Many makeup artists find themselves in a tricky situation when it comes to doing hair. Most productions require a makeup artist to do hairstyling but you might also be required to cut and colour the hair of your talents. If you dream about the film industry and working long months in a location with crew and actors, doing hair has become a must in the industry.
Most productions are now requiring their crew to multitask. Updating and upskilling with new qualifications will always help open new doors but especially a Certificate III in Hairdressing. It can be scary for a makeup artist to work on hair as the techniques and skills are very different, but here are the career opportunities which a Certificate III in Hairdressing, such as the one we offer on our Brisbane campus, can open up to you!
–Â Â Â Â Working for the film:Â
You will soon understand that all production companies aim to reduce the costs as much as possible and negotiating rates is always a challenge when working as a makeup artist. There are highly qualified makeup artists who go on to study hairdressing after many years to avoid losing work. But it also makes sense for a production to have someone on board who is able to do both hair and makeup. Imagine you are working on location on a film, the hair needs to be the same length and colour for the duration of the movie for a few of the actors, we aren’t talking here about a massive job, or completely different hair cuts, but just keeping consistency across the scenes for continuity purposes. The amount of work can be done by one person who does both hair and makeup but if the production has to hire one hairstylist and one makeup artist it doubles their costs. It would make sense for production to hire one person with the right skills.
– Â Â Â Working for TV:Â
When working on a regular TV show or news, you will be asked to perfectly style the hair of the presenters or talent, but also to cut and colour. Most TV channels now have a basin and hairdressing equipment to offer the hosts to have their hair done in house.
– Â Â Â Working for fashion:Â
Creating exciting hairstyles and avant-garde looks requires a strong skill set for makeup but also hair. Having strong hair techniques will also give you the power to be more creative and having the full artistic direction on the look you want to create. You can consider makeup as paint, hair as sculpting and entirely style the model for photoshoots or runway. It is really exciting to be the master on board and not have to discuss the hairstyle which will best suit your makeup but being able to create it yourself.
– Â Â Â Working for opera and theatre:Â
You will often be required to work with wigs. Adding cutting and colouring techniques to your skillset will definitely be a great help when it comes to creating and styling wigs. If you work with natural hair wigs you can use colouring techniques and you might be required to do so to give a new life to some wigs used in different productions.
– Â Â Â Working for private clients:
 Imagine if you could offer a full service to your clients and brides? From the haircut to the hairstyling and makeup on an actual day. This will help make some serious money but also help during the quiet times. If you love working for the bridal industry, you might need to consider that some months will feel a bit quieter than others. Offering hairdressing services is a nice way to retain clients as they will need to see you often.
The Certificate III in Hairdressing that we offer at our Brisbane campus has been specifically tailored for makeup artists but is also suitable for anyone wanting to learn hairdressing skills. You will learn how to style long hair but also exclusive techniques to colour, cut, lighten the hair as well as male grooming taught by our expert trainers. AACM offers you the possibility to learn at your own pace with our exclusive online and on-campus delivery courses.
If you are a makeup artist, learning hairdressing is definitely a new skill that will give an amazing boost to your career!
