Skin: prep, correction, tone
Barrier, correction and mixing to match rather than approximate.
Class detail
Makeup institute · London · est. 2011
Trained on live faces, in classes of twelve
Every session at VERMILLA runs on models rather than practice boards, in a studio lit the way a set is lit. The diploma takes sixteen weeks and ends with a portfolio shot by a working photographer, not phone pictures of your last class.
- three routes: a career diploma, a bridal certificate and short masterclasses
- twenty-four lit stations across three studios, each with its own mirror and power
- Kit included on the diploma; hygiene records taught as part of the course
Career route · 16 weeks
Professional Artistry Diploma
The full route from skin preparation to a shot portfolio, for people intending to work as freelance artists.
Course detail
Weekends · 6 sessions
Bridal and Occasion Certificate
Longwear technique, tone matching across a whole party and the timings that keep a wedding morning on schedule.
Course detail
Short courses · 1–2 days
Editorial and Masterclass Series
Single-subject days for working artists: skin, graphic work, camera, period looks, airbrush and kit standards.
Course detail
How the school runs
Small rooms, working tutors, real faces
A cap of twelve, held to
Classes are capped at twelve because a tutor cannot correct twenty pairs of hands in a three-hour session. When a cohort fills, it closes and the next intake opens.
Tutors who still take bookings
Everyone teaching here works: bridal seasons, editorial, film. Teaching weeks are timetabled around their bookings, which is why term dates are published a year ahead.
Models, not mannequins
From week two, every technique is taught on a live model with a face you have not seen before. Skin varies and practice boards do not teach that.
A portfolio you can send out
The final two weeks of the diploma are a shoot: a photographer, a lighting kit and a stylist, producing images you own outright.
After the course
Where graduates actually go
Most people who finish the diploma freelance. That means bridal mornings, commercial shoots, counter work while the diary fills, and eventually assisting on bigger jobs.
- Bridal and occasion work, which is where most first paid bookings come from
- Commercial and e-commerce shoots, usually through an assistant credit first
- Counter and retail artistry, often alongside a building freelance diary
- Film, television and theatre, which needs continuity training as well as technique
The school keeps a board of assisting calls that come in from working artists and shares it with current students and graduates. It is not a placement guarantee and we do not describe it as one.
Short courses
Six masterclasses, one subject each
Single-subject days for working artists and for graduates coming back for a specific skill.
Graphic liner and cut crease
Structure, tape-free edges, and how the shape reads at three metres.
Class detail
Camera-ready for HD and 4K
Texture under high resolution, continuity notes and set-lighting tests.
Class detail
Period looks, 1920 to 1980
Six decades, the products that actually existed, and honest modern substitutes.
Class detail
Airbrush for face and body
Compressor set-up, dilution, coverage on body work and clean-down.
Class detail
Kit building and hygiene
Decanting, sanitising, records, and what an insurer expects to see.
Class detailEst. 2011teaching in London
12maximum students per class
3teaching studios
24lit stations