subject: A Career in Make up Artistry [print this page] Essentially, a makeup artist has two career paths to choose from (or combine): you can work with individuals who hire you to enhance their image, or you can work with other professionals who hire you to help them do their work
Work with Individuals
If you work with individuals, your clients will generally be women, although some men in the public eye, such as politicians and high-level executives, hire makeup artists as well. Your clients might include brides, wedding parties, and their families, as well as people who need to look their best for a special occasion, such as an awards dinner, beauty pageant, Christmas party, or prom night.
You might do a makeup consultation (as opposed to application) for women who want a new look or who have had plastic surgery, young girls who are learning to use makeup, or for a group of friends at a makeover party.
You will usually be applying powder, lipstick, mascara, and other basic products to the face, but in some cases, you could be using body glitter, body paint, or shimmer powder on your clients' bodies to complement the look you have created.
Makeup artists who enhance the look of regular people can work for a company or be self employed. You might find full-time work in a busy beauty salon or spa, with customers coming to you with the frequency they come to hair stylists.
Self-employed makeup artists work out of their own home or visits client's homes, or they might rent space out of a salon or spa. They also find work with private clients by partnering with wedding planners, image consultants, PR firms or portrait studios or referrals, on a part-time or full-time basis.
Work with Professionals
When you work with other professionals, you will be hired by photographers, videographers, theatre directors, Production companies, fashion designers, TV producers and film makers to design and execute a look for print models, actors, TV reporters and personalities, and other people in the public eye. You will take direction from whoever hired you, and add your own creative flair.
Most makeup artists working with professionals are self-employed and hired on a contract basis, although longer-run engagements like TV shows might provide full-time employment.
Makeup artists who work with professionals will do the job "on-site", meaning a foreign or local film location, TV studio, or runway show, for example. They are usually required to work quickly in a industry where "Time is money, people!" The makeup artist has to be on hand in case changes or touch-ups are needed, so some work days may be long, but there will likely be several days between assignments for you to relax.
Experienced makeup artists with more technical expertise are hired by filmmakers to do special-effects make-up, in which case you would be working with latex, fake beards, and prosthetics to dramatically alter the look of the actor. You've seen special effects makeup in movies such as The Lord Of the Rings, The Nutty Professor, and the Star Wars films.
Another area of makeup specialisation is the theatre, where makeup must be visible even from the balcony, and must hold up under hot lights and activity. The type of makeup used in theatre is very different from everyday makeup, and because most stage actors will apply their own makeup, this specialty is focused more on designing a look than the actual applications
