Maintaining a Professional Makeup Kit
- Casey Wehr
- Feb 21, 2024
- 2 min read
As a makeup artist, your kit is your biggest expense. If you’re not charging enough for your services, your career will turn into an expensive hobby really fast. Keep excellent track of what’s in your kit, and exactly how much of everything you use for each job.
As soon as I get home from a job, I wash my brushes. Right after that, I go through my entire kit to see if anything needs replenishing. I highly suggest doing this immediately after every job. If not, you end up putting it off and forgetting. Just get it over with right away so you have time you replenish anything you’re out of. Nothing is worse than packing your bag before a job just to realize you’re out of something important.
Afraid of getting push back on your pricing? Go through every. single. item. in your kit. Add up all the costs of everything: every brush, disposables, sanitation materials, every makeup product, every case, your ring light, literally anything and everything you need to take with you to do your job. I doubt it’s any less than $1,000. Probably closer to $5,000. And that's not even including your time, training/education, or travel expenses. Of course you’re not using your entire kit on a single client, but the price of your service has to cover the cost of maintaining your kit. Makeup is a luxury service. Always be professional and polite, but never agree to lower your prices.
When I began my career as a makeup artist, I underestimated the struggle of maintaining a professional makeup kit! Sure, the average makeup wearer can go to any mall and choose from a huge selection of brands and products, but I was unaware how few makeup stores are specifically designed for the professional. I’m also somebody who avoids ordering online as much as possible. When you’re a working makeup artist sometimes you really can’t depend on your online order arriving on time.
These are the items I had most difficulty finding in stores before I discovered The Makeup Studio:
Disposable Mascara Spoolies
Disposable Lip Applicators
Ardell Lashes in bulk
Professional Brush Cleaner
Setting sprays that actually work well and won’t irritate sensitive skin
Affordable, quality brushes
Professional Brush Cases
Disposable, affordable sponges in bulk
Single Eyeshadows (Palettes can be difficult and messy to use when you’re scraping to follow high sanitation standards)
Affordable entire lines of foundation (The Makeup Studio can sell wholesale foundation to professionals! Call us to discuss.)
The Makeup Studio is your one-stop supply shop! We love being a resource for makeup artists. Not just for building your kit, but for building your career! We host free events and workshops every month to help your makeup artistry career blossom.
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