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What Does a Teen Makeup Artist Do?

Makeup artists have the ability to make people look beautiful, scary, inhuman, haunting, or whatever else is required of them. Their main objective is to transform people. They spend their days turning little girls into cats, boys into lions, or even actors into ghosts and aliens. They can work on film sets or at birthday parties, and they can take their work with them. They give us the ability to imagine through their artwork!

How Much Does a Teen Makeup Artist Get Paid?

The best thing about being a makeup artist is that you can set your own prices if you choose to do freelance work (being your own boss). If you decide to work for a company like MAC Cosmetics, you can make as little as $13/hr. or as high as $30/hr. If you do makeup for film and TV you can make up to $43/hr. It all depends on what you want to do!

How Can I Get Started as a Teen Makeup Artist?

  1. Get permission from your parents to make sure they approve and want to support you. They might help you with the many things you’ll need to buy and places you’ll have to travel.
  2. Think about what type of makeup you want to do. Do you want to keep it simple and just do makeup/face painting for kids’ birthday parties, work at a cosmetic store, or would you like to go as big as working on TV/Film sets?
  3. Now that you’ve thought about what kind of makeup artist you want to be, it’s time to actually buy some makeup! You can buy small quantities of these if you want to do free faces for your friends and family for your portfolio. If you work for big companies instead of being freelance, the makeup will most likely be provided for you.
  4. Once you’ve purchased your makeup, ask friends and family if you can test out looks on them. You’ll want to take pictures of the finished product to add to your portfolio. Remember to do a before and after photo so people can see the transformation! Take a picture of the front and both sides of their face.
  5. If you want your makeup business to be separate from your personal life, you can create social media accounts for it. Try making a Facebook or Instagram business page and connecting it to your personal account. Also, if you want a website to put your makeup portfolio on, try creating a website using this tutorial. After you have enough photos of different looks, post them to your website and social media accounts. To be safe, get a binder and make a physical portfolio of your work. Be sure to buy laminated covers to protect the pages.
  6. Now you can start promoting your business to gain customers and followers. You can do Instagram and YouTube makeup tutorials to garner more fans. Remember to use hashtags when you upload photos and videos to bring attention to your artwork. You can also connect with other artists by searching hashtags and following people. Think about how much you want to charge for your services and spread the word to let people know you’re available to do makeup. It will also help to research other local artists to see what their prices are and maybe make yours lower.
  7. Start researching jobs.
    • For birthday parties, ask friends and family to spread the word to their friends or colleagues so they can hire you. You could even make posts on craigslist or join Facebook pages in your area.
    • If you’re just interested in beauty and glamour makeup try applying for a position at MAC if you’re at least 18. There’s also other stores where the age minimum is 16, so look around! These stores will most likely ask for a portfolio. It helps if you go in and speak with someone too.
    • If you’re thinking about working on film sets, it may be a little tough, because you’d most likely need a makeup license and you can’t get one if you’re under 18. It doesn’t hurt to start building connections now though. Google makeup agencies in your area, check out their websites and the requirements, and see what you need to work for them. These sites usually have the names and contacts of the makeup artists at their company, so if you want, you could try emailing them or connecting with them on social media to see how they got started.
  8. You have all the tools you need to start your business as a makeup artist! Even if some jobs require you to be at least 18, don’t let that discourage you. Especially if you’re freelance. The internet is your friend and if you’re really good, social media can take you far! Don’t rush things, keep your clients happy, and GOOD LUCK!

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Helpful Resources

  • Facebook.com:  This is where you can create a Facebook fan page for your business.
  • Create Your Own Website: This is a post that explains how you can create your own website in a step-by-step tutorial. 
  • Canva.com:  This is a resource you can use to make flyers for your business.
  • Amazon.com:  If you’re looking to get the materials to become a teen makeup artist, they are listed below.

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