How much input should a client have in their makeup application?

Below is a response to an email I received from a potential student telling me of her experience when she went to a cosmetic counter to have her makeup applied. Unfortunately the makeup artist did zero consulting with her, and she ended up looking nothing like herself, wearing eyeshadow colours that she would never normally wear, and overall feeling extremely disappointed to the point of never having her makeup applied professionally again. Sadly, this is many women’s experience. So, how much input should a client have into her look? Answer: Quite a lot!!

Hi Kathryn,

Thank you for sharing your experience – sadly this is a really common experience to many women and really highlights the difference between someone who says they are a ‘makeup artist’, when really all they are is a makeup ‘applier’.

In my opinion (and extensive experience!) – women want to look like the best versions of themselves; I can have a client in my chair and literally there are hundreds of ways I can do her makeup, however what she is ultimately paying for is to look her most beautiful – this is about her perception of beauty and giving her a result that not only looks stunning to her, but equally important, makes her feel stunning and confident (it’s a very powerful thing to be able to do this for a client!).

This is the huge difference between a gifted makeup artist (which I can teach you to be), and someone who is merely applying makeup in a ‘paint by numbers’ approach (which I see a lot of on social media), who has no idea about you as a client, your tastes and what result you’re after. There are other aspects involved in makeup, however this aspect is critical because it is the difference of building a strong business where you are repeatedly booked and generating strong word of mouth, as opposed to your experience of having your makeup done and never going back.

With all of my clients my absolute aim is achieve a look that gives them the end result of looking stunning as well as feeling it (which is why I’m heavily booked in the bridal and special occasion industry). Consultation with each client before I even pick up a brush is paramount. It is not my job to stubbornly impose my ideas onto someone and insist on colours or applications that I think are the best – if the client hates what I’ve done, would never wear those colours normally and when she looks in the mirror, sees someone she doesn’t recognise or hates how she looks – resulting in her ultimately feeling ugly (the worst possible outcome!). I can of course advise in a tactful way, however I learned very early on, beauty is a very subjective thing and what I think is beautiful is not necessarily what the client may think is beautiful and I have to be skilled enough to be able to navigate my way through this, using client consultation, skills and techniques that will give the client what they want every time I work with them. All of this I can teach you – how to be a true makeup ‘artist’.

It is not a case of the client ‘picking a look’ from a series of photographs presented to her, and then me taking that picture and what amounts to nothing more than ‘stencilling’ that look onto her face with total disregard for the clients features, tastes and desired outcome. And then being ‘put out’ that she’s upset with how she looks, doesn’t go ahead with the booking and me not understanding why this happened when I did exactly as she showed me from the picture. Sadly I see this in the industry quite a bit. The ability to truly show someone their most stunning version of themselves, in accordance to exactly what that means to that individual client, is key to a long and successful career!