Dos and Don’ts when assisting an agency makeup artist or hairstylist
I wish I knew some of these rules of thumb when I was just starting out as an assistant.
Let’s suppose you’ve been in touch with some agencies and one day they reach out to you asking for your availability for assisting to a certain artist so this is where you start from:
1. Do Your Research.
Reaching out to agencies it’s always a good idea to mention the names of the artists you’d like to assist so that at least you know what their style and work is but if the agency reaches out asking you to assist an artist you haven’t heard about do your research and look up their work either on the agency website or the artist’s one. This will let you have a general feel of what the artist’s body of work and vision is.
2. Don’t be late.
If you show up early - you’re on time, if you show up on time - you’re late!
You need time to get acquainted with the new artist you’re assisting or set up, you can use those extra 15 minutes!
You also want to wait outside the studio in the reception area (or green room) until the key artist is there unless you get direct communication from an artist requesting you can start setting up.
3. Come Prepared.
Most of the time you wouldn’t get a lot of details about the job and sometimes you wouldn’t get a call sheet till the late evening/night before the job and you need to be ready for any changes. Once in a while the artist would reach out to you directly and tell you what to bring but that also happens very rarely. Consider if your artist is traveling from afar (like flying) because sometimes the luggage gets lost and if you come with your full kit that could save a day. A general rule of thumb for me is to come with my full kit if I don’t get any clarification on that from the agent/artist.
4. Remember what you’re there for.
Remember what you came for. To assist and be helpful first of all. Sometimes a job might be relatively easy so you wouldn’t even get to work on a model but there’s still a million ways you can be helpful to the artist even if it would be just grabbing a coffee/water while the artist is working. You can help setting up, breaking down, cleaning and sanitizing brushes and makeup. You need to learn how to “read the room” and also don’t chit chat too much with the production team or talents, there’s time for networking but that’s not your sole purpose when you go to assist.
5. Set up the kit only when asked to.
Sometimes you’re asked to set up for the artist and it’s the first time working with them, first of all ask if you can take a picture of the artist’s kit so that you can put everything back together how it was at the end of the day you can get either a yes or a no so react accordingly but always ask for permission.
You do not want to start setting up your kit before the artist arrives on set because they might want to move the tables or have you on set only so you wouldn’t need a station. After the introductions you can ask where it’s best for you to set up if at all. Sometimes an artist would be running late and they could get in touch and ask you to start setting up your own kit before they arrive so that would be a good time to do that.
6. Stick with the photo etiquette
First of all, you should always ask for a permission to take photos and especially if you’re planning to post them on social. You’re not there to promote yourself. If you’ve done a face/hairstyle start to finish, ask for the model’s and artist’s permission and always mention that the look was keyed by the artist – it’s only a respectful thing to do.
If you take photos without permission and post them on social solely as your work you will not be called back to work with that artist again.
On the other hand some artists might put you in charge of creating content for their social media so you might be taking a lot of backstage photos.
7. Don’t expect the key artist to be nice or mean to you.
Don’t put any expectations on the artist’s personality, some artists could be mean, some would be really nice to you, sometimes people are just more reserved or just in “the work” mode so they wont be chit chatting and just concentrate on what they do. You need to learn how to read a person and not take it personally.
8. Be observant and try to remember things.
Observe how the artist is working and where the products are in their kit and what their preferences are, it’s amazing when an assistant knows when you need that q-tip. It would also be helpful if you’re going to get a call back from that artist to work with them again.
9. Don’t complain about your rate.
It’s better to not accept the job than complain on or off set about how much you’re getting paid.
Sometimes you can get assisting opportunities that would lead you to bigger jobs so you need to go through all pros and cons of taking up a job.
Looking at the pros and cons consider if it covered your travel fee, lunch, you’re getting first hand free education by watching an agency artist work, you can also ask the artist some questions about products or techniques that they’re using but don’t be too chit chatty while you’re working, there’s always proper time to ask questions.
You’ll most probably would be put on a call sheet so that’ll help you get all those pro discounts and it’s always a great way to meet new people – networking should also be done in the appropriate time (during lunch/breaks) and it should definitely not be your main focus of the day.
10. Don’t expect any feedback.
Don’t expect any feedback from the artist at the end of the day, some people would say that you’ve done good, others won’t say anything. The best way to know you did a great job is to get a call back for another gig with the same artist. As an option you can ask nicely for any feedback but don’t expect you’ll get a response you want or any at all.
11. Dress appropriately and Do Not have a full face of makeup.
Don’t wear anything too revealing of uncomfortable, please remember that you’re there not for the purpose of being the most fashionable person in the room. Consider that you might have a 12-hour day and you might have to be standing up for the biggest part of it. Do not have full face of makeup, again you’re not there to impress anyone with your contouring or smoky eye skills, a regular daytime natural makeup will do the trick and do you honestly want to spend an extra hour getting ready in the morning for a 7 am call time?
12. Work with as many artists as you can.
The last advice I could give you is when you’re just starting out work with as many key artists as you can to choose what artist you want to have as your mentor and also to get the perspective of what kind of an artist you want to become yourself. You can learn so much about different work styles and techniques from assisting an artist – this is a very valuable experience that would teach you how to work with an assistant as well, going through both bad and good experiences.