What is your association with MAC Cosmetics?
MAC Cosmetics is a world leading professional makeup brand that is used by the top freelance makeup artists all over the world.
MAC work with schools who qualify for their support making sure that the schools meet their criteria. Here at AOFM, we are proud to work closely with MAC and we are honored to offer our students amazing products to start their journey in professional makeup artistry, but that's not all! We are also proud to offer our students in the USA and Canada a MAC Pro student discount. As soon as you sign up to AOFM online you will be eligible to apply for your MAC pro student discount card. Taking advantage of an amazing discount and the MAC pro community. We are the ONLY online makeup school to offer this to our students. If you’re not based in the USA or Canada, don't worry, your will be able to apply for Mac pro discount card after completing your course with us and are working as a freelance makeup artist.
You'll find AOFM on the MAC pro website under eligible schools. Once you start your course you'll be able to register for your discount card* and on your way to building your professional makeup kit.
*For residents of the United Kingdom, North America & Canada.
What discounts do I get?
As well as our unique relationship with MAC cosmetics, we offer our students access to a database of brands from all four corners of the world, this includes iconic brands such as Giorgio Armani, Smashbox, Bobbi Brown, Inglot etc. as well as up a coming brands & also professional makeup supplies stores that can offer student and professional discounts on thousands of products from hundreds of brands.
Now that I have trained, how do I become a successful makeup artist and start making money?
Training, assisting, testing and lots of practice are all key to becoming a successful makeup artist. However, commitment, dedication, networking and building contacts in the industry are also essential elements to ensure you have a good chance of doing really well. It's known to be a tough industry to crack, but once you get your foot in the door then you will be flying. And here at AOFM we aim to give you that foot through the door. Some makeup artists may already have industry contacts, which will help them to get ahead quite quickly while others will have to knock on a lot of doors to be given opportunities, if you are willing to put in the legwork it usually pays off.
You will need to start building your makeup kit to a professional level. Think of it as an investment that you can work on building-up slowly. It is important when starting out not to buy the most expensive materials until you really need them. Spend your money on the products that truly require quality - like skincare, foundations, concealers and eyeshadows. As for lipsticks, lip glosses, eye pencils and lip pencils it is better to go for cheaper versions to start with. Most cosmetic brands in the industry will offer working makeup artists a professional discount on their products, you can use our extensive database of these brands to find which of them you can use to optimise your kit.
Make strong connections with photographers, stylists and hairstylists who are also starting out in the industry. Build a team that you can trust and test with regularly to help build your portfolio.
Assisting is one of the best ways to kick start your career, If you work alongside an artist who is already successful and works regularly in the industry, this will give you the experience and knowledge about how to be professional on set. You will also be able to pick up any tips and techniques from the makeup artist you are assisting. It is very important for you to understand that most assisting positions are unpaid. It is also important for you to learn and develop new skills, build up your speed and confidence, consider it as free training!