A Day in the Life of a TV Makeup Artist
5.30 AM – Alarm goes off! I wake up early to shower and do my own Hair and Makeup for the day, make sure my kit is packed and grab a cup of coffee to wake myself up!
6AM – Get in the car and drive to the filming location for the day, this could be ten minutes down the road or a 50 mile trip, depending on how lucky I am! Its nice during the summer months when you get to see the sun rising as you drive to work and another plus side of being on the road so early – no traffic!
6.30AM – I arrive at the unit base with the much needed help of my sat nav! I dont know what people did before these, usually we have location signs to guide us in but when it’s dark it’s easy to miss them!
7AM – My Hair and Make-Up kit is set up and my heated rollers are on! The actors and actress’ will be arriving imminently. Depending on the job I am on the Make-Up Designer gives me and the other Make-Up Artists and Hairstlyists a brief and a mood board full of pictures as a guide for the look of the show.
Between 7am and 9am this is the busiest time when working in a crowd room, with a different face in front of you every 15 minutes or so. Speed is key!
9AM – Depending on how many Hairstyles and Make-Ups you have to get through things start to wind down about now and you can eat a gone cold breakfast. I tend to bring my own after eating one to many cold bacon butties!
10AM – Down to set I go and the shoot is in full swing as people have been filtered down as we have been working back in the Make-Up room. I love going to new locations, the art department dress the sets so well it feels like you’re stepping into another world!
1PM – LUNCH! On a TV set you get food catered for you which is a lovely touch! It ry to steer clear of the puddings, but when you’ve been up for so long sometimes its hard to resist the chocolate fugde cake!
2PM – Back to set to look after those beautiful hairstyles and make-ups that have been created. Before each take we go in to check that there isnt a hair out of place and the makeup is flawless!
I must say also it isnt always pretty Hair and Make-Ups that I am required to do, sometimes we have to go in to make sure that the mud is topped up and the hair is suitably backcombed!
7PM – THATS A WRAP…and back we go to the make-up room to de-rig all of our hairstyles and clear off any makeup, pack my kit up and go home!
8.30PM Im home and checking my call sheet for tomorrow, figuring out how long it will take me to drive to the new location. Sometimes I manage to get in a quick phonecall to my husband before bedtime!
