How I Started As A Makeup Artist...
- Joanna Mariie
- Dec 13, 2016
- 5 min read
I have been getting emails recently & often being asked how I become a Makeup Artist, how my career started, & tips on getting into the industry. Here is my little story into my career! Firstly my first career option was beauty therapy, I studied at college & worked in the industry before deciding to change my career.. How My Career Started & How Yours Can Too!
I will never forget being trained at makeup school, and how they used to really tell us how difficult it was...and they were not lying. So many people are trying to become makeup artists these days especially since artists on youtube & instagram have been influencing so many young girls & guys, & as a mainly freelance industry, it is very competitive, with lots of people out there are trying to do the same thing as you.
I was lucky enough to train with some great makeup artist & schools & work for an amazing agency! Over the years I have attended 1 day only master-classes, these are great for studying one technique in a short space of time, Kryolan do some amazing master-classes! I studied with London College of Fashion in Marylebone, London & I have to say this is an amazing college/uni for anyone interested in Makeup/Fashion/Theatre etc. This is where I really built my skills as an artist.
On another note, I know some talented makeup artistes who are self-taught, like the Director of my first makeup agency, her college studies where in art & design! So don’t feel like you have to have a course under your belt, if you have natural artistic skill with a love & passion for makeup then you may not necessarily need a course at all.. Nothing within UK laws state that you need any form of training unlike beauty or hairdressing. A great source that I follow my self is my favourite artists on instagram & youtube (I will make a blog post with all my fav artist & their links another day) Another great learning source is LIVEGLAM.COM which my fav artist ever Angel Merino (MAC DADDY) teaches his amazing skills & also they have pro discounts available.
Grab some books as well, your course tutor should be able to help with this as well, but my favs are, Bobbi Browns Makeup Manual, Lisa Eldridge Face Paint, Kevyn Aucoin Face Forward & Scot Barnes Face To Face.
Once you have trained, you are ready to apply for your pro discount. Usually you will need to provide a certificate of training, call sheets of shoots you have I know brands who do this are Bobbi Brown, MAC, Illamasqua, Inglot, Benefit and more. Usually it's around 30%- 40% discount so well worth looking into.
You need the tools to progress! It takes time & money, a lot of money! To build up your kit to a high standard, during my course, we were given a helping hand at starting our kit, which is a great reason to enrol in some form of a course. My tutor was on hand to recommend good colours and shades that we would use a lot and I still have this list in my makeup notes!
As a professional you want your kit to reflect your makeup. There is nothing wrong with mixing in high street brands with your kit, I tend to keep my skin care, concealers,
foundations,
etc, as high end as possible & also try to have professional only products like my RCMA anyone can purchase but chances are my clients wont have this in their at home makeup bag, I use high quality budget buys as well mostly from NYX. Morphe & Crown UK are great mid budget brands! Also, never use just one brand, you always need options & remember to also get your kit insured once you have invested money in it.
Building a portfolio can be hard, I emailed most if not all photography studios in my area (20 mile radius), & thankfully one of the studios actually already had a makeup agency in place for their shoots etc, & instead of skipping my email they kindly passed my details onto what would become my first makeup agency! I work with this agency for 1 year – 18 months, allowing me to build my portfolio through Bridal, Photo shoots, Video shoots & so on. I learnt a lot from them & still use many skills today, as usually there would be two of us on set, learning from our director & senior artists was such a valuable thing to me helping carve my way into my career! This is something not every makeup artist does, but it’s a great places to start, these guys, will take control of all your bookings, and of course, take a percentage of the fee, at my agency charged £120 for a bridal makeup application, & I would receive £90 for my work & the rest would go to my agency. Most big jobs, clients will go straight to an agency to book with them rather than directly to a makeup artist. I guess this is just to know they will be getting the best of the best and someone who is accredited and very experienced. It also makes it easier for you as an artist to get regular work coming in.
It's easy to promote yourself as a makeup artist these days through social media, I just use Instagram really but knock yourself out and get a Facebook page, Snapchat, Periscope, Pinterest and the rest... It's a great way to keep up –to-date with trends & to find inspiration, I do personally use pinterest for inspiration but don’t use it to promote myself.
Business cards are a must! I have a small leaflet sized business card, as I have my prices
on the back as well as contact numbers, email, website etc, This will make you look professional and also so handy for events and networking when you are out and about. You never know when you may start talking to a potential client. I always have cards in my wallet, diary and in my portfolio bag. You can get some decent and cheap business cards online at places such as Zazzle, vistaprint, I created mine on canva.com & sent them to my local printers as they usually use higher quality paper stock.
I hope this helps anyone interested in starting a career in makeup, this industry is to rewarding but do be warned, its hard work (blood, sweat & tears!)
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