How To Make It As A Successful Makeup Artist In Nigeria

If you are one of those who look down on makeup artists, you may want to read this post.  Makeup artists are making it big in Nigeria. How did i know this right? I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of popular ones and i can tell you for a fact that there’s money in that profession. Below are a few things i can share with you if you want to make it big as a makeup artist in Naija.

Rule #1: LEARN FROM A PRO MUA: When i mean learn from a pro, i do not mean that you should learn from your neighbor that is using your face to perfect her own skill. I mean you should learn from a Tara, Banke Meshida, Topal Touch or Fix u Makeover. You can also learn from someone who learnt from these ladies. Learning from a professional is the first step to being a makeup pro. Also note that that you would have to buy your own makeup products to learn and to kick start your business.. You’ll need a makeup box, several pencil’s, BH eyeshadow set, makeup brush set, foundation (different shades) lipsticks ( different colours) eye lashes etc.  Note that there are several fake products in the market.. consult with your trainer so you don’t end up buying fake products cos it will  be a waste of money. You can spend as much as 80k or more for a start.

Rule #2: PLAN A PHOTO SHOOT: Schedule a day to have your first makeup shoot… at this stage of your business you may not have the funds to pay say five models.. what you can do tho is get your friends, sisters or cousins to be your models. Go into a studio and do your shoot.

Rule #3: GO SOCIAL: Never, ever underestimate the power of social media.. Open a Facebook page, Twitter account and an Instagram account. Your profile should briefly describe what you do and then include your contact details. Use some of the pictures from your photo shoot as your Facebook profile picture/cover photo, Twitter profile picture/cover photo and you should also use one of the picture as your Instagram profile picture. Engage people on your pages and don’t forget to use hashtags related to your field.

Rule #4: ATTEND MAKEUP SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS: Events like the Makeup fair is one of the big event for makeup artists in Nigeria. You get to meet with other makeup artists, buy products, meet potential clients and network with makeup enthusiast.

Rule #5: GET A PROFESSIONAL CAMERA? HELL NO!: I wouldn’t advice a newbie makeup artist to buy a digital camera.. camera’s like the Canon camera don’t come cheap these days. Aside that, i found out that some of the well known makeup artist that has been in business for a while buy expensive camera’s that they cannot operate. They buy camera’s that professional photographer’s use in shooting weddings. Most makeup artist buy expensive camera’s just to show off and move with the trend. The fact that you do not have a 6D doesn’t make you less a makeup artist. There are phones that have good picture quality. Snap the pictures yourself and send to a photographer to help you edit the pictures. Don’t forget that you are just starting a business and you don’t need a camera of 500k. Start with what you have unless your parents are rich and they don’t mind buying one for you.

Rule #6: PARTNER WITH PHOTOGRAPHER’S/MAGAZINE PUBLISHER’S: One of the good ways to kick start your business is to partner with photographer’s, magazine publishers. celebrities, designers. These set of people at one point or the other will need to do a shoot for a magazine, publish a magazine or style a celebrity and they will need a makeup artist at some point. The little publicity you get will go a long way in helping your business.

Rule #7: BE 100% CREATIVE: Always be creative in what you do.. move from the norm and try out different stuffs that hasn’t been done by any makeup artist here in Nigeria. Google is always your friend.. see what other foreign makeup artist do. Abeke makeover will always be known for the popuar Avant Garde gele ladies rock to parties.

Hope you found this article very useful?

Kindly follow us on Instagram – @heleneventblog

Twitter -@heleneventblog