Re: Bridal Make up by Ziba Beauty
I live in LA, and Ziba's makeup in real life on real life brides is NOT GOOD. It usually looks very light and homemade, and it washes out in the pictures. The worst part is that they charge an arm and a leg for it, especially if you want them to come to your place. Quite a few of my Indian friends have gone there for their makeup, and it didn't look special at all. I only know of one Pakistani bride who used them, and EVERYONE was disappointed with her makuep. The smart Pakistani girls use a couple of private desi makeup artists in our area (who come to your hotel or home), while the dumb ones go to MAC.
Ziba is great for other beauty services and mehndi, but not bridal makeup. The only good thing about their bridal makeup is their use of cute little crystal tattoos and colored "mehndi" on the backs of the bride (if she's wearing a low cut choli). Honestly, their best job was 15 years ago. A rich Sikh bride got married and they gave her a traditional makeup job; for years, she was prominently placed in their portfolio. (Her wedding was featured in the LA Times because it was so unusual back then for people to have a full Indian wedding, complete with the groom on a horse, bride in a doli, jhoola at the mehndi, etc.)
As far as NYC goes, there's a small, simple, no-frills salon called Raheela's in Midwood Brooklyn, on Coney Island Ave, next to all the other Pakistani shops. Don't be fooled by the decor of the place. It's not nice, I know, but she does GREAT bridal makeup, as if you are in Lahore. She's extremely reasonable in her prices, and she's very popular. A lot of times, she'll get 3 or 4 brides in a day. It's worth checking out her pictures. So many times I would go to the salon for threading, and she'd be getting a bride ready. All of them looked amazing in real life, and they looked very nice in their pictures as well.