makeup artist

artist

retail assistant manager

delivery driver

retail manager

MAC Cosmetics

MAC was predestined to be a pretty revolutionary game changer in makeup and artistry. Growing up in NY seeing the Company come up and now working there as a store manager - all checked off the “dream come true” boxes for me. But I was set up. “Leveraged”. And you will be too. There’s something very sketchy happening in this Company right now. On paper - it’s tanking. Other makeup competitors are releasing better quality product and are more in tune with their customer base. A lot of women of color have made MAC what it is - yet you’d be hard pressed to see us in the board rooms or running things at the Senior Level. I completely overhauled my store in less than a year and took my own work experience and made it a place where we practice what we preach - but my regional manager worked and continues to work against me. Making my primary challenge - my own Company. They will use your energy and excitement for being there then go the opposite direction. They are very scared of people of color in Management or empowering them but they love leveraging them and LGBT for SALES. 
There’s is absolutely zero effective change management at this company. 
The managers in power at the senior and executive level are under qualified and unable to make any true decisions. Everything is lip service. Authenticity doesn’t live here and if you try to escalate and get help from HR you wind up talking to a newly hired person in that Dept who knows nothing. There’s inadequate training and they’ve fired all their trainers. I am staying for my Team of young Artists who bust their hump for me and the Company and the customers we serve. But had I known it to be this grim I honestly would have turned down the offer. MAC needs to get it all the way together for a hope at success.

The best thing about this job are the co-workers. I was lucky enough to work with amazing, talented and fun people. If you love doing makeup like I do, that was amazing too. Unfortunately, when you are a permanent artist you are sometimes limited to how many makeups you do depending on how far away you are from your goal. If you aren't anywhere near your goal they'd rather have you on the floor helping customers and selling. Also, forget having weekends or holidays off. I mean, every single weekend. Maybe once in awhile you'll get a Saturday off or a Sunday off, but it's a rare treat.
Also, they hire you in at a certain amount of hours, such as 18 hours a week, 24 hours a week, etc. Rarely do they hire you in at full time. Usually you're hired in at part-time and then you need to apply for a full time position and usually at another store. It's extremely competitive to move up or advance. Everyone wants full time because they want the benefits and if you're part-time you don't get any. Usually there's not enough open full time positions. Also, management usually has an artist in mind for advancement. It's usually based off of sales and numbers, not talent. Because it's a business and like any other business, they want their top sellers at the top. I've worked with great managers and I've worked with people that have no business being managers. 
In the end, MAC is owned by Estee Lauder. So you're working for a giant corporation that has no idea who you are and honestly doesn't care. They want you to sell, sell, sell. That's it. 
It's not all bad, at least you get to look stylish, listen to fun music and definitely learn more about makeup.

I had always wanted to be a makeup artist and the biggest name in the game is MAC. 
The interview process was fairly easy. I had called and asked if they were hiring in which they responded yes and to come in on said date and time and to bring a model with me. 
I show up and was told I had 15 minutes to create a day time look with their products. I was not familiar with their products so much yet so that was an obstacle within itself. When the 15 minutes was up, I was told to turn it into a night time look in 15 minutes. The manager seemed pleased and told me that I would be reviewing a phone call from the higher ups. That was a bit more of one of those mundane interviews. 
“Think back to a time where..” 
I had done makeup for a couple years prior to getting this job but had little to no experience in retail. Each day/week/month there was a sales goal to meet. Some where very achievable but some were not. But like most retail jobs (from what I hear) if you don’t make your goals 3 times in a row, they’ll let you go. 
The environment was very easy going when it wasn’t Saturday. And Saturday’s were a must. You’re completely booked with appointments and it’s nonstop. And you CANNOT request that day off. That’s why I eventually had to quit. I was making $16 an hour and working 10 hours on Saturdays.. I was paying my baby sitter $120 which would almost void out my earnings that day anyways. It seemed pointless to be so stressed out about that job at that point in my life. 
It was fun but there wasn’t much room for growth either. 
The positions are in tiers. I was  bottom tier because I was the newest. I started out at 16 hours a week at $16 an hour. The next was 20 hrs at $20. The best was 24 hrs at $24 and so on and so forth. The ONLY way to move up is to wait until someone above you leaves and they are willing to promote you or they get fired. 

Five years ago I was recruited to the company as a part time Artist at a Nordstrom location in the SF Bay Area. I fell in love with the creative element of the business environment that truly made it feel like an escape from my daily university schedule. The incredible trainings, internal promotion infrastructure, and extreme artistic quality of the team created a family feel facade and a level of familiarity with Management since they too had experienced the company from the ground up.

As I entered my Sr. year at Stanford University I took on my first management role and from there continued in management handling both partnered retail accounts (e.g.. Macy's, Nordstrom) and eventually Free Standing Stores (eg. the Industry Flagship store in Las Vegas). Over the course of time Sr. Management changed and the internal promotion infrastructure, predominantly based on tenure, gave way to merit based promotion that considered academic accolades, and consistent performance measurements. This allowed me to quickly advance through the company into a position of Field Management within a few years. As the youngest and most educated individual in field management on the West coast, I definitely felt an incredible sense of tension with the tenured management that attained position promotion via simple attrition.

While my overall experience with MAC has been wonderful, the extreme tension sourced in the Upper Management transition has caused much unhappiness for me in my role and others that approach the field management role thru a more innovative, synergistic, and tech driven perspective than the existing field leaders.

I'm a long time artist for MAC. I love the brand and the culture, but over time it becomes very difficult to advance no matter what you are offering. Sr. Artist and Training positions are few and far between, so for those of us who want to grow the pickings are quite slim. 

Only a select few get to travel to major fashion shows, but the learning opportunity and certifications are extremely helpful for those who want to continue working outside of the brand as an industry pro.

I've managed and free-lanced, both make movement within the brand difficult. Management turn around is high and people (great artists) tend to leave after a few years of not growing. When freelancing, you can control your own hours but you may not always get them. The hourly pay is better but you won't have the "update" and training opportunities - so you are expected to stay on top of all new launches and product information without any field support.   

16 years ago, the brand focused on art and teaching. Now it is more retail and sales based, so really great artists may get lost in the shuffle. The opportunity to move then comes from sales as opposed to talent. 

It's a great place for a younger person to get started in their artistry career; determine what their strengths and weaknesses are, but it's not a "forever" place. It will definitely shed some light and possibly open doors from being on your resume. I would say to move up or out in the first few years or you may just be stuck at a counter with no feeling of really using your talent.

Pay increases are not easy or fast. It's not the worst pay but others definitely pay better with the market.

Depending on your position upon hire will determine the amount of hours you get. As a Freelance Makeup Artist, hours really vary, and because MAC is in every mall you can open up your traveling distance to work in the areas surrounding your home city. This is a pro and con. You can get called in to work more shifts from different locations, but if transportation is an issue for you then it is hard to accommodate working more hours.

The pay is great and you get paid every Friday with direct deposit it's sooner. Yet, don't be fooled. MAC is apart of the retail industry and although you may feel you are going to be this "sassy" makeup artist that's envied by all, don't get it twisted. Your main priority is to sell their product. And it's monitored! More sales $ = more hours. That's the typical retail industry in a nutshell. There are times you get to play with makeup and people's faces, but while you're over here doing Lisa's makeup Shaquanda over there is making all the money selling product. So you've got to be balanced.

Also, among the artists, it's competitive and petty. You never know who you will be working with, and not everyone has the same integrity in their work ethic. So beware of people stealing your money.

Also, when I first was hired in January, they did not call me to work until April. Freelance means, when they have hours to give and space to make for you that's when you work. It's not consistent. But when you do work consistently it's good money. The atmosphere can be a little intimidating, so you must be "fierce" in order to stand your ground, and also get ready to confront ALL walks of life and different "flavors" of people.

Working for the company, I've learned many skill sets such as working in a fast-paced demanding environment. You have to build relationships with your clientele and must really work hard to investigate their needs and push products. You must take charge of sales and drive the company and yourself to success all through self-motivation. I've been with the company for a long time and also am the most experienced at my location. Management has been unstable for the years I've been here due to the quick turnover. I've went through 3 managers already and currently there is no manager to manage.

Currently it's every sales person for themselves but I'm happy to say my coworkers and I share a bond that special because we are all on the same boat.

The hardest part about the job is definitely multitasking and holiday hours. There's almost an overload of clients who demand a pampering treatment on a typical Saturday when the traffic is ridiculously busy and sometimes a simple "I will be with you in a couple minutes" can aggravate them. We learn to communicate and acknowledge those clients to the best of our abilities and teamwork always helps.

The best and most enjoyable part of the job would definitely be the artistry aspect of the company. There's nothing more rewarding than learning something new and applying what you have learned on a willing happy client. I love seeing the reactions of clients after they see the changes in their appearance after a makeover. It's truly rewarding as a makeup artist and as a person.

I absolutely love my job as a make up artist for MAC Cosmetics.  I enjoy working with people of all different sexes, races, and age.  My job as an artist is not only to create and inspire people to do beautiful work but to also make people feel amazing and comfortable with themselves.  
A typical day for me involves communicating with people from all different cultures and connecting with them on a level they would have never thought they would.  I have the ability to bring joy and light into peoples hearts' and smiles to their faces. 
I  have learned to be compassionate and understanding to every individuals needs.  My job as a makeup artist has been to build confidence from both the inside out and outside in.  I sincerely have the ability to make someone see the positive rather than the negative and be grateful for what is in front of them. 
I believe I have great managing skills.  I have the ability to create a great team environment where everyone gets along and works together towards a common goal.  I relate to everyone believing that there is always something people can have in common with or share similar perspectives to.
The hardest part of my job is keeping up with many people at a time.  At times we can be bombarded with over 10 customers with only two artist working.  This ca be difficult because no one can be so sure as to anothers' needs but can only accommodate to the best of their ability.   
Overall, I adore making another person smile and feel confident in themselves.  I believe positive energy is the key to happiness.

I worked in what would be considered a high volume door, With low staffing and little support. Artists would call out and we have been told not to fill the shifts. Employees would be working by themselves because we would have to hoard the hours for peek times, but even non peak times felt stressful because you are by yourself all day. If someone called out it would sometimes mean working 9-10p because Freelancers have been hard to find last minute notice. And then your left to work by yourself, no time to go to the restroom, sometimes no break. My manager had to work through her breaks just to get operations done while having in triple her goal. I don’t know how she does it. Bug she was right there with us, on the floor in the grind, giving us feedback and helping us make our personal goals. She literally has helped 5 customers at once and remembered everything from them, so impressive.  You are frequently outnumbered by customers which can lead and often adds to lack luster customer service.  For a customer focused company, they forget they have to take care of there employees first so they give that great  service. It’s not for everyone.  If you want no work life balance this is the place for you. You will work every weekend. If you request off that doesn’t mean you’ll get it, no matter how far in advance you ask.  And it’s not because they don’t want to it’s because they can’t afford to be down an artist especially on a weekend day.    If you decide to go into this place you will learn a great amount, however you will question yourself at some point, saying, is this worth it?

My issue was with Management where I worked.  It was always something the Manager wanted to find wrong with me and she was upset at the fact that my makeup skills were better than hers and a lot of her clients started coming to me.  She would often tell me that MAC doesn't do thick eyebrows so don't do them (if the customer want it then I am there to satisfy the customer so they will return).  I was then told we should focus on natural looks and then I figured it out.  That was all she really knew how to do.  So if I did any look other than a natural look I was talked to until I was frustrated and became unhappy and stop looking forward to going to a company I loved so much.  It didn't make it any better when she went to upper management and gave a sob story about me and believed it.  So I left before they tired to fire me because I could not be in the same space with the manager any longer.  But beware because if a manager does not like you for whatever reason you are doomed in that company because you cannot transfer out to another location if the manager officially write you up.  It called a holding process and you have to go so many months without any derogatory marks before you can transfer.  I had one for attitude, one for wearing black pants with a white mark at the bottom of the leg.  So I had enough and now I have my own business and I feel so much better.  I love MAC but they need to take a CLOSE look at their managers and not be so quick to believe their every word.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Makeup artist 1 salary reported	$19.50 per hour
Artist 2 salaries reported	$22.88 per hour
Retail assistant manager 3 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Delivery driver 10 salaries reported	$27.50 per hour
Retail manager 1 salary reported	$70,000 per year

Working at MAC Cosmetics: Company Overview and Reviews

MAC Cosmetics

MAC Cosmetics Ratings

Popular jobs at MAC Cosmetics

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected