Nail artist vs freelance makeup artist

The differences between nail artists and freelance makeup artists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a nail artist has an average salary of $43,369, which is higher than the $42,487 average annual salary of a freelance makeup artist.

The top three skills for a nail artist include beauty services, customer service and nail art. The most important skills for a freelance makeup artist are customer service, store events, and adobe photoshop.

Nail artist vs freelance makeup artist overview

	Nail Artist	Freelance Makeup Artist
Yearly salary	$43,369	$42,487
Hourly rate	$20.85	$20.43
Growth rate	22%	3%
Number of jobs	4,559	4,009
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	43	34
Years of experience	-	12

Nail artist vs freelance makeup artist salary

Nail artists and freelance makeup artists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nail Artist	Freelance Makeup Artist
Average salary	$43,369	$42,487
Salary range	Between $14,000 And $127,000	Between $24,000 And $73,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between nail artist and freelance makeup artist education

There are a few differences between a nail artist and a freelance makeup artist in terms of educational background:

	Nail Artist	Freelance Makeup Artist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Cosmetology	Graphic Design
Most common college	-	-

Nail artist vs freelance makeup artist demographics

Here are the differences between nail artists' and freelance makeup artists' demographics:

	Nail Artist	Freelance Makeup Artist
Average age	43	34
Gender ratio	Male, 15.0% Female, 85.0%	Male, 28.5% Female, 71.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 2.4% Unknown, 2.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 52.1% White, 30.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.4% Asian, 13.6% White, 51.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	5%	12%

Differences between nail artist and freelance makeup artist duties and responsibilities

Nail artist example responsibilities.

Achieve all sales goals through close client contact and upselling techniques.
Conceptualize and develop terrain models using Maya and partner with director and animators to correspond and produce effective shots.
Freelance artist for Dior cosmetics, left to obtain more work elsewhere
Work directly for Christian Dior to locally work spa days and events.

Freelance makeup artist example responsibilities.

Manage social media outlets such as Instagram and Tumblr to reach a broader audience.
Experience with hair styling, beauty, corrective and special FX makeup including blood work, injury and casualty simulation.
Assist busy NYC train stylists.
Sanitize brushes, beauty sponges, etc.
Used Autodesk MatchMover to motion track aerial shots.
Initiate transition to VFX GUI which greatly improve efficiency.

Nail artist vs freelance makeup artist skills

Common nail artist skills

Beauty Services, 66%
Customer Service, 15%
Nail Art, 6%
Nail Services, 6%
Nail Care, 3%
Front Desk, 3%

Common freelance makeup artist skills

Customer Service, 34%
Store Events, 9%
Adobe Photoshop, 9%
Photo Shoots, 5%
Graphic Design, 4%
Bridal Parties, 3%

Updated January 8, 2025

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