February 9, 2025

How to become a makeup artist and get known

Do you dream of becoming a makeup artist? In this article, discover the best trainings to become a professional makeup artist and the opportunities to earn money thanks to your passion for makeup.

Because indeed, thanks to Instagram, it is now possible to become an influencer and build partnerships with cosmetic brands. And even to go beyond and create your own makeup brand.

In this article, we will answer questions like:

In which universes can one evolve as a make up artist?
What are the different options for training as a make up artist?
How to become a professional makeup artist for the stars?
How to be visible and get known ?
How to create a cosmetics brand?
Everything you need to know about the profession of makeup artist, here we go

The different types of makeup artists

First of all, you should know that there are different types of makeup artists. If your dream is to do makeup on the biggest stars, that’s not the only opportunity for a makeup artist. And there are many opportunities to work with celebrities, so you’ll need to prove yourself, achieve excellence and stand out with your style.

But there are plenty of other opportunities to work as a makeup artist, often more accessible:

Be a makeup artist for a cosmetic brand, knowing that the biggest brands like Bobbi Brown or Mac all have makeup artists in their boutiques, sometimes even offering makeup classes
Becoming a wedding makeup artist is a job in high demand with nearly 230,000 weddings celebrated in France each year! After many postponements of weddings in recent months, weddings should be very numerous in 2022!
Working as a makeup artist for fashion and runway shows, theater or opera
Working as a makeup artist on TV, movie or series shoots – taking care of presenters, guests, actors and/or extras. Some makeup artists specialize in movie makeup for monsters, vampires or other costumes.
Be a make-up artist for photo and video shoots, in a private or corporate setting
It depends on your desires and your specialty (artistic makeup or more natural).

How much does a professional makeup artist earn per month?

The profession of makeup artist is very coveted today but the opportunities are not always there, especially in the cultural and artistic fields. Makeup artists are often self-employed and/or intermittent, paid by the service. The remuneration offered depends on the reputation of the makeup artist, his experience and expertise.

According to Studyrama, the basic pay for a freelance makeup artist is 250 euros per day. You can therefore earn a living as an auto-entrepreneur. If you are a salaried makeup artist, you can expect to earn 1,555 euros gross according to Onisep data.

To supplement their income, many makeup artists now rely on social networks – we’ll come back to this later.

Make up artist training: the best make up schools and online courses

Today there are many makeup artist training courses. Be careful, to work in this profession, you must follow a specialized course. The Bac Pro, CAP and BTS aesthetics / cosmetics do not allow you to acquire the necessary skills to work in makeup, they are training courses with other outlets even if they can sometimes give bases.

Makeup schools
Whether you want to become a makeup artist as soon as you finish high school or as part of a professional retraining, we advise you to opt for a specialized school. Training can last several weeks, several months or several years.

Please note: these make up artist courses are quite expensive. But this is often the price to pay to work in this field. Thanks to their networks and partners, these schools will allow you to do professional internships and to access many opportunities.

Here are a few courses to explore:

Make Up For Ever’s professional makeup artist training, offered within its Paris Academy. It lasts 6 months and is a state-recognized training program, with an overall average insertion rate of 81% (i.e., 4 out of 5 people who have taken this training program find a job less than 6 months after the end of their training). The cost of this makeup artist training is 8,000 euros for the basic course (more if you take the artistic option).


The training offered by the Peyrefitte Make-up school located in Lyon, which offers a long training course “Professional Make-up Artist” over 10 months, from September to June, at a cost of 7,100 euros. The school also has a catalog of short courses more specialized, such as the training of makeup event on 1 week at the price of 2 000 euros.


The curriculum of the ITM Paris, the Technical Institute of Make-up, considered as one of the best make-up schools in France. The schooling takes place over 2 years, with a certified training of makeup artist Bac +2 and an exhaustive program to master all aspects of the profession. The cost of tuition is 14,500 euros (7,250 euros per year).


Long or short courses and private lessons at the Conservatoire du Maquillage, a recognized makeup school also based in Paris. The professional make-up artist training takes place over 9 months and prepares you for the various make-up professions. You can deepen your knowledge by opting for modules, such as the 3-week fashion module. It costs between 6,000 and 8,500 euros depending on the options chosen.