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Mom Makeover Ideas

We all love a good transformation, don’t we? T.V. shows like “What Not to Wear” and “Ten Years Younger” are both popular, and give women the chance to get expert help with clothing and makeup.

With a little planning, you can organize a perfect Mother’s Day makeover day for her.

Personal Shopper

You’ve probably given mom a gift card for clothing in the past, right? Well, why not take the card with you and make an event out of the gift? Start by setting up a free appointment to meet with a personal shopper (also called a personal stylist) at a quality department store.

Many people believe that you must pay for this service, but it is not true! This is a complimentary service. Here are three U.S. department stores that have personal shopper services at no cost, and links to the contact forms for scheduling an appointment:

Macy's Personal Shopper Contact Form

Nordstrom Personal Shopper Contact Form

Bloomingdale's Personal Shopper Contact Form

When you make an appointment, the personal shopper will ask you questions to help decide what type of clothing to select. You will need to know her dress, top, and pant size, as well as her hair and skin coloring (fair and blonde, olive or dark-skinned, for example). Try to remember what your mom always says she has trouble finding…is it pants that fit just right? The perfect party top? Colors or shapes that flatter her? Let the personal shopper know any special requests you have.

If you want to keep this a secret, just let mom know that you have a surprise activity planned for her and plan to spend at least an hour at the store. This could be a very enlightening and helpful appointment for her!

When my sister scheduled me an appointment with a personal shopper at Macy’s and I found out I had been choosing the wrong length of pants for my height. What a surprise! I’m 5’4 ½, I am right on the cusp of being petite, and always shopped in the petite department, but the personal shopper told me that I really should be shopping the regular department and tailoring my pants at the hem.

It has made a huge difference. My work history has often involved high profile publicity events with the television media, the press, community leaders, and sometimes a governor, so I needed to look my best.

When you arrive at your appointment, the personal shopper will take you to a room where you all will be able to look at the clothing she has selected and try pieces on. If the sizing isn’t working, she will be the one going back to the racks to get a different size, color, or style, while you and mom can sit and chat. What a fantastic way to shop!

If you are the type of person who feels obligated to purchase something when you have received help from a personal shopper, please know that good personal shoppers don’t receive commission. This frees them to be completely honest about how the clothes look, and frees you from having to be worried that you need to buy something. So just enjoy – it feels incredibly decadent but doesn’t cost a thing. Your mom will love it, and you can use the gift card on the spot if she finds something that looks amazing.

Free Makeup Makeovers

After you have outfitted mom, you can let her enjoy a free makeup application to go with her new clothes. Here are some great places to go for complimentary cosmetics application.

Origins is a worldwide cosmetics chain specializing in eco-friendly beauty products. Origins stores are found in upscale malls and sometimes in department stores.

What is extra-special about Origins is that the makeup artists will first give you a free mini-facial, and let you select from five different kinds: age-erasing, firming, redness relieving, brightening, or hydrating. As you and mom have your mini-facials, you can discuss color and ask for a makeup application. Find an Origins store near you and call to book a time, or walk-in. Origins products average about $20-$60 dollars. They only sell their own Origins brand of cosmetics, but their products appeal to both older and younger women. One of best freebies around!

Sephora stores can be found worldwide and have an incredible selection of over 250 kinds of cosmetics, including their own Sephora brand. You can receive a free makeup, skincare or fragrance consultation, and reservations may be required if you want to be sure to get in on a certain day, so go ahead and find a Sephora store near you. Sephora stores have cosmetics to appeal both to both adventurous, wild moms who like bright colors (Urban Decay, Stila, Smashbox) and more conservative, traditional moms who like classic brands (Yves Saint Laurent, Clinique, Lancome). Their products have a huge range in price from very inexpensive $5 - $100 or more.

Nordstrom has a stellar reputation for setting the standard of department store custom service, and it still a sure thing when it comes to getting help with a free skincare, cosmetic, and fragrance makeover. For more information contact a Beauty Stylist on the Nordstrom Beauty Hotline live chat or toll-free phone. If you wanted to really spoil mom, you could combine the makeup makeover with a visit to one of the Nordstrom restaurants, or give her a treat with a gift card to Spa Nordstrom.

Secret Spots for Style and Savings

So you want to spoil mom but you are on a tight budget. Or maybe you’d like to treat mom to twice the amount of salon services for half the price. How about getting a $150 dollar hair color for only $15 dollars, or a $75 dollar haircut for free? Is your Mom willing to be a little adventurous? If so, there is a great solution…

If you live near a major metropolitan city, you have two choices to indulge her. You can either book an appointment on a training night at a regular salon or at a training salon school. Training salons have additional benefits because in addition to haircuts, salon training schools often offer other services such as manicures, pedicures, massages, facials, body scrubs, and other treats!

Allure Magazine put together a fantastic directory of training night prices at chic salon nationwide. Have a look! Salon training night prices

Here is a list of several top salon training schools with locations worldwide:

Aveda Institutes and Academies

If you live in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, or Washington D.C. you can find information about Aveda Institutes online through this website, Aveda Institutes, Beauty Basics, Inc.

For all other United States Aveda Institutes click here. Although this link is for potential students, it is a great way to find the Aveda Institute near you which may offer reduced price spa services. Click on your state to learn the name of the institute. You may have to perform a separate google search for more information. For Canadian Aveda Academy Salons click here.

Locate International Aveda Academy by clicking here.

The Salon Professional Academy

The Salon Professional Academy (called TSPA) is a Redken training salon. My girlfriend here in Dallas, TX got a fabulous cut from these folks. TSPA has many locations nationwide. Check the map for a spot near you.

Look at all the great services!

Sassoon Academy School Connection

These schools are a little trickier to find online, but as the Vidal Sassoon school has long been thought of as the gold standard in hair style, it is definitely worth it! You will need to do a search for the phrase "Sassoon Academy School Connection" and the name of your city or state. If a member school is available in your area, the website will have the Sassoon Academy School Connection logo on it.

Here's an example from California -- three locations of the San Diego Beauty Academy.

A few tips…

Remember that mom’s haircut will be from a student who is being supervised by a trained professional. Let mom know this upfront, and if she’s not comfortable with getting a haircut, see if she’d be open to a different service from a student.
Some schools have a whole menu of services – manicures, pedicures, massages, facials, body scrubs, and other treats!
Use local online review sites like Yelp, Yahoo Local, or Insider Pages or to see what others are saying about the quality of cuts and services at the salon you are considering.
Most services, especially haircuts and color, will take a longer amount of time because they are being performed by students. You are trading cost for time, so always allow twice the amount of time. Bring Mom her favorite magazine, a latte, and your company of course.
Be assertive with the stylist about preferences. If you are mom is going to have anything other than a trim, ask them to show you the amount cut off when they make the first snip. Sometimes an inch looks differently in our minds than it does on the salon floor.

SBI!