Makeup School

Hey guys and gals!! Sooooo, I have a lot of people asking me on YouTube for advice on schools, or how do you freelance without a license? orrr how do you find jobs? Orr...Anything along those lines.

-I cannot give advice on school, obviously because I never went. And obviously you do not NEED to go to school. Lottie, is a much MUCH better example of someone who did NOT attend school and is now agency repped and has a fantastic, mind blowing portfolio. From my understanding, you only need school/license if you wish to work in a salon doing facials and such (esthetician-sp?) If you want to work in movies and do SFX makeup - then possibly take some classes. While I appreciate that artform, I am not interested in doing it. If I ever have the desire though, I will take classes. And even then, as Leesha (aka Xsparkage on YouTube) always says Google is your best friend. If you are truly committed and interested in learning something, anything!! - doesn't have to be makeup - you can and will teach yourself. The internet is a fantastic resource. Put your search engines to work! (I prefer google)

-Networking, networking, networking!! Every job I've ever had has either been through networking or craigslist (rarely, just for extra cash - nothing I would have in my portfolio) YOU must seek out your jobs until you become big enough that they fall in your lap or become agency repped (which is the same kinda thing) The agencies find you the jobs - but they also get a cut of your $dough$

-Expect to not be paid when building your portfolio. 9 times out of 10 you are paid in photos. So choose who you work with wisely (in regards to models, photographers AND stylists) If you spend 5 hours on a shoot and you HATE the photos - oh well! Artists building their book (myself included) rarely are paid for photoshoots. I was only paid with $$$ for about 3 of the shoots I've done. I've been paid for all fashion shows I've done aside from 2.

-Working for MAC. MAC once hired artists. This is not the case anymore. They hire sales robots that will look cute and push products on people. If you can do makeup - even better!! Although it's not a requirement. Artistry has taken a backseat to sales since Estee Lauder acquired them. There are absolutely NO requirements needed to work for MAC. Feel free to apply. They look for cutesy people, who will dress in a trendy manner and have a bubbly, extroverted personality. If you have sales experience - fantastic!! They're more apt to hire you with sales experience. Allow me to say this though. MAC is NOT the end all BE ALL of the industry. Working at a counter or store does not MAKE YOU A PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP ARTIST. They do have a great training program so milk it for all it's worth but don't for a second think that working at a mac counter or store will really get you anywhere in the makeup world unless you do everything one would do who doesn't work for mac to make a name for themselves - network, seek out jobs, build a portfolio etc. Sure, you can wait around and try and try to become a trainer. It *might* happen. You can also try to become a Senior Artist. But realize that at that point - MAC controls and runs your entire life. Senior Artists I know travel the world - attend/work fashion week in Paris, NY etc, they participate in photoshoots or music videos - Yay!! HOWEVER. MAC OWNS YOU. You are NOT allowed to use images from any photoshoot in your portfolio - MAC owns the rights to those images. So what? You have time to set up your own shoots on your day off! LMFAO! What days off?!? You're constantly traveling. Constantly representing MAC and having to be bubbly 24/7 even if you dont feel like it. Every trainer or senior artist I know - during their downtime, which is RARE - sleeps, hangs out with friends or goes on vacation where they can wind down. They NEED a break. And they are paid a salary. So they may work 12 hours a day - on their feet doing makeup for 2 weeks straight - and they're not paid any extra. Last I heard (and this could be very VERY wrong) they're paid somewhere between $50k and $75k Most retail managers for MAC make more.

And do you know just how competitive it is? How many stores/counters are in a region? Here, in a city as small as San Francisco - there's 6 - which is probably about 80 employees - that's just a city - not a region. So when and if a spot for trainer even opens up - you might be competing against at least 20 other people. And the spots don't open up too often.

I am not speaking for or against MAC - just giving you the info. It can be a very fun company to work - but realize at the end of the day, you're a salesperson, not necessarily a makeup artist. YES! You CAN be both. But the chances of you making it big while working for mac are slim to none. But it can be a great stepping stone as long as one doesn't get sucked into continuing to work there for years upon years because it can limit you *if* you wish to "make it" in the fashion industry. If you dont care and just wanna do weddings on the side - that's your forte - then rock on!!

Ok, I'm ending my rambling lol.