When I first started my career as a freelance makeup artist, my biggest challenge was gathering items for my makeup kit. I didn’t know what the essential items were and was afraid that if I missed something, I would not be able to perform my job correctly and because of that never be hired again. I’m sure that many new makeup artists have had this same fear.
Putting together the perfect kit is an investment of time and money. No matter how you slice or dice it, getting all the essentials in your first kit will require some financial sacrifice. This is a financial investment in ourselves that we must make in order to follow our passion of starting a career in doing something we love. So, if you ask me, I’d say this is a small price to pay for joy, fulfillment, and success.
Unfortunately, most of us will inevitably end up buying crappy products that we hear about through beauty influencers on social media. We have a fear of missing out the next BIG product, especially when someone with millions of followers is telling us this hot new item is the next Holy Grail of makeup. I hate to admit this, but the first year and a half, I purchased most of the things I saw advertised on social media. And frankly, most of those items are now sitting in a box hidden somewhere in the back of my closet.
After years of working on hundreds of clients and experimenting with different products, I have finally put together what I currently consider the perfect, fully loaded kit. Over the years, I have modified and tweaked the items in my kit to cater to the majority of my clientele. Seriously, who has space in their kit to bring more stuff than is actually needed?!
When you first start out, you must dabble and experiment to see what works for you and your technique. Each makeup kit will differ based on the artist’s type of work and preference. However, the items listed are essential to a professional kit.
One piece of advice I would give to help you save money in the long run: purchase quality products. I know that may sound contradictory, but hear me out. Don’t try to save a few dollars NOW by buying some cheap, drugstore products. I have nothing against drugstore items, in fact some drug stores items work better than most highly advertised products on social media, like my favorite waterproof mascara from L’Oreal. However, you’ll end up spending twice as much in the LONG run when you put poor quality in your kit as opposed to quality products. By the same token, expensive does not always mean quality. Just because you bought a luxury brand item, does not mean that it will work they way you want it to. Quality products, from my experience, tend to be items that will help make your job as an artist easier and help you speed up your application time. These are products that will perform to your liking and doesn’t require much effort from you. Don’t get caught up in the new “Holy Grail” beauty product that social media influencers are hyping up for you to buy (I know, it is difficult when our newsfeed is inundated with paid advertisements).
I highly recommend doing research and checking out items professional artists (people that are doing makeup on others and not just themselves) are using. My favorite website to cosmetic lines dedicated to working artists is www.camerareadycosmetics.com. Although these companies don’t have the marketing power as other brands, you can be sure that their products are gold.
To help guide you to the items needed for you kit, I have created a complete makeup kit essential checklist with brands of products I use as a bridal makeup artist! And after many modifications over the years, these are items that I currently carry in my professional kit. Keep in mind, every makeup artist will have different brands and items in their kit depending on the type of work they do. I hope that this will be useful to get you started in your new journey!
