Doubletake - Professional Makeover & Photo Shoot Review

Overall Rating

Today a friend and i went for a Double take make over and photoshoot at the Manchester Studios. i was very dubious about the day due to the horrible reviews i have read about them! luckily, i was pleasantly surprised and have had an incredible day, although i am shattered!.

the make over was brilliant, the girl curled my hair and then to her horror i said i wanted a full set of clip in extensions curled too. she was great about it though and did it with no fuss - she even showed me how to clip them in so that they are super tight. the make up was extremely heavy but they explained that this is due to the lighting but would not look too much in the photos - i did look absolutely amazing though and was very impressed with my stylist. the only thing that disappointed me about this part was that i was having my styling done in one make up room and my friend was at the opposite end of the building in another room. i did not actually see my friend between arriving and going up to the viewing rooms!

my photographer was absolutley brilliant too, i got on with him so well and we just laughed from start to finish, he had a great sense of humour and was very creative. he spent time with me soring through my outfits and giving me his thoughts too which was a nice little bonus!.

the viewing session seemed a bit rushed as this is delivered by a powerpoint presentation which clicks through the contact shots quite quickly so it doesnt give you much chance to decide which you like. however, when i asked the consultant to go back through them, she did this gladly and helped us to make our choices. as far as being too pushy goes, she did try to get as much out of us as she could but she wasnt nasty with it at all - at the end of the day she was just doing her job and making a sale. in the end i got 4 pics on cd and a print so i got 5 pictures, copyright and my contact sheet for a VERY decent price. although it may seem overpriced just remember to haggle! they will try to tell you that negotiating is not possible but dont believe them! you really must go into this experience with a very strong head. do not let them push you into anything and as soon as they can see that you mean business and arent going to be a push-over they will be happy to come to an agreement that suits everyone!

Definately plan to be there for around 5 hours. we arrived at 10.30 and left at 15.50 so a full day is definately needed but it flew by (i even asked my photographer if i could stay for the night and do it all again tomorrow ha)

something i would like to point out is that alot of the previous reviews i have read on the internet said that double take have taken extra money out of their accounts which they did not agree to - to avoid this i paid for my photos in cash!
pros

friendly staff
talented hair and make up artists
enthusiastic and fun photographers
free food (sandwich, 2 x choc bars, 3 diet cokes and an apple juice!)
great atmosphere
lovely building
received a lovely goodie bag with bucks fizz, lip gloss and mascara

cons

must be strong with sales consultants
i barely saw my friend all day

note: as i only attended my appintment today, i have not commented on delivery but the consultant said it would be around 4 weeks. Hopefully i will be able to add to this review in 4 weeks saying that the package arrived with photos all present and accounted for!