As a hair and makeup artist, your portfolio is the most critical tool in your arsenal to secure jobs. It's your space to showcase your best work to clients, giving them insight into your skills and creative style. Dive into some of the best portfolios of hair and makeup artists on Contact to get inspired. You'll discover tips to build an engaging website that will keep your viewers hooked - and get you hired.

A portfolio is a curated collection of your best creative work. It can have images, written work, artwork or graphics. The contents and medium you choose depend mainly on your creative discipline. For example, for photographers, HMUAs and models, a portfolio will usually be a collection of images and videos, but for creative copywriters, it'll be a collection of their written work. 

You can use a portfolio to showcase your creative style and ability and to prove that you have the skills to deliver projects of high quality at a professional level. It's also a platform for you to express your creative personality to bookers and clients, giving them an insight into who you are and the kind of work you do.

Portfolios differ from CVs in that your CV is usually a written record of your work history and skills, whereas a portfolio is a visual collection of the work itself. And when it comes to getting hired for a job, the quality of your portfolio will often be the deciding factor in the decision-making process. So for that reason, you must have a strong portfolio ready to share.

In the past, portfolios were primarily printed photobooks. Today, digital portfolios are the norm. You can easily build portfolios online and share them with casting directors, agencies, photographers and potential clients. With digital portfolios, you can diversify the mediums you use to showcase your work, including videos and GIFs alongside still images. 

You can design your portfolio website with quick and easy-to-use website builders that come with built-in portfolio templates like Wix, Squarespace and Format. We recommend Cargo, a professional site builder made with creatives and graphic designers in mind.

Where the templates on Squarespace and Wix can at times seem a little generic and dull, all of Cargo's templates share a distinct aesthetic that resonates well with modern digital creatives. 

There may be fewer options for template customisation than with its competitors, but the sheer number of templates available means that you can find exactly the style you're looking for with your portfolio. Cargo starts at $14.00 per month billed annually but is free for students. 

Sophie Gia's portfolio website is an excellent example of what you can build with Cargo. It features large images, a curated selection of her work, an animated background, and clear links to her 'About' and 'Contact' pages.

Bernardo Ferreira has also built his portfolio with Cargo. You can move pictures on the homepage to place them wherever you like on your screen. When you click on an image, it leads to the project details, with a matching animated background. Bernardo brilliantly uses interactive elements to keep viewers engaged, encouraging them to keep exploring his work.

A portfolio isn't a dump for all the work you've ever done. Instead, it should be a carefully curated collection of only your best work. We recommend between 10-30 high-quality photos that showcase your style and creative diversity. 

Editorial work or campaigns show clients that you're able to work effectively on a set and deliver projects to a professional standard. Try to use a range of editorial works and campaigns that highlight the diversity of your skills, but also keep a central theme in mind as your core aesthetic. Makeup artist Billie Mackenzie does this beautifully:

You can also showcase personal projects, especially if you're just starting out as a hair and makeup artist.

Don't forget to compress images using a tool like compressor.io to make sure your pages load nicely. Try to keep images under 2MB for an optimal loading speed.

Social media platforms are a great way to showcase your work, boost your exposure, find clients and grow a following. The more followers you have, and the better your social presence, the higher your chances of landing a job: brands and clients love influencers. 

But, though there are many perks to having a social media portfolio, Instagram is not a replacement for a professional portfolio. Most clients and agencies won't accept a link to your Instagram as a credible portfolio.

On top of that, you might not even be able to feature some images from your work on your social media page because of rules and regulations or copyright infringement. 

So, while social media can be a powerful tool for promoting your career, we still recommend you keep a professional portfolio for job applications. 

Though a portfolio is primarily a visual collection of your work, it's important to add some personal details so that the client learns a little bit about you. Every portfolio needs an 'About' page. And 'About' pages need an introduction, also known as your 'bio'.

A good introduction is all about striking a balance. You don't want it to be too long, as this will deter clients, but you don't want it to be too short at the risk of not having enough information. We recommend anything between 200-300 words written in a clear and easy-to-read font (use at least 16 pixels for the body copy of your website).

You can use your introduction to share key information like your location, years of experience, and clients you've worked with. You may also include any additional features or skills - such as tattoos or prosthetic makeup - which might come in handy during a photoshoot, or to give a sense of your personality.

Don't forget to include your contact information and links to your social accounts. Adding a built-in contact form will make it easy for people to meet with you.

Check out this example by Yolanda Dhor for a great introduction: 

Your family may take great holiday pictures by the poolside. But unless they're a professional photographer, their skills won't cut it when it comes to taking photos for your portfolio. And no matter how good your selfies are, you won't be able to do it yourself either. 

If you want a professional-looking portfolio, you'll need professional images, and for that, a professional photographer and model. That doesn't mean you need to pay £500 for a photoshoot, but you do need to find creatives who know their way around a camera and studio.

Collaboration is key here. The best way to build a solid portfolio is to find other creatives at your level with whom you can work to produce good work that is mutually beneficial. 'Test shoots' offer just that opportunity. This is an industry term for a photoshoot where a group of (mostly beginner) creatives – like photographers, models, and hair and makeup artists – come together to produce work for each other's portfolios. They're not commissioned by a client, and there's generally no money involved. 

Test shoots allow emerging creatives to build up their portfolio, hone the tricks of their trade, and gain some valuable experience. In short, it's the most effective way to build up your portfolio with professional images - without paying a penny. For more information on setting up a test shoot, see our guide on creative collaboration.

Once you have your images, it's not just a matter of bunging them together into a loose collection. You'll need to organise them in a way that makes sense structurally and tells a story about who you are.

When putting your photos together into a portfolio, think about the message it's sending to the viewer. What does it say about who you are and the kind of work you do? Photographs can be a powerful tool for visual storytelling, and even if they're not taken with that explicit intent, they'll still say something about your personality.

Makeup artist Yoi Wan takes it a step further by giving visitors two viewing modes: a gallery and a story mode. Visitors can scroll through her work in the gallery mode, or see images separated into 'stories'.

You can craft the narrative being told by carefully selecting the right pictures to create a collection that speaks to both your personality and your work style. For example, if you want to give off a grunge or punk vibe, like Alberto Papparotto's website, choose work that conforms to that aesthetic. Try to display images in a way that shows you can play around with the genre.

By choosing a contrasting background and original fonts, Alberto managed to give viewers an immediate feel of his distinctive style. Exploring his portfolio is an experience in itself - one that takes us deep into his world.

Take your viewers on a journey through your portfolio, and they'll want to meet with you.

Your personal aesthetic can also determine the kind of work you get. Brands like Balenciaga and Alexander Mcqueen have a different aesthetic to Burberry or Hermes, and knowing your look will help you reach out to the right brands to embody their style. 

But don't get pigeonholed into one particular aesthetic. It's good to showcase some diversity by including different looks. The key again is to strike a balance.

And there you have it. Soon you'll have a stellar portfolio ready to share with clients and bookers. Good luck!

Hair and makeup artists featured in this blog:

If you have a portfolio ready and want to get more clients, sign up today to be a hair and makeup artist on Contact. We'll build a curated selection of your best work to showcase to our bookers.