Kara Makeup Artistry

Finally somewhere that I can leave a review. I saw details of Kara Makeup online. I was following her business page on Facebook and also used to watch a lot of her YouTube makeup tutorials I also followed her on Instagram. I really admired her work and looked up to her as a very successful makeup artist. When she advertised her courses online at her academy I rang her to ask about the course. I told her I would like to complete a course in Asian bridal makeup. She told me that the Asian Bridal Makeup Course was a 3 day course and would cost me £550, I explained that it was out of my price range and she told me I could do the 2 day Special Occasion Makeup Course instead which was £450 and that she would tweak it and make it Bridal instead. She verbally told me that I would receive an accredited certificate from BABTAC in Asian Bridal Makeup its TRUEthat in hindsight it wasn't in written contract but verbally she did tell me I would receive one. I was very happy about this and she sent the contract over to me on the 20th of July 2015 which I then signed and sent back on the very same day along with a payment via my debit card of 10% of the balance which was £45. I was told I would receive a receipt for the deposit but this never came through. I not only emailed her but I also text her and sent messages to her facebook business page asking for the location of the academy, as I was travelling all the way from Bristol to London to do the course and wanted to try and plan my route. I also asked if she could send over any additional information about the course that I would need to know. A week later she finally responded to me and told me she had sent the email to me days ago, to which I explained I had not received as of yet. A further 11 days later the email finally came through. It took her a total of 18 days to actually send all the important course information over to me and I still didn't have a location. In the course details she sent over to me it stated that I would need to bring along my own model to practise on and also my own Asian wear to put the model in for photographs of my work. I immediately rang Fatima and asked why this was not stated on the actual website as the course was now just 4 days away and I had no model and no Asian wear and more to the point no time to arrange it. Fatima then told me I could pay an additional £50 per day per model and another additional £50 for borrowing the Asian wear from her, to dress the model in. This really upset me as I didn't understand why it was left to the last minute to notify me of this. I then sent her a message saying that if she couldn't provide the model and Asian wear free of charge then I wouldn't be able to afford to do the course. She told me she was sorry for the confusion and that she would arrange this and I felt happy about this and that my confidence in her was restored. Once again I asked for the full address of the Kara Makeup Academy and it wasn't until the actual morning of the course that she finally gave me the address. When I arrived it was not an academy and it wasn't even a studio it was someone's apartment. Throughout the lessons she was on her mobile phone and taking calls from clients, for me this was very upsetting and disappointing. I had to persistently ask for her to please look at my work on the model and to critique it. The last day of the course Fatima was over 30 minutes late and she then ended our lesson and hour early telling me there was nothing left to go over and that I had successfully completed the course. Fatima told me that I would receive my BABTAC certificate in two weeks time. Despite feeling incredibly upset and distraught at what I felt was a complete sham and a very unorganised and unprofessional course , I felt that if at least I got my Accredited certificate from BABTAC then I would at least have something to show for my money. Three weeks past and the certificate still hadn't arrived and when I asked her where the certificate was she told me she was busy and forgot to send it but would send it out to me that very same day. A week later I asked again about the whereabouts of my certificate and she told me she had already sent it. I explained nothing had come. I asked her why she was giving me the run around and not being honest with me. I finally received my certificate on the 18th of October which was crumpled up and had not been embossed with anything from BABTAC and didn't even state Asian Bridal Makeup Course. The certificate looks like a template that has been downloaded from the internet. I felt so angry and upset and I messaged her straight away to say that I was unhappy with the certificate and would be taking it further. She then blocked me on her Facebook so I couldn't leave a review. I feel so ripped of and devastated because I thought I was going to better myself and actually invest in myself , and that she was all above board. I don't know how Fatima can say the certificate would have been a favour as I spent £450 to do that course plus travel all the way down to London and I would never of gone to all that effort and spent all that money to get nothing at the end of it but a crumpled up piece of paper which means absolutely nothing and isn't a recognised accredited certificate. I complained to BABTAC who say it wasn't in the contract so I wouldnt get an accredited certificate and that I wouldn't get a refund. So I had no case. It's just I feel from a moral prospective the fact that no refund or even apology was given for any of this is just so bad.Moreexpand_more