Becoming a Makeup Artist - training, schools and breaking into the biz

[~*BabyPhat Princess*~]

I want to be a makeup artist too if anyone has some info pm me and i'll give u my email so you can mail me some info

 

[JillianS]

anyone know anything about the MUD (Make-Up Designory) schools in NY or LA?
any opinions?

 

[BetteT]

MUD is legit ... in that they actually teach you something you can use ... but they are heavily geared to the film industry.

I think that they, like most schools, do not teach you much about being a freelance artist ... the business side, which is about 80% of what you will be working on day to day. Things like how to build your own business, marketing yourself, whether or not you need to have an agent, rates, invoicing, billing, taxes and so on.

They have a lot of SFX courses which I've heard are quite good, if you are wanting to work in films and will live in L.A. or maybe Vancouver where the industry is. I think that you might be able to take a shorter course, just for beauty, if you aspire to work in the print world (magazines, catalogs, ads, etc.) or bridal work.

 

[JillianS]

MUD is legit ... in that they actually teach you something you can use ... but they are heavily geared to the film industry.

I think that they, like most schools, do not teach you much about being a freelance artist ... the business side, which is about 80% of what you will be working on day to day. Things like how to build your own business, marketing yourself, whether or not you need to have an agent, rates, invoicing, billing, taxes and so on.

They have a lot of SFX courses which I've heard are quite good, if you are wanting to work in films and will live in L.A. or maybe Vancouver where the industry is. I think that you might be able to take a shorter course, just for beauty, if you aspire to work in the print world (magazines, catalogs, ads, etc.) or bridal work.

Thank you for replying!
It was hard for me to find a good thread for Make-up artists
I've been seriously checking this school out. I'd like to be more geared to the fashion/photography side of make-up. But, having additional training for film wouldn't be a bad thing, either.
I have spoken to the school, and they do offer some of the business side. Like starting a portfolio and billing ...yadda yadda. I do understand that most of this I will have to figure out on my own, though.

I'd prefer the NYC school. Though, I don't really know a soul in New York or have any ties to the city. So, I just wanted to gather some honest opinions of it. Thank you, again!

 

[Alejandro]

catalogues, that's where the money is at.

 

[theleatherette]

There is a good school in Ft. Lauderdale called Cosmix. I went their and learned alot and they are fairly reasonable.

 

[JillianS]

There is a good school in Ft. Lauderdale called Cosmix. I went their and learned alot and they are fairly reasonable.

I'll have to check them out. I have heard of them and I'm not far from Ft. Lauderdale.
I was thinking NYC may be a good place to get some experience. I guess I shouldn't sell Florida so short.

 

[BetteT]

You are welcome!

To help you out, I merged 3 old threads into one, so that all the infomation was in one place ... so go back through it, there might be some additional information.

 

[JillianS]

Thanks!
I'm going to read through it, now

 

[ALaFramboise]

Most Reputable Cosmetics Training/Schools?!

Does anyone know the top schools in this field?

 

[BetteT]

What do you want to become?

There are "Cosmotology" schools to learn to be a hair stylist and to get your state cosmotolgy license. And there are "Makeup Artistry" schools that train you to apply makeup to work as a makeup artist. Different things altogether.

 

[Jessirs]

I am planning on applying to Make Up First, School of MakeUp Artistry in Chicago. I hope to attend classes in the summer of 2008.

Has anyone attended this school, or had someone close to them take classes? I would like to hear more about it from people other than they provided for me in the Student Testimonials section of the website. It is the only "school" so far that I have really been interested in, so I'd also be willing to take any other Chicago area recommendations!

Thank you!!

Jessie

 

[BetteT]

I can't comment on most schools, but there are a lot of money wasters and scams out there so be very careful.



Be aware that even a reputable school will only teach you the very minimal basics ... color theory, application, blending ... things like that. It will not jump start your career.

If your goal is to be a makeup artist in the fashion and/or the entertainment industry, You will still have years of hard work ahead of you to build your own business. Make sure the school you go to provides extensive classes on all of that. Things like marketing yourself, networking, doing your own bookkeeping, taxes, finding jobs one day at a time, about artists' agencies and whether or not they would work for you ... alll of this is actually more important than your skills. You might be very talented and skilled, but without all of this in place, you will not succeed.

Successful makeup artists have or make the right connections, are agressive enough to approach people for business and handle their business the right way ... that is why they succeed, when most extremely talented artists fail.

Schools almost never tell you that ... because they want your money.

Be sure you are committed enough and have the ability to handle the business end of it also ... or find a real job where you earn a salary. Makeup artists starve for years before making it.


On last thought ... I've heard many working makeup artists say that it's better to hire a pro to teach you for a few days and it's usually cheaper. You will learn the about the real world of freelance makeup artistry and learn current techniques and tricks ... things that schools rarely offer. And you will learn it in a few days of concentrated one on one practice ... not months. Food for thought.

Here's a site where you can see a few who teach, either one on one or give Workshops. So you know, I personally know the artist who provides this listing and I have worked with several of these artists liste ... know them to be working pros who know their stuff. It's an old site ... not currently maintained, I think ... it's just to give you an idea of this as an alternative. And there's also some interesting info in the Q&A section so you should check that out too.

 

[BooBah]

must subscribe. sorry for interrupting

 

[Yanka]

A friend of mine is looking for a makeup artist (student is the best) based in London. Please write a PM if you're interested.

 

[Fashiongirl1]

Thanks for the reply. I am trying to think of which one I really wanted to do in terms of fashion vs. beauty vs. retail (boutique). I have fought with fashion and I have finally come to terms with myself, and realized this is something I am NOT passionate about. I began to look at things that I was really interested in. I discovered beauty was one of them. I love make up. I loved it when I was younger too. I have not really questioned it though. I have questioned fashion and retail business.


I went to MAC Cosmetics a few weeks ago. One of the employees told me some stuff about getting work outside of MAC Cosmetics... was it free or paying work. I asked her about starting in the industry and all type of things. It was totally different from what I have been reading.

I do have a question for all of you make up artist, aspiring make up artist... Is it hard putting make up on someone else? Especially with lipstick. Is it really hard to put lipstick on someone perfectly? I mean do you have to hold their face or hold parts of their face in place to get the make up on or something lol? Is it an uncomfortable feeling? How do you learn to apply make up without stretching someones face apart just to get it on lol?

If I did decide to become a make up artist, as I have read that MUD schools are really good. Fortunately I live in NYC and there happens to be a MUD school in NYC. However, I wasn't sure if I should go to a multitude of things such as fashion make-up artistry program. I think it consist of beauty, hair styling, and portfolio development. I am not into doing hair. There is another one with strictly beauty... Then another with strictly portfolio development.

BTW which type of make up category pays the most and is steady? Like Character make up, beauty, video something like that? Does video fall under character make up or beauty? I know the MUD schools have a journeyman make-up artistry program which includes both character and beauty. Can someone do work in two different categories? I have taken their information and I am going to see if I could just take one course to see if it is something that I would be interested in. doing. I do want to be in the beauty industry, no doubt. My issue is... what exactly is it that I want to do. I know I want to do something fun and creative. I am not about having a boring office job with loads of boring paperwork. I mean there is always going to be some paperwork, but not like with an office job.

thanks

 

[BetteT]

What the makeup schools lack, IMHO ... is business developement ... the how to's. If you don't have strong business and marketing skills ... your new business will go nowhere. Makeup schools conveniently forget to teach you very much of that and yet, it is the most important ingredient in being sucessful.

Most makeup artists are self employed ... and most never make enough money to support themselves. It requires thousands of dollars of investments in products, (your starter makeup kit from school won't get you very far) ... so it's a big risk. They work only a day or two at a time and then must find the next job ... on their own. It's all about developing a strong portfolio geared to the type of work you want to to ... and networking and marketing yourself so that you eventually become known enough that clients will actually hire you. You are in constant competition with all the other artists out there.

Most artists start out as an assistant to another artist ... washing brushes, keeping things clean and organized. If the artist you assist works ... you work. If they don't have a gig ... you don't get paid.

Many newer artists start their own businesses by doing bridal parties .... they don't make as much but it's a good place to practice. But to make the leap to commercial and fashion gigs ... that requires lots of free test shoots whith really great commercial or fashion photograpehrs ... to get the right kind of portfolio and to make the right kind of contacts. This will take at least 2 years (after you get out of school) ... and usually longer.

The real money comes from films ... but that takes knowing someone to break in and joining the union. Film work usualy requires character makeup skills and special effects in addition to beauty. Oh .. and you need to live where they actually make a lot of films.

Videos are notoreously poor paying ... most artists quit doing them after a while because of that ... I've heard that story over and over.

In most cases, a freelance artist must also be able to do "light hair" ... that is not coloring or cutting, but must be able to style the hair wth appliances and products very quickly and to be able to change it out several times duiring a photoshoot. Most clients at the lower pay levels where a new artist will work ... will not pay for a separate hair stylist and expect the makeup artist to do both.

 

[BetteT]

Funny .... I just got an email about these workshops from Crystal Wright for freelance Makeup, Hair and Fashion Stylists so I immediately thought of what I said in this thread a few days ago. This is the best resource I know to learn about the business side of the biz ... how to market yourself and actually find work as a freelancer.

I bought her book ... and I know several people who say their path to success was helped by taking her workshop and then doing what she told them to do. This is where I learned a lot about the business end of the biz. I've heard that her workshops are loaded with the information that you need ... that makeup artist schools just don't provide.

Word of warning ... in the past, she has been notoriously slow in sending out her books if you order one. Has to do with printing small batches or something ... and if they are waiting for for the printer ... you wait ... and they don't tell you that. And the wait can be months sometimes. However, when I called her office ... I got a personal call from her and got my copy that week. It was worth the wait ... lot's of good info in the book.

 

[pinksatin]

I don't know if this thread is appropriate for this but I can't think of a different one, (maybe the art director one?) Anyway, I don't want to be a make up artist, my dream is really to be an art director eventually. But just knowing how competitive everything is and how it's not quick or easy to climb into your dream job (if you even do), I want to be as well-rounded and competent as possible. WHich means I want to learn to do skillful makeup like make up artists can, but not actually have that as my job (but who knows, maybe trying it will change my mind, you never know?). Just since starting off I imagine I probably won't have the luxury of make up artists or the budget for them. I mean I can't see the future, but I just see it as a skill that's going to be important to have.

So how would you go about gaining these skills? I've talked to friends who are make up artists who freelance and some also work part-time at MAC to supplement income. None of them took any classes. They say just practice on a lot of people. Just keep practicing and then the other training they had was usually on the job at a dept. store counter. They said MAC doesn't take people without experience but good other good companies will do training to the people they hire and they recommended trying to apply at Laura Mercier, Trish McAvoy, Bobbi Brown, etc. One friend said Trish was very good and the company is very hands on with training and other good make up brands would be too. Then later you can apply to MAC and they'll have opportunities for more artistic things.

So what do you think of this? I am kinda nervous to apply to a counter even though it's really not that big of a deal just because I feel like I don't have that sort of experience. I mean I am competent with my face (I think) but I don't know, maybe practice a bunch and then apply? Do you guys have tips? Remember my goal is mostly just to learn good makeup skills, I don't actually want a makeup artist career. Also, do you think it's even worth it to start working at a counter or should I just ask my friends to give me lessons? I think I will try to do that too anyway. Thank you for any advice.

 

[BetteT]

Your primary responsibility at a counter is to sell makeup, so if you are a great salesperson with good basic makeup skills, they might be interested in you. So yeah ... practice until you can do flawless skin, know how to layer product to get a good result, can blend really well (no streaks or bloches), make sure you understand how to be sanitary (never, never use a permanent tool on the face unless you are sterilizing between customers, especially the eyes .... use only disposables and never dip brushes or tools directly into product after touching the face, which contaminates the product itself ... use a pallette or use a new disposible for each dip). Then if you have ever worked in retail, make sure that they know that you were a sucessfull salesperson ... that is more important than being a great makeup artist, to them.

What I do know about MAC ... is you have to learn their way of doing makeup... which is way different than in the fashion industry. They have face charts that you must be able to follow ... and even your own makeup must be chosen from those looks ... so there is no creativity. You must have the "MAC look" at all times. And you must meet minimum sales goals to keep the job.

I don't know much about other lines, but they also expect you to sell lot's of makeup, first and foremost, but I don't think they are as rigid about "the look".

But I don't understand why you think that learning makeup will assist you in becoming an art director ... the aesthetic skill you will need is similar (having a good, artistic eye,. which people either have or they don't, it can't be taught) but that is about it. You would never tell a makeup artist how to do their job ... just tell them what the concept is and if you have something specific in mind, show them a picture. Then you would colaborate with the artist, let them do their thing and then, if it's not what you want, ask for adjustments. None of that would require any makeup skill at all.

Of course, any knowledge is good and can be used to your advantage. So if it's something you want to do, it will certainly round you out some .... but no one will care if you can do makeup or not. Just so you know ... and can decide on the best use of your time.

How about assisting a freelance makeup artist? You do most of the grunt work for them ... cleaning brushes, keeping them organized, etc. but you'd be able to see how things work on set ... which is what you need to know to be an art director. And you would learn about makeup without having to be super competent in it. Some artists want assistants that can do a whole face on their own, but many just want someone to help them so they can do the makeup .... so if you have basic skills and can demonstrate that you will work really hard for them ... they might want to hire you for some gigs.