How a recommendation is built
GlamRate is only useful if you can trust the number. That means being strict about what counts as evidence, refusing to stretch it across professions, segments or cities, and saying nothing when there is nothing honest to say.
Last updated 15 January 2026
Evidence, not estimates
Every figure comes from published, first-party professional rates — the rates professionals themselves state. Each observation is recorded with its source, its geography and its date, verified before it is activated, and removed when it can no longer be confirmed. Nothing is modelled, inferred, or derived from a competitor’s summary.
Ambiguous pricing is rejected outright: “starting at” figures, bundled hair-and-makeup totals that cannot be separated, and package prices that hide the scope are all excluded rather than interpreted.
Comparisons are exact
A comparison group is a specific combination of profession, segment, service type, rate structure and market. Evidence never travels between groups. A bridal trial price is not a wedding-day price; a bridal party price is not a bride price; a hair rate is never used to inform a makeup rate. This is why coverage grows city by city rather than appearing everywhere at once.
Geography is explicit
Where a figure came from is always visible. A city-native result is drawn from evidence inside your city. A metro result draws on the wider metropolitan area and says so. A national result is treated as context only and cannot become your recommended fee. You are never shown a number without knowing which of these it is.
Variables considered
- Profession
- Makeup, hair, or hair and makeup. Never blended — the rates behave differently.
- Segment
- Bridal, editorial, commercial, advertising, film & TV, e-commerce, private and more.
- Rate structure
- Per service, half day, full day. A half-day figure never becomes a day rate.
- Market
- The city the job is produced in, not where you happen to live.
- Position
- Your experience, demand and booking pattern within that market.
- Scope
- Hours, prep, talent count, looks and changes, kit, travel and usage where relevant.
The four answers you can get
Recommendation
Enough verified evidence exists for artists doing exactly your kind of work in your city. You get a fee, a range, and the confidence behind it.
Market context
Only national evidence exists. It is shown as background so you are not pricing blind — it is never converted into a local recommendation.
Rate data developing
Evidence for that work exists but has not reached the depth required to publish a figure. GlamRate tells you instead of guessing.
No evidence
Nothing verified for that work in your city yet. You can still build a quote and record the outcome — your own history starts working for you immediately.
Coverage is deliberately incomplete
GlamRate publishes recommendations for a small, growing set of markets and is candid everywhere else. If your market is not covered yet, tell us through support and it enters the acquisition queue. Coverage expands when evidence does — not before.
Your own data
Your rates, quotes and outcomes are private and are never shown to another user. They only inform the shared evidence base if you explicitly opt in, and then only in anonymised, aggregated form. See the privacy policy.