Make-up and hair designer
Also called wig designer, makeup & hair artist, hair & makeup artist
Make-up and hair designers develop a design concept for make-up and hair of performers and supervise the execution of it. Their work is based on research and artistic vision. Their design is influenced by and influences other designs and must be conform with these designs and the overall artistic vision. Therefore, the designers work closely with artistic directors, operators and the artistic team. Make-up and hair designers develop sketches, design drawings or other documentation to support the workshop and performance crew. Make-up designers sometimes also work as autonomous artists, creating make-up art outside a performance context.
What you'd do
Beauticians and related workers · ILO- Cleaning and applying creams, lotions and related products to face and other parts of the body
- Giving facial and body massage
- Applying make-up to clients of a beauty parlour or to actors and other performers
- Cleaning, shaping and polishing finger- and toe-nails and treating ailments of the human foot such as corns, calluses or deformed toe-nails
- Attending to clients taking baths and administering elementary massage
- Using waxing, sugaring and depilation techniques to remove unwanted bodily hair
- Advising clients on diet and exercise to assist in weight loss and slimming
- Arranging appointments and collecting payments
- Indoors and outdoors
- On your feet most of the day
- Constant contact with people
- Good freedom to decide
- Often more than 40 hours a week
- Deadlines every day
- Varied tasks, little repetition
Will there be jobs?
Average prospectsA typical number of jobs will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
Below averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €900 a month (Bulgaria) to €3,900 (Denmark), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among service and sales workers in the EU, women earn 3% less per hour than men. Service and sales workers · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Upper secondary or vocationalUpper secondary or vocational training in hair and beauty services is the usual route.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
Very littleAI could take on part of some tasks, but none fully.
Average task score 0.18 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 8 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for beauticians and related workers. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).