Never having had a make over, I thought this might be a fun thing to do on a girls vacation in the Big Apple. Where to go, what to expect, so many questions. None of us normally use a lot of cosmetics so we don;t want anything outrageous or that will break the bank. Any advice would be appreciated.

If you're talking about makeup, Sephora does makeovers for FREE. Any cosmetic counter at a dept. store will also do a makeover, but they only use their own products and it's assumed you will purchase x amount of product in kind.

For hair, the Arojo salon is what's used for "What not to Wear".
http://nymag.com/listings/beauty/arrojo-studio/

There are a lot of spas and specialty salons that will do makeovers - but they're not cheap.

What are you considering - complete hair redo (cut and color), professional make-up and spa services? For that you're talking minimum several hundred dollars.

If you want something more moderate go to the department store make-up counters - but depending on the store (and the cosmetic company) plan on spending a minimum of $75 or up on products (at least $200 for more upscale brands).

My daughter went to the Bliss salon in Midtown East:
http://www.blissworld.com/category/s...ns/bliss+49.do
She was very pleased with the results.

sorry for the double post, but for some reason the first one didn;t appear until after I posted the second time. I;m thinking of a dept. store type make over and was wondering how much they expected you to buy.

My daughter does this more than I do. We had our makeup done in Austin, TX at a Nordstrom a year ago. I think I spent $40.- with my daughter spending more (maybe $60.-).

Go see Lola at Paul Labrecque Salon on the East Side. She's amazing. They use a lot of Nars and Cle de Peu cosmetics. Not a lot of pressure to buy, either, but you may want to since she does such a great job. Sephora is good for products but I always feel the people there don't have a good idea of what's "best" for my skin and/or specific thing I'm looking for.

I just had one yesterday in LA (Glendale actually) at Nordstroms...at the Este Lauder counter...the cost was to buy any 3 products you wanted. Of course, the produts are not cheap but it was worth it to get a "new look". I spent about $160 and bought 3 products and a very nice travel bag (red and blue). I thought the rep. did a very good job.
Shadow

How much you have to spend depends on the prices of the items from that company. If they do a complete redo they typically expect you to buy at least 3 items - usually at least one skin product and a couple of cosmetics. If you want to gauge the cost go to the company web site and see what the prices of the items are - you're not going to find Clinique anything for $25.

Clinique foundations run $19.50 to $22.50. Add a lipstick at $14.-, you are around $35.- or just over. A 3rd item such as a Mascara at $14.- puts you around $50.-.

And a good friend who does this for a living at Dillard's, tells me that $20 is a standard tip to the person who does it. She often gets much larger tips from regulars.

Are you set on doing the whole "makeover" thing?

For me, some kind of nice spa treatment would be a lot less stressful (pedicure, massage, facial, etc.) and possibly less traumatic depending on the outcome of the make-up session -lol!