Episode 47
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[00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to episode 47 of The Artist to Artist Podcast. I wanted to talk about the skills that actually matter in your first year as a makeup artist.
And when I say first year as a makeup artist, I am really speaking about that period of time where you maybe are self-taught or you've just graduated makeup school and you're starting to take freelancing more seriously. You're committed to building your business, whether that is part-time or full-time.
I think when you are starting out and you're in this phase, It's very easy, especially now to get distracted by all of the wrong things. What kit bag to buy, what lighting setup you need, uh, what Instagram content is going viral. Whether you need that $80 contour palette that you saw in someone's Sephora sale hall.
The truth is. That stuff doesn't matter nearly as much as the real skills that you need to actually make you a bookable artist. And I understand because I have been there. I fortunately started to do this job at a time where social media wasn't even close to what it is now. And I [00:01:00] still used to overthink all of this.
I would second guess my kit. I would obsess over the most useless details about my kit, my skills, my makeup applications, and. This kind of made me always feel behind, and it always made me feel like I had catching up to do, but for me it was mostly catching up in terms of buying products, making sure things looked a certain way.
There was a lot of noise going around and I think now it's way worse if you're, if you're starting in this industry, what I think the reality is. None of that. We'll actually help you on the job. What helps you is preparation, clarity about what your responsibilities are as a pro artist and repetition in that training, and specifically the training that you're weakest in.
and you just need a few key skills that will actually carry you through your first year because it's one of the toughest. If you're just starting out and you feel like you are drowning in information, this episode is gonna be for you. Let me walk you through the things I wish I had focused on more in [00:02:00] year one. Let's start with an obvious number one. I think every new artist gets so tempted to do too much, especially if you are consuming a lot of content on social or that's where you're doing a lot of your learning. You watch tutorial after tutorial and you feel like you need to use every product category to be seen as a pro makeup artist.
I'm making air quotes right now. , Foundation concealer, contour highlighter, bronzer powder, blush setting spray, um, setting powder, loose powder.
All of these things that you see on social where it's just layering product after product on every single person. The truth about most of this is especially on real jobs, doing more doesn't make the result better. It just makes for a heavier application that is more prone to showing.
Texture When I'm on a commercial shoot, a beauty campaign, or with a bridal party, I'm not out here trying to prove that I can do every single trend on every single face. I am just trying to make the face that is in my chair look great in that context. So in [00:03:00] your first year, practice restraint and practice asking yourself, what does this person's face actually need?
where can I place product to bring that balance or maybe slightly change the structure of that person's face, like if they want their eyes to show up more, their cheeks, to show up more without overloading the skin. Because your ability to see the face of the person that is.
Sitting in front of you and treat it as an individual and make intentional choices about that individual person is what sets you apart, not your product count, not how many layers you can do, not swatching things on the face for no reason, applying contour where it isn't needed. This is, I think, the biggest misconception about how we do our jobs.
A lot of tutorials are designed to sell you product. There's also a specific aesthetic that looks really good on social media, but that aesthetic is not necessarily gonna transfer to real paying jobs for example, if I were to do makeup.
Uh, like how some of the bigger influencers [00:04:00] do makeup, where we're doing underpainting and then we're going in and we're dabbing concealer, full coverage, concealer shape tape here and there. And then we're doing a full cover liquid foundation, and then we're setting with Mac Studio Fix and all of these things.
I am likely not gonna be returning to a lot of my current clients that are paying my rent, because that's not what they're looking for. That layering of product creates a texture that you can see on camera, and a lot of the times we just need to make people look like themselves and not necessarily have that Instagram face.
Now, I want to be clear that I'm not saying that this is the wrong way to do makeup. It's that when you watch. Tutorials that look like this on social, it is content that is created for Instagram and there are certain markets and you might be living in one of them where your clients are looking for that.
But if you are following me because you want to do work similar to what I do, you do need to be aware of this stuff. 'cause you will have clients that come to you with that. And you can take some of these trends and. Adapt them to what you do. But a lot of the times, so much product is not gonna look good for [00:05:00] me.
My clients are gonna be very unhappy with me. Okay, so I just wanna put that out there. The next thing.
And I will say this until I am blue in the face. Color theory matters. It's one of the most important things that you need to learn as a makeup artist. I see a lot of color theory content on social now because it's something that I talk about. So the algorithm feeds me more of that, but I think it's one of the most skipped over skills on social media in general.
Like when I just go to my for you page or I'm just quickly scrolling through TikTok or social. It's completely overlooked. I don't see a lot of people talking about it. I see a lot of faces that are not matching necks out here, and I think it's one of the biggest differences between a beginner,
and prose. if you can walk into a job and consistently get your foundation to be a flawless match, You will become valuable to your clients very quickly.
One thing I talk about a lot in the membership, when I had my color theory course, One thing I think people don't do enough of is swatch foundation and concealer, whatever it is on your clients before you apply. I have heard from a lot of artists that they feel like this is showing their inexperience.
I swatch all the [00:06:00] time. Even now I need to make sure I'm getting that match right. So don't be afraid to do that.
put a color wheel on your station, so if you need help. After you swatch to adjust what you see in front of you, maybe a foundation is too warm, too cool, too light, too dark, whatever it is, put that color wheel on the table so you have some sort of map to help you get that end result that you're looking for.
This is not mean you are showing your inexperience. This just means you're trying to do the job that you're hired to do. So don't feel a specific way about holding up a color wheel. It's all part of what we are hired to do, right?
If you mess up, you remove it. You try again. You learn and you move on.
When it comes to color correcting, so you're trying to correct some discoloration on the face, let's say the under eye. This is where I see this the most.
Just don't start putting orange on every single person's under eye, because that's what you see on social. That is not color theory, that is just content that you are replicating. The next skill that. We have to talk about is speed without sacrificing quality. I talk about this a lot because this is why I am still [00:07:00] employed and able to pay my bills.
One, I do natural makeup applications on all skin tones, and two, I can do them fast. You will not always have two hours to do makeup. That is just not real life, not even close. You are gonna be in a bridal suite with five people staring at you waiting and they have to be on time for their photos and the whole rest of the wedding depends on you meeting a certain timeline.
You will be working on sets with someone breathing down your neck asking you how long until you're done.
speed is not about rushing. So it's not about like you're used to doing these 15 steps with your makeup application and you just have to do them faster. No, it's much more about problem solving with that particular client or model on that particular day. I always tell newer artists to time themselves and to work under a timer.
This is to feel a little bit of that stress that you will be feeling on the job, but also mostly to be aware of your process. If it takes an hour and a half on a friend at home, that is fine,
But then see what you can do in an hour and 20, then an hour, then [00:08:00] 45 minutes, then 30. You can't build up the confidence that you need to be successful if you've never practiced under any pressure.
The next thing is very subtle, but very critical in developing your career, and that is taste and restraint. Some of the artists that I respect the most or that I'm drawn to the most have incredible taste. They know how to stop.
When they need to stop, they know when the face looks balanced, when the skin looks dimensional, when the eye makeup doesn't need another layer. And that's something that you are gonna develop by doing, not watching.
If this episode is speaking to you and you're like, oh, geez, I really do have to work on these things, try a look that you like to create and try to do it in a shorter time or maybe fewer products or fewer steps than you usually do. Can you still execute this? Look, you have to ask yourself. And then while you're doing this, ask yourself, am I adding this product because it helps or because I feel like I should add this product, or I have seen someone add this product, so [00:09:00] I'll add it too.
If you wanna build a signature style one day, you need to start developing your eye. And that sometimes can begin with restraint and just doing things in a more simple way, or using fewer products or cutting out unnecessary steps in your application.
Something I wish was talked about more is communication. your communication skills can make or break you in this career. Can you read the room on set? Can you explain what you're doing to a nervous client without sounding unsure, without intimidating them?
Can you take feedback without getting upset or embarrassed or flustered? This is the stuff that gets you rebooked.
Let's say a bride asks you for more blush, but maybe there's already more than enough blush on her skin. maybe you've already done a few layers and you know it's more than enough already. How do you respond? Do you get defensive?
Do you just adjust what you can and do your best to make this person feel heard and that you understand what they're looking for?
If you're working with a photographer that you've [00:10:00] been super excited about working with and you do a makeup application, your model goes to set, the photographer takes a few test photos, and they ask you to change a bunch of stuff about the makeup, how do you pivot?
What adjustments do you choose to make? What do you leave? Professionalism and handling situations like this. It's not just about your work and the before and after photos. It's also about how you handle people in conversations. The skill that I think will save you over and over again is adaptability, and this is number six in this podcast.
If you've been keeping count, you will absolutely forget something at home. One day you will show up to a job and find out the brief or the mood board for the job has completely changed. you will be asked to create makeup looks you've never done before,
and you need to be able to think instead of panic, this is where your product knowledge is gonna come in.
Can your lipstick double as a cream blush color? If it's something you don't have in your kit? Can you create a bright liquid liner with an eyeshadow that you have in your kit? Do [00:11:00] you know how to make your kit work for the job at hand, even if your kit is not perfect?
Clients notice this. Other artists notice this being calm, being prepared. And really being okay with being flexible and adapting well to change, even when maybe in your head you are absolutely freaking out. Your ability to adapt in these tough situations will make you very successful
If you're in your first year and you're feeling like you have absolutely no idea what to focus on, just start with this episode.
You do not need to have the perfect kit or the fanciest lighting set up. You really just need clarity on what you're doing, what your role is as a makeup artist on any given job. You need confidence in yourself. The belief that even if you can't do something now, you're gonna get better at it with practice.
And you just need repetition, especially at the things that challenge you the most right now. And if this episode even gave you a little bit more clarity, I think you will get so much more. Out of the Artist to Artist membership. If you haven't signed up [00:12:00] yet, I built this membership to be the kind of support that I wish I had. You do get those long form makeup applications so you can really learn about the why behind a lot of what I do with my makeup applications. I talk a lot about working faster.
I share real client breakdowns in the membership and all of the things that you are not gonna pick up from a 32nd or 62nd video from social media.
It is designed for artists who want to work. There is no pressure. It's just real support. Whenever you're ready, you can check it out. I give everybody who wants to check out the membership a seven day free trial so you can kind of get accustomed to the type of content that I'm sharing in there, and I will include the link to that in the show notes.
Thank you so much for listening. If you didn't catch this announcement on social media, I am moving the podcast to every other week. So I will talk to you on the next one, which will be in two weeks. Thanks so much. Bye
bye.
