Beginner makeup artist starter kit essentials

As a new artist it is tempting to go to Sephora and buy a bunch of consumer brand makeup products that you may never end up using.

You need to consider the weight of your kit, whether or not products can be decanted for safe use, the quality, colour range and the size of products.

Check out my pinterest board of essential items to create your makeup kit.

Here is my list of minimum requirements for a new makeup kit for a beginner or student makeup artist. Be smart with your purchases, if you can get eye shadow that doubles as blush, brow powder, contour and highlighter you can save space in your kit. Products designed by makeup artists or professional level brands will work better in your kit than products designed for the average consumer. Most professional brands will offer a student or professional artist discount too.

My favourite professional makeup brands with kit friendly products:

• Graftobian

• Ben Nye

• Linda Hallberg

• Mehron

• Kryolan

• Danessa Myricks

• Face Atelier

• Kitology

• Cozzette

Makeup kit essentials shopping list

Disposables

• Cotton tips

• Tissues

• Cotton rounds

• Makeup sponges

• Mascara wands

• Lip applicators

• Paper towel

Products

• Skin preparation

  • Micellar water

  • Exfoliant physical and chemical

  • Toner

  • Serum

  • Moisturiser

  • Lip balm

  • Eye cream

• Concealer palette or wheel

• Foundation palette or colours to cover every skin tone (you can buy the lightest and darkest in warm, neutral and cool tones to start with)

• Lipstick palettes

• Eyeshadow with warm, cool and neutral undertones in light medium and dark and a range of finishes

• Blush, contour and highlight palette

• Mascara

• Eyelash glue – latex and non-latex

• False lashes – band and individual

• Black gel liner

• Eyeliner pencils – black and brown

• Lipliner pencils – red and nudes for all skin tones

• Translucent powder

• Primer – not essential but useful

• Brow products

Tools

• Makeup brush set (large powder brush, medium powder brush, lip brush, angle brush, concealer brush, shadow blending brush, flat shadow brush, eyeliner brush, foundation brush at the minimum)

• Spatula

• Metal palette

• Towel for your workstation

• Eyeslash curler

• Tweezers

• Safety tweezers for lashes

• Pencil sharpener

• Sticky tape

• Eyelid tape

• Powder puffs

Sanitisation

• Brush cleaner or 70% alcohol to sterilise brushes

• 100% alcohol to remove colour from brushes (does not sterilise)

• Sunlight or laundry soap

• Silicone glove or brush cleaning tool

• Paper towel

• Alcohol swabs