How Much Do Makeup Artists Make In Japan

Maiko Makeover Experience AYA / Erica Bray

In Japan, I Was Transformed Into a Geisha. You lot Can Do Information technology, Also

Geisha have fascinated the earth with their ethereal blend of dazzler and mystique. That porcelain-white face. Those ruby-red lips. The colorful kimono. The jet-black hair. Although the book-turned-picture show Memoirs of a Geisha helped to pull back the curtain on Japan'southward long tradition, for most people, myself included, geisha images on advertisements and every bit costumes are where agreement typically begins and ends. On recent trip to Kyoto, however, I got a personal experience with one particular geisha—I transformed into ane. Here's how you can do the same.

A cultural legacy

First, a petty context on the women behind the image. Geisha (the word translates to "performing artist") have been around since as early as 600 A.D., ascent to prominence in the 17th century as high-end entertainers, mostly of men. The women are meticulously trained, some starting as early as historic period 15, in the art of dance, music, hosting, and conversation, refining personal skills that weave entertainment, hospitality, and allure. The geisha are not prostitutes, a common misconception, and the legitimate ones exercise not become physically intimate with their admirer patrons. Rather, they are escorts in the purest sense of the word, savvy in the art of making their hosts feel like stars, the center of the universe, the only human being in the room—and they go paid very well to do so. Some geisha today tin command well-nigh US$i,000 for dinner accessory.

Where geisha gather

The heart of the geisha civilisation is in Kyoto, a celebrated city about 2.five hours from Tokyo by high-speed railroad train. Geisha and maiko (amateur geisha) are concentrated in the Gion district, an intimate maze of narrow lanes lined with traditional wooden homes, temples, restaurants, and teahouses (ochaya). Meeting a geisha typically requires a referral, which is not piece of cake (or inexpensive) to coordinate. While travelers might catch a glimpse of one scurrying along the streets from date to appointment, peculiarly in the evening, don't wait them to terminate and accept a picture with you. They're on the clock.

Maiko Makeover Experience AYA

Booking your experience

There are plenty of shops fringing the Gion district that hire kimonos for those who wish to stroll in traditional wearing apparel—and many tourists, including Japanese ones, do just that. Merely AYA Maiko Makeover provides a more robust, guided version: a geisha-inspired makeover from head to toe (makeup, hair, kimono), followed a professional photoshoot. Although you don't meet and mingle with actual geisha, y'all do get first-hand experience transforming into that persona. I fabricated my reservation a few months in advance of my travels (don't look until you get to Kyoto) and was confirmed via e-mail a few days later. No upfront payment was required. The email reply: "We go payment when we give you the photo albums. Either cash or credit card." Such trust. I chalked it up to a Japanese code of honor that is unfortunately rarely institute in merchants in the West.

Maiko Makeover Feel AYA

Package options

The feel, fittingly, takes place in a 100-twelvemonth-old machiya townhouse that one time served as a teahouse where maiko performed. Upon arriving and exchanging my sneakers for provided business firm slippers, a mutual custom in Nippon, a female bellboy re-confirmed my bundle. Options (which are only offered to women—sorry, no men) range from ¥12,420 (around US$112) to ¥31,860 (effectually US$285), depending on how extensive the photoshoot is. You tin choose betwixt becoming a geisha or a maiko (an amateur geisha). The maiko purposely appear more youthful—hair topped with ornate flower pins that dangle—which was a look that appealed to someone like me, badly trying to hide my greys. No brainer: Bring on the youth, make me a maiko. With those choices made, it was off to the makeup chair for 40 minutes.

Erica Bray

Tools of the merchandise

As I sat down in the makeup chair, I couldn't assist but observe that the brush for applying the iconic white base layer looked more than like a paint castor. While AYA promises its makeup is natural and gentle for sensitive skin, you do have the selection to do without the white layer. Only why do that? Information technology'due south one of the most prominent features of the geisha. Information technology's also purposeful; geisha painted their faces white so that their facial expressions would exist clearly visible while dancing, singing, and entertaining—a legacy going back to a time when candles were the only way to light a room.

Maiko Makeover Experience AYA

Becoming porcelain-white

My soft-spoken makeup artist had only i question: "You desire cute or elegant?" Easy answer: "Cute." With that simple educational activity, she meticulously applied the white base to my face, neck, and back of the neck, leaving a thin area at the hairline and behind the cervix exposed—an intentional reminder to onlookers that geishas wear a mask. Geisha considered the nape to be one of the sexiest parts of a adult female'south body, and then that area, too, was painted and would remain prominently and tantalizingly displayed.

Erica Bray

Maiko metamorphosis

Oh, the magic of makeup. The transformation is astounding. In a matter of minutes, my face was no longer my own. I was feeling more like an apprentice geisha. Not unlike an player stepping into character, I quickly discovered that makeup is the key to stepping into the grapheme of this "performing artist."

Erica Bray

Constructing the pilus

Next upward: hair. With my own long hair pulled into tight netting, a jet-blackness wig was carefully affixed to my head. The attendant then strategically sewed it—aye, sewed information technology—into the netting to secure it firmly in place. The parts of my natural hair that were nevertheless exposed were matched to the wig with a jet-black spray. The terminal touch was a cute red bow. My pilus, both fake and real, saturday heavy atop my head. I could tell that walking with the behemothic aggregation on my head would be a comical balancing deed. The geisha are known for their grace, only that was going to exist a challenge.

Maiko Makeover Experience AYA

Picking a colour

Adjacent, I was escorted to the kimono room to select my clothing and hair ornaments. AYA says its kimonos, which are 100 percent silk, are "free sized" but recommend alerting them in accelerate if your bust measurements are more than 110 cm (43 inches) or hip measurements are greater than 120 cm (47 inches). Equally a nearly six-foot-tall woman, I idea the emerald green kimono I chose was longer than necessary, and I also wasn't prepared for the way the attendant elaborately tied and leap it to my torso. It was a meticulous procedure of more than a dozen steps. Subsequently she tightened me into my kimono with a last reddish-and-golden obi (sash), I couldn't imagine singing or dancing similar a geisha. How exercise they do it? Ah, yes: years of preparation.

Erica Bray

The photoshoot

Subsequently that, a professional photographer spends time documenting the dramatic end result. Depending on the package, yous have the pick of beingness pictured in a traditional tatami room, in a courtyard garden, or around the streets of Gion. I got precise direction and so that my grace and beauty would be captured for posterity, but it was the moments in between the posing and grin that were the most memorable. Hobbling around in tiny wooden sandals. Trying non to bump my massive wig into the door frame (which happened several times). Simply animate in my kimono. At present that I had visually transformed into an apprentice geisha, actually maneuvering like one was an heart-opening claiming.

Erica Bray

Wandering in graphic symbol

My packet gave me 30 minutes of "free time" to explore Gion without the photography team. You tin can wander the nearby Yasaka Shrine and Kodaiji Temple, fully embodying the geisha in her natural setting. Equally a solitary, six-foot-tall apprentice geisha struggling to walk in tiny wooden sandals, however, I became a comedic curiosity. Because I couldn't walk with any speed, I was easy prey for a paparazzi of photographic camera phones. I'm certain that I'm on Instagram feeds around the world now. The real geisha of Kyoto famously practice a much better job of avoiding tourists.

Erica Bray

An unforgettable feel

I was blown away by how lovely the photos turned out to be. That was me under all that makeup and pilus? While I do wish that this experience could have included a chance to meet a former geisha, superficially transforming into one was fun and it elevated my respect for these special women. The effort that goes into achieving the look alone is astounding, so there are the many years of education—all while tightly bound into a kimono, teetering on wooden sandals, and wearing heavy makeup and wigs. For those because doing this in Nippon, a few tips: book early; be prepared to communicate with minimal shared English words (miming goes a long fashion); and bring plenty of face wash and shampoo for subsequently, because y'all'll keep finding white remnants afterward information technology's over. Un-becoming a geisha, as information technology turned out, was just as painstaking as becoming ane.