Getting Started

Hi Elizabeth. A college degree will not help you as an artist unless you get it in marketing and you use the degree info to market yourself. Most people that call themselves makeup artists are doing other jobs, makeup counter work, clerical, waiting tables, a number of jobs to pay the rent.

The field of makeup artistry is very similar to the field of acting. Most never make it, a few make a living doing tedious, unglamorous makeup work, and even fewer get the glamorous fashion, magazine cover type work, the music videos and celebrity gigs. A lot of it has to do with talent but that has to be mixed with a bit of very good luck and the ability to schmooze and get along with people. Unless you are in a major market and have a very good agent you will probably never get much of the glamorous work.

Also, like acting, the 'artists of the moment' are very rarely popular forever; the field is very fickle. Even those on the top have to fight to stay there and most will lose their popularity once the industry decides they are 'has beens' — this is an industry that thrives on the young, new talent, which is only good if you are young and new. Remember, nobody is young and new forever.

I am trying to paint you an accurate picture, as you asked for a dose of reality. I love this career but I am in the group that makes a living doing mostly very unglamorous work because I am in a market that really is small and conservative. I make more than a lot of artists because frankly the unglamorous work pays well and is abundant. I don't however think it is what most artists bargain for when they dream of being an artist.

My suggestion is to get a degree and try the field of artistry. If it's not for you, you will have that to fall back on and it sure can't hurt you.

To work in the music business you need to be in LA or NY (that is my assumption though there may be other places with a good music market I don't know about). You will end up with about $1,500.00 into your kit and if you go to school full time the cost is about $4,000.00 and this varies depending on the school and classes you take (you don't need to go to school in my opinion for this kind of work).

I suggest for this kind of work that you take a few basic makeup classes (1 day type classes that focus on the areas you need help with). I also suggest you assist a good artist and watch her or him, learn all you can from watching others and asking questions. You will work free about 2 years while you build your portfolio; the portfolio itself is only about $250.00.

Your portfolio is what gets you work, and it has to be competitive with others that have been in the business a long time. You will have to start with mediocre photographers to test, working your way up to better photographers and better photos as time goes on — this process takes a long time. As you build your portfolio, you will gain experience, you will look at the test shots and figure out how to make your work better. As your work gets better you will be able to convince better photographers to test with you.

Your goal is the goal of many good artists; the music industry is a big draw for young new artists. Your competition is fierce to say the least. To make it in this part of the industry you will have to be VERY good, you will need a good agent, and until then you will need to know how to network and market yourself. I suggest you take classes in marketing and join networking type groups that will help you meet people in the industry you want to work in.

I also suggest you call a few of the artists doing this kind of work and ask them to allow you to clean their brushes and carry their bags for free — this will get you in the door and allow you to be on the job and see what you really need and what it's all about. Good luck to you.

Thanks for your compliments on my work! I saw your masks and they are great — you do nice work as well.

The following advice is with the assumption you are interested in Beauty/straight makeup. If you are interested in FX, that is not my area of expertise and this would not apply to you.

Now, to answer your question about makeup schools and taking on debt. We have a big problem right now in the industry — that is too many artists for too few jobs. I am a bit concerned with the influx of new artists that the schools are putting out into the world. Most artists, like actors, do not make a living in the industry. There are very few people who make more than they spend in this business and that's the truth I wish the schools would give you. I don't think most of them do.

Is this influx of new artists good for the industry? Yes, in a way it is. It creates a lot of competition and that results in higher standards overall. It does tend to drive the prices down for artists and that in the long run will make this career less attractive for all but the people that really love it and are willing to do it for the creative outlet and not the money.

So, my suggestion is never to go into debt this way; chances of you paying it back with money you make in this career is very slim. I worked free for the first few years as most artists do. Working free means you have to have some outside support and be able to treat this as a hobby for a while. Without this luxury most will never last. Testing and building a book does take a few years; you will never leave a school with a book worthy to show clients — you have to test with great photographers and models. I am sorry but they are not a part of the makeup school system.

As for claims of assistants making $40,000 a year — never seen it. Not going to say it doesn't happen but that is not what I have seen. Most assistants work free. Most established artists make about $30,000 to $60,000 a year, after about 5 years and this is before expenses. Now a few top artists in the industry make 6 figures, have top agents and don't answer their own phones. This is very few; it's like being Tom Cruise in the world of wannabe and even good actors.

So, here is my advice if you do not have the time and money to spend in school. Follow around and assist a good makeup artist in your area. Yes, you will have to assist free. Find out if this is really what you want to do, get this person to teach you makeup — in exchange for free assisting a lot of artists will do this. Then get out there and get some experience with weddings and prom girls; this is instant money while you get experience. That's what I would do and in fact this is what I did do. Good luck to you!

Let artists know you are willing to work for free for a while so that they will see you are worth working with. When you are ready to work on your own then you need to visit people that are in a position to use you. When you are new it is easier to go for smaller projects like independent films etc. Visit small time photographers to get experience.

In my opinion and in my experience beginners make a lot of mistakes that are best made with small jobs and not big money jobs. You will ruin your reputation with potential clients if you take them on before you're ready. Your best experience will be with high volume, fast paced work like a photo studio doing senior makeup, or bridal parties, or a small film doing the extras — anything that allows you to do a lot of makeup one after another.

You will know when you are ready to move up the ladder but don't move until you know you're ready. The biggest mistake you can make is to take on responsibility you aren't ready for and get a bad reputation. So take it slow and start small; your education has just begun. Good luck to you.

You can get work in Seattle, you will just have to be liked better and be more valuable to clients than the people already there. There will be work but of course not as much as LA or NY. Keep in mind there are not as many makeup artists to compete with either! Being in a smaller market can have advantages.

My advice is to stay and establish yourself where you want to live and though it will take a few years you can do it. Concentrate on being the best at what you do and being valuable to people you work for. Good Luck.

You get good through practice, lots of practice. We learn from our mistakes and we keep learning until all of the mistakes have been made (that's the rest of your life). The better you get the more money you will make (if you have a good business head on your shoulders). Most artists do not make a lot of money — it is only the few that know how to market themselves and make friends in the business.

In high school take as many art and marketing classes as you can. Business classes can't hurt either.

If I had to do it all over again I would get a degree in marketing with a minor in Art. That is really what you need — to be a good business person even more than a good artist, because most of us freelance. That means we are our own boss and have to know how to do everything: billing, advertising, etc. Stick with it if you love it because it is a great and fun career!

A makeup kit is given to you at some of the schools, included with the tuition. If you decide not to go to a school, or if you would like to get your own kit together, you will need to decide first what you will need in the kit.

The best advice I can give about a kit is that you need to keep your portions VERY small. A lot goes into a kit, and it can get heavy and hard to lug around. I carry mini-portions of everything in my kit and I restock it often. Palettes are important.

I also have a set bag that is always packed and ready to go. A set bag is what you take on location. Let's say you are at the studio doing makeup and everyone decides to run to the park for a couple of shots. You have no time to pack a bag — you must always have a set bag packed and ready to go. The set bag would be everything you need on the set: powder, blush, lipstick, hair brush, hair spray, sponges, brushes (just a few), tissue.

Now the trick is getting the large makeup into mini-palettes. Your best bet is to buy foundation in palettes (all the colors in one easy tray). RCMA and Cinema Secrets come in premade palettes. Cinema Secrets has lip palettes as well. Powder is transferred to small plastic containers that stack.

Working as a stylist can be freelance (self employed) or you can work for someone else. You will usually make what you are worth to whoever you are working for. The range is wide. I know people working for minimum wage out of fashion school and I know people that have never had formal training that make over 6 figures a year as stylists.

You are an artist when you are a stylist and like most artists, most are not paid well — thus the term "starving artist." A few will make a living at it and fewer still will get rich. You do this kind of work because you love it. Not for the money!

Thank you for your kind words. I wish I could help you with a school. I do get this question a lot. The schools are changing all the time; one school is the favored one week and another the next. I would look at the instructors' credentials at each school. There are a lot of cases where "those who can't do, teach!" Not always of course, but do look out for this.

Keep in mind that a very good artist makes a lot of money and schools are not going to pay this kind of money to a teacher; they would go out of business. So who teaches? That is the question I would be asking. Unless the school has instructors that are well known in the field they teach, you are going to need more training than what you will receive at any school. So don't look at school as the last step into your career — look at it as just one step of the learning process should you take that road.

I would choose a school by the instructors' credentials. The instructors should have a great resume and portfolios and they should be online (not hidden from the public); they should be well known in the makeup world. You should verify this by checking out the credentials of the instructors. I would also insist on the instructor I was promised — schools have a reputation of switching teachers on the students, they also have a reputation of exaggerating the instructor's resume. If it's not on the internet for the world to see I would question it.

I would opt myself for private tutoring; this is how I learned. I am not a group learner.

I am going to cheat here and give you the rules I try to live and work by. It is Keough's Commandments for LOSING by Don Keough, CEO, Coca-Cola. Keep in mind these are rules for losing, not winning.

• Quit taking risks.
• Be content.
• Before you make any move, always ask yourself, "What will the investors think?"
• Avoid change.
• Be totally inflexible — stay on the course, no matter what.
• Rely totally on research and experts to make decisions for you.
• Be more concerned with status than service.
• Concentrate on your competitor instead of your customers.
• Put yourself first in everything you do, ahead of your customers and suppliers.
• Memorize the formula "TGE… That's Good Enough" to set a ceiling on quality.
• Find a way to rationalize the slowing of growth.

Beyond those basic rules for losing, here are some basics for winning:

Never be late. Never forget about a shoot or job. Never be unprofessional. Never talk poorly about your competition. Never gossip about people you work for or with. Give 110% always, even when you do not feel like it.

This covers what I consider important to succeed — the things they don't teach you in fashion school or make-up school, and that is a shame. Good luck to you!

Thank you for the nice compliment. I am asked this question a lot and you will find the answer probably not what you would expect.

In San Diego most production companies and photographers do not like to hire Makeup/Hair and Wardrobe stylists separately. Most would prefer to hire a makeup artist that does hair and wardrobe, as this saves money and we are not a big commercial market like Los Angeles and New York where the budgets tend to be bigger. Consequently over the years as a makeup artist (over 20 years now) I learned to do hair and wardrobe styling. I learned by watching others and by using my own creativity that I believe comes naturally to most artists. I never did go to a fashion school of any kind but I grew up spending hours a day cutting out photos of models' clothing styles that I liked and going through every fashion magazine I could find to view the styles, hair and makeup.

I do not want to imply that fashion school is a waste of time; learning is never a waste. Please keep in mind also that I am not primarily a fashion stylist. I consider myself first a Makeup artist and this has always been my main pursuit; fashion styling just happens to be part of that job description where I am located. Good luck to you!

Hi,

For the retail industry I think school would be a waste. Retail is sales and they are looking more at your ability to sell makeup than do makeup. Your personality and appearance is more important in this industry than your ability to do makeup. You may take a basic lesson from an artist if they are going to have you do a demo (MAC will have you do a demo) but I would not invest a bunch of money. That's my advice, good luck.

Mary

I would forget about color theory. Take your foundation, put it on the collar bone of the model — it has to match exactly. If it does not match her skin on her collar bone, mix until it does or find a foundation that matches. Her face has to match her collar bone.

On crediting: this isn't a paid job and I doubt you will be able to use it for anything other than school credits. Most companies do not accept non-paid work for pro status consideration. Pro status for product discounts is intended for artists making a living as artists. I suggest you not ask for payment; you need to do this for experience or pass on the job.

Credits you get for non-paid jobs are only going to help in your class (not in real life). I would do this for the experience alone. I don't believe you are yet at the status where you would be paid for this type of work.

Most schools do want just your money — not all but most. You normally get what you pay for as far as education. I don't believe most companies are going to accept a certificate from a community college for a pro discount, but they might give you student discounts.

If you feel the experience is not worth it, I suggest you decline the job because they made it clear you would not be paid. However, if you already accepted the job at no pay I suggest you do it and go home. It sounds like you need experience and this might be a good opportunity to get some.

No, this isn't considered professional work. These are the kind of jobs you do for experience as a new artist. Most artists get paid after working on jobs like these and testing for about 2 years. You need a very good portfolio before you will be paid professionally.

If you are doing this for the money I suggest you find another career; this one will not pay you for a very long time. Successful artists have a passion for doing makeup, paid or not. But you committed, and so the right thing to do would be to do what you committed to. Good luck to you!