How I Learnt Makeup Skills

Over the last year or so, I have been really serious about developing the skills and education to become a professional makeup artist and I wanted to share how I learnt my makeup skills - without going to a makeup or beauty school. Pretty much everything I know about makeup and the application of it has been self-taught and I wanted to go through some of my favourite resources for learning makeup skills in this post.

Books

 

In today's society of the rise of new media platforms, learning from a book has been something that is overlooked by a lot of today's generation. I've come across a lot of makeup books here and there over the years since I started my blog, and I have three particular favourites which I feel are really helpful for beginners especially.

The first book I ever got was 'Be Beautiful' by Alice Hart-Davis and Molly Hindhaugh. Alice is the founder of GoodThings, the skincare range I was obsessed with as a pre-teen, and with her daughter, they wrote this guide to hair, skin and makeup and this actually inspired a lot of my first blog posts! This book is really good for younger teenagers, and actually I still flick through it every now and again because it explains a lot about hair care, body care, makeup, skin, teeth, eating well and more and you can get it here on Amazon.

More recently, I absolutely love TheMakeupChair Handbook by Sinead Cady, if you're not familiar she is a YouTuber and I have watched her videos for a little over a year now. They are really useful, informative and entertaining at the same time. She has broken down her YouTube videos into words and put them into a book which is really useful as you can watch her videos and watch the demonstration and then go to her book and read it so you have a full understanding of everything to do with makeup; from finding your undertone, highlighting and contouring, face and eye shapes and even the right makeup brushes for the job. You can find her book here!

My last favourite book is called 'How to be a Professional Makeup Artist' by G.M. Reyna and although this is US based, it is really informative about how to build a portfolio, launch a career within different makeup industries, education and training and also provides websites where you can purchases all the tools and makeup to help start your career, a lot being available within the UK too. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to start a makeup artist career, like me, who is a beginner and unsure which career option to take. Find this book here.

 

YouTube

 

This seems like an obvious one, but a useful one. There are millions of YouTube videos that discuss anything to do with makeup and beauty and the best thing about it is that you can watch the techniques of how makeup is applied and this was how I learnt a lot of skills. As I mentioned earlier with TheMakeupChair Handbook, the author also does YouTube videos which are really informative, she goes into so much detail about where to hold a makeup brush, what tones and shades to use and shows you how to do it instead of just talking about it. I prefer watching smaller YouTubers because honestly, I think they're more genuine and deserving, I take a lot of inspiration from Klaire de Lys, Amy's Makeup Box, xSparkage, Shonagh Scott and Goss Makeup Artist, but there is also a few hard-working YouTubers like Michelle Phan, Makeup Geek and Pixiwoo that all make really useful videos too, so I recommend having a look at all of these because I love them, they're educational and entertaining and where I learnt the main bulk of what I know.

 

Blogs

 

Again, an obvious one but with a little help from Bloglovin', you can find so many blogs relevant to makeup and beauty and blogs are where I like to find out about new makeup products, read reviews on products and you can connect with other people and discuss your opinions and gain some knowledge that way.

 

Makeup Counters

 

Go to some makeup counters and have a chat with the makeup artists that work there, especially if you want to work within the cosmetic retail industry. I'm not saying that all makeup artists are willing to share there secrets, but having a casual chat while browsing through a counter might be able to teach you a thing or two, who knows? See if you can find makeup counters that offer a makeover, you can ask your artist what they're doing and see if you can pick up any extra tips.

 

Practise!

 

Practising on a lot of people for a wide range of occasions will improve your flexibility skills as an artist, you will become more comfortable on working on different ages, ethnicities and complexions within your career. See if a friend or family member wants their makeup done for an event, or just for fun, because then you're still gaining experience! I did this a lot for friends and family and over time I became more comfortable on 'invading space' and getting 'up close and personal' with people which is something that I struggled with before.  

 

So I hope you found this useful, I just want to say that these things helped me, but alone I can't guarantee that they will help you immediately launch into a career. Personally, I am building up experience and then I will be going to a makeup school for training but if you are serious about becoming a makeup artist then a lot of professional makeup artists suggest you gain experience by doing similar things, see if you can work for free with artists etc. There are a lot of ways into this industry so find what works for you and go for it!

 

Beth x