Minnesota Makeup Artist School and Requirements

You can become a Minnesota makeup artist by diving into a freelance career or becoming an esthetician or cosmetologist. The option you go for depends on what you want to do for a long-term career. Want to apply makeup as a freelancer? You don't need a license. Hope to provide in-depth skin care in a salon or spa? That's an esthetician license. Are you interested in all things beauty? Cosmetology licensure may be for you.

Here, we'll discuss your makeup artist school and license options in Minnesota and look into how much money you could make. Browse our directory of makeup artistry schools in Minnesota, or skip ahead to learn about the state's makeup artistry licensing requirements and job outlook.

Makeup School and Licenses in Minnesota

The three ways to become a makeup artist in Minnesota — unlicensed freelancer, licensed esthetician, or licensed cosmetologist — have different goals and requirements.

You don't need a license if you want to work in homes or at events like weddings or proms. However, you might need a business license, and getting some training at a makeup school can't hurt. The more you learn, the more services you can provide — and, perhaps, the more money you can make.

Unlicensed makeup artists may not perform eyelash extensions without relevant training and certification. If you want to add that to your skillset, you need to go through 14 training hours and prove your skills to an examiner.

Then, we have estheticians. Most makeup artists working in salons and spas tend to go this route, as esthetician school takes less time (and therefore less money) than cosmetology, and estheticians focus exclusively on skin care. Esthetician licenses require 600 training hours and passing state exam scores.

READ MORE: Learn More About Esthetician School in Minnesota

Finally, cosmetologists can also work as makeup artists. However, this pathway spends most of its time on hair, with makeup and nails coming in on a lesser scale. If you want to offer all services but focus on makeup, you could take additional makeup classes to your 1,550 required cosmetology hours.

READ MORE: Learn More About Cosmetology School in Minnesota

There's a secret fourth option: Getting an esthetician license and adding hair or nails later if you want to do more than makeup but can't commit to a cosmetology program right now. Minnesota offers hair technician (900 hours) and nail technician (350 hours) licenses. You'll likely spend more time in school overall, but it lets you do things on your own time.

Minnesota Makeup Artist Pay

The amount of money you could make as a makeup artist in Minnesota depends on factors like the type of treatments you offer, how long you've been in the field, where you work, the kind of workplace, and whether you have a license.

ZipRecruiter, which primarily uses job listings to get its estimates, says Minnesota makeup artists make, on average, $46,855 per year ($22.53 per hour) as of December 2023. This figure doesn't specify which type of licenses the job requires.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that in 2022, Minnesota estheticians averaged $52,380 per year ($25.18 per hour), and cosmetologists and hairdressers made $41,950 ($20.17 per hour). However, the BLS relies on businesses reporting their employees' pay, and there isn't much information about the number or types of workplaces readily available.

To get a solid idea of how much you could earn as a Minnesota makeup artist, you should check job listings and speak to other makeup artists.

Contact the Minnesota State Board of Cosmetology