Attending the School of Professional Makeup and becoming a makeup artist was kind of a last minute decision for me. After high school, I started out studying fashion, but somehow ended up working in an office, which wasn’t exactly what I wanted. So I decided to go back to school, studying something I always wanted to, music.
After graduating, I worked in the music industry for a couple of years, but after struggling and getting nowhere, I lost my passion for it, and once again opted for a career change. I decided to give makeup artistry try.
I visited the 3 main private schools in Toronto: Complections, SOMA, and the School of Professional Makeup.
Finding the Right School
To find the school that would work for me, I visited the 3 main private schools in Toronto: Complections, SOMA, and the School of Professional Makeup. I wanted to get a feel for each school’s environment as well as their faculty. I ended up choosing the School of Professional Makeup for a few reasons. I really liked the vibe of this particular school. The head of admissions, Laurie was awesome. She made me feel comfortable with my decision, and I felt that I could come to her with anything.
The school was also smaller than the others, and the cost of tuition was much cheaper than their competitors. Complections for example was located in an area that would cost much more to rent a building in, which I felt was probably the reason why their tuition was higher. The curriculum also seemed to be pretty much the same, so choosing the School of Pro Makeup seemed like the right choice at the time.
The Makeup Program
The program was broken down into 4 sections for the master’s program, which included all of the full-time courses. It started with Hair Works, then went into Makeup Artistry, the option to take Advanced Airbrushing, then Special Effects and finished with Prosthetics.
In Hair Works you learn all the basics of creating updos and styling; how to properly dry hair, use flat irons, curling irons, and hot rollers, how to create bridal updos, and also how to apply wigs and facial hair. You are also taught how to start making your own wigs, but I didn’t think this was necessary since we didn’t really go into too much depth.
In Makeup you learn makeup for bridal, tv and film, fashion, and fantasy. They’ll teach you how to match skin colors with foundation color, which colors suit various skin tones, etc.
I didn’t see the value in taking Prosthetics, since Toronto didn’t seem to have that much work in such a specialized field.
The Special Effects course is really interesting and a lot of fun. You learn all levels of Zombie detailing. How to do bruising, cuts, blood, burns, etc. I decided near the end, not to follow through and take the Advanced Airbrush or Prosthetics courses. I didn’t see the value in taking Prosthetics, since Toronto didn’t seem to have that much work in such a specialized field. Furthermore, the Airbrushing course required you to purchase equipment that was quite costly. Without the equipment, you wouldn’t have anything to practice with to get better, making the course quite pointless. If I found that there was a demand for airbrushing in future jobs, I would consider going back to take a course. Either that, or I would try teaching myself using the basics that they taught us during the makeup artistry program.
After both the Makeup and Special Effects modules, you prepare a photo shoot. The shoot for Makeup was great, as you worked with a great photographer and two models for two separate looks. The Special Effects shoot was only mediocre, since you had to supply your own model and worked with an average photographer.
The Pros and Cons
I loved that the instructors all taught differently, and you were able to pick and choose what would work best for you. Even better was the fact that the owner of the school was really tough on students, making everybody in the class want to work that much harder.
I think the school could have provided a lot of the little things that make makeup so expensive. We could’ve used more sponges, better makeup removers, etc. The little things that we use on a daily basis end up costing students a lot of money, which we don’t have. There were certain products we used a lot in the class that we ended up having to buy from the school; they should’ve included these in the kit to avoid unexpected expenses.
After you graduate, they do send out a lot of emails for various positions, but 80% of them is for volunteer work.
I also expected more fieldwork while in the program. They do have a bulletin board with postings for volunteer and paid work from independent photographers, television stations, makeup counters, etc. This is great, except that there aren’t many postings and the board isn’t updated that frequently. After you graduate, they do send out a lot of emails for various positions, but 80% of them is for volunteer work.
The Verdict
I would recommend the School of Professional Makeup. I wouldn’t have done anything differently; I had a good experience and met a lot of great people. The program is really what you make of it. There are good and bad things about every school. I feel that the knowledge and hands on practice you receive will set you apart from others.
Since attending the school, I’ve worked on a number of short independent films, a couple fashion shoots, a few creative photo shoots and a couple paid agency jobs where I did makeup for model testings as well. In between, I’ve also worked at a makeup counter at a department store, and quickly realized retail isn’t for me.
I’ve been focussing on a lot of volunteer gigs to build up my portfolio. I think it’s okay to do unpaid work, as long as it’s beneficial to you and going to make your portfolio look great. At some point though, you need to draw the line and set your standards higher, otherwise you’re never going to move up. I’m currently in this process, and am slowly turning away free work.
You can see my online portfolio at http://www.polaroidgirl.com.
(3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
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Monica
The School of Professional Makeup has a good course.
The teachers are all very talented, and you will learn a lot.
However this is not the place to go if you are looking for a “real” school experience.
The owner of the school is extremely rude and tactless., with students and his employees.
When I attended the school he was more interested in his personal business than his students. Most of his time was spent yelling at people in the reception area and over the phone, which the entire school had to listen to.
I suspect he is more interested in making money from his school than he is about teaching, or creating an enjoyable experience for students.
So be wary of that.