Becoming a MUA

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Jordan, great words of wisdom. Love everything you said! I totally agree whole heartedly about kit fees (I almost wish this term never existed) and rates.

Lisa, here's my advice.

Personally I think going to any cosmetology or beauty school is a HUGE waste of money and time. Most of the time the instructors are former students who jumped right into teaching and have no real industry experience and often times teach from outdated textbooks. I have a few makeup artist friends that took that route, and their work is sloppy. In the year and a half they spent at school, they could have had a year and a half in the real-live industry gaining personal experience and learning from their own trials and errors (and for free, btw)

With that being said, in the 7+ years I've been a professional makeup artist, I've made a lot of mistakes, most of them in the beginning. If I could go back and do it again, here are the steps I'd take:

1. HIRE a bomb photographer. I stress on the word "hire". 99% of the time, a photographer willing to do a shoot for you for free will be mediocre at best. You can't put mediocre photos in your portfolio. No one will take you seriously. SCRUTINIZE the photographers work. Does it look like it could belong in a Gucci ad? Hire that guy. It needs to be of magazine quality. You'll need a minimum of 12-15 looks. This means 12-15 DIFFERENT makeup looks, not 12-15 different photos of the same girl. The demographic of your portfolio should reflect the demographic of the country you live in. Another thing to keep in the forefront of your mind while building your portfolio... refrain from doing the creative artsy looks you love to do most. It's hard to resist, but the fact is, your potential paying clients don't want to see that, it scares them away. They want to see natural and polished looks. Smokey looks are ok, bridal looks are good, natural, commercial looks, etc.

Once you have your photos, HIRE someone to build you a website...unless you are capable of making a website that doesn't look amateur. Branding is everything in every industry. If your website and portfolio photos are of the most pristine quality, that's what most people will see. If you as a makeup artist do mediocre work, they'll hardly notice, and you'll still get booked.

Lastly, and I'd argue most importantly, PAY for advertising. It's starting to sound expensive right? As the saying goes, it takes money to make money. What you pay for advertising will be pennies compared to what you make. Starting out and in the first few years, most of your paid work will come from the wedding industry. Pay for advertising on big wedding networking sites that feature vendors. And on the money subject, I want to put my two cents in on pricing yourself.

Over the years I have seen this market go up and down with rates... and not necessarily due to the economy...
Lately there has been a pervasive trend with newer talent, makeup artists, stylists and photographers to deeply discount their rates or accept jobs for a small fraction of the standard rates... as someone who has been in the business for a considerable amount of time... I can tell you that doing this on a regular basis is so detrimental not only to yourself but collectively to the market that you work in. Yes, it's acceptable to take jobs for less (within reason) when you are new... but make it clear to clients that this is not a standard practice. Clients will brand you as the person to call for "cheap"... and ultimately it drives down the rates across the board... value yourself and your talents...and if you can't get jobs at regular rates... work on sharpening your skills, improving your technique!

Jan 16, 2012

Lisa U.

Hello :)

I'm really interested in taking a course to become a MUA.

Does anyone have any tips on basics you need, kit essentials etc.

Thanks x x 

Jan 17, 2012

Lisa U.

Thank you both!

Are Sigma good enough to work with? I really like their brushes.

I will make sure to step up photographing looks/make up that I do, thank you for the tip :)

Tanya - I will have a look at your post now :D

xx

Jan 17, 2012

Lisa U.

Ooh thanks, I live in South Wales in the United Kingdom and we don't have a Sephora :(

I have a big collection but I'd like a seperate collection for my kit. Thanks for the help.

Can I just ask, what did you mean by 'body' on your website? Or is that an American thing? Sorry to keep on asking haha. xx

Jan 18, 2012

Lisa U.

Aw thank you! You've been a great help!

Ahh, I get what you mean now. I've not really used any body make up before so I'll have to invest in some :) I didn't even really think of that ha! I really want to be a freelance so I'm hoping to become a MUA for photoshoots.

Thank you again! xx

Jan 20, 2012

Lisa U.

Oh my, you're that guy from YouTube, I watch your videos aha!! I've just experimented with your glossy eye look!

I know what you mean, when I said that I meant in the future, I live in a little town in the United Kingdom so I think I have a seriously long way to go before I can become 'known'. When I become qualified I will still be working and as you say be doing bread and butter jobs to do with make up.

Hahaha I hate TV like that as well, you're not alone! Next on my list is alcohol a lot of make up artists use here that clean to a hospital standard :)

I'll keep what you have said about the make up in mind, we also have an IMATS here in the UK soon :)

Charging a kit fee didn't even enter my head haa. I didn't think you could even charge for that. Isn't that like a plumber charging for the use of his tools haha?! I will def look in to pricing and keep that in mind, I think that I will def have to call a salon to see what they charge. Will all the excitement of starting a course and building a kit I haven't really thought much about pricing!

Thank you for replying, all the help has been great xxx

Jan 21, 2012

Lisa U.

That is crazy. If anyone advises me to do so I'll tell them you gave my advice haha!

Ha bless you. I bet you get it a lot. I realised how silly it sounded after I replied. I've always been so great at playing it cool.. Not haha.

That's a shame, we love new products and brands in the UK, everyone goes crazy. I'll make sure to look out for it. You should def def def keep on to them about it :) I've never been before no :( I'm a newbie to make up and haven't had the chance to go to any events or anything yet. I think I would need someone to take my money off me at IMATS though, I couldn't be trusted haha.

Question: I noticed you said that a professional kit should not include drugstore products, I am going to do prom makeup for about 5 girls and have considering to use lower end products because 1- I can't afford to buy and make a professional kit at this time and 2- this is my first shot at free lancing. I understand that once I do get more into this and go to cosmetology school it is silly to be stocking my kit with those products! For my situation, should I still use them or should I do a little a shopping on the higher end side? 

Feb 1, 2012

Jaimi-lee S.

wow everyones replies are fantastic and ALOT of help!! <3

I agree you DO not learn a lot about makeup in cosmo school but you do learn great Sanitation, and you learn about a TON of Skin Illnesses that you need to look for also its good to have under you Belt if down the line you ever want to go into a Salon. i full time freelance but i am Very happy i have my Cosmo licence so i can go into a salon and work a Job here and there, completely 100% legal. 

Lisa U.

South Wales, United Kingdom