Beauty Industry Merchandising & Marketing

For a career that's more than skin deep

Beauty may be glamorous, but its allure goes more than skin deep. It's also a growing multi-billion dollar industry packed with ample opportunity to flex creative muscles and hone business and marketing skills. Beauty industry insiders design and promote the skin, hair, body, fragrance, and color products that help everyone look and feel his or her best.

What Our Students Learn

In our program students learn the skills to:

Create beauty products and packaging.
Research, analyze and evaluate trends and market opportunities.
Utilize state-of-the-industry software programs to create functional and artistic packaging and product placement.
Apply business strategies and tactics.
Market ideas effectively.
Effectively communicate ideas.
Write a comprehensive business plan for a beauty-related business.

Video: Learn about Beauty
Industry Merchandising
& Marketing

Why FIDM?

If you're enamored with the business of beauty, there is simply no better choice than FIDM's concentrated program in product development and marketing specifically for the Beauty Industry.

The program is so specialized and intensive that it's been compared to a Master's Degree program by the industry.

We partner with companies such as Murad and beauty brand incubator Intelligent Beauty, who work closely with our students as they learn hands-on skills in a project-oriented environment.

Students intern with top beauty brands such as Smashbox Cosmetics, Urban Decay/Hard Candy, Lorac Cosmetics, Murad, Lookbook.com, and Ed Hardy Habit Inc. The program's impressive Advisory Council includes executives from Estée Lauder, Inc., Givaudian, Dermalogica, and APOTHIA.

Students collaborate as a team to develop a product or service and then present it to the trade association Beauty Industry West who judges the presentations. Each student completes the program having created a professional portfolio showcasing his or her work.

FIDM & Murad Inc. Partnership

Beauty brand Murad, Inc.'s University of Inclusive Health® (UIH) has partnered with FIDM to develop a new Wellness and Spa course offered as part of the Beauty Industry Merchandising & Marketing major – a first for the world-renowned skincare company. The collaboration is an incredible experience for students and covers the UIH theoretical curriculum, which includes special guest lectures from Murad experts sharing cutting edge research from Dr. Murad and his team.

Students who complete and pass the course receive Murad's Inclusive Health Ambassador Program Certificate. As well as giving graduates' careers an exciting new direction, this certificate identifying the graduates as Inclusive Health Ambassadors sets them apart from others in their field and can provide the competitive advantage needed to expand their future career opportunities. Moreover, once students complete their FIDM coursework Murad invites them to a day at UIH headquarters to tour an inclusive health spa, demo the IH program, and learn from guest speakers. This valuable additional coursework gives certificate holders further education in areas of business that directly pertain to spa and healthcare operation. This is truly a unique partnership.

"On my favorite days I attend idea labs, coordinate national sales meetings, coordinate company outings and parties, attend LA Fashion Week, appear on Good Day LA, and create analytical reports. I enjoy every aspect of it."

-- Jenna Daunais, Associate Manager-Retail Administration for Smashbox Cosmetics.

A Closer Look

The Beauty Industry Merchandising & Marketing Program is a comprehensive curriculum that prepares students to enter the world of beauty with the knowledge of the complexities and challenges of each of the components and factors that make up the beauty industry. This program offers theoretical and practical disciplines as well as interactive demonstrations and hands-on applications including beauty technology, package development and design, operations management, and fundamentals of fragrance, treatment, color, hair, and environmental fragrances.