Mireille Pitre, Author at QC Makeup Academy
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Mireille Pitre

8 Awesome Summer Skincare Tips

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Skincare is important all year round! But depending on the season, your skincare requirements will change. Winter – with its dry, cold air – requires a heavier hand to get healthy skin. On the flip side, there are certain skincare tips that are exclusive to the summer months.

In the summer, the air is hotter and more humid. This changes what your skin needs, in order to stay happy and healthy. In lieu of summer’s official arrival, here are 8 fantastic tips for keeping your skin looking its best from now until autumn!

Don’t overdo it!

Summer is a time to go lighter on your overall skincare routine. Avoid heavy cleansing/moisturizing products, and let your skin breathe! When it comes to cleansers, go for a light, foaming solution instead of a heavy scrub or mask. For moisturizers, find a lightweight day/night formula and apply sparingly.

This goes for makeup products as well! Try not to cake on heavy products in the summer. This will only clog your pores and make your skin angry. Whenever possible, go for lightweight powders instead of heavy creams.

Your skin will take on a natural glow in the summer. Let that shine through!

Moisturize!

Summer air is more humid compared to dry winter days. Most people would use this as an excuse to save a few bucks on moisturizer. But that’s a mistake!

As mentioned above, you’ll want to switch to a lighter product in the summer. But continuing to moisturize is extremely important, even in the height of summer. Remember, even though the air might be more humid, the harsher summer sun and hotter days will work on drying your skin all the same!

Care for your pores!

Remember: you might be sweating more in the summer. So, make sure that whatever moisturizer or makeup products you choose don’t clog your pores. Clogged pores + heat will lead to acne and other skin afflictions that you want to avoid! Use a cleanser that works on flushing out your pores without drying your skin.

Exfoliate!

I don’t know about you, but I’m a beast when it comes to scrubbing my skin. Well, good news: you have permission to up your exfoliating game in the summer!

Don’t overdo it, of course! Increase your exfoliating routine gradually, and stop if your skin starts reacting negatively. That being said, you can definitely increase both the intensity and frequency of your exfoliating routine during the summer.

This is especially important after a day in the sun! Scrub and use exfoliating products to remove dead/damaged cells. This will help reveal the healthy skin just beneath the surface. Trust us, your skin will thank you!

Nourish your skin!

Antioxidant-rich serums are important all year long, but even more so in the summer! This is because they help minimize sun damage.

A skin nourishing regimen will reduce the appearance of irregular pigmentation, and help combat the appearance of wrinkles. Specifically, opt for a serum that’s high in vitamin C. For best results, apply daily before bed, after you’ve exfoliated.

Drink lots of water!

This might not sound like a skincare tip, but when you get dehydrated, the first organ to suffer will be your skin. So-called “combination” dry/oily skin is a myth! In reality, that means you actually have oily skin and you are dehydrated, which is why your skin appears dry.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Summer is hot. You’re likely sweating. This means you’re putting out water, and that water needs to be replaced somehow. So, increase your daily water intake to help your skin glow during the summer!

As a general rule of thumb, drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. If you’re exercising and/or if it’s exceptionally hot outside, drink even more!

Pro tip: Drinking soda, sugar-packed juice, hot tea, alcohol, coffee, etc. won’t hydrate you. Some of those actually contribute to dehydration! Nothing compares to drinking good old water. And hey, water’s cheap! So, drink up!

Sunscreen (duh)!

Sunscreen is important, even in the winter. (Yes, you heard us!) But while in the winter, you can possibly get away with an SPF-enriched daily moisturizer, summer won’t be as forgiving.

Gone are the days of lathering baby oil on your skin and sitting in the sun to bake until you get a golden tan. We know now that a tan is basically damaged skin. Not to mention, skin cancer doesn’t look good on anyone.

So, for the summer, invest in a good quality sunscreen. When shopping around, look for something that’s at least SPF 30. Then, make sure to apply it often!

Even if you have higher SPF, you should apply your sunscreen on exposed skin every 2-3 hours. Look for products that won’t clog your pores. This is especially important on the face! Rich and heavy sunscreen can lead to acne breakouts.

Take a Skincare Course!

The best way to become an expert in anything is to become properly educated. So, why not take an accredited Skincare Course and become an actual pro? These days, you can do makeup school online – which is PERFECT when staying at home is especially important (such as during a pandemic). Any online makeup school worth its salt will offer some sort of skincare training.

QC Makeup Academy, for example, provides an internationally-leading Skincare Course that will actually certify you as a professional skincare consultant! Could there be any better way to learns the ins and outs of happy, healthy skin?

Plus, you can then add it to your career and help others with their own skincare needs! Talk about a win-win!

Skincare is a science, and clients pay handsomely for this type of personalized advice. Adding skincare services to your makeup business can increase your reach AND raise your salary! For more information, check out QC’s Skincare Course!

Beauty smiling blonde model with natural make up and green leaves. Copy space. Spa and wellness. Close up, selective focus.

8 Eco-Friendly Makeup Swaps That Will Make You and the Earth Happy

By Makeup Tips and Tricks, Your Makeup Career No Comments

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for little ways I can be more eco-conscious in my day-to-day life. You don’t have to go full-on hippy in order to make a difference, but there are a ton of small things you can do on a regular basis that really do add up in the long run! If everyone on Earth followed eco-friendly practices, the world would be a much cleaner place.

Today, we’ll look at the different makeup and beauty swaps you can try that will decrease your carbon footprint!

Smiling beautiful young woman standing in the summer sunshine holding a globe at the sea with copyspace

Get refills whenever possible

Think about how many bottles and containers get thrown out, or recycled (PLEASE tell me you recycle!), every trash day. It’s probably a lot. Now think about how many of those containers are for beauty products. Whether it’s shampoo and conditioner bottles, body wash, or moisturizer – that stuff adds up.

The thing is: the bottle itself is perfectly fine, so why not just refill it? More and more stores now offer discounts, if you bring your own container and purchase a product refill. Saving money and helping the planet? Count me in!

Create your own makeup palettes

Especially if you’re a professional MUA, you probably go through a ton of products in your makeup artist kit. Whether it’s corrector/concealer, eyeshadow, lip gloss, etc., those palettes often end up in landfills when you’re done them.

But when you create your own makeup palette, you normally keep the actual palette and simply replace individual makeup pods in it. Those pods are normally metallic, and can be recycled. Even just by making this simple change, you’re now well on your way to becoming a zero-waste makeup artist!

Zero-waste, plastic-free beauty and makeup flatlay overhead with coconut fiber, bamboo and reusable products.

Cut down on plastic products & packaging

This is a big one! Plastic is everywhere, and it’s destroying the planet. Now, we know it’s hard to completely cut plastic out of your life. But there are ways you can drastically cut down on your plastic usage:

  • Buy makeup products with minimal packaging. If you have the option of buying a product packaged in a plastic bag, or a similar product packaged in a box, go with the box. Opt for products in metal or glass bottles, and avoid plastic bottles whenever you can.
  • Look for plastic-free products. Brushes with wood wands (or even better, bamboo) are way more eco-friendly than brushes with plastic wands. Also, metallic and/or cardboard palettes are more eco-friendly than plastic ones.
  • Watch out for microbeads! Microscopic plastic beads are found in many types of scrubs, body washes, toothpastes, bubble baths, and more. Unfortunately, they’re also wreaking havoc on marine life and ecosystems across the globe! Today, microplastics are even found in human food products, too. Gross! If you can, try to avoid them entirely.

Avoid single-use products

No one can argue against the convenience of single-use beauty products. But saving a few seconds of your time comes at the expense of filling up landfills for years. When you think of it that way, it’s pretty terrible for the environment in the long run. Instead, for your own makeup artist kit, try going with multi-use items, such as reusable makeup wipes and silicone swabs. As a bonus, these will save you tons of money in the long run, too.

That having been said, there’s a hygienic reason why makeup artists need to use some disposable tools on clients. Mascara wands, for example, are always one-use items. Otherwise, you’ll contaminate your product, and can potentially give your next client a serious infection!

Zero-waste, plastic-free beauty and makeup reusable and refillable bamboo and natural products for eco-friendly lifestyle, slow panning.

Lucky for you, there are a number of eco-friendly beauty companies out there that specialize in biodegradable beauty products, from wipes, to swabs, to spoolies. These products are usually made with sustainable materials, like organic cotton and bamboo.

Eco-friendly + sanitary = win-win!

Recycle

More and more cosmetic companies now have recycling programs that allow you to return used packaging to the store or manufacturer. For doing so, you can usually get a refund, store credit, or even free swag! The old packaging is then recycled or sanitized, and reused by the company. This makes it cost-effective for them as well. That’s a triple win!

Moreover, if you recycle at home (again, please do), you need to know how to do it properly! Paper should be separated from plastics. This includes paper labels on plastic or glass packaging. Containers should be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed before being put into the recycle bin. That means you should take the time to scrape out the last few drops of your product, and then rinse all containers under hot water until it’s squeaky clean.

A dirty container WON’T be recycled properly. It’s nauseating how many perfectly recyclable products end up in landfills because people didn’t bother to rinse them out first. By the way: the “clean your containers” rule applies to any container you recycle, from peanut butter tubs to laundry detergent bottles.

Use biodegradable sunscreen

When I took a trip to Mexico last year, tour guides kept asking to see our sunscreen before allowing us to scuba dive around coral reefs or swim in cenotes (underground lakes and rivers). I later discovered that they were making sure everyone’s sunscreen was a safe, biodegradable formula that wouldn’t harm corals. They didn’t want our sunscreen to contaminate the fresh water that many residents depend on.

Unfortunately, many sunscreens contain dangerous chemicals that harm the environment. Some can even be potentially harmful to humans as well. This is particularly important with spray-on sunscreens that you can end up inhaling!

Natural cosmetics and leaves on table

So always make sure to check your sunscreen, and try to avoid any of the following ingredients:

  • Oxybenzone
  • Octinoxate
  • Titanium dioxide
  • Zinc oxide
  • PABA / trolamine salicylate PABA

Go with “solid” products

Bar soap is way more environmentally friendly than liquid soap or body wash. You use less product, and it uses much less (and often recyclable/biodegradable) packaging. Today, you can also find shampoo and conditioner bars, moisturizer bars, body lotion bars, etc.

Since they are in a solid form, these products don’t need to be packaged in plastic containers. Most are instead packaged in reusable/recyclable metal tins, or biodegradable paper sleeves. What’s more, you’ll find that they last a LOT longer than their liquid counterparts!

Commit to Cruelty-Free

Let’s get real for a second: it’s 2020 – there’s literally no reason why animal testing should still be a thing in the cosmetics industry. But big corporations don’t tend to make changes until consumers force them to. So while you don’t need to join Greenpeace or go stand in a picket line, you definitely should educate yourself on which products are cruelty-free.

Then boycott the ones that aren’t! Encourage your friends and family to do the same. Sure, it can suck to have to change your favorite brand, but helping to put an end to barbaric practices is well worth that temporary hassle.

Funny girl hold rabbit on green field background. Closeup of winking girl with bunny rabbit. Lovely woman hold white rabbit

If you want to make the switch to eco-friendly beauty products and need some help, here’s a great list of 140+ cruelty-free makeup brands!

As a parting reminder, we can’t stress enough that every little bit helps. If you don’t want to give up your favorite body wash, you don’t have to! But maybe you can switch to reusable makeup removal wipes.

Being environmentally conscious is not an all-or-nothing game. You can absolutely take baby steps and start with just one thing on this list. Then, with time, you can do two. You’ll quickly be surprised at how easy it is to make changes that benefit both the planet and your wallet!

Want to save some money? Here are 5 useless items you DON’T need in your makeup artist kit!

How to Write a Makeup Artist Contract

By Makeup Tips and Tricks, Tutorials & Tips, Your Makeup Career No Comments

Not all makeup artists use contracts for their makeup jobs. If you have a home studio and book clients for small events, odds are you don’t need a contract. But for larger makeup jobs, where you’re going to travel to meet your client or commit an entire day of work to a single client or event, a good makeup artistry contract will help protect you and your business.

Read on to find out more about how to write a makeup artist contract.

makeup artist preparing her contract

What to Include in your Contract

A few years ago we wrote a full article about exactly what you should include in your contract. Below is a summary of those points, but you can find the full outline here.

  • Information on your client including contact information and any allergies/conditions they may have that will affect the products you can use
  • A clear outline of your services including the location, times you will be working, the scope of the job, etc.
  • Your payment terms, including the final price and any payment arrangements. For example, if a deposit is due in advance, etc.
  • Cancellation clauses including a clause that protects you in case of unforeseen circumstances
  • Indemnity clauses that protect you and your business against being sued for negligence

Best Practices for Writing Your Makeup Contracts

makeup artist client signing a contract

Contracts can easily be overdone or completely useless. If you want a simple makeup artistry contract that actually does its job, follow these important points:

  • It’s a good idea to use a basic template, and to have a lawyer scan it over to identify any potential legal problems ahead of time. After all, a contract is there to protect you and your makeup business.
  • Use simple, straight-forward language. Don’t try to be fancy with your contract. Use “you” when referring to your clients and “I” when referring to yourself.
  • Be specific and avoid words that are open to interpretation. For example, instead of saying “afternoon”, say “from Noon to 5pm”. This avoids having clients argue with you about semantics.
  • Some clients will ask you to revise some elements of your contract. This in itself isn’t outrageous. Most clients might ask for a slightly different payment structure/deadlines or ask you to clarify terms, etc. However don’t let a client browbeat you into removing your cancellation policy or make other changes you’re not comfortable with.

How to Use Your Makeup Contract

Using makeup contracts properly will help protect you and your makeup business. Here’s a quick rundown.

  • You should use a contract with every client if possible. You can use shorter contracts for quick same-day appointments.
  • Read through the contract with your client and explain it to them in plain language. Make sure they understand what they’re signing.
  • Send your client an electronic copy of your contract in a format that is not easily editable, like a protected PDF document.
  • If a client doesn’t sign the contract in front of you or if they printed your contract themselves, be sure to re-read the contract to ensure it hasn’t been altered in any way.

Makeup artistry contracts can be a pain to set up initially, but trust me, if anything happens, you’ll be glad to have it!

Have you ever written a makeup contract? Let us know if you encountered any unexpected problems in the comments below!

Wondering what you should you do if your client leaves you a bad review? Check out this guide on how to maintain your reputation!

becoming a makeup artist professional career

Changing Careers: Becoming a Makeup Artist as a Second Career

By Your Makeup Career No Comments

Are you in a stable career but looking for a change? Maybe you’re looking to follow your passion in life, or maybe you’re close to retirement and thinking about how you’re going to fill your days moving forward?

If you’re passionate about makeup and love working with people, then odds are that a career as a makeup artist is a great choice for you!

But changing careers can be a tricky situation, especially if you’re currently in a stable full-time job. The key is to plan ahead and make the change gradually. And you’re in luck! Since makeup artistry is such a flexible profession, you can take your time and ease into the career without taking too many risks. You’ll want to follow these basic steps:

  1. Don’t quit your job (yet!)

  2. Get educated

  3. Freelance part-time

  4. Quit your job and start your new career!

Let’s break it down.

applying lipstick makeup

1. Don’t quit your job (yet)

It can be so tempting to follow your dream, and quit your current job to become a full-time makeup artist. If you do, odds are that you’ll regret your impulsiveness when you have trouble finding clients and your bills start piling up.

Remember, it takes time to start a new career, and you’re very lucky to be able to keep your current job (ahem, and your current income) while you’re setting up your new career.

If you’re currently unemployed and don’t have many savings, it’s worth considering taking on a job temporarily while you’re starting your makeup artistry career. Working jobs that are customer service or retail oriented are actually excellent practice for some of those “soft skills” that will come in handy as a professional makeup artist.

2. Enroll in makeup training courses

makeup education

Despite popular belief, professional makeup artists aren’t made on Instagram. If you want the best shot at being a successful professional makeup artist, that means taking the time to learn the fundamentals properly from a makeup school.

Lucky for you, now you can easily do an online makeup program like QC’s Master Makeup Artistry Course that will get you on the right track from the very beginning. These programs are totally flexible so you can get educated and start honing your skills while still keeping that precious day job.

Depending on your time commitment, makeup artistry training can take anywhere from 3 months to 2 years. For reference, the average student in the QC’s Master Makeup Artistry course takes about 3 to 6 months to get certified.

3. Freelance part-time

makeup pro

The flexibility of makeup artistry means you can start taking on a few makeup clients during your “off hours”. If your current day job is a regular 9-5 job, that makes it even easier since most makeup clients will want you available on evenings or weekends anyway!

You’ll probably find that it’s slow going at first. You might get a few clients per week. But as you build your business and your brand, and as word-of-mouth starts to get around, more clients will trickle in. The business training portion of your makeup artistry course will also give you some great tips on how to build up your freelance makeup business.

Once you get to the point where you’re having to turn clients away as a part-time MUA, it’s time to do what you’ve been dreaming about!

4. Quit your job and be a professional makeup artist!

Makeup Freelance

If you follow these steps, by the time you quit your day job, you’ll already have a thriving makeup artistry career that produces decent income and makes you happy. Now it’s time to reap the benefits of all your hard work with a long and fruitful makeup artistry career!

Do you have more tips on how to start a second career as a makeup artist? Let us know in the comments below!

QC Graduate Veronika Kelle, started her makeup artistry career after 15 years of managing her own model agency. Check out her story here!