Career Options & Salaries
How much money can I make as a makeup
artist?
Depending on the location and work position (such as personal makeup artist and salon
work), a professional makeup artist can earn anywhere from £30,000 up to £60-70,000.
Besides the two most important aspect, salaries can also depend on working hours,
occasions and commissions if you decide to work in the direct sales section.
Direct Sales
If you would like to work in direct sales, your annual salary will highly depend on
commissions from the sold items and services with a hourly/monthly minimum. You can
earn anywhere between £23,000 and £40,000 in a year.
Boutique and Speciality Stores
Boutique and speciality stores tend to have a bit higher hourly rates for artists than a
department store, but just like with most profession, salary can depend on your location
(while artists in New York, Hollywood and Los Angeles usually have higher salaries,
makeup artists in other areas of the United States tend to get lower payment). You can
earn anywhere between £19,000 and £28,000 in a year.
Media Opportunities
Depending on the popularity of the media site or magazine you are working for as a
makeup artist (with a wide range from start-up fashion and beauty companies to well-
established magazines), you can earn anywhere between £19,000 and £50,000 in a year.
Salon Work
Working in salons as a makeup artist usually comes with regular working hours and full-
time position opportunities, and depending on your location, you can make anywhere
around £25,000-£30,000 by working in a salon.
Department Stores
Depending on which department store you choose and your commission, department
stores can guarantee you around the same amount of payment as working in a salon.
Theatrical Make-up
For artists who don’t mind late working hours and part time projects, a career in
theatrical makeup can bring up to £30,000-£36,000 per year. Just like being a mostly occasional job, it constantly comes with new challenges which can be an exciting and
well- paid opportunity for every artist.
Television and Films
While TV and Film makeup artist have usually higher hourly payment than a salon or
department store artist, the main downside is that the working hours are usually less
and it is more of a part time job than a full time, especially if you are working with
different film crews. Overall, artists working in the film and television sector get paid
around as much as artists working in other media sectors (such as photo shoot artists).
Teaching & Consultancy
Depending on whether you would like to join a bigger makeup school or start your own
makeup-courses, makeup teachers can earn up to £30,000 per year with flexible
working hours (as most makeup courses are during the evening or weekend which is
suitable for working students as well).
Freelancing
Freelancers have the widest range of opportunities and salary options: depending on
what side of freelancing you are the most attracted to, you can earn anything from
£20,000
If you are interested about how to successfully choose your future career path and how
to make the most out of your talent, subscribe to our course!
