3 Mistakes to AVOID in Your Makeup Classes if You Want to Be Successful in the Industry

Professional makeup classes will teach you a LOT more than just how to do makeup. Rather, they’re also meant to prepare you for the real, professional industry. This means helping you develop the right business etiquette and frame of mind. After all, you can be the most talented MUA in the world… but if you have a lousy attitude, that’s what you’ll quickly be known for.

If you’re reading this article, it’s because you’re seriously passionate about your craft. So, we know that this isn’t the outcome you want for your career!

This is why today, we’re here to take a look at 3 critical mistakes to AVOID as you complete your certification training. So long as you heed these tips, you’ll be sure to set yourself and your business up for long-term success!

Amanda Ramey’s 3 Sins to Avoid in Your Makeup Classes

Amanda Ramey is a multi-graduate and Student Ambassador of QC Makeup Academy. Through her hard work and dedication, she’s successfully obtained the following internationally-recognized qualifications:

Amanda is here to break down 3 important mistakes that one should never make while working through their makeup classes. The reason? Such errors will create a toxic mindset that you’ll carry with you into your professional career. As such, you’ll be more likely to alienate potential clients, collaborators, and employers. Thus, your brand may be perceived negatively and others in the industry will be less inclined to work with you.

So, what are these 3 mistakes to avoid? Watch the video below to find out!

Want to connect with Amanda directly? Join QC Makeup Academy’s free Virtual Classroom on Facebook today!

The 3 Mistakes You Should Never Make in Your Makeup Classes:

Mistake #1: Rejecting Constructive Criticism

In general, constructive feedback is never a bad thing. So long as it’s provided in a positive, beneficial way, it serves only to help you grow. In the world of professional makeup, however, constructive criticism is ESSENTIAL!

After all, we’re all guilty of subjectivity. When you look at your own work through just your own lens, you can often miss a lot of fixable errors. Getting a second (or third, or fourth, or fifth) opinion from someone who’s able to view your work objectively is often the only way to truly know where improvements can be made.

Now look, I get it: it’s never easy to have someone point out the flaws you’ve made. But the beauty industry can be extremely cutthroat at times, so you need a thick skin if you really want to prosper. Once you’re working professionally, you’re going to get told a lot, by all sorts of different people, if you’ve done something incorrectly.

In the real world, combating constructive feedback with defensiveness, anger, or negativity is guaranteed to stunt your chances of success. If you aren’t prepared or able to accept this kind of feedback in a calm and professional way, your career will probably end before it’s even had a chance to begin.

Learn This Skill in Your Makeup Classes!

So, maximize the time spent in your makeup classes by adjusting how you receive the constructive feedback provided by your tutors and/or fellow peers. If you find that you take it personally and become emotionally upset, I urge you to pause, take a step back, and ask yourself why it’s making you feel this way. Sometimes, it just takes time and honesty with one’s self to be able to comfortably accept constructive feedback from others.

But one way or another, you’ll NEED to learn this imperative skill… and the optimal place to start honing it is in your makeup classes!

Mistake #2: Relying on Others to Say When Work is Up to Standard

If you’re brand-new to makeup artistry, it’s to be expected that you haven’t developed your eye yet. At first, you won’t always be able to look at the applications you’re doing for your assignments and automatically know what can be done better. This is totally okay!

The only way to truly learn how to train your eye is to take full responsibility for your progress. This means not relying on others to tell you when your work is ready to submit to your tutor. If you shoulder this responsibility onto other people, you’ll never be able to properly identify correct vs. incorrect techniques or applications.

Remember: in the real world, everyone’s going to expect you to know what you’re doing. Other professionals won’t want to hold your hand through the process. If anything, they’ll probably be put off if they feel like that’s what you’re expecting of them.

Learn This Skill in Your Makeup Classes!

Use your makeup classes as a way to strengthen your eye. While it’s okay to ask others for their advice on your work, refrain from asking them if your assignment is “ready to submit”. Similarly, don’t ask this question when posting your work in QC’s Virtual Classroom! Yes, your peers can help guide you in the right direction. However, it’s not up to them to give you the answers.

Only YOU can truly know if you feel your work is ready for submission. And if it turns out that there were errors that you didn’t notice? Well, that’s exactly why your tutor is there to help you grow and get better! Take their feedback to heart (see Mistake #1), absorb it, and use it to train your eye. When you wind up working on your next assignment, you’ll already be a lot more critical and on the look-out for specific things to improve upon!

Mistake #3: A Negative, Argumentative, and Unprofessional Attitude

In many ways, this final mistake ties back in with the first one. As a professional makeup artist, your job will constantly involve you working closely with people. Thus, you need to have the right attitude at all times. Moreover, you need to know how to be flexible, accommodating, and work well with others. No one wants to be involved with someone who’s always in a bad mood or gets confrontational at the drop of a hat!

There will be days – as it is in life – when it feels impossible to keep your cool. However, it’ll only affect your career if you let it! No matter how a client, vendor, etc. is behaving, you must always be the bigger person. No, we’re not saying to let others mistreat you or take advantage of you. But there’s always a way to handle a negative situation that doesn’t involve it dragging you down to its level.

Learn This Skill in Your Makeup Classes!

QC’s Virtual Classroom is a great resource for connecting with other QC students grads, tutors, and industry professionals. By leveraging this platform, you can also start honing your professional mindset and self-reflect on your attitude. For example, do you get defensive easily if someone critiques your work? If you make an incorrect or inappropriate comment and someone calls you out on it, do you take responsibility and try to become better? Or do you become argumentative and try to make excuses?

These are all moments that can either help you shape yourself into a professional makeup artist of the highest standard… or they can be moments that further cement inappropriate behaviors, sure to damage your reputation once you pursue your career.

The choice, ultimately, is up to you.

Can you think of any other mistakes that one should never make in their makeup classes? Share them in the comments below! 💕

Enroll in QC Makeup Academy’s self-paced, online makeup classes today and earn your internationally-recognized certification(s) in as little as 2-6 months!