"Which makeup school should I go to?" is a question I get asked a lot. .
Before I decided on Seattle University, my girlfriend and I combed through several books that helped us to compare the statistics, housing options, food plans, athletic facilities, faculty makeup (no pun intended) and financial aid packages of one school to another.
The key to picking a good makeup school is first knowing what aspect of makeup you want to pursue and second having a system that will allow you to compare apples to apples. Many students make the mistake of calling several different schools to gather information and request brochures, but never ask all of the schools the same questions. In the end many make an emotional decision or one that is based on the hard sell they get from the school admissions personnel on the day they stop by to “check it out”.
Why shouldn’t you ask for references? If you were applying to Harvard, they would certainly inundate you with the names of their most established, famous and successful graduates in an effort to get you to attend their university. Do you think that Michigan State University ever courts a high school basketball player without mentioning (amid the posters and newspaper clippings) that Magic Johnson played here?
You can begin by thinking of yourself as the first round draft pick. Imagine for a moment that you are being courted by five top makeup schools and in order to choose the one that will best fit your future plans to be a top film, TV or print makeup artist, they must meet certain requirements to get you to Sign On the Dotted Line.
Stephen McCallum, administrator at the Make-Up Designory in Burbank, California says, “The very first question anyone should ask when considering a training or vocational school is ‘are they licensed by the state in which they operate’. The state has become very aggressive about closing schools that are not licensed and thus operating outside of their guidelines. “If it isn’t licensed to operate, the state will close it!” says Stephen. “When this happens, the students who are presently enrolled are out of luck. They lose everything.”
Donna Mee, who owns Empire Academy of Makeup in Costa Mesa, California says that students should be concerned about who is REALLY teaching the course. She suggests finding out specifics about the schools’ instructors and what they specialize in.
Loalynda Bird of Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles says, “The first step to deciding on a school is considering what aspects of the makeup industry you want pursue, print, video, commercials, film, television or even theatre perhaps. If you are interested in pursuing a career in TV or film, you will need to take most if not all of the courses offered at a school. Including but not limited to beauty, old age, character, hair work, bald cap and prosthetics. It goes without saying that you should have a passion for makeup.”
Every student who wants to pursue a career in film and television should be concerned about whether the schools classes will cover at least the basic makeup techniques needed to one day pass the union exam.
What is clear is this, only practice makes perfect. The school will give you the basics, just like taking Accounting 101, 102 & 103 will give you the basics, enabling you to get your bachelors degree in accounting. However, whether you pass the CPA exam will depend on how much you studied, or in the case of a makeup artist, how much you practiced!
The questions we’ve assembled here when asked boldly and compared properly should help you make better decisions about your career.
10 Questions To Ask Before You Sign on a Dotted Line:
1. Is the school licensed by the state in which It operates?
A licensed school is held to much more rigorous standards than one which is left to its own devices in regards to what it offers, how the facilities are maintained, the length of its classes and the qualifications of its educators. When found out by the state, unlicensed schools are closed immediately and the students presently enrolled are just out of luck. They lose everything.
2. Who are the instructors? How much real world experience do they have as educators? What do they specialize in, as a makeup artist and instructor?
“No question is more important than the quality of instructors,” says Stephen McCallum of Make-up Designory in Burbank. “Remember, just because someone is outstanding in their field doesn’t mean they will be able to educate others.” Many excellent artists are terrible teachers. You don’t want to take a beauty makeup course from someone who specializes in prosthetics...now do you?
3. What is the schools reputation (TODAY!) within the industry it professes to train students for? Can the school provide names of graduates, students, and employers who have used past students?
How great a school was ten years ago has nothing to do with the quality of education and/or students it is turning out today. Be careful of schools that can’t give you a list of two or three students who have graduated within the last three years and are successful and working in the industry.
4. How many students are in each class? What is a reasonable amount of students per instructor in a class?
If there are 20 students and one instructor, will you get the kind of personal attention you feel like you need and deserve to be successful? “If the course is hands on, a student should expect to be watched, coached and critiqued,” says Donna Mee of Empire Academy of Makeup (formerly Makeup Education Experts). Otherwise they could waste their time and money practicing many things incorrectly.
5. What does completion of the course or program provide? Certification? Diplo-ma? License?
Certain fields of makeup artistry will respond to different credentials. If you choose to focus on print, video and television commercials, it is highly unlikely that anyone will ever ask what school you went to, or to see a diploma. However, if on the other hand you want to do extensive makeup FX work that requires meticulous attention to detail and experience with chemicals and other substances that must be applied to the skin, someone just may want to confirm that you know the difference between acid and foam. In this situation a certificate or license from a reputable school can be a big +.
6. How much time is spent in practical, hand-on applications? What percentage of that time is spent working on models and how much of the time will you spend sitting for another student?
“Intensive lectures and demonstrations are an extremely important part of every course,” says Donna Mee, “but they will never substitute for working with your hands.” “Make sure that a high percentage of the course you take includes hands-on work and thus your opportunity to apply what you’ve learned” says Stephen McCallum of Make-Up Designory.
7. What is the cost per hour or credit breakdown for each course? What kind of training do you receive for the cost?
Cost per hour breakdown will allow you to compare apples with apples. If school “A” provides 40 hours for a beauty makeup course at $1,500 and school “B” provides 60 hours for a similar course (assuming you have compared what is offered) at $1,500. Then you should have questions about why the hours are so vastly different if you are considering the 40 hour course. I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t take the course with fewer hours. More is not always better. I’m suggesting that you get answers. “If the school does not list the number of hours for each course,” says Loalynda Bird, an instructor at Cinema Makeup School, “then call and ask them”.
8. What kind of information, training or business development is available to help you manage yourself as a freelance artist in a professional environment?
It helps to know the difference between a W-9 and a W-4 form when you get your first paying job. Calculating overtime and filling out a time card can be pretty important as well.
9. Does the school offer job placement assistance? Do they guarantee you work at the end of the class? Do they have an apprenticeship program? If so, how does it work?
Beware of schools that promise you work. Unless you can get it in writing, don’t count on it. And think twice about a school that would make such a promise. Schools are there to train, educate and inspire. You will usually have to get the work on your own. Even students who graduate from Harvard still have to prepare résumé’s and look for jobs. You will too!
Job placement assistance is quite another story and a welcome addition to any educational facility. A school with a good job placement assistance center usually means it’s well connected and can provide you with leads for everything from non-paying student films to low-budget projects and modestly budgeted assignments. Stephen McCallum at Make-Up Designory (also known as MUD) says that MUD’s services include help with resume writing, cover letters and one-on-one student meetings to discuss deal memo’s, invoices, billing and how to use industry publications to look for work.
10. Am I required to purchase my makeup from the school?
“Some schools require the students to purchase their makeup line or prepackaged makeup kits. The danger exists once you get into the real world only to find out that you have missed the opportunity to work with various lines and thus finishes, coverages, consistencies and more,” says Donna. Aspiring artists should discover and decide what works best with their own techniques. Yvonne Hawker, an instructor at Make-Up Designory for two years says “We give students a list of the items that they need. They can purchase a kit from us or pick up the things they like and may already be using and are comfortable with.”
11. Do you offer night classes?
Find out if the night class hours and day class hours are the same. You don’t want to get short-changed because you can’t attend in the daytime. Loalynda says, “If you choose a night class, lighting, class hours and building security is important. Make sure that the building and parking are secure. Ask yourself what type of makeup artistry interests you before enrolling in a program. Beauty, fashion, bridal or special FX. “Otherwise,” says Donna Mee, “you might end up spending a month (and a lot of money) learning to make zombies and oozing flesh wounds when your really just interested in making women beautiful!” There are, of course, always more questions to ask. Some of them you will have to tailor to your specific situation. If you are moving from another state and need housing, remember to calculate how far away your new home will be from the school and consider how you are going to get there everyday.
When considering taking a private course from an individual, all these questions and more become important. If the makeup professional whose name is on the door interviews you and signs you up, don’t assume all of your classes are going to be taught by that individual. Ask! If the answer is yes, and particularly if the person is a successful working artist, get something in writing. You don’t want to get the old switch-a-roni and end up taking lessons from the assistant if the makeup artist gets booked on a job. Request a class schedule complete with days, times and what you are supposed to cover on each day. If you’re paying $6,000 for a week of makeup lessons and flying in to New York from Arizona, the last thing you want are class times being changed at the last minute and teachers being switched so your star instructor can run off and make $2,000 working on a celebrity when he or she is supposed to be instructing you [personally] from 9-5 on how to do the perfect eyebrow.
Make sure that your $100 per hour makeup instructor instructor isn’t running down the clock with several field trips that include you carrying their bags and watching them apply makeup on someone else for eight hours on a photo shoot.
By Crystal A. Wright
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