Makeup Artist Schools in Florida

If you would like to become a full-time makeup artist--or if you'd like to learn a few new makeup techniques--you're in the right spot. In the post below, we talk about all the different ways you can learn about makeup, the different jobs that makeup artists can have, and whether you'll need a license to practice. After that, we'll provide a full list of the different makeup artist schools in Florida that you can attend.

We are passionate about makeup, and we're so glad you are too! Let's take a look at your options.

The Different Types of Makeup Schools You Can Attend

For some careers, figuring out where to go to school is easy. If you want to become a professional chef, you go to a culinary school. If you want to become a masseuse, you enroll in a massage school. Where do you go if you want to become a makeup artist?

Here are your options. You can go to:​

There's one other option you have, and that's private lessons with a professional makeup artist. Instead of enrolling in a school or workshop, you can contact a makeup artist directly, and ask if he/she gives one-on-one lessons (you can even get some friends together, and see if the MUA will offer a discount rate for group lessons). The most fantastic part about such an arrangement is that you can ask to be taught exactly what you want to know. AND--if you're looking to make "makeup artist" your professional career, a local MUA will have real-world experience you can learn from, and local connections that can help you build your business.

Florida Special Effects Makeup Schools

There's one type of school that we left out of our list above, and that type is special effects makeup. On MakeupArtistEssentials.com, we focus mostly on glamour and beauty, but we'd be remiss if we didn't discuss SFX makeup. It's fascinating and super-creative.

Glamour makeup tries to make people look their best; SFX is fun because it tries to do the opposite. Special effects makeup artists make their clients look like space aliens, zombies, vampires, gunshot victims, and people dying of various diseases. SFX makeup artists are very important in the cinema business, and the best SFX artists are sought-after and well-paid (it is, of course, a super-competitive industry, and it can be tough to make a living).

There are only a couple of places in the United States that have special effects schools, and Florida is lucky enough to have two:​

We've included contact information for both schools below.

Job Titles and Career Opportunities

If you obsessed with makeup and want to make "MUA" your job title, how can you do that? What are some of the ways that men and women do makeup as a full-time career?

Basically, there are a couple different ways to do it. You can become:

A Fashion MUA for Print and Multimedia. These are the MUAs that people think of when they think "makeup artist." They're employed by various businesses in the fashion industry, and work with photographers and models to produce images and videos for designers, labels, and publishing companies (like Vogue and Elle and hundreds of other online publications). The work is very challenging and very competitive, but obviously it's very exciting to work in the fashion industry.

A Bridal MUA. This is fast-becoming the most popular type of MUA job. Whereas jobs in the fashion work can be sparse, jobs for bridal makeup artists can be plentiful. Every weekend, hundreds of brides in every city say "I do" and more and more of them are hiring professional MUAs to get them ready for the big event. There are some bridal MUAs who are able to turn bridal makeup into a full-time career, and plenty of others who "moonlight" and do bridal makeup as their side-gig.

Film, Theatre, and Television MUAs. Any time an actor is appearing on screen or in front of a crowd, he or she is wearing makeup. And, because certain cameras capture images in very specific ways, MUAs are an important part of making actors look a certain way. Most of the jobs in cinema are in NYC and Los Angeles, but there are jobs in Miami and other big cities along the eastern seaboard. Just like the fashion industry, the competition in the film industry is pretty intense, but--other people have become makeup artists in film and cinema, so why can't you?

A Salesperson / Marketing / Product Developer. People always forget about this aspect of the beauty business, but it's a very stable--and occasionally very high-paying--way to have makeup be the centerpoint of your career. As you know, there are THOUSANDS of makeup products released every year. Every beauty company needs to research the people who buy their products, dream up new and interesting products they can sell, and then advertise those products to consumers. If you have a creative flair or love working with people, a career on the business-side of makeup can be very profitable!

Cosmetologist. For most people, this is the best option. Cosmetologists focus on all aspects of beauty--hair, nails, skin, and makeup--and are able to build a local client base. Some are even able to open their own salons, and make a VERY decent salary.

​Will I Need A License?

We get a LOT of questions about makeup artist licenses.

At the time that we wrote this post, we couldn't find any state laws or regulations that require freelance makeup artists to have a license, and there are plenty of independent makeup artists who go from job to job who do NOT have a makeup artist. The state of Florida may, at some point in the future, be more aggressive about making sure that independent makeup artists have some type of beauty license, but for now, they seem not to be too concerned.

One thing that is certain is that you will definitely need a license to apply makeup to a paying customer if you are employed by a Florida salon or Florida spa (or any other kind of Florida establishment). In that case, you'll need a get a Florida cosmetology license or a Florida esthetician license.

It's always best to check with the Florida Board of Cosmetology to make sure. State laws change frequently, and it's best to be up-to-date on any requirements made by the state of Florida.​