Hmm, I'm also a graduated bride from The Aisle bridal (got married in Nov 2016 but never got down to writing a review because I'm too darn lazy
)
I just wanted to give the other side of the story about Jin Yan. She was my MUA too and I think she was the best thing out of all my wedding vendors. I agree that she's a wizard with hairstyles. She is extremely talented and her attention to detail is so meticulous that she even dyed and highlighted my hair extensions in the exact shades as my own hair. So my hairstyle turned out completely natural and everyone was amazed by how great my hair looked. I have very fine baby hair, so that really was a godsend for me.
Her makeup style is very natural, but I found that she really played up my features. It was subtle, but whatever she did enhanced my features in a way that I just looked like the best version of myself. She has extremely gentle hands, and I think the eye makeup she did on me was just stunning. I honestly never thought my eyes could look so good. She doesn't apply the false eye lashes in one complete strip; instead, she cuts them up and positions them very carefully so that they look naturally thick and lush rather than "wayang" as some other MUA have made me look (I had a honeymoon shoot in America and the MUA was rubbish compared to Jin Yan). I really had no complaints at all regarding either my hair or makeup for the trial make up session, my wedding photoshoot and AD, so I'm really surprised that
sjynwxyc had such a bad experience.
I also found Jin Yan to be very pleasant to work with. She was always very attentive, and pays very close attention to all of my feedback. She was also not pushy about the ampoules at all, and told me that if I had my own, she would use that instead of hers. I was too lazy to source down my own so I just went with hers. I went to her to dye my hair before my AD and brought my husband along. She gave him like the best haircut that he has ever had, and charged less than $25 for his cut. So really, she's not a mercenary or "money-grabbing" MUA like some others might be. I found her to be very honest and sincere. I had her along for my outdoor photoshoot and she was so caring and sweet. She kept touching up my make up whenever there was any down time and produced a whole pack of both dry and wet tissues for me and my husband to freshen up. She also took many "behind the scenes" pictures for us without me even knowing, so it was such a pleasant surprise when she sent them over to me.
With regards to
sjynwxyc's unpleasant experiences; I feel like maybe there could have some miscommunication? Did you say anything when she pulled her trolley into your house? I'm sure that if you had told her from the start that the floor was clean, she would have immediately lifted her bag, no questions asked. Sometimes people overlook these things, but I don't think it was deliberate. If you had asked her to, and she refused to do anything, that would be a different story and I would be personally shocked. Because that would be very out of character for her.
One thing that I also have to say is that "lazy" is the last word I would use to describe her. She is
such a perfectionist. If she didn't do something (like apply falsies / mascara to your lower lashes), I'm sure it's because she thought that would enhance your look. But I'm just curious - did you not feedback about wanting her to do work on your lower lashes? You must have had a trial make up session with her, as well as the photo shoot day. So if you really wanted her to work on your lashes, you could have mentioned it to her during one of those sessions before your AD. Regardless of what she thought, I'm sure she would have done it because she would still ultimately have to adhere to your requests. For eg, she kept wanting to do a low bun hairstyle for my AD and although I have to admit that the one she did for my photoshoot was lovely, my husband prefers me with my hair down so I insisted that I didn't want the low bun for my march-in. She followed my request to a T without arguing. I also requested that she did my eyebrows differently, which she also did. And then I realized her version made me look much better so I told her to redo it her way anyway and she did so with no complaints at all.
As for removing your eye make up and eyelashes before your banquet - I'm a little curious. Wouldn't you have wanted to look as fresh as possible for your banquet? I thought it was the norm because I couldn't imagine not washing the make up off my face after my own morning session. I took a full shower at the hotel in between and it was so nice to be able to take a nap sans make up in between my morning session and the dinner banquet. Although it did incur an additional ampoule and lashes cost, I think it was more than worth the money to have everything as fresh and perfect for my first march-in. And maybe that was the way she felt. Honestly, I don't think she profits that much from ampoules / eyelashes anyway.
Also, when she insisted on coming earlier, I *really* don't think it was because she was lazy and wanted to go home early. I've always believed that it's better to err on the side of caution when it comes to the timeline on your actual day. It's better to get your make up and hair done earlier and have time to take some pretty photos with your bridesmaids rather than to schedule everything later and have to rush to make it in time. In my case, I insisted that she come 3 hours before my solemnization because I knew how much of a perfectionist she was. She didn't complain at all, and came an hour earlier than the time she suggested. Which was actually good, because I had a bit of a logistical situation to deal with and the fact that the time allocated for make up was so comfortable, it wasn't too stressful. I can't imagine how stressed I would have been if that happened and the time allocated for makeup was tight. Also, I had booked her for a second look for my second march-in; so if she was a lazy person at all, I'm sure that she would rather have arrived later so that she wouldn't have to linger so long. I had her from 3pm to 8.30pm (she stayed till 8.45pm to take some pictures with me after my second march-in) - and there were no complaints from her. She seemed genuinely happy to be there and I never felt like she was rushing to be somewhere else.
I'm not discounting sjynwxyc's feedback about Jin Yan. Like I said, that experience was yours and I'm sure your unhappiness was valid. I just felt a need to post because my own personal experience with Jin Yan was so different that I couldn't let that be the only recent review about her. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better MUA.