Connecticut’s wealthy elite offer plenty of opportunities for high-end makeup artists to practice their craft. In fact, celebrity makeup artist Brandy Gomez-Duplessis relocated from New York City to Danbury. Although she still works with clients in New York City, she told the Norwalk Patch that she has clients in Greenwich, Darien, Stamford, Danbury, and New Canaan.
Some of Connecticut’s residents spend lavishly on weddings, and the wedding industry in this state was worth $624 million in 2013 according to TheWeddingReport.com. Many makeup artists make a good living from consulting to brides on their wedding day.
Other opportunities for makeup artists in Connecticut come from the state’s well-developed and growing film industry. More than 150 production companies filmed TV shows, movies, documentaries, and commercials in Connecticut over a six-year period according to the state’s Film & Digital Media Workforce.
These companies spent more than a half billion dollars in Connecticut, and the services of experienced makeup artists are critical to the success of such ventures.
Connecticut’s High Salaries for Makeup Artists
Indeed.com is a job site that provides the average salary for jobs offered in the previous year. It provides the salaries for a number of different types of makeup artist positions. As of January 2015, the average salary for a makeup artist position in Connecticut was $47,000. This is 30% higher than the national average.
Makeup artist salaries were pretty uniform throughout the state. Those in New Haven averaged $45,000, while the salaries in Bridgeport and Hartford were the same as in Connecticut as a whole.
Since many of a makeup artist’s clients are individuals who are likely to tip, the salaries of these professionals will be higher than such salary figures indicate. These estimates do not account for tips.
Some makeup artists use additional skills that allow them to leverage their offerings and make more money. For instance, positions in Connecticut that were advertised for makeup artist skincare advisors paid 12.8% more than those that were just for makeup artists. Their average salary was $53,000.
One particularly lucrative area of makeup artistry is being a micro artist. These professionals have the training to permanently alter a person’s appearance without using the harsh methods of permanent tattooing. These positions paid 2.6 times more than general makeup artist positions. The average salary for a micro artist in Connecticut was $123,000.