Annual Salary
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Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
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Make-up artists apply make-up and style hair for people appearing on camera or in front of a live audience.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: freelance / self-employed; away from home
There will be
0.5% fewer Make-up artist jobs in 2027.
In this role you could:
You could work at a TV studio, in a theatre, on a film set or at a film studio.
You can get into this job through:
You can do a foundation degree, higher national diploma or a degree in specialist make-up techniques like:
Subjects that show that you are creative and have good communication skills can be useful for getting on to university make-up artistry courses.
These could include:art and design; performing arts; drama or theatre studies
You'll also need creative talent and a print or online portfolio to demonstrate your skills.
You'll usually need:
You could study for a college qualification in:
You could get into this job through:
With a qualification in hair or beauty and practical experience you may be able to apply for assistant make-up artist jobs.
You'll usually need:
You could start out as a trainee or assistant to a make-up team, or find casual work doing make-up and hair for extras in crowd scenes.
You could also get experience in salon, wedding and events make-up, or through working in cosmetics sales, and build a professional portfolio to demonstrate your skills.
You could volunteer behind the scenes in theatres or amateur dramatic societies.
You can do specialist make-up and beauty courses through private beauty schools.
It's a good idea to get practical experience to put together a portfolio of work to show employers.
You could:get involved with amateur theatre; take part in student film, theatre and photography projects; work at charity or student fashion shows; work shadow an established make-up artist or photographer; work in a related area like a department store cosmetics counter, wedding and events make-up
You can find out more about careers in make-up on stage and screen from ScreenSkills.
You can get more information on working in creative careers from Discover Creative Careers.
Many make-up artists work freelance and develop their career by building a network of contacts and getting recommendations from their clients.
With experience, you could progress to chief make-up artist or make-up designer. You could also develop specialist skills, for example applying body art or making facial or body moulds for creating and fitting prosthetics.
You could move into areas like fashion and photography, print and digital media or special effects.
You might also specialise in medical aesthetics, using make-up techniques to hide scars and skin conditions to improve a client's psychological wellbeing and confidence.
You'll need: