I’ve decided to write this because:
1. I have feelings and,
2. I think this has got to stop and,
3. Most people don’t know that this is rude.
See, I’ve been doing makeup for about eight (almost nine) years, and it’s my full time job. It pays my bills and I really do enjoy making my clients look beautiful. Therefore, I get so peeved when people book me for a job and then these “extras” standing around keep asking for free makeup. By “extras” I mean friends or family of my clients who did not book me to do their makeup.
Now, there are a few ways a makeup artist can charge.
One may say, pay me $X for X hours, and the artist can work on as many people as possible during that time. It’s like a buffet. All-you-can-make-up.
Another way is, pay $X per person. Usually, this is the case when you see a makeup artist at your friend’s or relative’s wedding.
So why, why should you go up to a makeup artist and ask for them to do your makeup if you don’t want to pay them for it? Many people try their luck by saying things like “just do abit of touchup for me” or “help me draw my eyebrows, can?”. Well, honey, if your dear friend paid for her makeup, why should I be giving you the benefits when I should be completely focusing on her? Also, if you think that doing that brow/lip/eyeliner/blush/powder is worth nothing, why should I be doing it for you?
Here, let me breakdown how much each of your features cost to make up. Let’s take for example, a makeup look that cost $200. We have at least 9 items: foundation, concealer, blush, brows, eyes, eyeliner and mascara, false lashes, lippie. Which means that each feature (I’m being extremely, overtly calculative here), is costing us at least $20 each time we give it to you free.
Do you not respect us enough to pay us?
Let me give you a real example which happened personally to me.
A client (bride) booked my team and I for herself and about 5-6 other friends and family. A few days before the wedding, her mother-in-law decides to pull out from doing the session. Ok fine, I’m cool with that.
Fast-forward to the wedding day. Her MIL starts hanging around the makeup room, watching us. Then she attempts to ask us to do some touch ups for her. I tell her our hands are full with the others who are getting their makeup done. She decides to wait till we are done with them. Once she sees that a seat in front of the artist is available, she asks again. And again. She not only asks for her eyes/blush to be done, but also her hair. She says things like, ” oh, do you think you can curl my hair?” “oh, will I look better with some ___”. Hey lady, if you didn’t want us to do your makeup, then why are you trying to inch freebies out of us right now?
On another occasion recently, there was this relative who just hopped in front of me when my client went away for a minute. She asked me to “help her pin her fringe”. Okay. Next, she said “Can also give me volume here?”, pointing to her crown. Did she think we’re just hanging around to dish out free makeovers for everyone in the room?
Please, stop being rude and disrespectful to the makeup artist of your friend/ relative by going up to them and asking for free stuff.
I also just had my box of wet wipes stolen while I wasn’t looking. They aren’t expensive but they’re a necessity in my kit! Imagine my frustration when I turned up for my next job and it wasn’t in my bag!
Think about it this way.
You can’t visit an electronics store and ask for free cables.
You can’t drive your car to a petrol station and fill up petrol for free.
You won’t walk into a pastry store and ask for a free slice of cake.
You won’t go to a pharmacy and ask for free medicine.
You can’t enter a hair salon an ask for a free hairwash.
You can’t go to a plastic surgeon and ask for a free shot of botox.
So why would you ask a makeup artist to do your makeup for free???
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All that being said, it is not impossible to score some things from your makeup artist. I always give a free touchup to the groom (it’s included in my wedding packages). If my client, the bride, asks nicely and beforehand, I also create cute ‘dos for the flowergirls. For free. If I have an awesome client, I might even give her a whole tube of lipstick or other stuff.
So, I’m going to tell you how you can try to score little extras like this.
1. Don’t be a miser when booking your makeup artist. If she/he is already giving you a deep discount, don’t expect to have free touchups for everyone else. You’ll just be labelled a cheapskate.
2. Say please and thank you! Manners go a long way.
3. Ask in advance. Check if she/he includes any touchups for the groom or your brother/father. If you have flowergirls who need a simple hairdo, ask. Many artists inlcude hairdo’s for the flowergirls if they’re under a certain age (like 10 years old or something). I don’t have an age limit, they just need to look like kids!
4. Don’t criticise/complain if you’re getting it free. Effort by the artist has been made, and if the person wants a more full look, great attention to detail, or exclusive time from the artist, they need to pay for it.
5. And as Haymich from The Hunger Games says on how to get given stuff, “you have to make people like you”. (Yeah I love The Hunger Games!). He’s right. I’ve given lots of things (or extra hours of my time) to clients who are nice and respectful and whom I like very, very much. View his advice below:
Thanks for hearing me out, leave me your thoughts in the comments below! Have a good weekend folks.