Freelance Makeup Artist Diary #1

Most of you guys know that I've been active as a freelance makeup artist for the past 6 months! There's a lot of challenges with working for myself as well as juggling school, work, and my relationship with my boyfriend Rod. Deciding What To Charge Your Clients Being a freelance makeup artist is quite costly and can be frustrating when it comes to gaining and maintaining clients. Lately I've been stuck with what to charge my girls for proms, pageants, and other events. Most of my clients are college students or younger and I feel extremely uncomfortable charging them in general, simply because I know how it is to be young and trying to advance. I keep these important credentials in mind when deciding on what to charge for events, especially if I will be working on more than one person:

• Travel Expense - Sometimes being a freelancer requires travelling to your client's events (wedding chapels, fashion shows, etc.) and working on site. Regardless if travelling is a hassle or not, providing that type of availability for your clients is important and should be a factor with deciding on what to charge them. Be sure to collect all of this information prior to the day of the event. I've learned the hard way that inconvenient weather, parking restrictions, and bad GPS signals can really make an impact on your professionalism and your client's time.


• Personal Experience - The amount of experience you have as a makeup artist is an extremely crutial factor of determining your service fees. Almost anyone can go to cosmo school and get a license to do makeup, but having years of experience and knowing different techniques makes you different then everyone else. Examine your amount of experience, the type of experience you've accumulated, and who you've worked for. A person who's only been in the game for 6 weeks shouldn't be charging the same as a person who's worked for 6 years.


• Product Availability - Oh yes! We all know that makeup can be VERY expensive depending on the brand and the amount you want to accumulate for your collection. Most clients want only the best of the best, but sometimes the best products come with a hefty price tag. Having a wide variety of colors, brands, disposables, and tools is also an important factor in determining what to charge your clients. If you end up using $300 worth of products on their face, it would be very unrewarding charging them $10, right?


• Type of Event - Sometimes different events call for different measures. For instance, working on site for a bridal party and working backstage at a fashion show are two majorly different events! Working under pressure in a tight time slot, in my opinion, requires more work and skill from you, the makeup artist! Keep this in mind when determining service fees, or your may suffer regret afterwards.


• Type of Clientele - I, myself am a college student so I know how it is to be tight on cash, but still have needs. This is not mandatory consideration, but I feel that it is important when it comes to gaining clients. I charge my high school girls less than everyone else simply because I feel for them! They deserve nice looking makeup without having to pay $50 at a MAC counter. However, I also use alternative products (Coastal Scents, NYX, Revlon) on them so that way I'm not losing out either. Being known for doing great work and not charging a fortune can be very beneficial for your career.

Basically, its all about what you feel comfortable charging your girls. If you were in their position, would you think your prices were fair considering what they were asking for? Use your judgement!