How to Choose Your Permanent Makeup Artist

Permanent Makeup is a BIG deal. Even with some versions being deemed “semi-permanent”, it is going to be on your face for at least a few years. SO, how do you decide who is going to make this lasting impression on you?

First, do your research. Don’t get distracted by fancy advertising. With advertising campaigns on social media platforms and accessible marketing aps like Canva, it has become more common for permanent makeup (PMU) artists to advertise their services in fun ways. And with algorithms picking up on consumers in the market for these services (aka YOU), it can be easy to get pulled in by the best marketing, instead of the best artist.

Second, don’t go solely off pricing. We all have a budget in mind, but going for the cheapest artist can sometimes result in pricey (and painful) tattoo removal or corrective work. And most often, artists will not work over another artist’s work so you will be limited in your options for different artists moving forward. Pricing often reflects the amount of experience and quality of products used. That being said, the most expensive artist doesn’t always reflect the best work either, which leads me to my third point.

Read Google reviews. If there are no reviews, that could reflect inexperience which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to consider depending on your expectations. If there are mixed reviews, what were the negative ones about? Is there consistency in either the good or bad reviews? Businesses can not control the Google reviews (although they can report false client reviews or inappropriate content) which is why consumers tend to trust this review process.

Fourth, and this is probably my best piece of advice, look at healed work. Before and after photos are great, but how the work heals is ultimately what you will be left with long term.

At the end of the day, no two artists are considered equal. Think of traditional tattoo artists, you can go to a tattoo shop and ask 2 different artists to tattoo a butterfly, but those butterflies will most likely look completely different. Art is not an exact science, which is why it is beautiful to different people. For that reason, I recommend booking a consultation if you are unsure about which artist to choose. I also suggest requesting that the artist draws on what they envision for you. Is their shaping process interactive? Do they even measure or shape you and let you have a say before the procedure? Surprisingly, not all artists map out or measure your eyebrows prior to tattoo procedures. For some people, that is not an issue. For others, that can make or break the appointment.

Ultimately, you must decide what your expectations are and how you want the appointment to unfold then see if it matches up with the artist in mind. Don’t be afraid to shop around. With permanent makeup (PMU) procedures such as microblading, nano brows, lip blush tattooing and eyeliner tattooing becoming more common place, the artist market is becoming increasingly more saturated, so consumers have more options! Take advantage of that and find the best fit for YOU and your face.