BEAUTY LUX SALON

e required deposit, which was 50% of the total charges. In the fall of 2020, due to covid, we decided to postpone our wedding a year, with our new date set in October 2021. During this process, the on-site coordinators that we worked with at the Waikoloa Marriott Resort & Spa spoke with the salon to arrange all the changes and give them our new date. At this time, the salon told the coordinators that they would move our booking to the new date, and that they would honor our original contract and prices on the contract. Fast forward to August 2021 when I had some questions about adding on additional services to my contract, and our on-site coordinators put me in touch with Megan Ormando at the salon via email. Through email, she answered my questions and then also provided a new price sheet. This is when I was informed that the prices on the original contract that I signed in 2020, and paid a 50% deposit on, were not going to be honored. Regardless of the fact that when we postponed, Mara said that they would honor our contract. When I asked Megan why services could not be rendered under the signed and partially paid contract, she told me "Beauty Lux Weddings is an entire new business with a new owner myself as a partner. I am happy to book your wedding under our new company and send a new confirmation and contract over but you would need to pay our new pricing." Prices for services we contracted and paid on, changed significantly and had I not had questions leading up to the wedding, I can't even begin to think about what they would have done, or how they would have communicated these changes to me, if they would have communicated them at all. Due to this, I asked to cancel our services. I strongly believe in supporting local businesses in Hawaii, however I will not support a business that is unprofessional or one with shady business practices. Upon asking for my refund, I was told that I could have my refund back, less a cancellation fee and credit card process fee, even though the reason the services were being cancelled was due to Megan voiding our signed and partially paid contract. It was not until I called my credit card company to file a dispute against them, for voiding our contract and not wanting to refund me in full, that they offered to refund the full amount, including the cancellation fee and credit card processing charge. This entire experience was extremely unprofessional, frustrating, and stressful. It is shocking to see that a local business would have this poor customer service and unprofessionalism, especially in an industry and location like Hawaii, where most businesses rely on customers and positive feedback. I understand that the pandemic has been very challenging to businesses in Hawaii, especially those in the wedding industry, so in general I understand why prices might increase. What I do not understand, do not endorse, and do not appreciate as a customer, is a business who increases prices on a mutually signed and partially paid contract, and does not proactively communicate these changes to all the customers that these changes will affect. I would not recommend this salon at all. They are unprofessional, unreliable and NOT TRUSTWORTHY.

while so when I started booking for my wedding I knew I wanted to work with her and her team.

is Hawaii and it’s humid but there should be a product that prevents this or tricks they could of told us as they do this for a living or maybe the hair and makeup shouldn’t of started 7 hours before the wedding. Wish I did more research.

so lucky to have had her!

n Kona which was absolutely adorable and conveniently near our wedding venue.

p. They truly made me feel stunning on my wedding day. It was all I wanted and more. Not to mention, they were a joy to be around and we had so much fun getting ready with them. I highly recommend Mara and her team!

nce. Mara Michael was by far the BEST beauty service I could have asked for. The bride really enjoyed her trial prior to our rehearsal luau, and the bridal party LOVED the team that came over to work on them the day of our wedding - they were very impressed with how they could work so easily with such a variety of hair styles and makeup likes and dislikes. Every one of the girls felt like a beautiful part of our ceremony, just as I had hoped. Chantelle was THE BEST at answering all my questions, making sure I knew the details of everything I was planning for the bridal party, and making great recommendations. The options available for the bridal party was very impressive (they ended up getting mani’s/pedi’s done onsite as well). Our flower girl LOVED being treated like one of the girls, and for that we are truly thankful! If you are considering having the beauty team come out to where you are staying rather than going to their salon, the entire team was on time, professional and friendly, and never made anyone feel like, ‘just another customer’. THANK YOU for making my bride and her bridal party feel like the day couldn’t have been more perfect! Forever thankful – Lancelot & Britni Elarionoff

eam really cares about making you look your best and made some wonderful recommendations. As a wedding professional I wanted to work with the best and I am so pleased with her work. My mother had been only 1 week out from radiation after the discovery of a brain tumor the month of my wedding and we weren't sure how we were going to be able to style her remaining hair and her makeup. Her team went above and beyond to not only make me feel special and beautiful but also my mom. My mom was feeling very self conscious about her scars and hair loss but Mara's team made her feel comfortable and beautiful and for that I will be eternally grateful. My bridesmaids were also extremely pleased with their makeup and their curls through the reception even after surviving quite a breeze during our ceremony. I want to recommend any bride in Kona please go to Mara! You will be so happy that you did. Thank you so much for your wonderful support and flexibility. I will be forever grateful for your kindness.

adopted a whole new way of doing her makeup that suits her. Mara was very accommodating and did my makeup not only for my wedding but THREE different occasions! I probably wouldn't have forked out the dough on a makeup trial (as I already knew from pics, reviews and Instagram they were the best) but since I wanted I boudoir shoot anyway I purchased her boudoir photo shoot package that Includes hair and makeup and had her do my hair and makeup like I would for wedding... AND then I planned for my bachelorette party to be that evening too! I killed 3 birds with 1 stone! I'm glad I did the trial as for my wedding I just wanted slightly different lip colors etc that suited me more. The team at Beauty Lux Salon also managed to get me in last minute for hair and makeup to be done exactly like my wedding for an adventure photo shoot we had two days after the wedding -which I highly recommend as I was so much more relaxed and probably more beautiful than on my wedding day because I wasn't sweating and dancing, and felt great with my hair and makeup picture perfect.

with me, and we all felt very well taken care of, and beautiful! We live in GA, so we weren’t able to do a trial beforehand, but Mara still nailed it on the day of the wedding. I was also impressed at how well my hair and make-up stayed in pace throughout the night. Mara is great, and I highly recommend her and her team!

akeup and they got my vision exactly. It's so nice to be able to relax about this part when you have so much going on as a bride. I am from Colorado, so I was not able to really have a practice round, but I still felt in great hands with Mara and her team. Even in humid Hawaii, my makeup looked amazing all night.

, but Mara was in a rush in the end so we did not have much time to improve it. I came in and did a second trial one day before the wedding, although I booked the appointment, Mara was still "have-to-go", so there was still not much improvement. On the wedding day, I have to ask a friend to watch me getting the makeup, so that my friend could suggest for adjustment when necessary. So it went not so badly. I am not a beauty expert, and I dont want to put the blame on her skills. I was just disappointed that a customer does like the work she did, and was looking for ways to improve this, but Mara just did not care to fix it.

hit it out of the park the first time through, which made me feel so great looking ahead to Saturday. We went to their salon for the trial, which is conveniently located in Kailua-Kona. It was a really nice, fun atmosphere. They came to us on the day of the wedding, and got us all done with plenty of time to spare. I got SO many compliments on both my hair and make-up. I can honestly say that I have never felt more beautiful! I would recommend them in a heartbeat to anyone else.

hair is a hot mess in them and my makeup isn't bad and isn't great. Like I said --disappointing. If you book Mara, make sure you are actually getting Mara.

d girls, and I continue to see Mara as my hair stylist since I live on the island. Mahalo ladies!

to use your own makeup. We were all really happy with our hair and makeup and I definitely recommend Mara for your wedding.

happy with her and her team!

her enough!

with a much more suitable style on the day of. I was especially pleased with the makeup. I am 61 and was concerned about caking and bleeding, but everything stayed in place for the whole evening. The makeup also looks amazing in my photos. On top of her expertise, Mara is a truly nice person with a calming influence on pre ceremony jitters!

azing!!!

thought "stunning"! I also couldn't believe how beautiful my maid of honor turned out. Thank you so much Mara for making me and my sister feel so beautiful on my wedding day!

my wedding venue in Volcano, HI (for a reasonable travel fee). There was no in-person consultation because I lived in California, but she was willing to work with me and take a look at my Pinterest pages for styles I had been considering. More importantly, I appreciated her understanding and willingness to help, especially when it came to a sunburnt groom who also needed some touch-ups last-minute, and she totally came through to help us with that! She took her time and care to get me ready for my wedding day and asked me how I liked everything along the way while she was styling. I received compliments from my groom and guests all night long, due to her talented work! You won't regret booking with Mara, who's also kind and easy to get along with! :)

make up. Ages 70 to 25, it never seems that EVERYONE is happy with hair and make up but they were. Because she did such a great job on the other 3, she started on me an hour and 15 minutes late so she had to rush on my hair and make up. I was not happy with the result and we did not have the time to fix it. Better to get your make up and hair done well in advance with some time to spare.

she was very quick to respond and was very organized. She immediately sent me a price list & contract to secure my wedding date. Mara & her assistant were very prompt & friendly. They made us all feel very beautiful and listened to exactly what we wanted. Many of our guests commented in how well our hair & makeup looked. I would highly recommend Mara! I'm so glad I found Mara because she made me look absolutely beautiful on my wedding.