Greasepaint was established in 1979 by former BBC make-up artist, Julia Cruttenden. She'd realised she was always being asked where people could train in make-up and hair and saw the opportunity to establish her own school - the first of its kind in the UK.

The first course was run in 1979 at the Questors Theatre in Ealing in West London. At the time it offered just one course, run three times a year - a 6-week training in make-up and hair for Film, TV and Theatre. The teachers were Julia herself and Joy Mulvey, both former BBC make-up artists.

Building our reputation

The school soon had a long waiting list. Students came from all over the UK and the world, especially from other countries where it was hard to get make-up artist training (for example, Iceland). At the time the BBC was still running its highly competitive make-up training scheme and each year several Greasepaint students were accepted onto it. This helped establish the school as a high quality provider of basic make-up and hair training.

A new studio

In 1989 the school moved to its current premises in Northfield Avenue. The new studios offered two large training rooms, an office and dedicated storage areas.

Today the school trains around 70 students per year, and employs around 20 different freelance tutors. We are incredibly proud of our students who have gone on to win film and TV BAFTA and Emmy Awards. More recent entrants into the industry have been accepted onto the prestigious BBC Design Trainee Scheme and had success in competitions such as Elle L'Oreal New Talent.