About this vendor
My name is Shelby McElroy. I am a graduate of Westmore Academy of Cosmetics Arts in Burbank,CA. I participated and completed advance training in makeup for motion pictures and television. By participating in this course I learned the dimension of color and harmonies.. putting the “ART” into makeup artist. 480 hours later I acquired essential skills of beauty and glamour for print, runway, and video in both color and black and white mediums required in the fashion and photography industry.
My career started after returning to San Diego in 2009 when I started at MAC Cosmetics in Nordstrom. After building up my skills and clientele I decided it was time to start my own freelance business. I broke into the wedding industry and fell in love with everything about it. There is nothing more speci
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Beauty
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- Makeup Artists
Reviews
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5
out of 5.011 reviews
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Shelby is insanely talented and made me feel like a goddess on my wedding day. On top of her amazing skills, she has a great personality that makes you feel so comfortable. I wish ...
I could’ve worn this makeup for the rest of my life!
Shelby is a m a z i n g. She did my bridal makeup for my wedding this past summer and hiring her was the best decision I could have made.
My makeup and my bridemaid's makeup last...
ed flawlessly *all day*. Our pictures are stunning and I've never felt so beautiful in my entire life. Words can't express how much it meant knowing that my makeup wasn't melting off, and gave me an incredible amount of confidence throughout the 12+ hour wedding day.
I also highly recommend getting a makeup trial. Yes, you have to pay for it, but it's 1000% worth it, especially once you see how skilled she is. She truly cares about bridal makeup and it shows.
Shelby was an absolute professional and punctual, and very communicative. I would recommend her in a heartbeat to anyone getting married.
Shelby is an actual wedding day makeup goddess!!! I don't even know where to start with this review because it's difficult to put into words just how amazing and incredibly talente...
d she is.
When I was planning for my original wedding for 10/10/20, I reached out to Shelby (WELL in advance) but sadly she was already booked. Fast forward to peak covid, we made the decision to postpone the wedding to 10/23/21 and the only vendor that wasn't able to accommodate our new date was the MUA I previously hired. I immediately reached out to Shelby for the 2nd time, hopeful that she'd be available for the new date, and she was! I knew it was meant to be so I hired her on the spot before doing my trial. I was an out of town bride so we ended up doing a trial a few months later when I was visiting for the weekend and she made all of my wedding makeup dreams come true. I'm a makeup lover and wanted FULL GLAM for the big day and Shelby delivered 1000%! On top of her extremely talented makeup skills, she is incredibly sweet, has the best energy/so fun to be with and we hit it off instantly. I even decided to do a 2nd trial/glam sesh when I was in town again a couple months before the wedding, just because!
Shelby recently opened up her own makeup glam bar/studio Toniq, and we decided to use the studio to get ready on wedding day. It was literally a dream! Toniq is THE most fabulous studio ever and I still can't even believe we had such an amazing location to get ready. We had 9 girls total for both makeup & hair and more than enough space for all of us to glam, and set up breakfast and drinks. Shelby is incredibly accommodating - provided ice, drink coolers, and even surprised us all with babe rosè (which of course we had to use in our getting ready photoshoot)! When we arrived, she already had the music playing and the mood was set for the best glam day ever. Again, it was literally a dream! If you are getting married in San Diego and have the option to get ready at Toniq, I absolutely recommend it. Our getting ready photos are better than I ever imagined and look like they belong in a bridal magazine!
Shelby - thank you for everything! Postponing our wedding was challenging, but I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I'll be forever thankful & grateful to have had you as our MUA. There are simply not enough words to express my gratitude, but I'm so happy I had the chance to work with you and now have so many amazing photos and videos to relive all of the best moments getting glammed with my girls for the big day. These memories will last a lifetime and you truly made me feel like the most beautiful bride (not to mention, my makeup lasted ALL day & night - through A LOT of tears, and endless dancing)! My entire bridal party felt the same about their makeup and we all just love and adore you!
If you need your hair and makeup done hire Shelby! She was able to work with me considering how late I booked her. I booked her for my wedding and she did amazing! I had a hair/mak...
e up trial with her and she great! She was not afraid of feedback as well! She made me so comfortable to be honest in any changes I wanted. On my wedding day she helped me feel so relaxed when doing my hair and make up. She's super chill and easy to talk to. She also helped to do my mom and sister's hair and make up, she did amazing. Look no further and book shelby !
Booking Shelby was one of the very first thing I did when planning my wedding and I am so so so happy I did! I hate to admit it but I was a little intimidated by Shelby before meet...
ing her just because she is super glam and I wasn't sure we would have much in common. But I quickly discovered that she is a super sweet, down to Earth, girls' girl whom I felt immediately comfortable with! From the first moments of my trial I knew that she was someone I would love to have in my bridal suite on my big day.
Shelby did my make up for the initial trial, my engagement shoot and then my wedding. The process was super fun and collaborative. Shelby is a great listener and awesome at pinpointing exactly what you like, don't like, aren't sure about, etc. and then executing.
As I already mentioned briefly, Shelby is a true girls' girl and was such a fun addition to the bridal suite. It's so important to have the right people around you on that day and Shelby's energy was such a fun and positive addition!
Shelby made me look and feel like a million bucks and I know my bridesmaids all felt the same! Everyone was glowing and looked incredible! Our make up remained stunning til the party ended at 1 AM and probably would have looked amazing even the next day had I not washed my face.
Shelby's assistant Heather also did such a beautiful job on all 3 moms in the wedding which was the one thing I was concerned about since they were all of different ages and mature skin can look cakey with too much make up. Heather didn't weigh down their skin at all, they all looked glowy and beautiful!
Shelby is super responsive and professional. She answered all my random questions as I texted her in the months leading up to the wedding and never made me feel like a nuisance. She is truly a joy to work with.
I have never felt so glamorous, sexy, confident as I did on my wedding day and I owe a lot of that to Shelby!
Shelby was great! She is very talented at make-up and made me feel so beautiful on my wedding day! After the trial, I had a few notes for things that I wanted done differently, an...
d she was more than happy to adjust them and do my makeup (and my bridesmaids' makeup) exactly as I had imagined. My makeup stayed on all night long!
Do yourself a favor and BOOK NOW. Shelby is extremely talented and will make all your glam dreams come true. I’ve worked with several makeup artists for years and no one compares t...
o the work Shelby produces. What sets Shelby apart is she will truly have you looking like the BEST version of yourself you’ve ever (I mean ever) seen. She enhances your own beauty in a way that will have you feeling so confident and staring at your reflection in the mirror. As soon as I got engaged I knew I would not walk down the aisle without Shelby doing my makeup for my big day - I would have changed my desired date to ensure she was the one glamming me for my wedding day. (she’s that good) She’s all about you, she listens to your wants and works her magic. After she completed my makeup on the day of the wedding my 9 year old son (who never shows emotion- I must note) had eyes full of tears the moment he laid eyes on me - that’s the type impact she makes. She’s the sweetest, has the best personality and will make you feel so comfortable; not to mention organized, reliable and always arrives early. Her work speaks for herself, however she is the total package! The best decision you can make for yourself is to book her - trust me you’ll thank me later. Thank you Shelby for always exceeding my expectations, and making me feel the most beautiful version of myself. Your talent is unreal, I’m forever grateful to have worked with you and can’t wait to work with you over and over again for many years to come.
Shelby and I have known each other for a few years now and I consider her a dear friend. When my husband and I first got engaged, I knew that I had to lock her down and book her fo...
r my wedding! For any brides that have tried, she books up so quickly! It’s easy to see why she’s so in demand – she is a talented artist with a beautiful personality. She made all of my family and friends feel at ease and comfortable getting ready and pampered before our wedding. She’s fun, energetic and calming all at the same time. My bridesmaids and family looked gorgeous, and I can’t stop looking at photos of myself from the wedding! I must add that she was also a guest at the wedding and she kept powder and lipstick in her purse so she could continuously touch me up the whole night. She’s fantastic, accommodating and created a perfect environment for our big day.
Shelby was amazing! Since our initial trial almost a year before the wedding she was punctual, professional, clean and an awesome energy to have around. Her work is flawless! My...
pictures came out looking amazing and my makeup lasted into the next day. I almost didn't want to take it off it was so perfect! The morning of my wedding she showed up on time, set up and had my sister and I ready and looking GLAM way within the window we had discussed so I was able to take a breather, put on my dress and get my bearings before heading to the chapel. In addition she talked to me the whole time and got my mind off the stress of the day, and trust me, you need that on your wedding day! I've used her for another event prior to my wedding and she was phenom for that too. She will be my makeup artist for life! As the matter of fact, the rest of my wedding party chose to go another route make up wise and the whole time they said they wished they had spent the few extra bucks and booked Shelby instead and I couldn't agree more! Tip, book her ASAP, she fills up quick! Do a trial for sure but don't wait to do a trial before booking her. You'll be sold!
Shelby is AMAZING! She is so professional, responsive, fun, and has an awesome energy! She came to my house early to set up so we could start on time! She did 7 girls make up and I...
asked if she could squeeze one more in and she made the time to do that which was so helpful. She really transformed us all. Everyone looked so beautiful! Everyone was in love with their looks. She has every eyelash you could ever imagine. She knew exactly what everyone wanted, and did my make up so perfect. She is also AMAZING with eyebrows! We couldnt believe it. Getting ready was so fun and all of us want to use her again. By the end of my wedding my face looked exactly the same! She is the best!
Shelby did an AMAZING job doing my makeup for both engagement and wedding. For the engagement photos she came to my house and dealt with my puppy jumping all over here in the mill...
ion degree heat of the summer and my makeup still came out flawless. On my wedding day I felt as though I was being pulled in a million stressful directions (make sure you have a good wedding planner!) and she was a super calming force to be around. Not only did my makeup make me feel beautiful and bridal, but all my bridesmaids looked just as gorgeous! Do yourself a favor and hire Shelby for your next event.
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San Diego, CA
Makeup by Shelby