How to become a makeup artist (in a nutshell!)

These are my personal ideas and what I’ve found that works best. Yours can be different! :)


Get a book on studying the human face/bone structre, and sculpture/drawing.
I know it sounds weird but it’s really not! Learning the contours of the face and how to enhance them is SO helpful. Go to the library and just rent a few books on:

• the human face and bone structure
• drawing realistic human faces ( you don’t have to be good at it… I sure am not xD it just helps!)
• Any makeup book you can find, I really love these: 
  -Makeup Your Mind by Francois Nars
  -Making Faces by Kevyn Aucion
  -Face Forward by Kevyn Aucoin
  -About Face by Scott Barnes
  -Stage Makeup by Richard Corson
  -Fashions in Makeup: From Ancient to Modern Times by Richard Corson
• And modeling/portraiture photography books. From those you can get idea’s of what will look good.

Practicing with drawing and shading is another really great tool. 

What will also help you a lot is having the right tools. You can’t mow the grass without a lawn mower! Learning how to use them is also extremely crucial. Find some good brushes, palettes, and other makeup products, and read about the best ways to use them and then find your own perfect way! :)

 Please, remember this: Paying for makeup artistry school is RIDICULOUS. Ask any makeup artist, 90% of them will tell you that school is CRAP! They teach you the same exact things you can find on youtube or in books, but instead, you’re paying 25000 dollars for it and a SUPER crappy makeup kit, which you have to replace anyways. I was about to go before I did more research on it. I talked to a lot of people from MAC and people I know who work for photographers. I’d say what can help you more is getting your esthetician’s license, if you want any sort of schooling. Even then, just jumping into the industry will always be more helpful. Network, get to know some photographers and build a portfolio! Local photographers will ALWAYS be looking for makeup artists to do creative shoots, it’s free, and beneficial for both of you! If you get lucky they might pay you, too :P.


Once you’ve started to establish yourself, the next thing to do is GET OUT THERE!
Make a business card, comp card (mini portfolio) website, facebook, blog… whatever! Use all sorts of media to show your talent and promote your services. Starting for free is the best thing you can do to gain clientele and experience, then work your way up.

ALSO
VERY IMPORTANT
DO NOT FORGET TO PRINT OUT A MODEL/MAKEUP RELEASE FORM. It’s SO important because you want to keep yourself legally clean. This will let them give you permission for things and to make sure that you aren’t liable for any allergies they may have.
This is what mine looks like ( this was my first one, I was missing a signature line and so I re-did it :P) :