SOPHIE MCMULLIN
A Star at Vancouver's East Vanity Parlour
Sophie McMullin is a one of a kind; a talent whose unmistakable style and unique creativity has turned her into one of BC’s most in-demand hair stylists, a star at Vancouver’s shrine to vintage glamour glory, East Vanity Parlour. Read More
Home
News
Signature Series
VE NEILL AT BMC!
3 time Oscar Winner showcases her Makeup Movie Magic
at another Blanche Macdonald Exclusive! Ve entered the building to a standing ovation from one hundred plus Makeup students and this was only the morning session! With a full slate of Makeup demos, Ve got right down to work. Read More
Makeup
Janeen Witherspoon
Global Glamour with International Makeup Artist Janeen Witherspoon
Variety is the spice of life. And for Blanche Macdonald graduate Janeen Witherspoon, it’s the application of her makeup skills across a variety of industries that continues to take her around the globe. Read More
Fashion
LEILA BANI
Fashion Merchandising Graduate & Fashion Stylist
Stylist Leila Bani's passion is fashion. She loves the opportunity to be creative, putting her passion and innate fashion savvy to work. For Bani, it's all about creating amazing pictures, team work, and sometimes the craziness involved in getting those shots. Read More
Hair
ANA LUISA VALDES
Hairstylist at TONY&GUY
Ana Luisa Valdes arrived at Blanche Macdonald contemplating a career in hairdressing. Now she's a star at the Kitsilano branch of Toni&Guy, having been recognised as one of Canada's top ten new stylists by the Contessa Awards judges. Read More
Esthetics / Nails
CARLA SAGE
Pre-Opening Spa Director,
Park Hyatt, Beijing
As a Pre-Opening Spa Director, Carla Sage is honored to have been the leader driving the Spa, Wellness and Fitness areas for the first Park Hyatt Spa and Wellness Centre in China. Carla’s passion for Spa Therapy knows no bounds! Read More
Blanche Macdonald Centre
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Established in 1960, the Blanche Macdonald Centre has always been at the forefront of advanced education. The College is recognized worldwide for delivering an international-based curriculum that responds to the needs of the industry.
Our agenda is to provide excellence in education on a local, national and global scale. Our staff is comprised of caring professionals dedicated to helping you find the means to discover and express your creative vision and unique potential. With our specialized focus on the Applied and Creative Arts, the College is able to foster a dynamic, collaborative and reality-based learning environment that best prepares our graduates for industry success.
With over one thousand students per year and two campuses in Vancouver, BC, Canada, the Blanche Macdonald Centre is Canada’s premium leader for professional training in Makeup Artistry, Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandising, Hairstyling, Esthetics / Spa Therapy and Nail Technology.
The College is fully licensed, bonded and accredited under the auspices of the provincial government of British Columbia’s Ministry of Advanced Education, under the authority of the Private Career Training Institutions Agency (PCTIA).
The Blanche Macdonald Centre has an unparalleled reputation. We are known for our excellent teachers, our progressive curriculum and the high standards we expect of our students and of ourselves. The College attracts students from all over the world and from every educational, ethnic and social background, creating a truly diverse and enriched learning environment.
We believe that each student’s education includes not just intellectual but personal growth. It is our hope and belief that you will discover friends and mentors within our walls and that these rich connections will endure a lifetime.
Makeup Artistry
With an endless stream of awards and nominations including Emmys, Geminis, Leos and Ariels, our Makeup faculty and graduates continue to garner international recognition. They list outstanding credits in Makeup for Fashion, Television, Film, Airbrushing, Special Effects and Prosthetics. Equally impressive are the ongoing guest lecturers and advanced training with Academy Award winners and Celebrity Makeup Artists including Ve Neill, Howard Berger, Tami Lane and Sharon Gault.
On the roll of credits, you can find the names of BMC Makeup graduates in major blockbusters and feature films including The Chronicles of Narnia, the Harry Potter movies, the Twilight series, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (featuring Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell), Watchmen, Night at the Museum and its sequel, 2012 (with John Cusack and Thandie Newton), G.I.Joe: Rise of Cobra, New in Town, Haunting in Connecticut, I Love You Beth Cooper, Wolverine, I am Legend, the highly acclaimed indie film Juno, the X-Men movies, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Apocalypto, Fantastic Four, Hellboy, I Robot, The Chronicles of Riddick, the Scary Movie franchise, White Chicks, Jumanji, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Brothers Grimm, Santa Clause 2, The Sixth Day, the Oscar-winning Capote and many more.
Equally prominent in television, BMC Makeup grads have worked on such hits and special events as Gossip Girl, Project Runway, Law & Order – SVU, Supernatural, Smallville, The L Word, Stargate SG-1, The Outer Limits, The X-Files, the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and the MTV Awards, to name a few.
Blanche Macdonald Makeup Artists have had the honor of doing the makeup on top newsmakers like US President Barack Obama, former Prime Minister Paul Martin, Hillary Clinton and Wolf Blitzer to prominent celebrities and musicians including Ellen Degeneres, Nellly Furtado, Elvis Costello, Sarah McLachlan, Ashanti, Seal, LL Cool J, Alicia Keys, Lily Allen and Justin Timberlake.
From the runways to fashion editorials, our graduates have worked with Alexander McQueen, Zac Posen, Carolina Herrara, Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Flare, Fashion and Vanity Fair.
Request more information about our Makeup Artistry Program
Fashion Design
Fashion design runs the gamut from high to low, conservative to alternative and couture to disposable. Whether you consider fashion to be artistry, personal expression or a reflection of the times, fashion design is an integral part of our everyday lives.
The creation of a single fashion design involves hundreds of decisions and dozens of processes. From the initial inspiration and conceptualization, garment sketches or fashion illustrations are often used to fully render the design. As your design begins to take shape, you have to factor in fashion trends and forecasting, market research and how you want to build your collection and brand.
Once you have these decisions made, it’s off to the actual construction of the garment: selecting the fabrics, patternmaking and sizing and cutting the fabric. Then sample garments are produced, costing details and specification sheets are created and then the promotion of the garment and your collection begins. PR kits, media releases, advertising campaigns, fashion shows, trunk shows and the list goes on.
Creative individuals who have a flair for the tactile, flourish in dynamic environments with endless deadlines and have a voracious appetite for textiles, fabrics, patternmaking, illustration, construction and fashion collections, will do well in Fashion Design.
Blanche Macdonald Fashion Design graduates have successful careers that run the continuum, with multi-million dollar corporations like Reebok, Adidas, Lululemon, Please Mum and Aritzia, widely acclaimed entrepreneurial ventures such as Dace, Urban Baby Designs, Tension Clothing, T, Coy Cat, Sweet Chemise, Jason Matlo, Obakki and Patricia Fieldwalker Designs to the much buzzed-about indie collections Jayn Simpson, kdon and Damsel Funk.
Request more information about our Fashion Design Program
Fashion Merchandising
Fashion is a multi-million dollar business, billions, in fact. The demand for highly-trained fashion merchandisers continues to increase exponentially with the accelerated growth of the fashion and retail industries. As these industries flourish, career possibilities are endless.
Fashion merchandisers command fluid skills that can be transferred to a multitude of diverse and challenging career opportunities: retail buyers, visual merchandisers, store planners, inventory control specialists, wholesale agents, manufacturers, retail managers, fashion stylists, fashion show coordinators, model and talent agents, fashion public relations specialists, entrepreneurs and many more.
By covering the complete range of the fashion industry, graduates of the Fashion Merchandising Program are well equipped to handle the dynamic, complex and creative world of fashion.
Those who wish to apply their business sense in a retail, wholesaling or manufacturing environment will be challenged by the buying, advertising and entrepreneurship classes in Fashion Merchandising. Students who are creative but don't see themselves in design can apply their artistic interests in Fashion Merchandising to visual merchandising, fashion styling, store concepts or fashion show production.
Our graduates’ resumés list a diverse range of companies and credits from such fashion publications as Fashion, Interview, Vanity Fair, Ocean Drive, Marie Claire and Elle Canada, international companies like Burberry, Zara, Gucci, Betsey Johnson, LaCoste and Miss Sixty, to such personal entrepreneurial ventures as body politic, Oliver & Lilly’s, Together Productions Creative Group and Escargot Kids.
Request more information about our Fashion Merchandising Program
Pro Hair
Moving well beyond the traditional paradigm of hair school training, the college provides you with an unparalleled approach to hair education. With a thorough and complete immersion into all aspects of hair, this progressive curriculum will allow you the flexibility and fluidity to work in diverse work environments and industries, from salon, platform, competition, editorial, runway, television production studios to film sets.
This is the first Hair Program in Canada to integrate the essential skills and application relating to hair for television and feature films.
Throughout your training, practical skills are honed and sharpened with countless hours spent working on outside clients. This is not a program that can be condensed into a few short months. In order to ensure your successful outcome as a top hair professional, you need to have the hundreds of hours of practice and practical application. Only by cutting, colouring, and creating on a continual basis can you develop the skills, the discerning aesthetic, the competence and the confidence that you need to compete and excel.
The program incorporates 4 salon internships, numerous professional photo shoots, Pivot Point delivery system, student career building with an e-portfolio and web site creation. Your training includes extensive practical hours and training with cutting, texturing hair, hair design, hair styling techniques, colour formulas, colour application and correction, highlighting, foils, perming, chemical relaxation, thermal straightening techniques, hair extensions, hair pieces, wigs, hair ventilating and hair laying, script breakdown for hair plots, continuity for TV and Film, hair competitions, client development, self marketing, entrepreneurial skills and much, much more.
Request more information about our Pro-Hair Program
Esthetics / Spa Therapy
Blanche Macdonald Estheticians/Spa Therapists have endless career opportunities on a local, national and international level. Working at some of the world’s most prestigious spas, salons, hotels and resorts, graduates can provide a holistic approach incorporating deep pore facials and body care with water therapies, relaxation massages and aromatherapy or apply the latest anti-ageing treatments with the most up-to-date laser technology, micro-dermabrasion machines and photo rejuvenation equipment.
The Esthetics Diploma Program is a successful integration of high-touch with high-tech. You will receive the essential hands-on experience of performing a range of treatments and services, from conventional, progressive, to alternative.
There are multiple core levels in your professional esthetics training. On completion of these requisite levels, you will have gained a substantial knowledge of current esthetic techniques, treatments, products and equipment, supported by an understanding of basic anatomy, chemistry and physiology. You are taught to uphold high standards of professional presentation, conduct, and hygiene. You will develop an extensive practical repertoire in makeup, nails, body care, eco beauty, relaxation massage, wellness training, cosmetic rejuvenation, medical esthetics, and more.
This specialized knowledge is rounded out with coaching in effective communication and retailing fundamentals, entrepreneurial studies, managerial and leadership skills with guidance in industry-specific career development. The full-time program is enhanced with the application of Internet technology – learning how to market yourself as a professional Esthetician / Spa Therapist, your spa or your business through the Internet with website essentials, e-marketing and social networks.
You will have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to practice your new-found profession as an Esthetics professional in a variety of areas – from day spas, destination spas, hotels and resorts, cruise lines, medical laser and anti-ageing clinics etc. and in a variety of ways – as estheticians, laser technicians, spa therapists, make-up artists, nail technicians, spa managers, cosmetic retailers, business entrepreneurs to wholesale and beauty pharmaceutical sales reps, distributors and technical trainers.
Request more information about our Esthetics / Spa Therapy Program
Nail Parlour
Working well beyond tried and true manicures and pedicures, graduates of the Professional Nail Technician program are exposed to a vast and varied curriculum.
Treatments include sculptured nails - gel and acrylic applications, fills and repairs, working with ultra-violet light, hot oil treatments, paraffin dips, aromatherapy hand and foot massage, natural nail scrubs, 3D nail art etc. Business studies include entrepreneurship courses, sourcing out products and suppliers and how to start your own nail bar.
Request more information about our Nail Parlour Program
Further information
For further information on the programs, admission requirements and registration details, please contact an Admissions Director at the Blanche Macdonald Centre by email at info@blanchemacdonald.com or by phone at 604.685.0347 for the Uptown Campus or 604.685.0337 for the Downtown Campus.
Blanche Macdonald Centre is a wholly owned division of Pacifique Riche Enterprises Ltd.