# Anyone here work at a funeral home?



## Naked Lunch (Nov 3, 2006)

I've been thinking about trying to get a job at a funeral home doing the makeup. Does anyone know what credentials they would expect?


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## MAC_Whore (Nov 3, 2006)

Wow.  Too scared to ever consider that.  Would you be able to do that?  I'll admit it, no way could I have the courage to do that.   I would imagine you could start by contacting a funeral home and asking to speak to the director.


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## ruby_soho (Nov 3, 2006)

I could never do that. You don't just do makeup for those who died peacefully, but you have to work with bodies that would be disfigured and make them look as presentable as possible. I guess talking to a manager/director would be the best place to start.


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## Naked Lunch (Nov 3, 2006)

I think it's an interesting job. It's the last time that person will ever be seen and it's your job to make sure they look the way they did when they were alive. Most funerals i've been to i was shocked at how terrible the makeup was.


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## anniemalibu7 (Nov 3, 2006)

I myself have considered this profession. You have to have a degree in Mortuary Science to work as a Mortician/Funeral Director/undertaker. Its a 2-4 year process. There are special schools that specialize in Mortuary Science as well as programs offered at regular colleges and universities. The job of a Mortician does not just go as far as putting makeup on the deceased. It involves preparing the body first. Such as draining fluids, removing organs, stapling skin, reforming the bones. It also is not the same as beauty makeup. There are special things you must do to a dead body to make it look normal. You use some very odd ingrediants. Also know that you work 24/7. Weekends, holidays, people are unexpectedly dying all the time. You deal with the families of the deceased a lot as well, and also as a funeral director you must know the legal side of the businesss involvng wills, costs etc. It is a competitive profession. It has gotten very popular since shows like CSI. But it is in demand and it is a secure job as people will always die.


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## DaizyDeath (Nov 3, 2006)

Im getting my degree in morturary sciences right now from the #1 school in the united states 

first off like the person above said you have to have a degree and become a mortician to do makeup on the dead second off its sooooo much different from doing makeup on live people the skin in different you have to know how to fill in gashes and other unsitley things and usually you work from pictures that the family gives you of what they want them to look like so its not really your choice of style or anything.

I dont really agree with what the person above said you dont get called in 24/7 you have a set schedule bodys can go on "hold" for a month or more so theres really no rush on most bodys you wont get called out in the middle of the night to do a body. 

Theres not alot of people that are in the mortuary field more of them are in the investigation field beacuse of CSI mortuary really has nothing to do with that we just prepare the body for viewing and burial. 

Funaral directors really dont prepare the bodys they mostly just deal with the familys, contracts, and scheduleing for the family.


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## anniemalibu7 (Nov 3, 2006)

I was only speaking from what Ive heard or read. As far as being a funeral director or a mortician, they are different jobs. A funeral director can act as a mortician but a mortician is not necassarily performing the tasks as a funeral director. And yes, being a funeral director requires odd hours of work. (again from what people in the field have told me) But you were inquiring about becoming a mortician so i suppose that was off topic. I was just sharing. I personally could not handle this job. But it is very facinating. Good luck DaizyDeath!


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## blueyesdancing (Nov 6, 2006)

I have considered this...I have heard that there is great money in it; I am sure that is realative but I get kinda queasy so I don't know if I could actually go through with it....


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## ..kels* (Nov 6, 2006)

i would NEVER be able to do that.


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## lara (Nov 6, 2006)

I've had a position offered to me, but I turned it down. The money was fantastic (and I mean _fantastic_), but it was on a contract and I couldn't honour a two year commitment. That and I still enjoy working with, y'know, living people.

You need to be good with reconstructive work (something I already do with burn victims and people who have aggressive cancer removal on their face and chest), but there's also a bit of outlay as you need almost an entire second make-up kit. The chemicals used in the embalming process can be damaging to your make-up brushes and if you accidently cross-contaminate, everything oxidises and taints.

Given that you don't interact with the dead on anything more than a superficial basis, it's rare that you need any mortuary science certification. Mostly all you need is a make-up cert to show you know sanitation procedures and reconstructive rebuilding, and you'll be given training on things like shaving embalmed skin. That's in AU though, it's different in every country.


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## aeni (Nov 6, 2006)

Oddly enough, Marilyn Monroe's MA was personally asked to do her makeup in the event of her death.

My aunt used to be a counter MA for Chanel.  When my Nana died in 84, she did her makeup for her.  My mom has asked me to do the same whenever she passes.

Hell now I'm really interested in that too.


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## DaizyDeath (Nov 6, 2006)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *lara* 

 
_I've had a position offered to me, but I turned it down. The money was fantastic (and I mean fantastic), but it was on a contract and I couldn't honour a two year commitment. That and I still enjoy working with, y'know, living people.

You need to be good with reconstructive work (something I already do with burn victims and people who have aggressive cancer removal on their face and chest), but there's also a bit of outlay as you need almost an entire second make-up kit. The chemicals used in the embalming process can be damaging to your make-up brushes and if you accidently cross-contaminate, everything oxidises and taints.

Given that you don't interact with the dead on anything more than a superficial basis, it's rare that you need any mortuary science certification. Mostly all you need is a make-up cert to show you know sanitation procedures and reconstructive rebuilding, and you'll be given training on things like shaving embalmed skin. That's in AU though, it's different in every country._

 

Yeah like in australia, a while ago in the united states you could just purely do makeup on the dead and have no certification but now the laws have changed in the united states.  Plus due to the fact that you have to know how to do reconstruction for example car accident victims, murders and so on you need more then just basic makeup training on live people beacuse like you said their 2 tottally different things also alot of the makeup has to be more natural then made up looking for say an infant or small child you really wouldnt want them to look like they have any makeup on its just mostly more of an alive look  

that said we do study makeup for 6 months at my school as part of our certification and im also going to be taking outside courses from a professional makeup school once my college is done. 


And on the subject on being freaked out by the dead you grow to have a certain degree of seperation from them I mean at first shure you go home and think about it all day and night long but like anything that you do constantly you get over it i mean their dead what can you do, just give them respect and most of all their familys respect sometimes it hits home more when its a small child or something more personal twoards you comes in but i like to say where theirs death theirs life everyone dies its the inevitable i was raised with my parents excepting that as a part of life and i think that makes my profession alot easier for me


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## KMFH (Nov 7, 2006)

i did it.  A good friend asked me to fix her dead friends makeup, so i was alll over that new experiance!  Strange, super creepy, cool, and neat all at the same time.  Her eyes were not sewn shut (i guess they dont do this anymore?), i found out when she made me put liner on her.  I wanted to do it a while back for work, and was told i could without a cert., but didnt cause i simply didnt want to invest in the kit for the dead, since i wasnt about to use my stuff for the living. 
  Neat though, i must admit odd and off the wall stuff intrigues me (funeral museum in houston rocks! plastination tour kicked butt! etc), but again, ill stick to the breathing


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## YvetteJeannine (Nov 7, 2006)

_*On a slightly off-topic note, anybody ever watch the HBO series "Six Feet Under"?  For those not familiar, it's a simply wonderful show about a family (two brothers, a teen-aged sister, and a strangely odd Mother) who run a family-based Los Angeles funeral home after the owner (their father and husband), passes away.  I've just started watching it...as it ended in '05, and now Bravo shows the re-runs in sequential order every Monday night.  I never saw it when it was on HBO, but this show is absolutely fantastic!  It has real heartbreak and drama (and every character's life is shown in-depth), but is tempered with humor and cynicism.  It also gives a good look on what goes on behind the scenes in a funeral home...including the body preperation and reconstructing processes.  I've never made it a point to watch a television show every week, and I only watch a couple of hours of TV a week, but I make it my business to be in front of that TV at 9PM every Monday night!!!!  If you've not seen it before, it's a must-see...especially for those that love sarcastic humor like I do!!!*_


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## blueyesdancing (Nov 7, 2006)

I talked to a guy today who used to be a funeral director and he said that in Texas there are no laws regarding who can put makeup on the deceased, that "absolutely anyone" can do it.  I thought that was interesting; I am thinking about dropping my cards off at a couple homes.  We'll see...


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