kelly melissa wrote:
Oops sorry my fault- I should have been clearer as I didn't realise that I was logged into my photography account- I also do makeup!
So this would be me as makeup artist needing an assistant

kelly-melissa.com

If the wedding party is large enough or you aren't given sufficient time to do x amount of people and the assistant is also doing make-up then the cost should be for 2 MUAs.  I had 1 MUA for the bride, 2 bridesmaids and me (Mother of the bride)  She did both hair and make-up and told us how much time she would need in order to get us out the door on time.

kelly melissa wrote:
(I'm in the UK, outskirts of London if that helps)

Yes in as every market is different and additionally market dynamics shift radically during the year... a.k.a. hiring a bridal makeup artist or hair stylist in June is akin to mission impossible and their rate reflect this...

kelly melissa wrote:
Haven't needed to use one before but I have a few large group wedding bookings coming up (6+ people).. so may be a good idea..

Kelly one of the barriers to entry into bridal is having a tenured team... you'll not likely be competitive in my market (Washington, DC) without an established team...

kelly melissa wrote:
We'd be using all my kit...

This is so very wrong! A makeup artist working at a commercial level would never 1. Share their tools/product with an unknown entity 2. An assistant would need to provide their own tools... however if you are providing new product in sealed packaging or the client is providing their own product for medical issues then that would be understandable...

kelly melissa wrote:
...Do you, personally when you hire someone, tend to pay by the hour or by percentage that you make?

Kelly let me share my journey in bridal with you... After bidding/winning several wedding jobs it became painfully apparent that going the solo route was not a rational option... At that juncture I chose to train one of my colleagues (a tenured fashion model) who had repeatedly expressed interest in learning/mastering makeup artistry... I Bought her a complete kit (Mary has great options for those coming out of the gate) and started her as an assistant (cleanse, tone, moisturize, prime) then let her do foundation once she was comfortable working with talent... after assisting on many many shoots I began booking large bridal parties and the rest is history... However please keep in mind that I hold a cosmetologist license in makeup artistry and used much of my training materials in bringing this artist up to speed... Here are examples of her work...

As for recompense for your team? I build their fee into my initial bid... this is never an issue...

Hope this helps...
Or at least is food for thought...
btw, here is the dark side of being a commercial makeup artist...
Understand the legal ramifications of Non-Compete Clauses in your jurisdiction before you enter into any contractual agreement with an assistant... Experience is a brutal teacher...  You've been warned...

kelly melissa wrote:
Ok sorry I didn't understand half of that lol. We'd be using my makeup kit for bridal (not commercial) because:
1. I'd rather they didn't use products I wasn't used to, or even worse, have them bring complete rubbish products
2. They won't really be doing makeup as such but helping with washing brushes, skin prep etc etc to help cut down on time
3. I would have guessed that then bringing their own kit means I'd have to pay them even more on top than if they weren't using theirs

I don't know what you mean by 'established team' for bridal makeup.. Usually I do makeup and the client chooses her own hairstylist, photographer etc. I haven't needed ah assistant before because groups have been small enough for me to handle on my own, such as up to 5 people. This wedding booking has 7 ladies.

Raw- beauty, how do you tell apart the good ones from the rubbish ones before you start lol? I would've thought by asking them to do a trial run/ show me how they apply beforehand, but not sure if that's a bit cheeky..

Thank you all got your answers, but more to the point, no one has actually answered the one question I asked in the first place so.. Is 50GBP enough for 3-4 hours worth? If anyone around bucks/ herts/ London could also tell me their opinion I'd appreciate it

based on your original posting I assumed you were looking for long term team "established team" at professional level.

If you are simply looking for someone to help wash brushes, skin prep and using your kit, then it is like general labor and there are plenty of ways you can find help. Cost-wise, it's probably better to pay per hour.  I am not sure what is the minimum wage for your area but if you are paying them $50 for 4 hours, that would be $12.50 /hr. For short hours, I would pay at least 1.5x more than minimum to help offset travel and time spent.

Finding assistants you never met, is hard to know who are the good ones from rubbish ones. You can ask them for trial-run but this depends on how much time or travel required.  I usually get new assistant based on referrals or events we both worked at where I can see their skills.

Raw-Beauty wrote:

based on your original posting I assumed you were looking for long term team "established team" at professional level.

If you are simply looking for someone to help wash brushes, skin prep and using your kit, then it is like general labor and there are plenty of ways you can find help. Cost-wise, it's probably better to pay per hour.  I am not sure what is the minimum wage for your area but if you are paying them $50 for 4 hours, that would be $12.50 /hr. For short hours, I would pay at least 1.5x more than minimum to help offset travel and time spent.

Finding assistants you never met, is hard to know who are the good ones from rubbish ones. You can ask them for trial-run but this depends on how much time or travel required.  I usually get new assistant based on referrals or events we both worked at where I can see their skills.

Makes sense, thank you for the advice!