How I Became a Makeup Artist – Boredom to Business

My Romance with Makeup and Business

I used to crave the prospects of getting paid to experiment with different appearances and beauty trends. But until I started making efforts to pull my acts together in pursuit of this dream, I did not comprehend the enormity of the effort it takes to establish oneself as a makeup artist and land awesome gigs consistently.

I used to make some side income and win some favours at school jumping around from room to room in the campus hostel, helping old and new friends apply makeup for special occasions. And I never really imagined making it big as a skilled makeup artist out there in the real world, where my customers are not going to be my friends and hostel mates. Things even got worse after I graduated and was looking to land a job with a fat salary.

To ward off anxiety and boredom, I would sit on my own and fiddle with appearance. Since I was no longer able to keep in frequent touch with my former college mates, I ran short of places to flex my makeup acumen in.  This made me feel like my makeup skills were beginning to get rusty because I couldn’t exercise it as much as I used to. I was desperate not to keep my skills from growing blunt, so I got more proactive with my practice. As I went practising in the real world, I started getting many recommendations to go into the art full time. After some serious considerations, I realized it couldn’t hurt to take a shot it.

As I began my foray as a makeup artist, I realized that there are as many paths to success as there are to failures in this field. I realized I needed a different kind of education and orientation from what I thought was the norm out there. I made education and fact-finding my priority, and that helped me shape up a career plan. I learned about the crucial do’s and don’ts. I learned how to create a makeup portfolio that gave people a clear picture of my style and crafting skills at a glance. I also got to learn about some nitty gritty that I previously overlooked, including the importance of good lighting and good timing.

Getting into the Makeup Business Proper

I capitalized on any opportunity that came my way relating to the field. I took every job offer I got assiduously. I took up makeup gigs on film sets and the backstage of stage plays, as well as in beauty salons. I wasn’t quite convinced about the path that suits me best, so I decided to spread myself thinly across many paths until I realize the one that best suits me.

With every opportunity I tapped into, I learned a thing or two that helped sharpen my prospects of becoming a highly skilled makeup artist. I also used every opportunity I had to grow my social circles and to network with other professionals in the field. I was always eager to cross-pollinate information with my colleagues at work. I shared my secrets with the most trusted ones, and they also confided in me, and we put heads together to plan the best ways to capitalize on any interesting findings we got. We shared knowledge about special application techniques.

We kept ourselves informed and updated about current beauty trends, local beauty shows and events, trending brands, as well as spin-offs of trends that were fast catching on. We shared just about any new makeup secret we got privy to. It was from one of those conversations that I got to learn that it’s better to test the foundation shade on the side of my neck and not the inside of my wrist.

However, I was still dangling near the bottom of the totem pole.  The money I was earning wasn’t enough to spur a saving habit, so I always spent the money almost frivolously, and it seemed I wasn’t really gaining traction or doing anything serious with my skills. To boot, the high-paying gigs required more expensive kits, and that made it quite challenging for me to break into the big leagues.

Sustaining the Makeup Brand

However, I was conscious of building a reputation for myself, so I made sure I left a good impression in every relationship I entered into. I always presented myself as someone who’s approachable and open-minded, both when I was working and when I was off the clock. That, among other things, made my co-workers to easily grow fond of me. I used this networking approach even on social media, and that has been the best means I’ve used to gain exposure as a skilled makeup artist.

But overall, one thing that I owe most of my success to is my makeup application instincts. With every additional completed project, my instincts grew sharper and more reliable.

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