...what a strange question, i know, but let me explain first

I have accepted a job offer and I and my wife are moving to Switzerland soon! urrah!

the only concern is about my wife, who has to quit her job to follow me. She is a qualified make-up artist (she does make-up for weddings, catwalks and the usual looks for girls before a big night out) and she has plenty of work here (women in Ireland are really looking after themselves and they don't care how much they spend to look good).

Therefore, what's the situation in Switzerland (especially in Basel)? are there modeling agencies? are girls really into make-up or do they tend to look good only for big occasions?
I wanted to ask this question in the job section, but I believe i can get more feedback from the women of the forum here.

thank u in advance

they put it on with a trowel. not sure if it is normal to pay someone to do this though.

In general I can say that the women here tend to look more natural than in north america, and seem to be less wrapped up in outer appearances - it's refreshing. Even in ad campaigns, the characters look like real people instead of airbrushed barbies. That does not mean they don't look good.

I don't know how much that would effect your wife's chances of employment. If she wants to get a head start though, she should start learning the language of the area you are looking to settle in, not only for her resume but for her quality of life.

Good luck with the transition!

A thread of relevance:

http://www.englishforum.ch/general-o...es-makeup.html

German word for a Makeup Artist is Maskenbildner ( might help in the job search )

For serious? I've found the exact opposite. Thick makeup, especially on the skin and eyes, seems rampant here.

Really?

I'm wondering where you are seeing these women in CH and where in NA you are comparing them to.

I've noticed a large number of women I've seen in around the Zürich area wear heaps of makeup. And I mean HEAPS. Some of them border on looking like clowns.

Women back home in Victoria, Canada look quite natural with their makeup.

Not in Basel. It is more a country side kind of city, girls are on the natural side except some teenagers here and there. Grown up women tend to not have much color on their face.

I agree 100%.

If anything, women in TI wear more than up north, but far less than in the US.

Point of information, I have three sisters and a mother in the US, my mother uses the most, my sisters much less, and they all use more than anyone I've known here (and I've been here 26 years, including four up north).

Tom

mhm, counting all those miss xyz elections, she might find plenty to do

its like st2lemans said. way less than north america. there are some spas, a place like schminkbar and some cosmetic businesses, but i doubt you can compare that with the US. if she is lucky, maybe the theatres or the opera houses in CH looking for makeup artists.. good luck.

I think both conflicting points above are right.....in fact, thats the problem, its either all or nothing. You tend to get the au-naturel look OR Coco the Clown, very rarely do you get subtle, classy make up IMHO

(incidentally, i heard on a tv show about Ireland last year that men uses to go to Dublin to find girls with white skin and orange hair, but since the Celtic Tiger boom, it was now more common to find orange skin and white hair!)

a friend of mine is a make-up artist, so there's obviously some sort of market. but being a 'personal' service, i think being able to speak swiss german is a big factor.

The advertising industry (Film & Phot's) use make up artists, the big budget international stuff is in always in English, where the local low budget stuff will be in CH-D.

Another word for make-up artist is "Visagistin". It is quite common for Swiss make-up artists to have done a four (since a few years it's three) year apprenticeship as a hairdresser first and then some further education as a make-up artist. This is very handy for the clients as they only need to hire one person.

Except in certain social groups, the look you see on shows like Desperate Scousewives, Tool Academy and so on is considered ridiculous and cheap, what women tend to want is glamour but not in-your-face make-up and fake eyelashes.

Be aware that the competition is extremely fierce, there are soooo many beauticians/make-up artists and it's not THAT usual for women to go see them regularly. So unless your wife has a unique selling point, she'll really have to work hard to get work. One thing I could see working (but more in Zurich than in Basel) is a "getting ready for a big night out" service, however, you'd have to be able to do hair for this too. The glamour girls typically only turn up for the clubs at 11 or even 12 as they take foreeeever to get ready, everything has to be just right. So I guess that's like the UK/Ireland...

If she is good and can advertise through both expat and local forums, I would guess that she can find work here...I often wonder, walking around Zurich or Basel, whatever happened to the concept of 'looking pretty' as far as women are concerned. I can understand the desire to look naturally beautiful (very few people actually do without some help) and to avoid looking like a circus ad, but some qualified help seems to be in order! Hope she finds something and the EF is a good place to advertise

I agree. I also love how they all wear stupidly high stiletto heels for normal everyday in a town abundant in hills and cobblestones. Just today we saw a woman wearing 5 inch (12cm) heels... to do her shopping in Aldi.

I think that, certainly for special occasions, there would certainly be a market for a professional make-up artist. Good luck on the job hunt!

That term is only used for make up artists that work at the theater or for film productions, not weddings.

The job the OP describes is a Kosmetikerin.

which aldi was that again?

Not quite.

It's beautician (who also does nails and other beauty treatments) = Kosmetikerin, make-up artist for theatre and film, including special effects make-up like scars = Maskenbildnerin, make-up artist for events and photos = Visagistin. For the first two there is usually a specific education / apprenticeship followed and for work on TV they generally expect you to have being trained as a hairdresser too. Anyone can be a "Visagistin", there it's a case of who you know and of course your personality plays into it, how you get on with people.

'Maskenbildnerin' rather refers to the film business and theatre (performance arts). I believe the most colloquial term used here is 'Visagistin'.

I have a make-up event at my salon every year see here Hairstylist Basel 20 years experience. I would be interested in meeting your wife as there is a great need for experienced make-up artists here in Switzerland. I carry a make-up line in my salon in Basel and it is very successful. Have your wife contact me, maybe she can come by on one of our event days.