Hey hon,
Congrats on your pursuit of becoming a makeup artist!
Here's a few tips:
Practice! Start researching techniques, products, and reading different mu books and watching dvd's or even you tube videos, get your girlfriends and practice.
Stay connected with Mac's website and look for store events such as studio talk; its a sit down kind of event but you get useful info, product knowledge and again you get to see the persons technique.
Look for area workshops. Makeup stores like Naimes have workshops with the company I trained with in New York and other companies. Spend a weekend or evening learning and then practice.
Practice does make perfect!
As for schooling because you are in cali you would have more access to great makeup school's then I had in Virginia, so take advantage of that.
Find a makeup artist and ask to assist them, yes you'll be doing grunt work, BUT it's an inavaluable (s/p?) opportunity.
Begin building your kit, check out the product reviews here, participate in FOTD to begin getting feedback and gentle critiques, and enjoy!
The biggest thing I can recommend is to never give up! I have had a pleasant experience in this industry, but I know some haven't, so no matter what you encounter,answers you don't get believe you in enough to carry you through today, and then tomorrow and so on and so forth!
Good luck doll,
h