Taylor made: It's $15 extra for curled hair.

I admit it, I’m no Natalie Portman. I’m not a glamorous girl with a team of stylists nor do I get my makeup and hair done for special occasions (unless it’s Blogger Prom, of course). Clean hair and red lipstick will do just fine, thanks. But when the PR folks behind make-up studio, Makeup&Go, invited me to check out their services to promote their new pop-ups in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills created for awards season, I couldn’t say no. What girl wouldn’t like getting pampered and dolled up (especially when it’s comped)?

Great product but no hard sell.

The story of Makeup&Go is that they provide quick and affordable makeovers for those in a hurry. And since they don’t sell any of the beauty products on site, they won’t waste your time with the hard sell. So those who turn to the MAC counter or Sephora for a quick makeover will appreciate that. While those who shy away from salon blowout prices (my fave salon Studio DNA charges $45-$75 for a blowdry) will appreciate what 45 minutes and $35 of blowout will get you here.

So I agreed to get my hair did and my face painted on at Makeup&Go’s original location near the Brentwood Country Mart — the WeHo pop-up wasn’t open and the Beverly Hills store’s stylists were pulled to the Brentwood store for a special event. Even though I had no special plans later that evening, save Season 5 of Law & Order: SVU on my Netflix queue, I just wanted to see if there’s something to this quick style makeover. Would it really be worth $35 for a wash and blowout and another $35 for “flawless” makeup application, all in a little over an hour or so?

When I arrived at the salon/clothing boutique, hairstylist Taylor, a model-gorgeous woman with long, stick-straight hair, sat me in a chair to lean back and wash my hair. Unfortunately, it’s $15 extra if you want a scalp massage and oil treatment, but at least the chair itself has controls for massaging and vibrating.

Afterward she brought me to another station. We had already decided that even though I wasn’t going anywhere after this, that I should at least experience a Victoria’s Secret hairdo — “long, luscious curls” is how she described it. Naturally I was nervous when she started rolling my hair in big curlers and spraying lots of hair spray on them. “Great,” I thought, “now I’m going to have to sleep with sticky, hard helmet hair.”

Hair in curlers.

But when she took out the huge curlers and set me in front of the mirror, I shook my head in that typical “I’m a girl!” fashion. The long tendrils swayed and when I ran my fingers through them, they didn’t get tangled in a web of shellacked hair. But what really amazed me is that my ‘do was gor-jus! “I didn’t realize I had so much hair!” I exclaimed. My normally flat hair now had some volume and I was struck with an inexplicable compulsion to strut down a catwalk in my chonies.

However, my transformation wasn’t yet complete. Taylor handed me off to Anna, the head makeup artist, who sat me down at a makeup station near the front of the store. Anna asked me for what look I was going for. “How about we just do something that matches the hair? Maybe something ‘romantic’ like for Valentine’s Day?” I asked.

Anna quickly cleaned off my old makeup off and then began to airbrush foundation on. I so want to get my own airbrush applicator after that. It sprays a fine mist of foundation on your face. All my redness and imperfections were erased. The process itself was a tickly affair, especially around the jawline. Anna was going to go easy on the eye makeup but heavy on the sparkle and maybe even add some bronzing.

About half an hour later, my look was complete. I liked the simplicity of the eye and eyebrow makeup as well as the subtle lip gloss but wasn’t all that crazy about the bronzing. It might have been fine in low-light settings but anything brighter than candlelight would expose its orangeness as well as how it was two shades different from my chest. But I just chalked this up to Anna not wanting to get makeup on my dress’ neckline. Definitely not something I’d wear in the daytime because of that.

Makeup artist Anna.

I was pleased with the results, though. I felt so glamorous that I couldn’t waste all this Victoria’s Secretness on TV night. So I convinced bf to take me out to dinner. He readily agreed.

In any case, I’m considering making an appointment for Valentine’s Day, when I’ll be judging prom king and queen candidates at Big Bar’s V Day prom shindig. I gotta look goood.

The store expects to do big business on that big date night so if you’re thinking the same thing, best make your appointments now. For any other day/night, Anna recommends calling in at least a couple of days ahead.

Pop-Up Hours:

• Beverly Hills – 152 S. Beverly Drive  (makeup application and blow outs – open 12 to 7 daily)
• West Hollywood – 8654 Melrose Avenue (makeup application – open 12 to 7 Wednesday ? Sunday by appointment)

Makeup&Go in Brentwood
13038 San Vicente Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90402 (map)
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10am-7pm, Sunday 12-6pm
Twitter: @Makeupandgo