Body Modifications vs. Jobs

Hi everyone!

Society has been increasingly accepting the presence of tattoos, piercing and other body art modifications in different jobs; and one might assume that the case of a make-up artist is no different.

  Photo credit: Modelmayhem

However, in some areas (both corporate and individual) the appearance of a person is judged before measuring their ability, so much that it’s often difficult to get a job in the makeup area just for having tattoos or wearing a determined hairstyle.

Obviously I can’t talk about how this situation is handled in the whole world, but I can focus in the area where I live: Argentina (Buenos Aires).

I know cases of makeup artists who have tattoos or "alternative" hairstyles (just to give a name) among other corporal changes, which have been isolated from job opportunities just by their appearance; and although they do well working on their own, they can not expand their field of work only because they "look” different.

Photo credit: Pinterest

¿Look out of the ordinary?

In my personal case I have tattoos in hidden places, so it hasn’t caused me problems; mine goes through something inherent in my nature... I have curly hair.

You may wonder what's wrong with that (I wonder the same), and although most people who have known me praise my hair, surprisingly also other people have told me that this type of hair is "unprofessional" and someone suggested that is going to be difficult for me to get makeup jobs because of my hair! (my jaw dropped to the underworld when I heard that)... An anecdote: a renowned makeup artist touched my hair during a class and said "everything is all right, but you wear your hair like… this".

"everything is all right, but you wear your hair like… this"

What I have set out here is based purely on my personal experience, so I would want to know what you think about it and how far from reality or not I am.

Do you think the fact of wearing body modifications should be taken into account when hiring a makeup artist?

While we know that this is a profession of contacts (for better or worse), when you're starting from zero, when you send your resume and/or go to an interview are your talent and skills taking in account or just the way you look?

Is it correct that you can be discarded for a job just for having a (natural or not) physical characteristic in particular?

I’ll appreciate your comments on this topic that still causes controversy.

Thanks for coming, you are welcome to like and share with your friends!

Until the next post!