How to Run a Successful Makeup Academy: Top 7 Helpful Tips

We asked our expert about the features of opening a training institution for makeup artists and make-up artists to make your work easier before launching your own business. Where to start, what to look for when selecting teachers and creating courses, and how to find that “trick” that will work in your favor - you will find answers to all these questions in the material.

Oksana Lysenko , owner of an exclusive boutique and creative director of MAKE UP FOR EVER Ukraine, founder of the modern makeup academy LILOV PRO Make Up Academy , author of numerous training programs, master classes and articles, speaker of Beauty Brunch 2017 Harper's Bazaar. Oksana regularly collaborates with famous glossy magazines (ELLE, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, L'Officiel and others), stars (Monatic, Olga Gorbacheva, Yulia Kavtaradze, Vladimir Ostapchuk, Alla Kostromicheva and others) and companies

Where should a person who wants to open his own makeup academy start?

You should start by understanding whether you have enough financial education to calculate in detail the budget for fixed assets, salaries, taxes, consumables, rent and advertising. It is also worth understanding that for the first months you may have to subsidize your brainchild. Once you get the number, ask yourself: are you willing to take the risk? Remember that you will interact not only with employees and clients, but also with bodies such as the State Food and Consumer Service, the tax service, the fire department, the State Labor Service, etc. If yes, then act without hesitation! After all, once you start, there will be no time to relax. If you really want to achieve results, you will have to personally control all the processes of creating and promoting your academy.

How to find that highlight that will distinguish your brainchild from competitors on the market?

It is worth admitting to yourself what you are really strong at. And focus on this. It is impossible to cover everything in the first months! It is possible to promote your strengths and sell quality services! Quality is what is needed now.

At the LILOV PRO Make Up Academy, in addition to classrooms, there is also a costume room, a sculpting room, a store and a demonstration room. What are the advantages of such locations and how do they help with learning?

This helps the student (future makeup artist or makeup artist) to plunge into a world that is as close as possible to his future profession. And also to implement the task set by the teacher. It’s realistic to create a total look and observe your own results, learn from your colleagues. This gives liberation in creativity and removes stiffness.

How to select teachers for the team? What to look for?

Structure, professionalism, decency. Here, as they say, to each his own. But, in my opinion, it is better to write down the rules of the game in advance, to indicate on paper what you want, how you see it, what you offer for it, and if there are deviations from the rules, then how you regulate them. Because most often they hire their own people, and then it often happens that they work together and become friends. (Smiles.)

What courses should a newly founded makeup academy start with?

It depends on your “professional filling”. If you are strong in commercial makeup, start with them, if in wedding makeup, then, of course, focus on this! Well, if you are a make-up artist, then create a make-up academy. Start with what you are excellent at. If you have completed makeup courses from scratch and advanced training, and are already (as often happens) opening a school, then start with the “Makeup for yourself” course and slowly move forward.

Should an academy provide products and tools for students to work with? How is it going for you?

If you are talking about serious training, then yes! You simply have to give your student a quality product! Otherwise, he will not see the result and will not understand what he is striving for! We teach using our fingertips to choose cosmetics and brushes.

Our students work with top-level professional cosmetics MAKE UP FOR EVER. We give DaVinci and MAKE UP FOR EVER brushes a try during the first 2-3 practical lessons, so that the children find the right tools for themselves and understand how the brush fits, whether the length of the handle is comfortable, the density of the base, etc. That's why people come to us without brush sets.

I have yet to come across a single perfect set of brushes or makeup that is super versatile and suits everyone. Therefore, during the training period we give a big discount for the purchase of brushes and starter cosmetic products.

Reveal the top 3 secrets of success of the LILOV PRO Make Up Academy.

1. The strongest detailed training program.
2. Desire to pass on knowledge and experience.
3. Sincerity.