Permanent makeup advice please

[emangel1980]

Hi. I am considering getting trained in permanent cosmetic / medical makeup but are concerned about spending thousands of pounds for something that will not give me a return. Can any of you professionals please comment on the demand for permanent makeup before I go to the next step.

Thanks.
Em:biggrin:

 

[Kim Lawless]

It's a very rewarding and very lucrative treatment. However!!!! If you want to make regular money from it, you really do need to promote yourself.

 

[emangel1980]

Thanks for that, are you busy most days doing permanent makeup.
Sorry for the questions, I am so passionate to do the course but the husband is worried as its expensive to train in.:biggrin:

 

[megan7775]

Hi Em,

Im also looking onto training in perm make up and have been doing some market reserach.

What I have done is contacted people at random who advertise perm make up on their websites and who have trained at the same place I would like to train.

So far I have got 50/50 negative/positive so Im going to continue speaking to people until I go ahead and spend the £8k+ thats required.

I have spoken to people who said they were seduced by the sales pith and didnt do the market research before diving straight in and they have really struggled to get clients. One lady has advertised in local press had an advert on the radio and in hospitals and she is lucky if she gets 1 person per month.

The second negative was fro a lady who said that she was trained at the academy by another student and after she qualified she was petrified to actually do treatments on anyone she just wasnt ready. She said herself and two fellow students have complained quite heavily to the academy but they have not offered any support or free training support days as they say they do! she siad all they want is your money and once theyve got it they dont want to know.

A positive lady had trained two years ago and said the training is second to none - she said getting clients isnt easy at all and she still only gets 2-3 per month - which is far from the 3 per week they advertise - but she is confident the market is picking up.

Another positive was from another lady who again said the tarining was fantastic but again she only gets 2 clients per month. SHe also said that the only negative she could think of was that the initial training cost is not the final cost as you have to buy more pigments than whats inc in your kit and you need to buy the aneathetic creams so your looking at a further £1.5k on top of the machine/the starter kit and the training.

Im going to continue speaking with people - I think that location is key with this and promoting yourself in the right places.

I'd suggest doing what im doing - contact people at random with a list of questions - its suprising how helpful people are. Also contact 20 of your local beauty salons and go pitch to them the benefits of perm make up. See how many are interested - that should give you an idea about the market.
Also put the word out on FB or twitter - another way at seeing how many people are interested.

Maybe we should team up and share our research? two heads are better than one after all!

Let me know how it goes

Megan

Hi. I am considering getting trained in permanent cosmetic / medical makeup but are concerned about spending thousands of pounds for something that will not give me a return. Can any of you professionals please comment on the demand for permanent makeup before I go to the next step.

Thanks.
Em:biggrin:

 

[Kim Lawless]

Thanks for that, are you busy most days doing permanent makeup.
Sorry for the questions, I am so passionate to do the course but the husband is worried as its expensive to train in.:biggrin:

I only do it as a paid hobby as I'm so busy waxing full time. I'm amazed when I get calls from people wanting it done! That's usually when they've seen my work on somebody they've met as I don't promote it.

It's a big outlay and you need to work full time to promote yourself. Some people give up and others go on to make a lucrative career out of it.

Finishing Touches are excellent Semi Permanent Make Up Specialists I think they're doing different courses to make it cheaper. Give them a call.

 

[emangel1980]

Hi Megan,
Thanks for your info, I've been doing the same, heaps of research.
For all the training equipment, website and advertising I'm looking at £20k.
I've had the same response, maybe more positive then negative.
I'm hoping to start training august, if I sort finances out.
Yeah it's getting a good name for your self. One lady in Sheffield had 3-4 clients per day.
That would be fantastic.

 

[emangel1980]

Hi Kim,
Yeah it's so true such a big out lay, but I would find it so rewarding.
It would be the biggest job getting my name out there.
It's fab your busy with waxing.

 

[emangel1980]

Hi Megan,
One thing I have noticed the ones who are quite are not advertising much, the ones who are busy and making a fortune are out there advertising heaps.
My husband does heaps of marketing part of his job and done me a marketing plan if I do go ahead and train up.
I'll be keen to share ideas for sure.
X

 

[emangel1980]

Quick question to you all,
Insurance for permanent make up I thought you had to have a licence by the council where ever you work from, so how can some permanent make up artist be mobile?????

 

[LastingBeauty]

Hi There,

After having several SPMU procedures - 2 bad / 2 good I decided to look into this industry myself as a career.
You do need to get the marketing in place first - lucky for me I also run an internet marketing business, so I created my website and marketing plan before I started the course. Although the best way to get clients (in my experience) is to set up a Facebook group (IF YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT) and post offers for new treatments etc...to all of your friends and that way the word spreads and before you know it, you will be getting that all important ROI.

I trained at the Sherborne Clinic and to be honest I feel that they do not offer the best training
I would go here Semi Permanent make up courses. Also it is 1-1 so it's so much better than training in pairs. Dawn has an MBE for her outstanding work in Medical Tattooing and I am doing many advanced courses with her.

I had 2 technicians that mentioned they trained with FT who provided me with eyeliner and eyebrows and too be honest they were not good experiences at all..

I hope that helps?? x

 

[milliondollars]

Regarding question on mobile insurance, I used to work for licensing at the council and they will visit you at your registered base is your home, and run through your safety/sterilisation/procedures etc and licence you at that address. You can still do mobile work in the area covered by your council ie you are licensed by islington council you can work in islington only, if you have a client in Richmond you will have to contact your council and explain. If it is a one off they will usually ok it but you may need to register with a few if you are expecting a wide client base. It is the same principal with mobile food caterers. This may differ from council to council though so check yours first, call them and ask for environmental health and licensing. Any questions let me know xx

 

[babyelephant29]

Hi there, I do permanent make up as my full time job. It is a very lucrative business if you are prepared to put the time and effort into promoting yourself.
You have to be prepared for the fact you will need ongoing training if you want to get to get to the top of the profession. You can do the basic training if thats all you can afford, however, over time it would be wise to add on the advanced days and paramedical.
Its not however just as simple as having fantastic marketing. You need to be very good at what you do as alot of your business will rely on word of mouth (we all know this is the best form of marketing)
As with any business it takes time and will not happen over night.
without doubt it was the best £20,000 ive ever spent, not only do I make a nice living but it is such a rewarding job.
In my opinion nouveau contour by far surpasses any of the other training available from other companies. I did LOTS of research before i handed over my hard earned cash!............ their aftercare is second to none.

hope this helps!

claire xx

 

[JMABEAUTY]

I can tell you (I am not interested in training in this) but I looked long and hard, I mailed a lot or people as well, Harley St and everywhere, its very hard choosing who to trust and do this, after months of research I am going to a lady called Heidi Worman, she does not to nails, waxing or hair or anything, but she is just a brow master, for me this is just what I need.

Ill keep you updated.

xxx

 

[emangel1980]

Thanks so much to all your advice.
Xx

 

[Micropigment]

I am trained up in permanent makeup and would advise you to go for a basic course at first to see if the company you choose to train with is as good as they say they are. Also, I have had nothing but trouble with getting aftercare support from my training academy even though I have specifically taken the time to contact them and express my views.

The company I trained with has several packages and the so called elite more costly packages offered are just a rehash of what is covered in the basic all round training offered in the beginning of the course. The support they 'offer' is on the basis that you pay for it, which is not mentioned in the brochure.

I also found that in some instances, the course training manual has as much information as the sales brochure has in it. This is quite dissappointing if you are paying 10K for a course. The brochures also have a section that says how easy it is too make your course fees back if you get a certain number of clients per week. This does not take into account any extra costs that are involved and is highly misleading! So beware!

Also, all the students I met on the course who had been doing clients for 2+ years were only managing about 3 or 4 clients max per month despite doing loads of marketing.

I would probably recommend going to Alison West if I could choose to go elsewhere for my training as my current training academy is all about the money it seems, and less about the students needs...

 

[PEPSIMAX]

Hi, I do semi-permanent makeup and I do at least 10 per week. I don't advertise, it's all from word of mouth. Most clients who have one area will then go on to have another area. I have been trained for 8 years. I have done training with 2 companies. The first one was terrible and to be honest I learned nothing. The second one was much better and this really made the difference. There is another course I would love to go on in the US this year so the training never stops. The main thing I would say is you have to be very confident in yourself and not get railroaded by clients who want bizzare eyebrows, cleopatra eyeliner, blood red lips etc etc...as your clients are walking adverts for your work. I have been known to turn away clients for this reason. I get alot of my work fixing other peoples semi-permanent makeup mistakes, grey/blue or orange eyebrows, faded smudged looking or incomplete eyeliner or brown lipliner my pet hate! I always make my clients have blended lip liner or lip blush, looks so much nicer. There is plenty of work about and lot's of clients if you are good at what you do. I am a bit obsessed and have been known to approach people in the street with terrible SPM and ask them "I see you have semi-permanent makeup do you mind if I ask you are you happy with the result?" I really can't stand to see bad work and want to help them. Good luck to anyone thinking of going into the industry.