How To Become A Hair And Makeup Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a hair and makeup designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a hair and makeup designer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.2 an hour? That's $29,543 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 65,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreHair And Makeup DesignerUS Average

Salary

2.3

Avg. Salary $29,543

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 7.98%

Black or African American 10.11%

Hispanic or Latino 20.24%

Unknown 4.35%

White 56.76%

Gender

female 82.72%

male 17.28%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a hair and makeup designer

Explore hair and makeup designer education requirements

Most common hair and makeup designer degrees

Bachelor's

56.3 %

High School Diploma

14.1 %

Associate

12.7 %

Start to develop specific hair and makeup designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Stage Production	37.78%
Wigs	33.47%
Photo Shoots	28.75%

Complete relevant hair and makeup designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New hair and makeup designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a hair and makeup designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real hair and makeup designer resumes.

Research hair and makeup designer duties and responsibilities

Manage social media outlets such as Instagram and Tumblr to reach a broader audience.
Provide exceptional customer service experience and demonstrate knowledge of products as well as Chanel history and heritage.
Provide Clinique makeup applications and ongoing product education to customers.

Prepare your hair and makeup designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your hair and makeup designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a hair and makeup designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable hair and makeup designer resume templates

Build a professional hair and makeup designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your hair and makeup designer resume.