Our Story

Who We Are

Makeup by Ana B began as a one-woman show in 2012 as Ana launched her freelance makeup business, after having worked as an artist for MAC Cosmetics. Fast forward to now, the company has flourished into a collaborative team of beauty artists known as MAB Artistry, with a studio space in the heart of Tysons Corner, Virginia, and hundreds of glowing reviews including “Best Makeup Studio” by Modern Luxury Magazine in 2022-2024.

MAB Artistry is the recipient of WeddingWire’s Couples Choice and Bride’s Choice Award for twelve consecutive years (2012-2024), providing luxury beauty services for Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia and beyond specializing in natural and glam beauty looks.

MAB Artistry’s team of excellent makeup artists and hairstylists handle on-site services for both small and large wedding parties, photoshoots, galas, and corporate events. MAB Artistry is recognized as a premier beauty service company with over 300 five-star reviews on WeddingWire, Google, Yelp, and Facebook. MAB Artistry is proud to be the  go-to company for many top DC companies in both the wedding and corporate industry with clients such as Accenture, Twitter, José Andrés Media, NFL’s Washington Commanders, Grit & Grace, Lauryn Prattes Events, Sweet Root Village, Inova Hospital, WeddingWire Pro, and Party Slate.

Awards

Modern Luxury Best of the City “Best Makeup Studio” 2022-2024
WeddingWire Couple’s Choice Winner 2012-2024
WeddingWire Brides Choice Winner 2012-2024
Washingtonian Top Recommended 2020-2023

Features

Modern Luxury
Washingtonian Weddings
Washingtonian Weddings Cover Story
Wedding Chicks
Maharani Weddings
WeddingWire Featured Artist

 

WHO WE ARE

Ana Buitrago

Ana Buitrago

Owner / Hair and Makeup Artist

Becoming a makeup artist was a happy accident. I spent my twenties becoming a young wife, mother and trying and failing at different businesses. Although I’d had no formal training, I learned a few hair and makeup skills by watching early youtube videos. A sweet cousin of mine asked me to give her “loose waves” for her wedding day, and that day changed my life! I met a professional makeup artist there, and it was the first time I realized I could do makeup as a profession without working in Hollywood. I immediately interviewed for different brands and was hired to MAC Cosmetics in 2010. I quickly realized how much I enjoyed making women feel beautiful, hearing their stories and becoming a part of their special moments. 

In 2013, I registered my freelance business “Makeup by Ana B, LLC” and started taking clients in the basement of my parents home where we lived at the time to save money. I learned quickly that bridal and event hairstyling was in-demand and I took courses with local experts to add this to my service menu. As my skills and platform grew, my business began to flourish! Growing up as a pastor’s kid, I’ve always had a love for mentorship and I was able to continue it by training and adding talented stylists to our team also known as “MAB Artistry”. I am proud to have helped grow the careers of over 70 beauty professionals in the last 10 years through MAB’s extensive training, network, and luxury client base. I hope to continue to empower the next generation of beauty entrepreneurs through MAB Artistry and MAB Academy.



Monica Perez

Monica Perez

Business Manager
Monica was born and raised in Montgomery County, Maryland. In 2018, she graduated from the University of Maryland Global Campus with a bachelor’s degree in HR Management. With a passion for traveling, Monica was fortunate to have studied abroad in Florence, Italy for a semester while also site-seeing other countries throughout Europe.

Monica has been working with MAB since 2017 and has served as the Studio/Business Manager, connecting our clients to our professional team of hairstylists and makeup artists. Monica is the go-to person to get your event booked and scheduled as smoothly as possible!

In her free time, she loves spending time with her family, hiking, working out, drinking bubble tea, and binge-watching Netflix shows.


Karolina Hoover

Karolina Hoover

Social Media Manager

Karolina, a Ukrainian native, embarked on her American journey through the Work and Travel USA program, where she met her husband while working as a lifeguard. Officially relocating to the U.S. in 2019, she transitioned from a successful six-year career in event planning to become the Social Media Manager for MAB.

Her educational pursuits led her to a master's degree in marketing, propelling her into the role of MAB's Social Media Manager. Karolina's diverse experiences uniquely equip her to understand and connect with clients from various backgrounds.

Outside of work, she finds joy in family visits, skiing adventures, and exploring new destinations year-round.



Charlotte Torba

Charlotte Torba

Marketing Manager

Charlotte was born in Fort Lewis, Washington and raised here in Fairfax County. Inspired by all her travels to Mexico to visit family as a child, Charlotte originally went to school at James Madison University to study history. Her professional journey took a pivotal turn when she began her diving into marketing for educational institutions, a path that ignited her enthusiasm for the field and led her to pursue further education with a degree in marketing.

In 2021, she joined the MAB team as the Marketing Manager after a chance encounter with Ana B. and has since played a pivotal role in expanding our marketing initiatives. Charlotte thrives on crafting innovative campaigns and discovering the latest strategies to introduce MAB to new clients and audiences.

In her free time, Charlotte loves spending time with her husband and 2 young kids, exploring their current overseas duty station, attempting new recipes, and binging coffee & popcorn while reading a new book!



Shirley Laura

Shirley Laura

Hiring & Training Manager

Shirley was born in Lima, Peru.  She moved to Virginia at the age of 6 with her parents and two siblings.  Since then Shirley has lived in the DMV and made it her home.  She lives with her husband, two children and 3 fur babies.  While Shirley was going to school for Business Management she fell into the makeup industry.  She got a job working at MAC Cosmetics where she really discovered her love for makeup.  There she was able to combine her passion with her business management skills.  Shirley worked for MAC for 15+ years all over the DMV.  She managed a number of locations and was a senior retail manager for their VA region.  Since then Shirley has also worked for Anastasia Beverly Hills and Charlotte Tilbury.

Here at MAB Shirley is able to bring  customer service plus artistry skills to the team.  She has an eye for raw talent and works with the management team to find not only talented makeup artists and hair stylists but also those who have the passion to learn and work along side a team to create the perfect looks for every client we touch!


 

Testimonials

Neha V
"We are so incredibly thankful for having the MAB team by our side on our wedding day. They were so incredibly flexible with all my million questions and requests.... At the last minute we made some changes that were throwing off our schedule for the day and their team continued to be beyond flexible and added another artist to our team. We are so glad to have gone with MAB for our hair/makeup on the big day and we couldn't recommend them enough!"

Neha V

Bride (Sept. 2023)
Jordan K.
"Everything from the first touch point to wedding day was flawless...Their team is incredible, so organized and one of my favorite vendors I worked with...Cannot recommend enough!"

Jordan K.

Bride (March 2024)
Anna S.
"MAB Studio made my hair and make-up vision come to life! When I had my trial sessions, both artists made recommendations that I would not have considered myself that truly brought my vision to life. This means a lot especially as someone who is not always comfortable in full make-up. I am so grateful to have worked with such experts in their craft! "

Anna S.

Bride (Sept. 2023)
Emma S.
"I had a phenomenal experience working with MAB. The booking process was so easy, the bridal trial was perfect (a must!) and very convenient to plan with the artists/stylists. I loved not having to worry about the day-of timeline AND the artists/stylists all showed up early, which really eased my nerves. I am absolutely obsessed with how it turned out and got so many compliments, especially from my groom! Thank you, thank you, thank you! "

Emma S.

Bride (Aug. 2023)