I am in many beauty groups on Facebook and the other day there was an interesting discussion in the comments field when a girl asked what people thought about becoming a self-taught makeup artist or makeup training.

There were incredibly mixed opinions, but few answers that helped the girl who asked as most of the respondents had been educated and actually had no experience of being self-taught.

Eftersom jag själv går under termen “självlärd makeupartist” så tänkte jag därför skriva ett inlägg om det eftersom intresset verkar stort! :)

What is a self-taught makeup artist - really?

I tråden om detta så läste jag många kommentarer i stil med “du kan jobba med att sminka folk men du kan inte kalla dig makeupartist om du inte har utbildning”.

My opinion is:

1. To call yourself a makeup artist, it is required that you have the knowledge that a makeup artist needs. It is not enough to be able to do a nice make-up on yourself and your best friend, but you need to know different skin types, color theory, techniques, different types of make-up, different products and tools etc. And it is not enough to possess the knowledge but you must be able to perform this on different people as well - regardless of who ends up in the make-up chair and what wishes that particular person has. It is plenty (!) one must know both theoretically and practically.

2. If you have learned all of the above, I think you have an education regardless of whether you are self-taught or if you paid SEK 70,000 to get a teacher, the only difference is from where you have received the information.

In my opinion, then all självlärda makeupartister också utbildade förutsatt att dom uppfyller kriterierna för att kalla sig makeupartist! Sen håller jag 100% med om att man inte kan kalla sig makeupartist om man är pissdålig, men det gäller både utbildade och självlärda. Vissa utbildningar har hårda kunskapskrav för att bli certifierad medan andra “säljer diplom”.

3. If anything, I think all makeup artists are self-taught! Of course you need all the information and knowledge, but in the end it is practice, practice, practice that decides whether you become good or not. Experience and burning interest weigh the most!

Benefits of makeup training

With that said, it's not necessarily the case that I advocate becoming a self-taught makeup artist. For me, it suited me well when I started already in high school, so when I took the student I already knew so much that I got a job anyway - then it felt superfluous to spend as much time and money as it takes to go to a proper education. I absolutely did not have that finances!

But there are three really strong benefits to education:

1. Products and materials are included in the price. It's not free to be self-taught either, because you need to buy all the products and tools yourself - and we all know that it's not free.

2. It's faster! Getting direct feedback from a teacher and discussing with other students makes you become good much faster. In addition, it is very time consuming to search for all this information yourself, in an education you get it served on a silver platter.

If you want to work in TV, theater, etc., it is probably smarter with an education. There you learn make-up for different lighting, older people, masking such as latex and fake blood etc. I can not do that :) but I do not need it either as I work with salons, private individuals, product sales and the photography and film jobs I do are common beauty makeup.

Prejudices against self-taught makeup artists

I can not comment on what it is like to go to an education because I have not done so, but I have quite a lot of insight into it anyway because I have had many trainees and colleagues who are educated and been a substitute in a makeup education and saw those students (who were almost fully trained) and what level their knowledge was at.

In other words: I probably have more insight into what it is like to be a trained makeup artist, than what a trained makeup artist has insight into what it is like to be a self-taught makeup artist.

Det finns mycket fördomar om vad en självlärd makeupartist är. Att det är någon som “gillar smink och har tittat mycket på Youtube”. Jag själv hade tvärtom litat mer på en person som är självlärd – om den är duktig – för då har man verkligen kämpat! Becoming a self-taught makeup artist is not the easy way out.

To be completely honest, I think that a large part of the prejudices are based on the fact that it catches the eye of people who have completed an education and then people without education appear who compete. Of course it's not fun :)

Benefits of being a self-taught makeup artist

But becoming self-taught is not just disadvantages either. I am very happy that I am self-taught!

1. Detta gäller inte alla utbildade såklart men jag har ofta märkt att jag har ett mer öppet sinne när det gäller makeup och regler. Det blir lätt att man gör och tänker “som sin lärare visade” istället för att tänka själv. Lite som i verkliga livet – det är skillnad på att vara “street smart” och att vara “book smart”.

2. Man blir otroligt bra på problemlösningar. När man inte får lära sig “rätt” direkt utan kommer fram till saker själv så hittar man egna knep och tips. När jag gör sminkkonsultationer (som är väldigt uppskattade) så är det vissa tips jag ger ut som jag inte hört någon annan säga utan det är helt mina egna.

3. När man är sin egen lärare så vet man att man har en bra lärare. Haha. Missförstå mig rätt – men det finns olika utbildningar och vissa lärare är GRYMMA alltså guld värda! Men det finns också dom som lär ut 80-talsregler så som “syntet till klet” alltså att man har borstar med äkta hår till torra puderprodukter och syntetpenslar till krämprodukter. Jaa visst så var det förut när alla syntetborstar var som små målarpenslar, men nu fungerar syntetborstar till allt! Det är en vattendelare men enligt mig finns det ingen anledning någonsin att använda borstar med äkta hår.

What is best?

What is best? To be a self-taught makeup artist or a trained makeup artist?

That said, a makeup artist is a makeup artist (in my opinion) no matter how you get there. It is not the journey that is the point but the goal.

What is better or worse is 100% individually. You have to weigh the pros and cons and look at your own life situation, conditions and personality! Being self-taught is certainly not for everyone, it requires self-discipline and geekiness, but if it works best for you so it's the right way to go.

Market needs

I actually see a need for simpler makeup training on the market. I am really eager to do a well-crafted web training - a makeup training at a distance for future makeup artists!

Why? Because I see a big gap today between 1. really sharp makeup artists who know everything from crazy fashion make-up to masking and special effects. Or 2. semi-interested people who have gotten jobs at various store chains and who regularly sell foundations with the wrong color.

Where is everyone in between? We need talented makeup artists who want to work in a make-up shop, beauty salon, sales, own company, freelance, weddings and other parties! Those who do not spend 70,000 on a makeup education that takes a whole year, but who still need a large part of that knowledge.

Giving product advice to 20 people a day is not easy without knowledge, I can promise you :) Just choosing a suitable face primer requires several follow-up questions about skin type, wishes for results, which products to use over, etc.

Web training on g?

Oj vad sugen jag blev på att göra en riktigt välarbetad makeuputbildning online nu! En som är perfekt för alla “mellanting-personer” haha! Håll utkik för jag är i en peppig period i livet nu jag kanske drar igång det projektet snabbare än ni tror haha ;)

Update: You can find my education at Helena Amiley - Academy of Makeup

If you have your own experiences in the subject, it would be very interesting to take part in! :)

Hug! ♥

Also read: Make up yourself course online