Hair and Make-up Jobs

If you want to work in hair and make-up, you’ll need a range of skills – creativity, good hand skills, stamina (you might have to work long hours) and the ability to get on with people.

Hairdresser

Hairdressers carry out a variety of treatments on people’s hair. The customer usually has an idea of how they want their hair to look, and the hairdresser gives them advice on whether the style will suit them or not.

When the hairdresser and customer have agreed on the style, the hairdresser works out which treatments they need to carry out to achieve the required look. They usually wash and condition the customer’s hair first.

They may then simply need to cut and blow-dry the hair, or they may do other treatments. Some of these can completely change the look of a person’s hair, for example, perms, extensions and colouring techniques.

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Make-up Artist

Make-up artists do the hair and make-up for people in television, film or on stage. In television news and chat shows, most of the people only need ‘corrective’ make-up. This means tidying up their hair and putting some foundation on, so they don’t look pale under the studio lights.

For drama and film productions, make-up artists use a wider range of techniques. They may need to make someone look older than they really are, or as if they have an injury or illness. For dramas set in a particular period in history, the make-up artist tries to re-create the look of that time.