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10 Career Options For Makeup Artists

November 10, 2019
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Once in awhile, it might feel like there’s not much you can do with the skill of makeup. You might think you’re doomed to a life of simply being that one person that your friends and/or neighborhood call on whenever they need to up their glow. However, I bring the gospel. You’re not doomed to that, dear. Quite the contrary. There’s a lot of things you can do as a professional Makeup artist and we’ll be looking at some of them.

I need to say, that I am a makeup artist who at the moment has branched out into many other things, a beauty blogger and YouTuber amongst others. So, my dear, I can relate well with the questions like, what career paths can you follow as a makeup artist and perhaps, how to succeed as a makeup artist. My makeup skill has definitely made me more ‘coins’ outside just sitting in a studio and waiting for clients to ‘beat’ faces for, in this post, I’ll enlighten you on 10 options of career you can move towards in the makeup industry.

10 Successful Careers In Makeup & Beauty Industry

1. Freelance Makeup Artist

This is the most limitless of all the career options for a professional makeup artist. Most times, many freelance makeup artists venture into a makeup business of their own. These women on my list of top 5 makeup artiste in Lagos are proofs of this. Working for no one gives you the opportunity to choose your own niche and how often you want to work. There are very few career options as flexible as this. Qcmakeupacademy.com even called it one of the most flexible careers out there.

2. Film And Television Makeup Artist

Far fetched, it might seem but creativity, talent, and the willingness to try new things make this achievable. This career option for professional makeup artists puts them on the set of shoes and movies that require actors to look completely enhanced. The more good work you do, the more your media portfolio grows and the more that happens, the more likely it is that you work with the biggest celebrities. 

3. Runway Makeup Artist 

This career option for Makeup artists might not be for everyone so you might want to second think it. According to qcmakeupacademy.com, this work is fast-paced and fun but can be extremely stressful too. Your job is to complement the designer’s look on the model and if you’re the key Artist, the whole Makeup concept might be left in your hands. 

4. Print Makeup Artist

For ads, it’s preferable that attention is not drawn away from the good being advertised but those in the ads still need to look good. Don’t they? That’s the job of the Makeup artist for print. They create the looks of those in fashion magazines, for example, where there are models for the designers’ clothes that need a touch of makeup. Whatever look you create must communicate the theme that the original good owners are expressing. 

5. Red Carpet and Celebrity Makeup Artist 

Makeup Artists like Anita Brows and a bunch of others have worked with celebrities to create not only their red carpet looks but other looks as well. A signature look that’s hard to resist and a growing portfolio and before you know it, you’re sought after by these celebrities to create their looks. 

6. Theatrical Makeup Artist

This career option for professional makeup artists requires you to have storytelling abilities with your makeup. Your job as this Makeup Artist is to enhance an actor’s physical features. Certain features need to be highlighted in order to make them more visible to the large audience of a theatre. Sometimes, some actors might require special makeup asides that, the main job of a theatrical makeup has to do is to enhance an actor’s physical features.

7. Costume Makeup Artist 

It might not seem very appealing as a job option sometimes but it is a decent career opportunity for Makeup artists. Creating amazing looks earns you income and helps build your portfolio while helping you practice for more looks.

8. Bridal Makeup Artist

For some ladies, their wedding day is the only day they get to wear Makeup looks like this and they most times employ the service of makeup artists who know the dos and don’ts of bridal makeup for this spectacular day. Bridal makeup is one the most sought after makeup in Nigeria today and if you’re good at what you do, work with a few right people, soon enough, you get recognized among brides and brides-to-be. Bridal

9. Makeup Educator 

Some makeup artists choose to make a living out of sharing their knowledge. Makeup is a lot more than the basics it used to be then and every once in a while, there are people that need to be out through. A makeup educator does this job of putting people through on how Makeup looks are achieved and the best way to achieve them. In a previous post, i shared the top 5 makeup schools in Lagos which are very impressive, you might draw inspiration from them.

 10. Beauty Blogger

Beauty bloggers, such as myself (yay), are people who derive joy from telling our makeup stories. Either via writing, vlogging or even Instagram, some encounters with Makeup are absolutely divine and just have to be shared and that’s our job. You might be skeptical as to whether or not this is a career option, this post on how I got my first Google AdSense payment from blogging might convince you to an extent. 

There you have it, people. 10 makeup career options for professional makeup artists. I hope you see now, dear, that no hope is lost. Start with the little things and choose what works best for you and tell me what you ended up with. If you’re already any one of the above, which is it? I’d love to hear.