Careers in Beauty: Training for Your Chosen Career Path
The allure of the hair and beauty industry continues to impact on young girls everywhere and there’s no wonder – when you think of the beauty industry, glossy campaigns or catwalk hairstyles spring to mind.
However, working in hair and beauty isn’t always as glamorous as it appears and there’s a lot of hard work and training involved if you want to climb the ladder.
There are many different routes you could take in the hair and cosmetic industry and here are a few career paths to consider:
Professional Salon Hairdresser
Becoming a salon hairdresser requires hands-on training so further qualifications are not usually required. The best way to learn the tricks of the trade is to start at the bottom as an assistant and be trained by a qualified hairdresser. You can also apply for hairdresser training courses in your town, state or region.
Hair Stylist
Hairdressing and hair styling are two very different things. Whilst a hairdresser can create cuts and take care of split ends, a hair stylist has a more creative take and focuses on hair design. Hair stylists can take many different paths; they can also work in a salon environment or they can go into niche industries such as becoming a wedding hair stylist or working on fashion photoshoots and at catwalk shows such as New York Fashion Week. Training is essential to this job; you can find a variety of different hair styling courses online.
Makeup Artist
A makeup artist can work across many industries including wedding, catwalk fashion and media shoots, to television and even the movies. To become a successful makeup artist, it’s important to choose your industry and then work on building your portfolio for that niche. If you want to do wedding makeup, get plenty of hands-on experience and network with people in the industry so you can build up your contacts for future job opportunities. If you are interested in working for the big screen, get experience by using websites such to apply for low/no paid jobs. Once you have a decent portfolio, you can start thinking about how to charge.
Salon Beautician
Being a beautician or cosmetic therapist is a very rewarding job role as you will be spending every day making a customer look and feel good about themselves. Unlike a makeup artist, you won’t have the pressures of media and TV, and you will be working directly with the end customer so you get to see the finished result – and there really is no greater feeling than the direct interaction with a happy client.
Wedding Hair & Makeup
The wedding industry is worth $40 billion every single year in the US alone. With around 2.5 million weddings each year in the United States, the hair and beauty opportunities are extremely lucrative for trainees looking to enter into this industry. Some makeup artists combine their skills with hair styling so that they can provide a full service for brides. This is a very appealing and competitive offer as it saves the bride money and helps to create continuity for the entire bridal look.
