Rare Bird Brides

Kristen did an amazing job on my hair and makeup for my 1÷30÷2016 wedding. She also did hair and makeup for a few bridesmaids and my mom and they were all happy with their looks. Kristen is an absolute professional. She made me feel comfortable at my trial and she nailed the hairstyle I wanted on the first try. She was very responsive through email and phone calls. My mom was very concerned with her short hair and had tons of questions about her look. She called Kristen the week of and thankfully Kristen was able to put my mom at ease. She arrived promptly on the day of and even cut my bangs since I didn’t get a chance to get a trim. I appreciate that she would check on how I was feeling and made me feel amazing on my big day. I highly recommend Kristen and her team, thank you so much!

Ah! I can not say enough good things about Kristen and her crew. They did my wedding of 6 bridesmaids, MOB, and 2 flower girls. They were professional, on time, and did exactly what I asked of them. They did such a better job than I could have done myself. I found them on The Knot and they returned my email within hours and made themselves extremely available to my schedule. Thank you for helping make my special day stress free and beautiful! Kristen knows exactly what she is doing!

Kristen did my hair and make-​up for my September 12, 2015 wedding, my engagement shoot, and my boudoir shoot. She is so talented and amazing to work with. I had so many compliments on her work. I would definitely work with her in the future and recommend her!

I recently worked with Kristen from Rare Bird Brides on a wedding. I was the planner/​coordinator and from the moment of first contact Kristen was very responsive, easy to coordinate with, and detailed. The bride looked stunning… like the best version of herself. She was very happy and it has something to do with the wonderful service from Rare Birds!

Kristen did mine and my mom’s hair and makeup for my wedding day. From the start, Kristen was very responsive. She replied to my email inquiry with her rates and availability right away. I had a trial with Kristen and she listened to my vision and made subtle changes until I was totally confident with the look. I told Kristen I wanted a natural look and wanted to feel like myself. She helped me do just that! I love that Kristen does both hair and makeup. On my wedding day, Kristen was prompt, arriving early in fact. Kristen does trials from her home studio in Carlsbad, but travels to you for the day-​of. Kristen was professional but friendly and lovely to talk to while she did her work. It was raining and my wedding was outdoors. Kristen was in high spirits and very sweet reassuring me the forecast would clear up for the ceremony. (And it did!) My bridesmaid who was recently married and got ready in my suite while Kristen was at work, regretted not booking Kristen for her wedding! In the end, I loved my wedding day hair and makeup. I felt gorgeous and confident. I have very straight hair and the curls held up through the entire reception (though they did relax some as expected). And the makeup photographed beautifully! I would highly recommend Kristen!

Kristen did my hair and makeup for my October 17^th wedding. From the very beginning working with her was amazing. She was super responsive, and I felt like she really listened and understood what I wanted to look like on my big day. The trial with Kristen was amazing. I just brought some photos on my phone and she nailed it on the 1^st try.
On my wedding day she made me feel extremely beautiful, and has a calming personality that is so wonderful when there’s so much going on around you! The weather on the big day was a bit humid, so we debated doing it up instead of down — but ultimately she said she wanted me to be 100% happy with the look. I decided to keep it down, and though some curls came out, I was amazed how well it held up through the event and dancing!
I would highly recommend Kristen to any brides-​to-​be looking for a hair and makeup artist. Her prices are competitive, she’s extremely professional, and above all wildly talented.

Kristen is wonderful! I must admit, I was nervous to start over in searching for a MUA as I had already found one for my engagement pictures. The previous artist would have cut it too close for comfort with my timeline, so I searched high and low and found Kristen. Happy to say she came through 100% and I was thrilled with the final look for my Carlsbad beach wedding.
To be honest, I was so stressed with other wedding details that I completely neglected my own hair/​makeup vision and came to the trial frazzled. All I had to work from was my day-​to-​day makeup routine and a blush colored gown. I opted for pink tones. Oops! Big mistake. The look was so not me, but not for Kristen’s lack of expertise and talent. It just wasn’t my color. I loved my hair, but later decided I wanted a looser, more beach-​friendly look.
In short, I changed a lot from my trial to the big day. I wanted a second trial, but didn’t have the time or money so we exchanged ideas verbally.
Somehow I trusted everything would be flawless on my big day and it was. She completely changed my color palette to nudes and put my hair in loose curls with a simple braid. It was exactly what I didn’t know I wanted from the start.
Even when my mother-​in-​law bailed for her hair/​makeup, Kristen kept everything cool and easy, allowing my friend to step in and get done up in her place. We also opted for light makeup for my husband and – with nerves already through the roof – he kind of freaked out afterward. (Sorry, Kristen!) She was an absolute professional and offered to have him wash his face before reapplying a second time with a different shade.
You won’t regret booking your hair and makeup with Kristen. She has the talent and, above all, exudes a calming, friendly vibe. My trial lasted a couple hours if that’s any indication of her service. I never felt rushed. Check out her Instagram for recent pics! You won’t be disappointed.

Kristen is amazing. From start to finish you feel like you have a very, very, very talented friend making you glamorous for your BIG day… rather than an unknown, cold vendor. I really loved my bridal look and she accommodated my last-​minute hair change idea… and it worked out flawlessly. Love her!

I absolutely loved Kristen!
She made me feel gorgeous for my June botanic garden wedding. I was definitely not an easy bride to do hair and makeup for, primarily because I never wear makeup and wanted to look as natural as possible on my wedding day. Kristen was incredibly patient with me and even did two trials to make sure we were on the same page for the wedding. She is so calm and sweet and just has a great energy to be around– I felt comfortable immediately with her! It also helped that she plays super chill music and is fun and interesting to chat with. She’s just the type of person you immediately want to become friends with, which makes sitting in her chair for a few hours painless!
On the day of my wedding she nailed the «natural» look. I felt beautiful, and more importantly felt like I looked like myself. She used airbrushing (which I really loved) and we agreed on a few single lashes to highlight her beautiful eye makeup. Even my mother and now husband who are super-​critical of too much makeup were very complimentary of her work! She also did my hair (beach waves) which was a bit covered by my floral crown, but everything held up for the entire day and night and I was thrilled since my hair is so thin that nothing usually lasts for more than 5 minutes! I would recommend her in a heartbeat. She also did hair and makeup for about 7 women from my bridal party (including my mom and aunt) and they were very pleased and they looked great (unfortunately I don’t have any great pics to share). Her timing for everything was impeccable on the day of, especially considering she did it all herself and even squeezed in some extra makeup for my aunt!
Not to mention her prices are way more approachable for a bride on a budget than some of the other hair/​makeup vendors in the SD area– and the quality of her work is perfect.
Thank you Kristen! I finally got our wedding pictures back so that I could post a review and some pics :)

I. Love. Kristen! She made me feel beyond gorgeous on the most magical day of my life, which is enough to give any review 5+ stars. From the hair and makeup trial to the actual day, every step along the way with Kristen was wonderful. I went in not knowing what I wanted for makeup (daily makeup for me is mascara and a possible eyebrow brushing), and I let Kristen work her magic. I asked her a bazillion times about my lashes falling off, makeup sweating off, etc., etc., and she reassured me a bazillion-​and-​one times that I would be just fine. And, you know what? She was right :) I sweat, balled my eyes out, and looked just as beautiful as when she left me before my ceremony. I didn’t expect to cry so much (I started hysterically crying as soon as my dad and I linked arms to walk down the aisle), and didn’t stop for quite some time. The *only* thing that happened was that my right fake lash started to lift off, but: a) it went completely unnoticed by anyone but me; and b) it was fixed with a drop of lash glue before my post-​ceremony pictures. I was sweating beyond belief during my first dance, and my makeup and hair stayed perfectly in place.
For my hair, I went back and forth and found a style online, and it looked awesome on my perfect day. Kristen also set my birdcage veil and feather headpiece, and taught my bridesmaids how to take off the veil between ceremony and reception.
Kristen also beautified my bridesmaids and mother-​in-​law, all of whom looked amazing on such a perfect day.
I am LA-​based, but had a Carlsbad wedding, and I picked Kristen solely based off of Unilocal reviews. She is professional, punctual, thorough, an artist, and a genuinely sweet person. One of my favorite moments with Kristen was when she was doing my makeup on the day of my wedding, and she noticed I was breathing heavily. She stopped, asked me if I was okay, asked me if I needed a drink, and poured me an alcoholic beverage. Kristen, you sure do know the way to my heart :)
Whether you are down south or up north, Kristen will make you feel like a blushing bride on your special day. Really, what more could you ask for?

Kristen did the make up for all the girls in my wedding party plus my mom and mother in law and I must say, she was one of my most communicative and talented vendors.
First, I decided to do a trial with Kristen after browsing through the Knot for some suggestions. When we finished our trial, the I made a note that she followed exactly what I had described — and elegant, natural look with a little bit of color played up around my eyes and my lips.
Leading up to the big day, she made sure to touch base with me to make sure she had all the info she needed to get to the hotel we were getting ready at, which I really admired because we were running a hundred miles an hour with the wedding planning. This showed me just how organized and prepared she was.
Come the day of, her work with the other girls somewhat matched a similar style to what I had for myself, but varied depending on the girls’ skin tones, facial structure, etc. The best part was that her work was consistent. I loved my make up and thought she did a spectacular job overall :) I would recommend her to other friends who are seeking out a make up artist in the San Diego area in a heart beat.

Kristen did hair and make-​up for me, the bridesmaids, and mom’s last July. She is very easy to talk to and fun to be around :) She helped me figure out how I wanted my hair and make-​up to look, and really listened to what I wanted in a trial. We repeated that look very quickly the day of. We did airbrush make-​up and I wore flowers in my hair. My hair (and flowers) and make-​up made it through a few rounds of tears, a thunderstorm, and lively dancing! We also really liked her assistant. The bridesmaids and moms looked beautiful as well. She also has very reasonable prices.

Kristen made me look exactly how I wanted to look for my wedding! I got tons of compliments on my hair and makeup. She is excellent at her craft, plus she was fun and upbeat to get ready with! Her prices are also very reasonable. I strongly recommend hiring her for your wedding!

KRISTEN IS AWESOME! I was so skeptical when looking for someone to do my hair and makeup for my wedding because I know that some people SAY they are capable of more than they are. Kristen is all she says and MORE! I was so incredibly happy with my hair and makeup for my wedding day, I felt more beautiful than I ever have before! The airbrush was fantastic and held up to all of my tears of joy, sweaty dancing and cake smashing. I would certainly recommend Kristen to my friends, family or anyone with a special occasion. She wasn’t just on time on my day, she was early, she set-​up quick and spent a lot of time ensuring everything was perfect on my big day! She also did my Mom’s hair and makeup which also turned out stunning. I will also post photos to this page so you can see her work. :) Thanks Kristen!

I got my hair and makeup done by kristin for a maternity shoot today. I chose to go with kristin because of the wonderful Unilocal reviews. Ive never had airbrush makeup done before so this was my first time. My actual, honest rating would be 3.5 stars but i can’t give half a star (and 4 stars i feel is too much). Here’s the breakdown/​why:
1)Customer service was excellent, 5 stars for that. She was very professional and courteous. Her email communications were prompt and she was attentive to stuff i wanted tweaked with my makeup. I felt that she really wanted to make sure i was satisfied and happy with her work.
2)Makeup was okay, so-​so – 2.5−3 stars. Ive worked with two other makeup artists in the past (one for my engagement shoot who is based out of San Diego and another for my wedding who is based out of Orange County and they both do really awesome work – both have their work featured in a ton of magazines) so i have something to compare her work to. Today, i learned that There’s a difference between someone who just does makeup and an actual real makeup artist. A true makeup artist is an Actual Artist in his/​her craft. It doesn’t matter what kind of canvas the makeup artist starts off with, he/​she should be able to enhance your facial features and hide your flaws. I have naturally sparse eyebrows that aren’t the most shapely. In my opinion, a great artist should be able fill ur brows in such a way so they are shaped and defined to fit your face and accentuate your eyes. Kristin filled my eyebrows but didn’t do much for the shape. She didn’t do an incredibly horrible job on my brows, they were just mediocre, so-​so, amateur brows – i wasn’t impressed with them. I re-​did them after i left because it was just easier for me to just redo them myself (mind you, I’ve lived with having sparse unshapely eyebrows that i couldn’t grow out for the life of me all my life so I’ve become very good at doing my own brows, and get compliments on them all the time.) My other two makeup artists didn’t have this problem when they did my brows for my engagement shoot and wedding. I didn’t have to tell them to fix it or redo it, nor did i have to redo/​fix it myself. Also another thing: I’m not sure if it was because of the lack of lighting in her home in the room where i had my makeup done at, but i didn’t realize how uneven the foundation right under my eye and cheekbone was blended. It wasn’t blended very well. She uses natural lighting from a large a window. It could be because it was a cloudy day bc i didn’t notice the uneven blending when i looked at it in the mirror in her home until i got into my car and looked in the mirror when the sun actually came out. I looked like i had tan lines from wearing sunglasses. Also, my eyeshadow could’ve been blended a little better too. Im sure that if i noticed it earlier before i left and made her aware of it, she would’ve tried to fix it for me. But since i had already left, i just whipped out my own makeup brush and blended it myself so that the contrast wasn’t so noticeably blatant and did a little touchup blending on the eyeshadow. Easy fix. Again, I’m just not sure if her lack of blending was due in part bc of the fact that it was hard to see due to the lack of natural lighting bc it was cloudy at the time.
3)As for hair, i thought she did a fantastic job – 4−5 stars. Got tons of compliments on it!
So, bottom line: i would definitely recommend kristin to do ur hair. I would however, caution you on her doing ur makeup. Unless u have fair skin tone and have brows that have already been shaped to ur liking and doesn’t require her to shape them for u, i would be cautious of having her do ur makeup bc ur brows will look exactly as they are but just filled in when she’s done. So, if ur already a natural beauty, you will have no problems with her doing ur makeup.
Yes, i could’ve done my own makeup but sometimes you just want to relax and just pay someone else to do it, ya know??? Plus i wanted to try out airbrushed makeup.
All in all, i tipped her for the wonderful customer service and beautiful job she did on my hair.
Hope this review was helpful and insightful for you ladies!

I am a very selective person and I was no different when it came time to planning my wedding! I had a pinterest board for almost every facet of the big day and of course wanted everything to be perfect. I work in marketing for a well known cosmetics company so when it came time for me to find someone to do my hair and makeup for my wedding, the search was on. I met with several different artists and searched websites high and low.
I can tell you that Kristen is SO GOOD at what she does. Coming from a picky bride – you will not go wrong choosing her. She has so much integrity in her work and was one of the most professional vendors my husband and I had as part of our team. She is a good listener, offers up suggestions and feedback and is such a doll. She is very easy going, and trust me, you want someone like that by your side on your big day. Kristen is so good at what she does, and she is now my primary hair dresser and colors my hair on the regular. Her prices are also extremely fair and are perfect for someone who doesn’t want to pay an arm and a leg.
I should also note that Kristen did my mother’s hair and makeup, my husband’s mother’s, and also my bridesmaid. Each radiated so much confidence and beauty that day – Kristen listened to what each one wanted and delivered. My mom, who is not a girly girl, and who was extremely hesitant about even wearing mascara, ended up going with the full hair and makeup and it was so touching to hear her say how beautiful she felt. Kristen made sure to address my mom’s makeup concerns with her prior and made her feel confident.
If you’re on the fence with who to go with, or if you don’t know much about hair and makeup – I encourage you to give Kristen a call and just talk through your concerns. Also, if you are on the fence about whether to have a professional do your H/​MU — don’t be. You will have these pictures for a lifetime and you want to feel like a queen on your big day. Make sure to do it right and have it professionally done. You wouldn’t leave photography to a novice, and you certainly do not want to leave your H/​MU to one either.
FIVE STARS!!!

Okay, so you’re looking for someone to do your hair and make up for your big day. Are you still on the fence wondering if you should spend the extra money to have someone do your hair and make up? I get it. I was the same way. But watching the extra YouTube make up tutorials will not do you justice, let’s be honest with ourselves. Do you want to wake up on the day of your wedding worried about someone who does not know what they are doing? No.
The questions and hesitation stops here. Kristen at Rare Bird Brides is your answer and solution.
I CANNOT praise Kristen enough. I asked Kristen if she would provide services to myself, sister, mother, and bridesmaid. She promptly sent me a quote and answered my nervous bride questions every time I sent her an inquiry. I was astounded by the beauty of her work in her portfolio. She was there every step of the way before my wedding day!
My wedding was at 11am and I had to be done at 9:30am. Kristen showed up to my hotel at 4:45am to set up and started at 5:00am. That is some dedication right there! Kristen could not have been more professional, friendly, and talented. She listened to each individual person about how they wanted to look and went right into it. Everyone looked flawless. Then when she did my hair and make up she listened to every request I had and delivered!
Kristen also uses airbrush make up which I HIGHLY recommend. Ladies, it stuck on my face like it was no ones business. It stayed through out the whole day. I did not have to worry about if I was sweating, make up was smearing, etc. I felt like a Disney princess, okay? Who doesn’t want that?!
Bottom line, email Kristen and feel like a million dollars. She is the best. So worth it. Thank you Kristen!
Jennifer

My wedding was yesterday and Kristen was so amazing that this is one of the first things I’ve done with my free time. I need to start by saying that I NEVER wear make up. My idea of putting make up on is slapping some lip gloss and walking out the door… and I only do that for special occasions. I’m actually a little intimidated by makeup and have avoided it completely. My only condition to wearing makeup was that I wanted it to look natural and I wanted people to recognize me. Kristen went above and beyond and made me look like a more put together self. I told my husband (I can say that now!) that I felt glamorous but I also still felt like myself and he loved what she did too.
I had a traditional Vietnamese wedding ceremony in the morning that started at 11 am and a reception that began at 5pm so I needed makeup and hair that would last all day! Add the fact that I needed to fit a traditional vietnamese khan dong and switch it later with a feather fascinator I made AND 90 degrees weather. I was a little worried but Kristen reassured me that it would be perfect. At 2 am when I rolled to my hotel room finally after an epic hot day, multiple outfit changes, lots of dancing… my face was still impeccable and looked almost exactly like it did when Kristen walked out of my house at 1030 am. Thank you, thank you, thank you for putting me at ease and making me look like a more fabulous version of myself!

Having a great hairstyle and not overly done makeup on my big day was important to me. Also, I wanted one person; I didn’t want a team. I found this in Kristen of Rare Bird Brides.
Kristen was very easy to work with, and I liked that she really enjoys her job, which I don’t think many people can say.
She tried multiple hairstyles during my trial, and with each style, it got better and better. Kristen has some patience because I was very difficult to please. I was afraid she’d tell me to go and never come back!
On the day of my wedding, Kristen showed up early, and even stood outside my room for a while so as not to bother me. I thought that was so considerate of her, even though I was in my room pacing. LOL!
She transformed me into someone I didn’t recognize: so pretty and elegant! My hair turned out even prettier than during my trial. The makeup was nice too. I didn’t feel like I looked like a beauty pageant contestant. Kristen made me look naturally beautiful.
Kristen also did the hair and makeup for my maid of honor, and styled the hair for my two flower girls. She did this all herself and finished everyone with plenty of time to spare. She had assured me she could do it, and she completely exceeded expectations.
The only bad thing — Having to wash my face and hair. [(Cue Debbie Downer music] If I could, I’d want to look like this every day!
Thanks Kristen for making me feel so wonderful on my wedding day. Looking forward to continue working with you in the future!

I was impressed with Kristen’s Unilocal reviews when looking for a hairstylist and make-​up artist for my wedding, but I got a lot more out of working with Kristen than I first expected. I am a hopeless mess when it comes to anything beauty related– I grew up on a ranch and my idea of putting on make-​up is swiping mascara across my lashes and putting on colored chapstick. Not so glamorous… As soon as my make-​up and hair trial finished I knew I was in good hands. Kristen was friendly and very professional– taking the time to really listen to what I wanted and hoped to get out of our meeting, though I had no idea what I was really talking about. Somehow she made a bride out of me!
Moreover, I can tell you that Kristen is amazing with brides. The morning of my wedding I was a bit of a mess dealing with last minute questions, details, and relatives. Talking with Kristen really helped to calm me down, and she was even sweet enough to replace a lipstick I had lost with one from her own personal collection. She’s like the bridal fairy godmother, but with much better hair and make-​up. I would highly recommend her to any bride!