Ask Fashion Girl

Dear Ashley,

You've chosen a beauty-conscious fashionista's dream major! The world of cosmetics offers lots of cool career opportunities. First you need to decide whether you want to go into cosmetics creation or cosmetics merchandising. Maybe you want to start your own line of cosmetics. In that case, you need to be familiar with all aspects of the industry. It's great that you are looking ahead and preparing for your major while still in high school.

You can get ahead by taking any classes that teach you about color. Color theory is essential for a cosmetics expert. Chemistry classes will also help you immensely, especially if you want to manufacture cosmetics. You need to understand the chemical properties of organic and synthetic ingredients in different kinds of cosmetics. For cosmetics merchandising, you should take business and marketing courses. Try and use cosmetics as the subject of any projects you do for these classes.

Check out the curriculum for our Beauty Industry Merchandising & Marketing major to get a sense of the kind of classes that will be required in college. Get your high school counselor to help you customize a semester schedule geared towards your cosmetics major.

Good luck with your beautiful future in cosmetics!

Sincerely, Fashion Girl