I am a huge supporter of anyone who follows their dreams. Whether if it is to be a doctor, lawyer, or a makeup artist ;), the people who decided to fight all adversity and work day and night to make their dreams possible have my utmost respect.
Making the decision to follow my dreams and go against the more traditional career route was a very difficult one. It takes a lot of guts and faith. I have been asked by quite a few people why I am a MUA, how I decided to do it, and how in the heck did I make it happen. So many future MUA's and beauty makers in general get stuck on where to start and how to make this decision. Here are a few things to ask yourself when deciding if this is really what you want to do for the rest of your life:
1. Do I want to do this for the rest of my life? - This question is kind of a no brainer but needs to be addressed. There are a lot of people who love makeup but is this really something that you could do everyday for another 30+ years.
2. Are you willing to stick through the ups and downs? - It takes time to build a clientele and there are going to be a lot of mountains to climb with this career. As nice as it would be, you don't just wake up one day, decide you want to be a makeup artist, and instantly have more work and money than you know what to do with. Do you have the will to make it through the obstacles you will most likely face? Is it really worth it to you? If this is your dream and passion, it will be. You will find a way to make it work and you will love every moment of it.
3. Is this you talent? - Realistically not everyone is fit to be a doctor, a teacher, a makeup artist, or a hairstylist.This goes for any career. You may love makeup or hair but that doesn't make you a makeup artist or hair stylist. Just because you can do your own makeup does not make you a makeup artist. It is an art and it takes a really in depth understanding of what you are doing. This is a big decision to make. This isn't to deter you from following your dreams, I am just asking you to be realistic with your decision making.
If you ask yourself these questions and you are ready to begin the process in following your dreams here are a few tips to get things started in establishing your career:
1. School! - In this day in age, a degree or certification of some sort is a requirement in almost anything you do. If not a requirement, it always gives you a leg up on most people with no degree or certification. If this is really what you want to make into a career, I highly suggest going to school and getting licensed in cosmetology or esthetics. Not only will you look good to future clients or employers, this will also open you up to other skills that will help you out a lot in the long run and you will learn so much! Esthetics school taught me so many things and really took my skill set to a whole new level. I have had many clients say that they hired me over other people due to the fact I was a licensed esthetician. My school even gave me a starter makeup kit that I was able to build my kit now from.
2. Take some art classes. - Is there a local art school or community college that offers art classes? Take one...or a few. Makeup requires a strong knowledge of color theory and a lot of other things related to art. I was given some advice during a continuing education class I took last year. My instructor told us to take a water coloring class. She said it would change the way we viewed the application of makeup and get our blending and our color theory on point. Try it out!
3. Work a little retail. - You must be able to not only sell yourself (not on the corner or anything) but sell the products you are using on your clients as well. Working a makeup counter will not only get you bookoos of practice with working with different facial structures, skin tones, skin types, and personalities (because there are some crazy ones out there) it will also strengthen your communication abilities. You need to be able to communicate to a client why they should trust you to make them look their best. If you aren't confident or strong in this department, you will struggle. I am not the most outgoing person when it comes to people I don't know well so this was something I had to work hard with. Working a little makeup retail will also familiarize you with a lot of different techniques and products that will result in a better service you can provide your clients.
4. Build a starter portfolio - This is one of the more lengthy processes in getting the ball rolling. When ever you do someone's makeup be sure to always snap a pic. One thing I do stress to any starting makeup artist out there is have a few professional looking pictures in your portfolio. This can be hard for someone who doesn't have a high quality camera. I suggest asking around in your social group to see if anyone knows of a photography student, a new photographer looking to build their portfolio, or a friend who does photography for a hobby and seeing if they would be willing to do a trade off. I had to do a few trade offs to get my portfolio going. Don't see it as doing free work because you get something out of it that will really help your game out. Future clients want to see HQ photos of your work. Sure a few instagram pics here and there aren't going to deter them but they want to see professional quality with the person they are working with.
I have so many more tips and tricks to getting a career in Makeup Artistry started. I am thinking about doing a part 2 post with more advice or advice on getting your kit started! If that is something you would like to see let me know in the comments below! Do you have any advice for future makeup artists? You can also comment below with your advice and I will be sure to feature them in the part 2 post with your link.
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