Make-up pricing

[michelleb1133]

After setting up a page on facebook, ive had somebody enquire about wedding makeup, although i havent got this on my treatment menu, I am qualified so would have no problem in carrying this out, my question is, if you do make-up how much would you charge? Would you include a trial make-up before hand in the price? Would you do an offer if she had the bridesmaids done aswell?

Thanks

M x

 

[michelleb1133]

Anybody? x

 

[nailsbyfran]

Hi I am not a makeup artist but noticed you were not getting any replyies so i used google to help find some answers!

I googled wedding makeup Leeds!

I found one artist offerring £60 for a trial and £60 again on the day.
another £60 for trail and £100 on the day.
another £50 for trial and £65 on the day.


these seemed to have a few years experience and offered the rest of the bridal party at slightly lower rates.

Hope this helps!

Fran

 

[michelleb1133]

Crikey they seem expensive...but like you say they may have years of experience

I am starting up, and i w/out this sounding bad i dont think shes well off, so id rather do it at a reduced rate, and have her pass the word around rather than, charge her a fortune and her not want treating at all.

Its for her a possibly 3 b.maids, im thinking if they all have it done charge £40 each and if all 3 b.maids book then bride gets half price (this is inc consultation)

What d'ya think (if u were the client lol)

xx

 

[nailsbyfran]

Thats sounds good to me!

I thought it was expensive too but thought it was beacuse i know nothing about makeup and because you can make everything more expensive when its for weddings!

And as you say it will get the word around think how many people will see her and the bridesmaids at the wedding! what a lot of free advertising!

Fran

 

[loubilicious]

I did my bridal makeup training with Virgin Vie and did makeup for weddings. We were given guidelines dependant upon where we lived/worked....The prices we charged were probably a lot less than a professional MUA.
These were the prices in Leeds about 6 years ago:
Bride including trial £35
Other members of the party were £15, this didn't include a trial and their make-up was less complex than the brides. If they want a trial then you must charge extra for this (I would also stipulate all trials need to be at the same time/address or that they come to you.
I would suggest you charge around £50 for the bride..whether you want to include your trial in that is up to you if not then charge around £20 for the trial.
Have a look about at prices in your area and go from there.
My own personal opinion is that most bridal services are vastly overpriced as people hear the word wedding and bang their prices sky high.....I don't agree with that. Having said that, I don't think you should underprice yourself.
You haven't said whether you will be going to her or her coming to you.......a lot of salon based MUAs would charge a premium just for going to the home.....so if you are prepared to go to the brides home/wedding venue this is of great benefit.

 

[michelleb1133]

Well we havent actually discussed location, but could either do salon or brides house/wedding location!!

I had my make-up done in a salon a couple of months back and it cost me £35, this was for a party though.

Like you said i think a lot of places do bump the price up. And i dnt want to appear to be doing this x

 

[Sharkster]

I think the difference in price depends on wether you are a Beauty Therapist that does make-up or if you are a professionally trained Make-up Artist.

There is a big difference. A professional MUA will charge a lot for any work and not just have 'bummped up' the price because it's a wedding.

Decide which one you are then compare prices of the relevent competition in your local area.

Em x

 

[michelleb1133]

Of course, I never though of it like that em!!

Thankyou huni x

 

[jotommo]

hi sorry to sound dumb but
i am hairdresser and also do semi perm lashes
i have trained in make up at 2 academies.
i am aiming to do just weddings... hair up/make up/lashes
so i can't say i'm a make up artist coz i have another trade first??
coz really i am a hairdresser first that has trained in make up?!?
xx

 

[Miss Pink23]

I think the difference in price depends on wether you are a Beauty Therapist that does make-up or if you are a professionally trained Make-up Artist.

There is a big difference. A professional MUA will charge a lot for any work and not just have 'bummped up' the price because it's a wedding.

Decide which one you are then compare prices of the relevent competition in your local area.

Em x

I find this comment slightly confusing also.
So are you saying that if you are abeauty therapist that offers make up you are not a professional?
And what differentiates between the two, as sny good therapist will have trained in all treatments that they offer?

 

[blush09]

in answer to miss pink 23's question and at the risk of getting flamed, i think that what sharkster is trying to say is that the content covered on a professional make up course is quite a lot more in depth than what i understand is covered in the makeup "unit" which forms part of a beauty therapists course at college.
im sure beauty therapists are very capable of producing wonderful makeup, but i have personally come across many who have not been satisfied with the makeup skills they have learnt on a college course - sometimes just touching on the basics, i have even read such posts on salon geek - they dont have the confidence to offer the service and so go on to take additional training at great expense
these courses themselves can cost several thousands of pounds, they are usually taught by industry professionals and so students pick up lots of tips and advice that wont have been covered on a regular college course. mua are always trying to fine tune their skills, learning new techniques (such as airbrushing etc) through pro makeup masterclasses @ mac or jemma kidd's and of course a professional makeup kit and brushes can cost in excess of 3k .. this i guess is then reflected in the prices they charge
mua have to promote their services to a smaller target market and so tend to spend a fair bit on advertising, in wedding mags, directories, and of course wedding fairs
i so know that im going to get flamed for this but im just trying to point out the reason why a pro mua who specialises solely in this field might charge more than a beauty therapist who will be offering a range of different services

im currently on mat leave, and undecided if i will return to specialising in bridal makeup as i want to spend more time with my family but prior to giving up my prices were as follows :

bridal trial £70, bridal makeup £70
bridal party trial £50, bridal party day £50

my friend is a beauty therapist in the same town as me, and charges around £30 for a bridal makeup, £20 for a trial

she doesnt get as many bookings as me as she doesnt promote her makeup services exclusively, her clients tend to be women who use her services already, although she does really well during prom season (clients treating their daughters) she's happy with this as she prefers to offer a wide range of treatments, but i obviously rely on bridal makeup bookings and so pay a fair amt in advertising, wedding fairs etc which forces me to charge the above

HTH

 

[loubilicious]

at the risk of getting flamed, i think that what sharkster is trying to say is that the content covered on a professional make up course is quite a lot more in depth than the content covered in the makeup "unit" which forms part of a beauty therapists course at college.
dont get me wrong, im sure beauty therapists are very capable of producing wonderful makeup, but i have personally come across many who have not been satisfied with the makeup skills they have learnt on a college course - sometimes just touching on the basics, i have even read such posts on salon geek - they dont have the confidence to offer the service and so go on to take additional training at great expense
these courses themselves can cost several thousands of pounds, they are usually taught by industry professionals and so students pick up lots of tips and advice that wont have been covered on a regular college course. mua are always trying to fine tune their skills, learning new techniques (such as airbrushing etc) through pro makeup masterclasses @ mac or jemma kidd's and of course a professional mua kit and brushes can cost in excess of 3k .. this i guess is then reflected in the prices they charge
i so know that im going to get flamed for this but im just trying to point out the reason why a pro mua who specialises solely in this field might charge more than a beauty therapist who will be offering a range of different services
HTH

I don't think there is any reason for anyone to "flame" you for this.....what you say is a very valid. I think the thing is that as a consumer the average woman on the street probably wouldn't really know this....I suppose it's up to the individual MUA to educate and "sell themselves".

I really enjoyed the whole make up side of things but was well aware that although I could create a good "look" I wasn't a fully trained MUA.

When I referred to people bumping up prices for weddings, I wasn't referring purely to MUAs/Beauty Therapists......I think it is across the board with most industries, they hear the word wedding and hike the prices up......and of course not everyone does this but I feel it does happen more often than not!

 

[Miss Pink23]

I think those are fair comments and I can see what you mean.
I also dont agree for charging more for services simply based on the fact that its a treatment for a wedding.

 

[michelleb1133]

I also agree with what you say

I'm a therapist and didn't find your comments offensive at all, as i say i can totally agree where your coming from

Thanks for all the comments guys its been a big help

xx

 

[Sharkster]

in answer to miss pink 23's question and at the risk of getting flamed, i think that what sharkster is trying to say is that the content covered on a professional make up course is quite a lot more in depth than what i understand is covered in the makeup "unit" which forms part of a beauty therapists course at college.
im sure beauty therapists are very capable of producing wonderful makeup, but i have personally come across many who have not been satisfied with the makeup skills they have learnt on a college course - sometimes just touching on the basics, i have even read such posts on salon geek - they dont have the confidence to offer the service and so go on to take additional training at great expense
these courses themselves can cost several thousands of pounds, they are usually taught by industry professionals and so students pick up lots of tips and advice that wont have been covered on a regular college course. mua are always trying to fine tune their skills, learning new techniques (such as airbrushing etc) through pro makeup masterclasses @ mac or jemma kidd's and of course a professional makeup kit and brushes can cost in excess of 3k .. this i guess is then reflected in the prices they charge

Yes thank you this was exactly the point I was trying to get at, just doing a cr*p job of it!!!

And yes Louise I do agree that anything 'wedding' related does get bumped up, I was just trying to point out the difference between the cost of Bridal make-up.

Em x

 

[Lynne Baker]

I think those are fair comments and I can see what you mean.
I also dont agree for charging more for services simply based on the fact that its a treatment for a wedding.

I used to think like that until I'd done about 50 weddings.
Thanks to the celebrity culture we live in, and the proliferation of wedding magazines and TV programmes all telling brides that they can be an A lister for a day, there are a growing number of brides (and they tend to be the younger ones) who behave like bloody divas on their wedding day.
Discussing this with a hair stylist friend, and two other MUAs close to me, we've come to the conclusion that actually, sometimes, we should get danger money!
Witness the young lady whose wedding I attended recently. She had bought a Vera Wang dress at the princely sum of £9000. It was hanging on the rail of the four poster bed in her hotel room, wrapped in a clear polythene wrapper. I saw it hanging there and went towards it to get a closer look. I put my hand behind the dress to bring it closer to me. The bride launched herself off her chair (where the hairdresser was doing her thang) and screamed at me "Don't you dare touch my fu£*ing dress!"

Now, I'm no fragile little flower, but I admit to being very shaken by this.
I had to excuse myself and go outside to compose myself, and I actually considered leaving without doing her makeup.

I've had dogs trying to hump me while doing makeup, people smoking all around me, children with their fingers in my stuff, I've been made to sit in my car until the bride "would see me now", and I even got caught in the crossfire of arguing parent and had champagne thrown at me.
When I consider the money that I could earn in my salon in the time that I'm out of it schlepping to locations and back again, the 60 quid I charge isn't worth getting out of bed for.
I'm not out for overcharging people, not at all, but man, the reason it's so expensive for weddings is because they're a bloody nightmare.

 

[Sharkster]

I've had dogs trying to hump me while doing makeup, people smoking all around me, children with their fingers in my stuff, I've been made to sit in my car until the bride "would see me now", and I even got caught in the crossfire of arguing parent and had champagne thrown at me.
When I consider the money that I could earn in my salon in the time that I'm out of it schlepping to locations and back again, the 60 quid I charge isn't worth getting out of bed for.
I'm not out for overcharging people, not at all, but man, the reason it's so expensive for weddings is because they're a bloody nightmare.

Sooo true, but I've not been humped by dogs yet - you lucky thing!!!!!

 

[loobylou22]

Lynne, your post has not only made me laugh, but has made me realise what i may be letting myself in for, in a worrying sort of way.
Its lovely to hear 'why' people charge more for weddings and not just for the word 'wedding' that has been previously brought up.
Thank you, you have made me realise a lot.xxxx

 

[blush09]

in know this is an old post but LOL at the humping dogs !

baby has arrived since my last contribution to this post, all be it 2 months early lol and after much soul searching have decided not to return to make up for various reasons, not least the fact that i couldnt be dealing with 'diva' brides, i too could write a book about my experiences as a bridal mua lol

going back to my old 'employed' job part time whilst build up new business ..

sold my kit off and re-trained in nails and lashes .. now just wondering how much extra can 'hyke' prices up for brides .. only joking, lol