BA (Hons)Make-Up and Hair Design

Course overview

This challenging, creative course delivers all the skills you need to start your career as a professional make-up artist and more. You will develop your knowledge and understanding of the professional roles in the key areas of the industry from editorial and catwalk, to film, television and theatre.

With a focus on real-world learning, you'll gain key skills needed to stand-out in industry and make your  unique mark, through character design and studio practice, underpinned with a thorough understanding of culture and consumer behaviour. You'll explore make-up and hair styling for fashion editorial, wig work for theatre, TV, as well as alternative design contexts (eg, publications, galleries and the catwalk). And to enable you to operate across contemporary design platforms, you will also be trained in photography, film and digital publishing.

On this course you will explore the many contexts of make-up and hair design within the creative industries and be encouraged to take an experimental approach to application, materials and creative development processes to make your mark in industry. 

We emphasise diversity and inclusion within design, while debating beauty ideals, gender politics and the changing face of identity. Throughout the course you will also be encouraged to embrace and develop new ways of working, alongside the study of historic and contemporary techniques.

With specialist studios and workshops, ranging from make-up, hair and special effects studios, to photography studios, IT suites, and a comprehensive Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), you gain the experience needed to be prepared as a professional in industry. 

You will be taught by a team with strong reputations as practicing professional designers or researchers, as well as visiting lecturers, a dynamic programme of industry speakers, and international visits.

And thanks to the course team's close links with industry you will have the opportunity to work on a range of live project briefs with organisations, which in the past have included such as Illamasqua and Leni’s Models, Mac Pro, Nars, Rimmel Ingolot and Huda Beauty. 

You'll also benefit from a range of industry speakers and workshops. Recent speakers have included Terry Barber (Director of Make-up Artistry, MAC Cosmetics), Ateh Jewel, Pablo Rodriguez (Director of Artistry, Illamasqua), MAC Cosmetics, Kryolan, Michael Burton and Michiko Nitta (Burton Nitta art and design studio in collaboration with science and technology) and Martyn Roberts (Fashion Scout).

The course also provides you with the opportunity for cross-programme collaborations to help you contextualise your place within the industry, offering you a rich and stimulating education and preparing you for future employment.

In your final year of study, you will have the opportunity to apply to work with our professional make-up team at London Fashion Week, across a range of national theatre productions, or at Graduate Fashion Week in London.