Beautiful you

Make-up artists generally beautify the face of a model for a runway show, a bride for a wedding or an actor for a stage production or a film by enhancing and concealing the right features.

The lowdown
Bipasha Basu’s smouldering eyes, Preity Zinta’s rosy cheeks, Katrina Kaif’s Cupid’s bow pout… if you have not been born with such assets, you can always bank on a make-up artist to gift these to you. Make-up artists generally beautify the face of a model for a runway show, a bride for a wedding or an actor for a stage production or a film by enhancing and concealing the right features. It requires a thorough understanding of face types, colour and make-up techniques

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Clock Work
9am: Reach the salon
9.30am: Start working on faces
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Browse the internet for make-up tips and reviews of new products
3pm: Meetings and workshops
4pm: Watch you-tube videos on make-up and try and replicate those on collegues
7pm: Wind up work
7.30pm: According to schedule, leave for a runway show or go home

The payoff
A beginner in the field could get Rs5,000 per assignment, which would include working on two-three looks for a model (for a magazine or an ad shoot). This goes up to Rs50,000 per assignment and after that maybe even Rs20,000 a face or per look.

As you build up experience and a name for yourself in the industry, there’s no looking back and you could earn some good money

Getting there
One can make a career as a make-up expert after completing Class 12, or after graduation. One can join a good make-up school and do a course in personal make-up. Go for a course in advanced make-up after that. Make a portfolio of your work and visit salons and well-known make-up artists looking for apprentices. Work on as many faces as you can to gain experience. After working with a salon for some time, you can set up your own salon or be a freelance make-up artist

Institutes and URLs
. Style Studio by Shalini Singh www.stylebyshalini.com (site under construction)

. D-45, Pancsheel Enclave, first floor Conducts two or three day course

. Vidya Tikari
www.vidyatikari.in/ B-21, Lajpat Nagar-2

. MUD (Make-Up Designatory)
53-54, fifth floor, Govardhan House, Nehru Place
Conducts a one-month course in all areas of make-up.Students get international certificates, and are listed in the International Make-up Directory

. Make-Up Studio
B-6, third floor, Kalkaji
Conducts a basic three day course and a month long course for make-up enthusiasts

Pros and cons
. Scope for creativity as there are no boundaries
. There is no repetition or monotony
. Meeting and networking with a lot of interesting people
. Good money
. Lots of travel
. Physically tiring. You may have to do back-to-back assignments
. It can get tough if you have to work on models prone to tantrums and demanding customers
. There may be lean periods with no assignments