Tamsin Barbosa

What inspired you to set up The Iver Makeup Academy?

We  all became very aware that there was a skills gap in our industry. There are a large number of Media Makeup training courses but many of these are not filling this skills gap. They are not teaching the students the relevant skills to a high enough standard and many do not teach students to work with textured hair or diverse skin tones. Makeup and Hair is a craft skill and needs to be taught in a practical way. On our 30 week course you will get 900 hours of practical hands on training. This is a 5 day a week, 6 hours per day. On a typical media Makeup degree course, costing in the region of  £27,000 plus living expenses, the weekly hours barely top 12 hours per week.

Who have your tutors worked with? 

Our tutors have worked with an enormous amount of high profile actors, celebrities, directors, brands and production companies such as Disney and Marvel. The list is simply huge! But it covers a really extensive mix of actors and actresses, as well as sports, music and fashion personalities, and even royalty. So our tutors have a very diverse background, which is a massive benefit to our students.

What makes The Iver Makeup Academy different to other makeup schools?

We know what is required of a trainee makeup artist in each field, so our graduates leave here with this knowledge and more. There are a lot of techniques that can’t be taught in a short course. It is not possible to fast track into this career. We are also very focused on the soft skills required in this very competitive industry.  Our courses are designed to build on all the skills needed to succeed and are very highly respected by the people looking to hire.

How do you choose your students? 

In terms of existing skills, we don’t expect anyone applying for our beginners’ courses to have any prior experience, but we do require applicants to show a level of artistic ability. During an interview, applicants will be asked to supply a small portfolio of work. This doesn’t need to be makeup work necessarily. We just want to see that you have artistic ability. We can teach you the rest.