Summer 2019

59 Mar19486 Picture Perfect Hair and Make-Up for the Most Special of Days Belles and Brides, based in Auckland, Hamilton, and Tauranga, are experts in bridal hair and makeup. Working alongside brides to create a truly high-end, personalised service, they have swiftly become one of the region’s undisputed experts, with an ever-growing client base. Following their success in LUXlife’s 2019 Ones to Watch in the Wedding Industry programme, as ‘Auckland’s Most Outstanding Bridal Beauty Team’, we spoke with Belles and Brides’ Levarna Wolland to find out more. Wedding days are one of the most special in a person’s lifetime, the result of months of hard work and preparation. Every detail is planned, the smallest of choices debated and checked meticulously. So, it is no surprise then, that hiring an expert to provide a bride’s hair and makeup is seen as, simply, a necessity to make sure that the bride is looking picture perfect on the big day. Even in this ‘DIY’ age, with YouTube becoming a key tool for those that want to do their own hair and makeup, experts are still in high demand, their skills, experience and talent far outpacing alternatives. For Levarna, the key to success has been in going above and beyond for clients that choose Belles and Brides. “We aim to give our clients more than just the basic wedding day hair and makeup service. Additionally, we like to provide additional support and information along the way, both before and after the wedding day. More than that, we understand that a bride’s wedding day is one of, if not the, most important days of her life, and we will do everything in our power to ensure our part in that day is of the highest standard.” In the greater events industry, it is important to ensure that high- standards are kept at all times, across all levels of the business. After all, consistency is a quick way to build a dedicated client base. For Levarna, these high-standards are maintained through frequent staff training: “We provide our staff with ongoing support and regular training, and we ensure all staff use the same high-quality product range so that we keep standards and results at the same level. Of course, we always allow room for artist creativity and client personal preference. On top of that, we request feedback from all of our brides, to recognise our strengths and any weaknesses in our performance and/or service level and make adjustments accordingly. In this way, we always ensure that we are the best we can possibly be.” Here, Levarna takes a moment to discuss the greater trends in the industry, and how they are impacting her work and business. Chief among them, as briefly aforementioned, is the rise of social media- based tutorial videos. “The influx of YouTube and Social Media Beauty Bloggers has seen an insurgence of DIY brides and bridesmaids, training themselves on how to do their wedding makeup. As a result, it has become an important goal for us to emphasise the skill of our artists in their ability to do makeup and hair that lasts all day, with styles that photograph beautifully in all lighting situations- something that these tutorials are not teaching. Also, the wedding day is about the total experience, so it is so much nicer to have a professional take care of the bride on her big day.” Levarna continues, discussing the latest fashions in bridal makeup and hair. “Trends will always come and go in the makeup and hair industries, but we let our brides choose the looks they require, with guidance from us. At the moment, we are seeing a lot of soft, romantic and almost 'messy' hair - gone are the days of highly structured and 'placed' up- dos. Makeup is all about flawless skin, highlighting and contouring, and perfect brows, but achieved in a more subtle and understated way to remain timeless.” In her closing comments, Levarna sheds some light on the future of Belles and Brides as they look to solidify their expansion into new areas. “We have recently embarked on offering hair and makeup training courses which have been very successful to date and are completely booking up! We would like to further expand this area of the business and we are really enjoy sharing our knowledge and skills with up and coming artists, and current artists wanting to expand or hone their skill sets.” Name: Levarna Wolland Address: Unit 4, 1130 Victoria Street, Hamilton, 3200, Waikato, New Zealand Website: www.bellesandbrides.co.nz Telephone: +64 2267 17588