Makeup and beauty courses in Bengaluru

Online costs about the same or more. A six-month online diploma costs more than a 20-day course in a room, and you miss a trainer's hand on yours, on a real face.

There are free government courses, but we found none in Bengaluru. The bank-run training institutes (RSETI) have run free 30- to 35-day beauty parlour courses in other states.

What one day gets you. A look you can repeat on your own face, and which of your products to use. A party or bridal look takes more practice than one day, so do the look at home a few times before the function.

What paying more adds. One Hulimavu studio sells the same class in four versions, all with GST and products supplied: ₹6,000 for the basic class; ₹8,500 adds simple hair, help with saree draping and one studio visit; ₹10,500 adds advanced hair and two visits; ₹15,000 adds a grooming assessment, five visits, a certificate and a portfolio shoot.

Ask whether you work on your own products. One artist's one-day class in Kumaraswamy Layout is built around your own kit and your own face, which is what you'll use on the day.

For your own saree, one day is usually enough. A draping class usually runs for a day, in a small group, with a saree in your own hands: a few drapes, then pre-pleating and box folding. That's how it usually goes. We found no Bengaluru draping class that prints its fee today (question 8).

These are rates for artists with years of work behind them. The one in Kumaraswamy Layout says 14 years. At their rates, a ₹55,000 course is about five to nine party looks, or about two brides, by our sum, before your products and travel.

A course won't hand you clients. Two online schools mention placement support and one shows its graduates' stories, but none of the pages we read says how many students get work. If an academy promises a job, ask which salons hired from the last batch, and at what pay.

Brides book you on photos of real brides. That's what an internship is for. One Jayanagar academy lists an internship with its 20-day and 45-day courses, and doesn't say how long it runs. Ask where it happens, whether you work on real brides, and whether it's paid.

Ask whether it teaches you to find clients. The ₹1,50,000 course in Kumaraswamy Layout says it covers pricing, a portfolio, social media and getting clients. The Jayanagar academy lists client handling and digital marketing.

What the extra pays for. All three pages say a working bridal artist leads the teaching. Two call theirs a celebrity makeup artist, and the third is the artist writing about her own course. The ₹1,50,000 page prints more about the course: its hours, its batch size, that class products are provided and that the certificate comes after an assessment. None of the three pages says what the extra ₹1 lakh or more pays for.

Batch size doesn't help you compare. Only the ₹1,50,000 course prints one, about 15 to 20 students.

A longer course isn't priced by the hour. The ₹1,50,000 academy charges ₹1,00,000 for its 60-hour bridal course: half the hours, two-thirds of the fee. That's another reason to treat the left-hand sum as rough.

The same academy's two 35-day courses, ₹55,000 and ₹75,000. The ₹75,000 bridal page lists HD, airbrush and special effects makeup, bridal hair, lehenga draping, box pre-pleating, social media, and a photo shoot at the end with a certificate. The ₹55,000 listing says only basic to advanced makeup, hair and draping, so the page doesn't say what the extra ₹20,000 buys. Ask for both lists.

On mytribe. We don't have a makeup academy we can name for either side yet.

Ask each one for the hours a day, the batch size and who teaches each day. Pick by the hours you'll work on a real face, then by the fee.

Plan to buy your own kit after the course. A beginner usually builds one over time: brushes, foundation and concealer in several shades, a palette, lashes, and cleaning things. Foundation in enough shades for different clients is usually what costs most. That's how it usually goes. We found no starter-kit price we'd print, so ask the trainer what she'd buy first. The 120-hour course in Kumaraswamy Layout says it teaches you to build a kit on your budget.

What salons ask for. The one Bengaluru salon job ad we found, from January 2024, took a diploma, a 10th or 12th pass, or any vocational training.

Batch size decides how much of the trainer you get. One Bengaluru academy runs batches of 10 to 20, and the ₹1,50,000 course in Kumaraswamy Layout says about 15 to 20. With 20 students and one trainer for six hours, that's about 18 minutes each, by our sum.

Look at real work on real faces. Ask to see the trainer's own bridal photos and the last batch's work, and ask how many brides she still does herself.

Ask who sits as the model. At one academy, bridal students bring their own model for the final shoot.

Sit in first. One person who wrote to us asked an academy for a demo class before enrolling. Ask for one, and watch how many students get the trainer's hand on theirs.

Draping. A one-day class usually covers a few drapes, then pre-pleating and box folding, with a saree in your own hands. That's how it usually goes. Draping also sits inside the longer makeup courses: the 35-day course in Kammanahalli and the 120-hour one in Kumaraswamy Layout both teach it. One academy lists an advanced saree draping course, with no fee.

Mehendi. Shikha Goel, an art teacher on Hosa Road, told us on a call in October 2026 that she runs a basic and an advanced mehendi course. She hasn't given us a fee yet, so ask her for the price.

One beauty school's mehendi diploma is 44 hours over three or four weeks, fee on request. Ask any teacher how many hours you get, whether the cones and practice sheets are in the fee, and whether you practise on paper or on hands.