How to be a Professional Makeup Artist: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners Paperback – March 2, 2013

Many young people consider a career as a professional makeup artist, but just what do they do and how do they do it? No, you don't have to be a professional to apply makeup, but if you want to work in the field, you have to know how to go about it. When you are a makeup artist you use your skills and "makeup as a tool to diminish flaws, enhance features, or totally transform an individual." A professional could simply be one who, apart from an amateur, is paid for his or her work, but Gina Reyna not only feels a makeup artist needs to provide "exceptional results," but also must strive for "quality, honesty, and integrity."Reyna outlines ten essential habits that will help young makeup artists along their journey. For example, one must practice working on their own person hygiene. Simplistic, yes, but one of those critical little details necessary for establishing one's business. Show up smelling like you just worked out in a gym or wearing heavy perfume can be overwhelming to your client base. Oh, and the ability to accept criticism is also a plus.You'll also be able to take a whirlwind tour through makeup styles such as beauty makeup: Clean beauty, basic beauty, fashion, glamour (extreme beauty), bridal/special occasion, high fashion (avant-garde, fantasy), and clean beauty. Each type of makeup is briefly discusses so you'll get an idea of the different types of makeup you might be doing or may wish to specialize in. Perhaps you'd like to work in the theater, television, or movies. You'll have to take a look at beyond beauty styles such as theatrical or special effects. You'll even get a glimpse at thing like HD technology and makeup.This is a nice basic overview for those who are considering going into the world of professional makeup artistry. Mind you, this is not a book that tells you how to apply makeup or enhance your looks. This is a career-basics book that would be especially helpful to young people who want to explore what the career entails. You'll learn about portfolio principals, tools you'll need, how to build a kit, where you can find "great deals" on makeup (local and online, pros and cons), airbrush makeup, HD makeup technology, storage options, licensing, educational choices, exams, choosing a school, avoiding online scams, and you'll find out many other important things you'll have to know if you are considering a career as a professional makeup artist.Once again keep in mind if you're thinking you're going to get makeup tips, you'll be sorely disappointed. One of the things I liked the most were the numerous references to online resources. This step-by-step guide is not a tome by any means, but is quite thorough and will help many people get an idea as to what a career in the field really entails. Yes, even the fact that personal hygiene is important. I liked the book and feel it would be an excellent guide, especially for young people who *think* they might just want to work in the field and begin their training with a credible organization.Table of Contents:Chapter 1 - Makeup ArtistryChapter 2 - Tools of the TradeChapter 3 - Education & TrainingChapter 4 - Exploring Career OptionsChapter 5 - Getting Started in Cosmetic Retail SalesChapter 6 - Getting Started in Personal Beauty ServicesChapter 7 - Getting Started in Media Production

I love this book so far! It's better than I expected. It's a great resource and gives you many many links to refferences/stores to purchase supplies. I am a tad bit dissapointed it didn't go over the career that I am after, to be a creative director for a company or how to work for a company at trade shows, training at sephora, etc. But it is definitely a great read and a book I know I'll keep close!

Initially, I wrote this book off because it didn't give me makeup application guides, which is what I was looking for at that time. But when I looked closer at this book (kindle version), I realized that there is a ton of great information for makeup artists. It is especially great for someone who is new to makeup artistry, as it provides information about starting up your business, websites, and other professional tips. You may be able to obtain some of this information in your own search, but it is all in one place in this book, so why recreate the wheel? This book gets right to the point, and the information is of depth and breadth. This book seems to provide enough starting points and information to provide the new professional with a secure foundation from which to build. I bought this book for two or three dollars so the low cost makes it even better! It is pretty rare to find a gem like this book for that price, so I am impressed with that as well. The layout is comprehensible and it is easy to read. I wish kindle allowed me to print pages from the book for a hard copy reference. If you are someone who likes to have a tangible guide to starting your business, the kindle version may not be for you. Either way, you could always take notes on the information that is most relevant to you. I am able to access kindle anywhere there is internet access, so it is nice in that regard. Therefore, I may access the contents of the book almost everywhere, so I don't need a tangible book.

A very basic overview on the various career paths you can take in the freelance makeup artistry world. This is a very short "book" that could honestly be condensed even more than it is already. Much of the text is lists of various websites, books, youtube channels, and other resources that someone interested in a career as a makeup artist might find helpful.I would only really recommend this book to someone who knows little to nothing about the makeup industry. For a young adult, teen, or very novice adult who is wanting to be a makeup artist this would be a good short summary of the types of career paths they could take and give them links to more reading if they were interested.However, for anyone who has even a basic knowledge of the makeup industry this won't teach you much. You can pretty easily find this information in many places online with just a cursory bit of internet searching, and if you belong to any online professional makeup forums or communities this book would be almost entirely review. The only new things I took from it was the recommendations of a few specialized books I hadn't heard of before.In addition, I wasn't impressed that there are multiple sections in this short book that are just copy and pasted lists (and entire paragraphs) from other sections. So if you read the book from beginning to end you'll just skip whole bits because you just read them the last section. It feels lazy and unorganized. Honestly, I almost wonder if the author is really even in the makeup industry. It almost feels like a book that someone who Googled "how to be a makeup artist" wrote, especially with the giant lists of resources. The claim about how you will "Discover Exclusive Industry Insider Secrets" is stretching it quite a bit.

I have been a working makeup artist for maybe 2 years now, however I decided to read up on some other methods. It's never to late to learn new things, or maybe a better way of doing something. I love this book and it has great references :)