those oil painting classes would have paid off in the long run.
Fall 2015 was when I started beauty school at Beau Monde Academy of Cosmetology and I graduated in full cosmetology in January 2017.
Over the past 6 years I have grown not only as an independent stylists since the beginning, but my team since then. I personally do at least 50 weddings every year and have been able to do even more with additional stylists on my team.
3. What are the different packages that you offer and which one is your most popular package?
When it comes to ALL our services, it's not just hair and makeup that we offer for bridal clients. I am what you would call a full service stylist, If you want your brows waxed before your big day, or even decided to get lash extensions instead of strip lashes for your makeup, that is what I am here for! We like to help brides prep for their special day.
I offer 2 main Bridal Packages:
---Classic Bride Package---
Hair and makeup - Comes with trial and strip lashes to complete the brides makeup look.
---Blushing Bride Package---
Hair and makeup - Comes with trial and strip lashes to complete the brides makeup look
Waxing: Brow, Lip, and Underarm
Air Brush tan
Our most popular package is our Blushing Bride package because you get the bronze skin against a beautiful wedding dress, brows shaped perfectly and flawless makeup application. It's the package the preps you perfectly before wedding day!
Most brides always choose both hair and makeup option together when booking our services.
We also allow brides to add on waxes to their packages when we do our contracts with them.
Brides can add any waxing service, eye lash extensions, and airbrush tan services.
4. Do you have a team of assistants or will you be the only artist that day? What will happen if you're sick or have an emergency on the wedding day?
I do have a team of amazing stylists to help style when it comes to large bridal parties.
Depending on the bridal party size and how many services are needing to be done in the time our bride allocates us, will determine how many stylists the Lead will need for the day.
We also determine how many extra stylists would be needed when we receive the looks for each bridesmaid and the bride. Glamour makeup looks will take longer time to do, where as natural makeup will take less time to do. Bridesmaids and brides who choose hair styles with curls that are down do's, or half up-half down do's and have thin or short hair wont take as much time as girls with thicker and longer hair with up do's or unique hairstyles. We have a system that has worked well for my team and I to coordinate accordingly so then we never go over out time that our bride gives up.
We also like to give brides our most realistic outcome when it comes to styles, and time completion, and how many extra stylists will be needed. Our goal as a team is to make our brides stress-LESS when it comes to this particular vendor service.
I have Myself and 2 other very established and amazing lead stylists on the Style Me PDX team that are able to also do your special day if I am unavailable or already reserved with another bride.
I understand that wedding days are of the most importance to our brides. If a stylists is ever sick or has an emergency that prevents the Lead from doing the Bride/bridal party, we always make sure we have someone on call in case something terrible happens to the Lead of the wedding.
5. Do you charge a travel fee? For what distance? What does that cover?
All stylists are proper licensed with their freelance licenses to be able to travel and do services outside their designated salons/studios.
I do not charge for travel if the location our stylists need to travel to is within 1 hour of the salon we are located at in the PDX area.
Outside the 1st hour we charge $35/h. If our stylists have to drive in the morning (when services usually start for our team) and it is over 2.5 hours away we do ask the bride to understand we do not like our stylists having to drive at 3:00 or 4:00 am in the morning to start at 7 am. It is very dangerous hours and times for our ladies to drive to be able to get to location, so lodging prices would be involved and talked about with our brides. We want our stylists with a good nights rest so they have the energy to execute your big day and that they are also safe.
For destination weddings the same policies apply for lodging as well as extra travel costs that are discussed with the bride!
6. Can the bride book a wedding makeup trial appointment and will you also do a trial before the wedding?
Yes!
In fact when you book your wedding with us and have a contract with our Stylist for your big day, all bridal packages come with a trial included!
Bridal hair and makeup trials usually take 3 hours.
Bridal Hair only/ makeup only trials usually are 2 hours.
It is an additional cost to do a trial outside of a written contract.
7. What beauty products do you use and would you be open to the bride using her own make-up?
Our products are all professional based products and not drug store brand products.
When it comes to makeup we do like to use higher end makeup brands because we know the brands do as they say they are going to do and deliver high quality coverage.
Our Favorite brands: Anastasia Beverly Hills, Morphe, Tarte Cosmetics, Smashbox, Urban Decay, Colour Pop, Estee Lauder, KKW, MAC Cosmetics, and more.
Hair Brands - Big Sexy hair, Kenra, Tigi, Bed Head, Pravana, Joico, Formula 18, Enjoy, Goldwell, KMS.
We do not like to use our brides makeup as we do not guarantee we can deliver the same results with what they use for their face as we want to achieve for her wedding day with the products we know and can rely on to achieve that look for her. If a bride has specific brands she HAS TO USE because of certain allergy issues or skin sensitivities, we talk with the bride about this at her discretion and decide what will be the best decision to take for her.
8. How can you make the bride's wedding makeup last and look good in photos?
Simple... Prime the face, add proper application, waterproof what needs water proofing, and properly setting the look.
We are educated in school on basic make up application, but it is up to our amazing stylists to continue their education and advance their artistry when they have graduated.
Just like when you paint the wall of your home, you need to prime the skin to fill in any holes and divots, this will help create a better and smoother surface for the foundation to stay on and create a smoother application. After concealer, highlight and contour we set the skin with the powders needed to set the wet makeup that was just applied.
Water proofing, especially around the eye area is the most important thing to makeup and bridal. It is a very emotional day for everyone including the bride, and we need to make sure the products we use will never, EVER run when tears of joy start to form. We always make sure we have water proof eye liners and mascara at all times in our makeup kits.
And finally, setting the brides face with the right setting spray for her look. Spraying a setting spray is the final step in completing the brides look and ensuring that her makeup will not move at all the entire day or night.
I have actually had brides message me the next morning saying they slept in the makeup and it didn't move at all. Although I do not encourage or condone any bride to sleep in their makeup after their wedding as it is not good for your skin, it is also nice to hear their makeup stayed perfect for a full 24 hours :)
9. How long will makeup take on the day and how long will you be staying for on the day?
After trials are done with our brides we normally will have a better game plan as to how long their style will take.
Hair and Makeup (Depending on the looks each bride decided on) I usually will take about 2-2.5 hours to make sure our bride is perfect with her hair and makeup.
If a Bride is doing only 1 service - our time can take 1-1.5 hours to complete perfectly.
We will make sure the bride and all her bridesmaids are perfected before the Lead stylist and her other stylists leave. If a Bride would like us to stay for extra time there is an additional cost that is discussed with the bride.
10. What is your cancellation and/or refund policy?
Our cancellation policy is after 7 days you decided to go with another stylists instead of us the retainer is refunded back to the bride.
I do mark all brides wedding dates off from the salon on all books, so no clients or other bridal inquiries are able to take your special day away from you! We do have a bride lay a retainer down to save her date and that is how you reserve the day with our team. If you cancel your wedding after the contract is signed by both parties for any reason and time has past, the retainer is non-refundable.
Large bridal parties that may need up to 2 other stylists, with the lead, also have to block off dates on their books respectfully and have to turn away clients and other inquiries of their own too. That is why when dates are blocked on stylists books or multiple stylists books it is non-refundable.
If an emergency happens on the day of the wedding and the Lead is not able to make it, we always will try to make sure a on-call stylist is able to make it to you! If no one is able to replace the lead stylist, the bride is fully refunded her money back.
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