Make-Up and Hair Design BA (Hons)

Southampton Solent University

Nurture your individual design identity and develop professional artistry skills on this stimulating and creative make-up and hair design course – ready to launch a dynamic career as a make-up and hair designer.

On this course you will explore the many contexts of make-up and hair design within the creative industries. You will also be encouraged to take an experimental approach to application, materials and creative development processes to produce innovative and contemporary design work. This includes make-up and hair styling for fashion editorial, wig work for theatre, TV, and alternative design contexts (eg, publications, galleries and the catwalk). And to enable you to operate across design platforms, you will be trained in photography, film and digital publishing.

We emphasise diversity and inclusion within design, while debating beauty ideals, gender politics and the changing face of identity. Throughout the course you will also be encouraged to embrace and develop new ways of working, alongside the study of historic and contemporary make-up and hair techniques for fashion, beauty, theatre, TV and film.

You will study in well-equipped studios and workshops, ranging from make-up, hair and special effects studios, to photography studios, IT suites, as well as access to a comprehensive Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught by a team with strong reputations as practicing professional designers or researchers, as well as visiting lecturers, a dynamic programme of industry speakers, and international visits.

Situated within the School of Art Design and Fashion, the course also provides you with the opportunity for cross-programme collaborations to help you contextualise your place within the prosthetics and special effects industry, offering you a rich and stimulating education and preparing you for future employment.

In your final year of study, you will have the opportunity to apply to work with our professional make-up team at London Fashion Week, across a range of national theatre productions, or at Graduate Fashion Week in London.

Critical debate surrounding design is central to the teaching programme, which involves all students in the wider debates about making and thinking about design practice for the creative industries.

What does this course lead to?

Make-up and hair graduates from Solent are renowned for their excellent design conceptualisation skills and clear understanding of the requirements of industry, alongside an innovative and professional approach to the discipline.

The course will transform your understanding of this area, and provide you with a wide range of career options as a make-up designer in the creative industries. From working within creative direction, to pursuing a career in advertising, fashion, beauty, TV, film or theatre, you will leave this degree with the creative skills to formulate, design and present self-initiated outcomes to start a fantastic career in this ever-evolving industry.

Who is this course for?

This course is ideally suited to students who wish to use the subjects of make-up and hair to design and develop new approaches within image construction for fashion, beauty, TV, film and theatre.

Applicants should have previously studied a creative subject (previous experience in make-up and hair is not required) and have a portfolio of design work to present for interview.