Working as a Freelance MUA - The Basics

Alongside your artistic ability, as a freelance makeup artist there are vital skills you need to gain in order to make a living. Making connections, understanding business and being ready to tackle any job that comes your way are just some of them!

Networking is the first and probably most important thing for your career. You have to be able to make an impression upon people and stand out from the sea of other MUA’s chasing the same opportunities! You need to be sending out emails to artists who are already doing what you want to do and offer your services. For example; find out who worked on the latest film you saw, send them an email offering to assist them on their next project. You will be knocked back more times than you will be offered work but resilience is key. When you finally land that first job, be prepared to do no makeup at all but be ready willing and able to observe and learn. Be good at memorising a coffee order and always offer to clean brushes. Learn how the lead artist likes their set up or clean down and try to stay one step ahead of them and in time, they’ll allow you near an actors face!

Whilst you wait for the big jobs to come your way, keep your portfolio up to date. Make connections with creatives in your local area. Organise a photoshoot where you offer time for photographs. Club together with another makeup artist and pay for a professional model for a couple of hours and get as many looks as you can pictured. A good and varied portfolio, filled with up to date and timeless images will help you get noticed.

Understand how to keep track of your business. This means understanding taxes and accounts, perhaps undertaking a short business course will help you get started. You’ll most likely need basic computer skills to write up and send invoices and spreadsheeting skills will allow you to keep track of your accounts. Being able to budget efficiently will be important as work can fluctuate. There may be times when there is lots of varied work for you but this might be followed by months of no work at all!

Knowing how to manage your time is important, working in almost any setting there will be a time limit. Whether that prep time, being ready for a wedding or working with an appointment system. You may have lots of different tasks to keep up with so prioritising them will be vital. For example, you may have been asked to clean brushes, fetch a product for touch ups from the makeup trailer and take continuity photos before an actor has their makeup removed. You will need to know which is the most important and therefore be carried out first. In that scenario, I would prioritise the item needed from the makeup trailer as causing a delay in filming should be avoided, I would then be taking the continuity photos as the actor may have been wearing that makeup for a long time already and then I would be cleaning brushes.

Be the person that others want to work with. This means you have to be professional, organised and personable but above all, you have to love what you do!

References:

Where Makeup Artists Work & What They Do - Hair & Makeup Artist Handbook. (2012). Retrieved 10 April 2021, from https://hair-and-makeup-artist.com/where-makeup-artists-work/

Cofi, C. (2021). Working In Industry. Lecture, The Sheffield College (Zoom).

Make-up artist job profile | Prospects.ac.uk. (2020). Retrieved 10 April 2021, from https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/make-up-artist