Areas of specialisation for the experienced make-up artist
When you first start out as a freelance professional make-up artist, you'll take almost every job you're offered. This is as it should be. Whether you land work in fashion, TV, films, or the theatre, the experience will be useful and you'll make more and more contacts in the industry.
At some point, however, you will find your talents and interests - encouraged, possibly, by circumstances - guiding you towards one particular area of specialised make-up. For example, early morning calls at 5am on a film set might simply not appeal to you. That might mean that you're better suited to working in the theatre, with its matinee and evening perfomances giving theatrical make-up artists longer in bed in the morning.
Choose your make-up focus
Whatever the process and the reasons behind it, almost all make-up artists will finally settle into an area of make-up specialisation. Here are some of the niche areas that exist (where relevant, you can link through to one of our short make-up courses:
- wig manufacture
- facial hair manufacture
- prosthetics
- bald caps
- body painting
- bridal make-up
- comouflage make-up for private clinics
- make-up in beauty salons
- teching make-up and writing about it
- children's face painting
- make-up consultancy
- individual make-up lessons
Specialist make-up artists working in these areas tend to be known within the industry and are usually employed by other make-up arists or production companies needing that particular skill set. They rarely need to advertise their skills widely.
A wide choice of make-up careers
Another specialist area is cosmetics. Some make-up artists will create their own cosmetic line but this usually is an option only for well known make-up artists - usually working in the fashion industry. They need to compete with established brands in a highly competitive market.
Bridal make-up is a popular choice for many freelance make-up artists because it's an area of specialisation that happily combines well with home and family life. To get started, an advertisement in a bridal magazine and a well-optimised website is really all you need. In addition to some good skills, of course!
And for the make-up artist who has reached their limit of early morning calls and foreign travel, there is teaching. With the years invested in your career, rather than give up make-up, you can pass your skills on to the next generation of make-up artists. You can also supplement your teaching with writing about make-up, an activity that can be done at home and in your own time.
Finally, here's a quick success story. A film make-up artist called Dave Aylott started making eyelashes in the 1960s and set up his own company - Eyelure. The company's eyelashes are available to this day in most chemist shops. Dave made a fortune.
"The past 14 weeks has gone by so fast – I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself and thank you for all your kindness and guidance. I now feel confident to pursue the career I’ve always wanted, thanks to everyone at Delamar."Kat Manuel
