Indian and Sri Lankan makeup in Melbourne

Early. Many South Asian ceremonies begin before the rest of the city is awake, so I can start on you from 5am, and I leave the studio from 4am to make that possible. I count the morning backwards, from the hour the whole party has to be dressed and from how many faces there are to do. Give me those two numbers and you will have my arrival time.

Yes, and it is most of what a wedding morning is. Guest makeup starts at $170 a person, and hair is priced separately, so if anyone in the party wants both, the full list is on the pricing page and on the bridal page. On larger groups I bring an assistant, and that does not change what you pay: the price is for the work, not for how many pairs of hands are on it or how long it takes. Each person needs their own booking, or send me the list and I will set them all up for you.

I recommend one, and yes, it is booked separately. The trial is $230 and it is the session with no clock running, where we test how a product behaves on your skin, how deep the eye can go before it stops photographing well, and how the look sits against your outfit and jewellery. By the wedding morning nothing is being decided for the first time. More about how a wedding booking runs is on the bridal page.

It can. My work is built to hold through a long day, so this is not a touch-up, it is the second half of the day being planned as its own thing: a stronger eye for the reception, a lip that works with the second outfit, the dupatta or veil coming off, eight people who all need to be camera ready at the same moment. On-site work through the day is priced on request. Because I do both the makeup and the hair, both can be changed without waiting for anyone.

Yes. Travel is $1 for every kilometre driven, and because I drive out and back that is $2 for every kilometre between us, so a venue 50km from the studio is $100. It is confirmed before you book and nothing is added afterwards. Close to the studio it stays small. For the Mornington Peninsula, the Yarra Valley, the Dandenong Ranges and Geelong I take bookings from three or four services rather than one. More on mobile bookings.

Yes. Most wedding mornings start here in Melbourne, but a wedding somewhere else is part of the work: I travel interstate and I fly for weddings abroad. If your morning needs me there the night before, or part of the preparation done a day early, that can be arranged too. Bookings like this are put together individually, and the travel, the timing and what happens on each day are agreed with you before anything is confirmed.

That is the part I will not compromise on. Deeper skin is where most kits run out: the shade that looked right in the bottle goes ashy, or oxidises orange within the hour, and the so-called neutral shades read grey against warm undertones. I match and mix on the skin instead of picking the closest bottle, and I check it in daylight rather than under a lamp. Full prices for every service are on the pricing page.