Vanity Studios

I bought a voucher for two to have a Vanity Studios experience on an impulse for a friend's birthday present. I was in a rush, so paid more attention to the glasses of wine and hair and make-up and free photo than the buying photos at the end aspect of it.

There were some terms and conditions I wasn't aware of until a few days before like a potential forfeit of the deposit if we were late, brought fewer than 4 outfits or left before the end (although these are all on the website, and could potentially be a credit for images). With that in mind, and our VERY limited funds to buy photos, we were both a little nervous about the trip.

But it was such a fun experience. Attentive, friendly staff, fun chats during the hair and make-up. Photographer guided and encouraged us, and was gracious enough to accommodate the larking around I insisted on (I was channeling Caitin Moran in the NY Times - http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/caitlin-moran-woman-of-a-thousand-faces/).

The final part was reviewing the photos and maybe buying some (the part I was most apprehensive about). The prices (also on the website) were pretty much prohibitive for us, and particularly given our expectations about just having fun, rather than buying photos - and there was no way we could afford more than a few of them. It wasn't, I think, what the company might hope for (understandably), but again, the woman reviewing them with us ceded graciously, and suggested a deal that worked for us.

I should say also that you will probably WANT to buy lots of them, because I found our photos were really good and I also wanted photographic memories of the afternoon which we had really enjoyed. So it's up to you to think about your financial limits and be assertive about them. The photos come without retouching, and are super detailed, so I imagine if you have more money than we do, you might be offered that option. And if what you want is a heap of cool photos and can afford that, you should really like this.

But all in all, a really great afternoon, and we will treasure the photos we do have.

AVOID!!
This place is an absolute joke and a scam!
I was given a voucher that said I'd have a mini facial (cleanse, tone and moisturise), nails done, hair and make-up.
I had my hair and make-up done which lasted about 20 mins for both. And nothing else.
Then me and my friend had the photoshoot done, which was fine. But then we were sent to an office with some woman who hit us with a HARD SELL. She was so abrupt and rude. We said we didn't particularly like any of the photos so didn't want to pay for any.
The voucher also stated that we could choose a "complimentary" print from the day, but when we chose which one we wanted, she told us that that one wasn't included???
Then she basically bullied us into giving up the £100 deposit (that was paid when the voucher had been booked) to pay for 2 photos that we didn't even want or like.
The vouchers are obviously a way of getting you into the studios just so they can bully you into paying extortionate amounts of money for crappy photos.

I will say that the hair and make-up girls, and the photographer were all lovely. It's just the woman at the end who pushes you into a sale that isn't nice.

We felt so uncomfortable and under pressure! It was a horrible experience!

Avoid this place like the plague!!

WARNING!   SCAM! SCAM! SCAM!     VANITY, THE SCAM STUDIO!

IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND BOUGHT THE VOUCHER RECENTLY, RING THEM AND ASK FOR A REFUND AS THEY ARE OBLIGED TO REFUND IN 15 DAYS FROM THE POINT OF SALE.

It's a daylight robbery, a complete scam run by a few stupid fraudsters and imposters who aim to rob your hard-earned money by luring you into their trap. 
Molly is one from the management team, and when I called her and asked for my refund, she told me that one of the managers would call me to sort out the issue. But, ironically, she asked Andrew, a makeup artist up there who does not know customer service, to deal with my refund request. He called me by addressing himself as one of the managers, and he had already approved my refund request. And here I'm after three weeks, received no call from them and no refund.
The scam runs through their veins, and I have recorded every bit of it, including the phone recordings and the texts Molly did from a personal mobile number. I'm about to make an official complaint about them and probably give my story to the media. This is not acceptable.

If you are considering buying a voucher, I would not recommend! The so-called 'voucher' business from my experience is a way to get you to spend more money whether you like it or not. They sell the idea of 'an experience' but my experience was unpleasant. In fairness, the two women who did my makeup and hair were nice but everything else was stressful and seemed pushy and intimidating. Make sure you're 100% familiar with their terms and conditions because I think it's not customer-oriented and a ploy to get you to spend more money than you are willing to. I met two girls there who got their voucher too and said it felt like a trick/scam of sorts to get more money out of you... I respect all the positive reviews if those were really their experiences but if you're considering buying a voucher I would not recommend. In all honesty, if I knew this is how it would go, I would have let the £40 I paid for the voucher go and not schedule to go to the studio at all. The woman who was selecting the photographs for us and showing us the packages, seemed irritated immediately we told her we didn't want to get a lot of pictures- it's almost as if she didn't understand why we didn't want to get more pictures outside of the complimentary ones. In the long run, they claim we were both more than 20 mins late (I admit I was late but definitely not over 20 minutes as they claimed) and forced us to pay for extra pictures with the money we put down as a deposit because of that. I personally wouldn't recommend but if you still want to go, all the best, I hope you have a better experience than we did.

DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM! "V.I.P INVITE VOUCHER"
We were approached by a young girl and boy who claimed he worked for a radio station and showed us his Instagram account with 25K+ followers. They were very convincing and gave us two tickets for the price of one as we were very apprehensive about doing it.

So now they are Constantly calling me trying to get me booked in, you have to pay £50 per person for the booking and after finding out we won't receive the £100 deposit back if we choose not to buy extra photos because the photographer's and workers get angry for not spending extra money they keep it making a total of £220 for a "£60 girly day" as advertised.. I would rather be at a £30 loss then £220. So we've decided to not book it.

Ive contacted them and they have ignored every email and Instagram message, they phoned me today and I said I didn't want to take part and he called me a "c*nt*" and hung up the phone.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

I went to Vanity Studios after purchasing a voucher on Carnaby Street - which promised a day of pampering, a photoshoot and a photo to keep and take home. Which was a good thing as I needed pictures for work.

The pampering was fun - even though not much of a pampering as the hair was done in 10min, and the makeup was overall "okay", but I had a lot of fun during the photoshoot.

The photographer was really fun and enthusiastic, he took a lot of time - I had a lot of fun, I felt at ease and enjoyed that part of the day.

However all the good vibes I got until then were shattered when came the viewing session.

The photos were "okay" - I am a bit on the larger side, and the pictures were not flattering at all - because of the lighting, angles and frames he used.

A friend of mine (wedding photographer) took a few pictures of me a few weeks back, in hers I felt pretty and confident. With these I felt obese and actually shattered my ego.

The worst in all that is that the viewing session - where I was supposed to pick one picture to take home, turned into a sales session. The women insisted and pressured me into buying the whole lot and an extortionate amount - knowing that that did not include retouching, and became quite aggressive when I tried to explain to her that I did not want to spend more money.

I left that session with a bitter taste - I was going to recommend it to some friends that also needed some pictures taking for work, but that definitely won't happen.

Don't go to Vanity Studios, you can have better pictures taken in a less stressful and oppressing environment.

Do not touch this company! Son 'persuaded' to do a photo shoot and hand over £60 in local town centre. Fine print not explained to him and they accepted my other son ( only just an adult) to sign document. Surely a reputable firm would have questioned this. Even before discovering that at least another £100 would have to be handed over before any sign of a camera lens, my husband and I said no. Surprise, surprise a refund of the £60 was refused and when I emailed them, they couldn't even be bothered to reply. Other companies with more integrity around, who wouldn't exploit younger people and no doubt cheaper too.

I had a wonderful experience. The studio is easy to find in a great central london location near oxford circus. The staff are very friendly and professional. My make-up and hair looked perfect and they really listened to what I wanted and made suggestions which were spot-on.

The studio itself is light and airy with a very fun and relaxing atmosphere so don't worry if it's your first time getting photos done - you'll be in safe hands. My photographer was also great and guided me through the whole process and helped me pick outfits. There are some changing rooms and a hanging rail so it's easy to change outfits during the shoot.

It was fairly busy on the day I went but it didn't feel crowded at all and there was plenty of room for everyone. I certainly didn't feel rushed and the whole thing is co-ordinated and managed so well that I felt very well looked after.

After the shoot is done you go into a viewing room to go through all the pics. I really enjoyed this process! There were a lot of photos to look at and I got so much help from the sales lady in the room to select the best based on what I was looking for. She was very patient with me as I'm quite picky and I asked to look at some photos many times, going back and forth, before making my decision. You can easily compare different pics on the screen. I didn't feel pressure to buy more than I needed. Yes there are lots of photos after such a long shoot and of course you might be a bit overwhelmed on what to get, but that's just the nature of the situation! If you go into a shop you expect the people in the store might chat to you about products and tell you about things you might want to buy - well if you go to a photo studio you should expect them to want you to buy photos.

I'd recommend having an approximate budget in mind but also be a bit flexible so you can buy want you want on the day. Check out the studio website beforehand so you have a sense of the prices and terms & conditions if you have purchased a voucher/offer. In the end you are the customer and you have total control in what choices you make, they are totally upfront about the costs and the options available.

Overall I would highly recommend the studio as a great place to get professional photos done. The photos you receive are high resolution and magazine quality. I am definitely going to go back next time I need photos done - it really was a fun and enjoyable way to spend the day and the team at vanity studios are the reason it was such a positive experience.

Don't be fooled by the positive reviews on Google. I assume the vast majority of them have been bought with the promise of a free picture. A trick used on myself. However this offer appears to have been a lie in my case so I feel no hesitation in now telling the truth about Vanity Studios.

Firstly the experience was not what I was originally sold. Loads of elements were completely absent. The invitation promised a choice of a facial or manicure, fizz on arrival and a photograph per person. The reality was no facial was offered and the manicure consisted of one poorly applied coat of nail varnish. The "wine" they offered was Sainsbury's basics at best.

The end photos were of sufficient quality but like some of the other reviews have noted, not in any way flattering of my figure.

By far the worst part of the day however was the end viewing. You are taken into a small back room, the door shut and you are horribly pressured into buying extremely over priced photos. The sales woman was insulting and even asked us if we were students as our budget was so small. We walked away spending £400 on (digital only) photographs not really sure what had just happened. The free photos didn't materialise either.

This offer of a complimentary photo in exchange for a good review is the final nail in the coffin. It's been well over a month now and about 2 weeks since Zara has bothered to even give any more excuses for the delay and is now simply ignoring me completely.

If you want professional photos taken then please use a professional photography company, not this money trap.

It was totally waste of time and disappointment - bad hair, bad make up, no wonder that the pictures were one of the worst I have ever seen myself in. Nail polish never dried out, so I wonder about the quality of all products they used.
It is like a scam - they make you waste your time for this photo-shoot, and then press you into buying photos hoping since you've already wasted so much time you would buy some photos. You are allowed to take only one photo with you for free, the rest are at around £50 each! Be careful - it is a trap!!!