More ThanMakeup
A one-day masterclass for hair and makeup artists working in — or looking to enter — film and television.
Saturday 29 August, 9:30am–5pm.
Hampstead.
Live demonstrations. Honest conversations. A no-holds-barred Q&A.
To give you the clarity and confidence to move forward.
Everything the job asks of youthat nobody puts on the call sheet.
Alexis Arenas has spent more than twenty years building freelance businesses on both sides of the Atlantic — designing hair, makeup and prosthetics for film, television and print in the US, Mexico, Ireland and the UK.
This is the day she wishes someone had run for her. Not a demonstration to watch from the back, but a working session on the two halves of this career that are almost never taught together: the craft, and the business of being trusted to practise it.
Demonstrations. Discussions. A Q&A with nothing held back.
Alexis at work — on set, in the trailer, and in the half-hour before a call.
Four people this room was built for.
A trainee starting out
You are at the beginning and want to know how the day really runs — before you learn it the hard way, on someone else’s set.
A junior looking to advance
You can do the work. What you need now is the part nobody writes down: the kit, the rates, the room.
A hairstylist adding makeup
You already have one craft. This is the second one, taught for the way film and television actually ask for it.
An artist eyeing leadership
Designing means budgets, teams and continuity as much as artistry. This is where that shift gets talked about plainly.
From skin prep to the tax return.
The foundational basics, taught in the order a working day actually needs them — then the parts of a freelance life that decide whether the craft ever gets to pay for itself.
Skin prep
Where every good day starts — and what it looks like across the full range of skin tones.
The set bag
What goes in it, what never leaves it, and how to work out of it under pressure.
The dailies kit
Building a kit that earns its weight — and knowing what you can leave at home.
Freelance finances
Rates, invoicing, tax, the quiet months. The conversation the industry keeps having in corridors.
Community
How this industry actually works: who you know, how you keep them, and how you become someone worth knowing.
PR and brands
How relationships with brands are really built — and why they matter to the work you make.
Your team — engaged and with you all day.
Alexis Arenas
Twenty years of freelance business built in both the US and the UK. IATSE 798 and BAFTA Connect.
@alexisarenasmakeupartistJadarosé Brown Senior
On hand for everything you have wanted to ask about relationship building within the industry community.
@jadarose.brown.seniorAmy Richardson
The collective’s view on the brands that support this work, and how artists find their place among them.
@amy_hmu_xKit you can put your hands on.
Alexis Arenas
Hair, makeup and prosthetics designer
A London-based hair, makeup and prosthetics designer, and a member of IATSE 798 and BAFTA Connect. Two decades of film, television and branded content across the USA, Mexico, Ireland and the UK — known for best-in-class artistry across all skin tones and hair types, with particular depth in deeper complexions and textured hair.
She holds a BA in History and an MBA, and it shows in the way she works: creative teams and complex budgets handled with the same care. Her prosthetic and SFX design was honed with Ve Neill, Josh Turi and Craig Lindberg; her eye was shaped by David Bowie, Phyllis Cohen, Ve Neill, Dick Smith, Rick Baker and Richard Sharah.
A neurodivergent Venezuelan-American with dual UK and US residency, Alexis is an outspoken advocate for diversity and representation — and for building teams that can realise any production’s vision, on any face in the chair.
- Alice & Steve · Disney+
- West the Road · Sigma Films
- The Abandons · Netflix
- Think of England · Giant Films
- Lady in the Lake · Apple TV+
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Vogue · British Vogue · Rolling Stone · InStyle · Monocle · The Financial Times
Circle & Star Theatre
28 Heath StreetHampsteadLondon NW3 6TE
Hampstead station · Northern line
- Thirty seconds from Hampstead tube
- A premium space in the heart of Hampstead
- Private space, bathrooms and air conditioning
Fifty-five seats, all of them good ones — and a full day is a long day, so the room is set up to make it a comfortable one. Moments from some of the best food, shops and coffee in London.
Tickets are sold by the organiser, Alexis Arenas.
Thirty seconds from the tube.
28 Heath Street, on the corner of Oriel Place — thirty seconds from Hampstead Underground on the Northern line. The theatre has its own private doorway in Oriel Place. 195 pay-and-display spaces within 500m, free after 6pm and all day Sunday.
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