at does it take to be a good makeup artist? There really are no formal qualifications. It’s not like training to be a doctor or a pilot, where you’re not able to work without hard-earned certificates and by passing rigorous exams.
Sure, there are various diplomas, degrees, and certificates you can get from the numerous schools and colleges worldwide that state that you’ve passed some sort of test of their devising to "qualify" you as a makeup artist, but, in my opinion, those bits of paper are all fairly meaningless.
My wife has a joke about this. She points out to me that she’s put on makeup every single day for the past 20-some years, so this must qualify her to call herself a makeup artist, right? You know what? In a way, she’s right. Anyone can call him – or herself a makeup artist. The question becomes, What kind of makeup artist are you?
In my experience there are several kinds of makeup artists, and I’m not talking about different categories of makeup artists such as prosthetic makeup artist, beauty makeup artist, or bridal makeup artist. What I’m talking about are the categories that makeup artists fall into defined by their attitude toward their craft. I was about to type job at the end of the last sentence, but of course not everyone who will read this book and practice the techniques they’ve gleaned from these pages will earn a living doing makeup. Some do it as a hobby. Some do it for fun at their local community theater, but however you practice makeup, you’ll still fall into one of these three categories.