I did not attend a makeup trade school and have had just as many opportunities as my industry-friends who did... This is not always the general rule. Education can only help you. What I read from your original post is that you just want to know how to apply makeup for yourself and if you're any good at it you might think of making a career of it? Maybe I misunderstood. In my opinion, that's potentially a waste of money to attend a full-blown makeup school if you're not seeking to BE a professional makeup artist. They can be very expensive and require a huge time commitment as well. Many schools do, however have short courses that are for those who just want the basics of makeup application. If you want to make a career, I've heard that MUD is a good school- I have a friend in LA who is an SFX artist and works on many of the top films and tv shows and he says he always hires his interns from MUD graduates b/c he believes they've been taught well. Just know that it is possible to learn what you need by researching on your own and apprenticing/interning with other professional artists (which is what I did.) Good luck!