I believe with the New Year one should spruce things up a bit with a new look so the site was not excluded from those plans. In addition to changing the design around a bit, I decided to join in on the makeover fun and I paid a visit to Lincoln Park finishing salon Goldplaited.
My visit to the popular golden salon was long overdue as I almost let my makeup application voucher expire. But alas, just in time for a random photo shoot with my friend Shelby I decided to put Goldplaited to the test.
The salon is quaint, but it’s perfect in size as it’s not too overwhelming. I like feeling as if I am the only customer in the salon, and Goldplaited does a good job of making it feel as if you are getting a personalized experience. So many fixtures of gold were featured all throughout the salon, ensuring that it truly lives up to its name. My favorite being a mirror surrounded by gold and a quote from Yves Saint Laurent.
The salon offers a variety of experiences from hairstyling and makeup application. They’ve become quite well-known for their braids and blowouts. If you see a stylish passerby with an elaborately braided crown, there’s a high chance that Goldplaited was behind the design.
Since Goldplaited is a finishing salon, they excel at being your one-stop-shop for all of your beauty needs. This means you can get your hair and makeup done all at once. Plus, to really take things up a notch they offer classes on makeup application and basic hair styling lessons.
For my golden experience, I was going to have the pleasure of in-house makeup artist Kristin make me look glamorous for a day. The process itself wasn’t too complicated. The application took about 45 minutes to an hour, so make sure you have a solid block of time if you plan on getting glammed up for a special night. Another special feature of a Goldplaited day of pampering is that the makeup products are from their own special line. Various products are available for purchase in the salon.
After browsing the salon and getting properly acquainted with Kristin, I was given a nice warm cup of tea. Customer service is always important so Goldplaited gets an A for service. While the service was great, it was now time to see how golden the salon really was.
Since I was taking headshots later in the day, I requested a natural yet glamorous daytime look. Of course, I always love a good smokey eye, so even though I was going for a natural look I still wanted to have a touch of daytime glam. Kristin used different shades of brown and gold to glam up my eyes. It was like she read my mind because she used the same colors I use on my eyes every day.
Next up were the brows. I was probably most pleased with my brows because I believe brows can either make or break your face. After all, they are the picture frames for the pretty picture that is your visage. Kristin did such a fabulous job on my brows ensuring that they don’t look too fake or boxy. This is always a concern of mine because I’ve seen my fair share of disastrous brows. The products she used to perfect my brows is another notable item from Goldplaited’s makeup line. The brow kit is pretty solid and it will give you a nice full set of brows.
After the eyes and brows are complete, it was then time to apply the foundation. I tend to be very picky when it comes to my foundation. In fact, I am loyal to M.A.C. because they are one of the few brands that has my color foundation. However, I have to give props where it is due because Goldplaited does have a pretty solid line of foundation The line has a satisfactory range in skin tones and the color Fawn was applied on me. It was a close match to my skin tone. I learned that with the use of a beauty blender it gives your face a nice smooth finish so it was nice to see the magic of the blender in action.
To top off my look, it was an obvious choice that lashes were going to complete my daytime glam appearance. The lashes used were incredibly natural looking only requiring a few strokes of mascara. They aren’t like the ones I typically wear but it was nice to change things up a bit.
Kristin did such a great job on my makeup and created a look that I can see myself wearing every day. In fact, it looked just like how I do my makeup so she made sure that I looked natural and like myself. I prefer to look like myself and not an entirely new person so I appreciated the subtlety.
After my visit at Goldplaited, I completely understand why so many bloggers flock to this salon and I’m glad I got to experience it for myself. In the case of Goldplaited, everything that glitters is certainly gold.
For more info on Goldplaited head to their website and sign up for their classes!
Photo Credit: Shelby Reinhardt
