What questions are you always sure to ask before giving a rate?

Do you have a time frame for holding a date for a client?

How much of a retainer to do you require to put a hold on your schedule for a gig?

Do you work with an agency that does all the negotiation for you?

Feel free to leave other booking-related questions below!

I'm a new MUA so I'm still building my kit. Share your favourite products that you cant live without in your kit so hopefully it can help me and fellow amateur MUAs.

For me, it's:

• ABH Pro Brow Kit because it literally has every single eyebrow color
• MAC studio fix fluid
• Inglot face palette that has pretty much all the contour, blush, highlighter I need.
• MAC Melba blush
• RCMA no color powder
• Makeup geek's cocoa bear

Hey guys, since only pros are approved to post their own threads in this sub, I thought I'd start a thread for lurkers to comment with questions of their own! Have at it (:

I'm looking into getting my own chair for clients to sit in while I do their makeup because I'm sick of my back always hurting from the chair being too low. However, I'm short, so I'm not sure if a makeup chair I could buy would be too tall? Regular sized directors chairs are too tall for me, I have to stand on my toes to reach the client's eyebrows.

I was looking at this one but I was wondering if you guys have any recommendations.

Contracts!

• Who here requires one? If not, why not?

• Where did you get your contract template?

• And who else has the hardest fucking time trying to get these brides to send back their contracts! I don't understand why it's so difficult. Fill it out, send it in. Mine clearly states your date is not held until the retainer AND A SIGNED CONTRACT are both received. But I am such a push-over, I never enforce this because I know it's a pain in the ass trying to get all the bridesmaids to get their shit together so you know who's getting makeup and at what times and stuff (my contract has a section for the wedding day timeline).

I'm considering re-doing my contract to where they just need to sign, saying they understand the policies like refunds, allergies, etc. and then just having them get back to me with their final count whenever they know for sure. I do require the full balance to be paid off 30 days before the event, but often times that's a bust as well because these brides and maids don't have their shit together, or they book me two weeks out and I happen to have that date open, and yeah I'm pretty lenient - which hasn't bitten me in the ass YET but I know I can't continue business that way.

Tell me about your contracts! Do you require they know how many bridesmaids are also getting makeup done at the time of signing or do you give them time to figure it out? Do you require payment before the event? Any tips you want to share?

I'm starting to run out of the skincare products that came with the kit I was given in makeup school, and I'm curious what you guys like to use on clients/models! Obviously Bioderma micellar water is a staple and, from what I can tell, the most popular remover/cleanser among working MUAs, but what about moisturizers?? Lip exfoliators and balms? Body lotions/oils???? And how many of each type of product do you carry at a time? Do you have separate products for different skin types? What do you like to have on hand to deal with extreme cases of texture, dryness, etc.?

I've also heard from several bridal MUAs that they sometimes use masks, eye gels, or other treatments on their clients to give them a full pampering experience -- is this common among other types of jobs as well?

Because of the area that I live in, I do primarily bridal makeup. I can't even tell you the amount of brides who have come to me saying their makeup artist bailed last minute or just flat out ghosted them. I can't fathom a situation, unless I literally died, in which I would just stop replying to a client's messages or calls, and if something came up and I could no longer do the job, I would still recommend another makeup artist who could do it.

What do you think goes on in these situations? I often imagine it's makeup enthusiasts trying to pass as an actual MUA and then get nervous when they realize they don't have to tools to do a full bridal party.

I have a bride in a few months wanting tattoo coverage for her sleeve. What do you all use for waterproof/resistant, full tattoo coverage? What are your favorite products and application techniques?

How do you charge? I was going to charge her by the square inch, but after seeing how it big it was, I'm charging by the quarter-hour (otherwise, it was going to be like a $750 job, which even I can admit is excessive).

I'm looking into the Skin Illustrator alcohol activated palettes. I cannot decide if I should get the SFX palette with all the primaries so I can mix my own skin-toned shade, or if I should go with one of their skin-toned palettes and make it easier on myself. I was looking at the skin-toned ones and I believe one had a coral shade I could use to color correct the darker ink. Going to set with RCMA No Color in between layers and set with Ben Nye setting spray since I have it in my kit already, or I might pick up the Blue Marble Sealr... or the green. Whichever one is the stronger one! I can't recall right now.

Any tips/fave products?

What are your favorite written/printed resource or inspiration materials??

I'm in the middle of reading DeShawn Hatcher's Assisting Rules and very patiently awaiting my first copy of Make-Up Artist Magazine to arrive in the mail! I'm also subscribed to Nylon and have been thinking about ordering Lisa Eldrige's book, Face Paint.

I was just wondering what people's favourite ways to keep organised are - your favourite kit bag, organising method, etc.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Hi everyone! I went ahead and made the sub restricted so that lurkers can view our posts and gain some insight into our industry without flooding us with questions about how to become a makeup artist themselves. If you're reading this with that question in mind, Google is your friend! Check out the sidebar if you're interested in contributing content or interacting in the comments.

I've never moderated a subreddit before so if anyone else is interested in helping out (especially those with experience), definitely let me know! I'd love to have other mods on board from other areas of the world and with different levels of experience in the field.