Microblading & cosmetic tattooing
Permanent Makeup Artist
Tattooing a face, which is exactly as unforgiving as it sounds.
Typical pay
$40k-$110k
How you get in
Certification course plus state licensing
Outlook
Growing; strong demand and high service prices
Permanent makeup artists tattoo brows, eyeliner and lips. Service prices are high and the margins are excellent; the work is permanent on someone's face, and correction work is genuinely difficult.
A day in the life
- 9:00aSet up the room and sterilize equipment
- 9:30aConsultation, patch test and brow mapping
- 10:30aMicroblading procedure, two to three hours
- 1:30pLunch
- 2:30pTouch-up appointment from six weeks ago
- 5:00pSanitize, photograph healed results, book follow-ups
How to get in
Certification course
Duration
1-3 months plus practice
Cost
$3,000-$10,000
Credential
Permanent makeup certification, bloodborne pathogen training, state license
- Check your state's rules first — some require a tattoo or esthetics license
- Complete a reputable fundamentals course with hands-on training
- Get bloodborne pathogen certified and licensed
- Practice extensively on latex and models before taking paying clients
Esthetician or tattoo artist adding PMU
Duration
1-2 months
Cost
$3,000-$8,000
Credential
Existing license plus PMU certification
- Hold an esthetics or tattoo license already
- Add permanent makeup training as a specialization
- Your existing license typically satisfies the state requirement
- Adds a very high-margin service to an existing client base
Advanced and corrective work
Duration
1-3 years after fundamentals
Cost
$3,000-$15,000 in advanced training
Credential
Advanced PMU and removal certifications
- Master brows first and build a healed-results portfolio
- Add lip blush, eyeliner and scalp micropigmentation
- Learn correction and saline removal, which very few artists offer
- Corrective specialists command the highest prices in the field
What people love
- · Very high revenue per appointment
- · Excellent margins — low product cost
- · Trained in weeks to months
- · Built-in touch-up revenue every appointment
What wears people down
- · Permanent results on a face, with no easy undo
- · Bloodborne pathogen licensing and strict regulation
- · Correction and removal work is hard and thankless
- · Requirements vary widely and some states are strict