If you have read the text “About me” here on the blog, you could find out that I wanted to take my life-long passion for make-up to another level, so I completed a make-up course at the Academy of Freelance Makeup in London last summer.
AOFM is one of the leading make-up schools with education centres in London, Paris, New York, Belfast and Dubai. It was created and founded by the make-up artist Jana Ririnui a decade ago. At this time Jana was already an accomplished make-up artist and he also occasionally taught at make-up schools in London. He created the first industry-based make-up school entirely run by the top working freelance make-up artists. Prior to choosing this academy, I had done a thorough research and decided it was the best choice. There are many reasons for this and let me mention some of them.
AOFM is one of the world’s most recognized make-up academies.
The class sizes are small. (There were 16 students in my class).
Their tutors are some of the leading freelance makeup artists. There is a huge team of more than 40 international artists who work with some of the biggest names in the business.
The Academy gives every student the most modern industry tools when training and the opportunity to use full ranges of products from the most prestigious make-up brands.
AOFM also offers a wide range of discount programs with leading cosmetic brands for their graduates enabling them to start their careers and build their makeup kits. Some of the brands include MAC, Dermalogica, Charlotte Tilbury, NARS, Bobby Brown, Makeup Forever, Benefit, Stila, Inglot, Smash Box, Urban Decay, NYX etc. AOFM is the only UK academy registered with MAC Cosmetics in the UK and USA and as they are a MAC recognized school, this enables the students to obtain their MAC Pro Student discount card.
The Academy also offers the students an organized photoshoot with professional photographers, fashion models and stylists in order to build their portfolio which they can present to promote themselves and their work to a potential client.
The Academy offers more than 700 working and assisting positions every year. This includes runway shows at Fashion Weeks in London, Paris, New York, Milan, Berlin and Moscow as well as top international events like The Cannes Film Festival, The Global Fashion Awards, Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model. AOFM graduates will also be given the opportunity to assist make-up artists for editorial shoots in British and Italian Vogue, InStyle Magazine and Marie Claire.
AOFM offers free aftercare masterclasses to their graduates.
The location of the Academy is not relevant at all for gaining the adequate knowledge and skills, but it is worth mentioning that it is situated in Soho, one of the most vibrant areas in London and it adds to all the pros for this Academy.
The story about AOFM would not be complete without mentioning my excellent tutors: Louise Dartford, Barbara Carranza, Valentina Creti, Yin Lee, Barbara Brauenlich and Michelle Webb. I am going to write more about them and their work in some of the future posts.
If you are into make-up artistry and you are looking for an exceptional school, then look no further. AOFM is the right choice and I could not recommend it highly enough.
