Makeup Artist Schools in Ohio

Welcome to MakeupArtistEssentials.com! If you're a person who want to become a skilled makeup artist--if you're someone who just wants to learn more about makeup!--you're in the right place.

On this page, we'll discuss the different ways you can get a makeup education, the licenses the makeup artists need/don't need, and the makeup artist schools in Ohio available to you.

Your Options for a Makeup Artistry Education

Makeup artists get their beauty education in a number of different ways. Here are the most popular:

Cosmetology Colleges​

For many men and women who want to enter the field of beauty, a cosmetology school is the most logical first step. As a student, you'll be introduced to many different areas of beauty, including hair styling, hair coloring, and hair cutting; skin care routines and beautification; manicuring and pedicuring; and makeup application.

Cosmetology schools differ from makeup schools, in that they don't focus specifically on makeup; instead, they teach all aspects of cosmetology, and students come away from training with a solid base on which to build more skills.

Why Cosmetology Can Be A Great Fit: Cosmetology colleges are relatively inexpensive (private beauty schools can get pricey, but a community school should only cost a couple thousand dollars), and after you graduate, you'll be able to get an Ohio cosmetology license (and we'll talk more about licensing in a minute). AND, as a makeup artist who also does hair and nails, you'll have a competitive advantage when looking for work.

Why It May Not Be A Great Fit: After you're done at a beauty school, you won't be a *professional-level* makeup artist. You'll still need to build your skills.

Makeup Artistry Schools​

Beauty schools provide a general beauty education, but makeup artistry schools teach students makeup, and makeup only. Classes provide a detailed and comprehensive explanation of all areas of makeup, including:

  • Application strategies and techniques;
  • Color theory and how to put together a style or look;
  • How to evaluate the quality of products, and how to assemble a makeup kit;
  • Working with different skin tones and concealing blemishes and skin imperfections;
  • Finding a "professional focus," whether that may be fashion makeup, bridal makeup, TV/film makeup, etc;
  • Coordinating with creative directors and photographers on how to prepare models for a shoot; and so on.

Some makeup schools even teach students how to start a freelance makeup company, and outline some of the opportunities and challenges of running a small business.

Why Makeup School Can Be A Great Fit: You'll learn a LOT about makeup. A LOT. You'll also make professional connections and see how other makeup artists earn a living. It's a great way to enter the field of makeup.

Why It May Not Be A Great Fit: Some makeup schools are very expensive, and not every major metropolitan area has a school dedicated solely to makeup artistry. Also, upon graduation, you will not be able to obtain any kind of Ohio license.

Ohio Makeup Workshops​

Ohio is a great state because it contains SO many metropolitan cities. There are, to name a few, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton, Akron, Canton, Springfield, and many, many more. Each of these cities may host a couple of makeup workshops at some point in the year.

Here's how it works: a makeup artist will rent out a commercial space in a convention center, hotel, college, or beauty salon, and provide a one-time makeup class. It may last a single day or a week or two, but it will be 1) inexpensive, and 2) specific to a certain topic (they may focus on wedding makeup, or working with photographers, etc).

You can look for upcoming workshops on sites like EventBrite, Yelp, Thumbtack, Gig Salad, and Craigslist.

Why Makeup Workshops Can Be A Great Fit: They're cheap! They usually cost anywhere from a couple hundred bucks (or lower) to $1,500 at the highest. Also, you'll spend time with fellow makeup enthusiasts, AND you'll get to travel a little bit and visit a city near you.

Why It May Not Be A Great Fit: If you're looking to start a full-time career as a makeup artist, workshops are a not a great way to build a makeup education. They're a great way to build new skills, but you'll need to do a lot of work elsewhere, as well.

Private Makeup Lessons​

Why wait for a workshop to roll around, when you can reach out to a nearby makeup artist are arrange for private lessons?

This is a fantastic option, and it can be a lot of fun. Plus, if you have family or friends who also love makeup, you can bring them along and make it an outing.

Why Private Coaching Can Be A Great Fit: The biggest advantage of 1-on-1 lessons is that you can totally tailor the lesson to your liking. Want to learn about bridal makeup? Just ask. Want to learn how flash photography affects makeup? Let the artist know that's what you're interested in.

Why It May Not Be A Great Fit: Just like workshops, lessons are a great to build your abilities, but to gather all the skills you'll need to be a professional, a traditional education is often the best way to go.

Makeup Artist Schools in Ohio

How People Make A Paycheck Doing Makeup​

We talk about this in-depth on our homepage, but how DO people make a living doing makeup? Here are the most common ways:​

  • Fashion Makeup. It's a super-competitive industry, and it can be difficult to make it happen, but people make connections in the fashion world and provide makeup services for photographers, models, and designers. The work is challenging, but it can be VERY exciting.
  • Cinematic Makeup. Actors and actresses in movies and on television need a LOT of makeup. While a lot of this work is done in California and New York, there are independent movies being filmed in every state, and there are local television shows (such as news programs and local commercials) that will require the work of a makeup artist. "Cinematic makeup" also includes special effects makeup (which we'll discuss below).
  • Bridal Makeup. This is an EXCELLENT opportunity for people to make some money on the side (and some people are actually able to turn this into a full-time business). It's very common for brides to pay a makeup artist to get them ready for their nuptials, and bridal MUAs make them shine. Bridal MUAs need to have a very strong understanding of how makeup looks in photography, and so some training is often needed.

There's one other opportunity, and that's the business side of makeup. Some people start their careers at a beauty counter at a makeup shop, and then get promoted up to marketing and sales. It's a great way to make makeup the focus of your career, and it's a lot more stable than a career as a makeup artist. Something to keep in mind!

Licensing Of Makeup Artists​

In the "Education" section above, we brought up licensing a couple of times. Here's what you need to know about licensing:​

  • We've reviewed the material on the website for the Ohio State Board of Cosmetology, and we could not find any information related to makeup artists and makeup artist licenses. Also, we know of many self-employed makeup artists who do freelance makeup and work with brides on their wedding days, models at photo shoots, actors on the set of a film, and so on, who don't have any sort of beauty license. Ohio may sooner or later become more strict about licensing, and they may eventually create a makeup artist license. If that happens, we'll let you know.
  • BUT! And this is an important "but"--if you are going to work in any beauty salon or day spa in Ohio, as a makeup artist or any kind of beauty professional, you WILL need to get a license. The most popular licenses are a cosmetologist license (which we discussed above) or an esthetician license (if you want to do esthetics in a salon or spa). It is required that every employee of a salon have a license, and you won't be allowed to work in one unless you have a license. That's why going to cosmetology school can be a great choice--because it'll allow you to get a cosmetology license, and you can find temporary work in a salon if your makeup career slows down.

If you have questions, contact the Ohio State Board of Cosmetology at (614) 466-3834. They are in charge of licensing and beauty careers in Ohio, so if you've got questions, they've got answers.

Ohio Special Effects Makeup Schools

So far, we've discussed beauty makeup. What if you're interested in a career is special effects makeup, aka SFX makeup?

In the last couple of years, there's been a huge spike in the popularity of SFX makeup careers. And that's wonderful--special effects makeup is an incredibly creative, incredibly invigorating career.

As of right now, there are no schools in Ohio that are dedicated to teaching SFX makeup. However, there are plenty of online tutorials you can look at, and if you're really serious about getting an SFX education, you can relocate to another state. Check out our "List of SFX Makeup Schools" page for more information.

Ohio Makeup Training Programs

For a highly-populated state, there are surprisingly few makeup artist schools in Ohio! If you are an entrepreneurial type, you may want to think about opening one!

There are two main options:

BRIDEface
2009 Elm Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
(513) 305-9723

and

Chenese Bean Makeup Artistry
207 West Benson Street
Cincinnati, OH 45215
(513) 348-9004

BUT, as we discussed above, there are always cosmetology schools you can go to. In fact, some of the most capable and sought-after makeup professionals in the world got their start at a cosmetology school, so it could definitely be worth checking out. We’ve compiled a list of schools in your area, so be sure to check out the ones close to you:

Alliance Career Center
400 Glamorgan Street
Alliance, OH 44601
(330) 829-2267

Cuyahoga Valley Career Center
8001 Brecksville Road
Brecksville, OH 44141
(440) 526-5200

Nationwide Beauty College — Salon Schools Group
6053-6085 Gender Road
Canal Winchester, OH 43110
(614) 902-4380

National Beauty College
4642 Cleveland Ave NW
Canton, OH 44709
(330) 499-9444

Collins Career Center
11627 State Route 243
Collins Career Center Drive
Chesapeake, OH 45619
(740) 867-6641

The Class Act School of Cosmetology
49 East Main Street
Chillicothe, OH 45601
(740) 773-2611

Remington College
14445 Broadway Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44125
(800) 560-6192

Moler Hollywood Beauty College
6142 Montgomery Road
Cincinnati, OH 45213
(513) 621-5262

Paul Mitchell The School Cincinnati
11956 Lebanon Road
Cincinnati, OH 45241
(513) 769-7699

Regency Beauty Institute — Eastgate Campus
4450 Eastgate Boulevard
Cincinnati, OH 45245
(800) 787-6456

Fairview Beauty Academy
22610 Lorain Road
Cleveland, OH 44126
(440) 734-5555

New Directions Beauty Institute
2013 East Dublin Granville Road
Columbus, OH 43229
(614) 396-7003

Paul Mitchell The School Columbus
3000 Morse Road
Columbus, OH 43231
(614) 388-9802

Coshocton County Career Center
23640 Airport Road
Coshocton, OH 43812
(740) 622-0211

Carousel Beauty College
125 East Second Street
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 224-1454

Elite Hair Academy
4033 North Marshall Road
Dayton, OH 45429
(937) 290-0600

Delaware Area Career Center
4565 Columbus Pike
Delaware, OH 43015
(740) 548-0708

TUSCCO Beauty School
814 Boulevard Street
Dover, OH 44622
(330) 343-2123

The Artisan College of Cosmetology
1645 Tiffin Avenue
Findlay, OH 45840
(419) 425-1485

Nationwide Beauty College — Salon Schools Group
789 Hebron Road
Heath, OH 43056
(614) 902-4380

Nationwide Beauty College — Salon Schools Group
5200-5312 Westpointe Plaza Drive
Hilliard, OH 43026
(614) 902-4380

Carousel Beauty College
7809 Waynetowne Boulevard
Huber Heights, OH 45424
(937) 233-8818

Ashtabula County Technical and Career Center
1565 State Route 167
Jefferson, OH 44047

Ohio State Beauty Academy
1760 North Eastown Road
Lima, OH 45807
(419) 229-7896

Northern Institute of Cosmetology
669 Broadway
Lorain, OH 44052
(440) 244-4282

Inner State Beauty School
5150 Mayfield Road
Lyndhurst, OH 44124
(440) 442-4500

Preson’s Beauty Academy
90 Acme Street
Marietta, OH 45750
(740) 374-5434

Polaris Career Center
7285 Old Oak Boulevard
Middleburg Heights, OH 44130
(440) 891-7600

Vanity School of Cosmetology
13377 Smith Road
Middlebury Heights, OH 44130
(440) 843-8810

Carousel Beauty College
633 South Breiel
Middletown, OH 45044
(513) 422-2962

EHOVE Career Center
316 Mason Road West
Milan, OH 44846
(419) 499-4663

Knox County Career Center
306 Martinsburg Road
Mt. Vernon, OH 43050
(740) 393-2933

Regency Beauty Institute — North Olmsted Campus
26508 Lorain Road
North Olmsted, OH 44070
(800) 787-6456

Apex Academy Hair Skin and Nails
1788 West 4th Street
Ontario, OH  44906
(419) 709-8512

Elite Institute of Cosmetology
221 Chillicothe Street
Portsmouth, OH 45662
(740) 876-4343

Vanity School of Cosmetology
5236 Detroit Road
Sheffield Village, OH 44035
(440) 934-3353

Regency Beauty Institute — Tri-County Campus
11489 Princeton Pike
Springdale, OH 45246
(800) 787-6456

Carousel Beauty College
Upper Valley Mall
Springfield, OH 45504
(937) 323-0277

Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center
1901 Selma Road
Springfield, OH 45505
(937) 325-7368

Paul Mitchell The School Toledo
5549 Monroe Street
Sylvania, OH 43560
(419) 885-5191

Buckeye Hills Career Center
351 Buckeye Hills Road
Thurman, OH 45685
(740) 245-5334

Tiffin Academy of Hair Design
104 East Market Street
Tiffin, OH 44883
(419) 447-3117

I Think Beautiful Academy of Cosmetology
5345 Heatherdowns Boulevard
Toledo, OH 43614
(419) 410-2078

Toni & Guy Hairdressing Academy
3034 Wilford Drive
Toledo, OH 43615
(419) 866-4489

Paul Mitchell The School Cleveland
10735 Ravenna Road
Twinsburg, OH 44087
(330) 818-7155

Nationwide Beauty College — Salon Schools Group
5993 West Dakar Road
Westerville, OH 43081
(614) 902-4380

Regency Beauty Institute — Cleveland Campus
34999 Euclid Avenue
Willoughby, OH 44094
(800) 787-6456

Wooster Beauty College
700 Winkler Drive
Wooster, OH 44691
(330) 263-9363

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