What would I tell myself now as a new Cosmetic Tattoo artist, knowing what I know now…

If I was a fresh new artist, learning from the beginning, what would I tell myself then, knowing what I know now…

Number 1
To hone your skills to become the best artist you can be is all about mastering your technique, and to accomplish this, you must practice practice practice!! Whether it be on practice pads, ripe bananas, lemons or, oranges, to be able to replicate the feel of practicing on skin.

Once you feel confident enough to start practicing on the skin (this must be done in an in-salon practical training setting supervised by your trainer), you will learn and tweak your technique. When clients return for their perfecting and refresh sessions, you will be able to see your depth, pigment retention and colour matching choices on your clients.

When practicing your stroke patterns, keep in mind that if you are right-handed, you will find that one brow is easier to work on than the other – the key is to perfect your stroke patterns so that both eyebrows have the same stroke pattern on both brows. Of course, they will never be 100% exact; however, you must aim to create your patterns on both brows to resemble the other eyebrow as closely as possible.

The more you practice, you are creating “muscle memory”; for example, a top-level athlete will practice many hours a day most days of the week to perfect their craft/skill. After many hours, these skills become so ingrained that the muscle memory that has been trained, kicks in automatically as you “create.” This is when the “magic” will happen while performing a procedure, because you will be focusing more on creating rather than concentrating solely on your technique.

You will also have a broader understanding of all the different skin types, and how to adjust your depth, pigment selection, and depth pressure into the skin with these different skin types. Understanding the skin and the skin healing stages is extremely important.

Number 2
Balance and symmetry on the face – this is the most crucial step before you even begin an eyebrow procedure. You must excel in creating an eyebrow stencil and creating balance and symmetry in the brows using the phi ratio and string method technique.

On our Mien Brows Instagram and YouTube channel, we have videos on how to perform some of these techniques, or you can book in with Nicole for a Master Class for a more in-depth approach to refresh your skills on balance and symmetry using these techniques.

Practice on as many faces as you can, even on yourself, until these steps are ingrained in your mind, and you can perform these techniques with confidence.

Number 3
Client Consultations.
When you are consulting with your potential client, they are generally so excited and nervous, mainly if they are about to have their procedure, that information that you are relaying to your client does not always retain, which is normal. During your consultation with your client, you need to explain the differences between their first and perfecting session – the process and why they require a perfecting second session.

You will also need to explain in detail the different healing stages of week 1,2,3, and 4, and what happens to their skin during this time.

You will find it very helpful for your client to show them pictures of all the different healing stages so that they have a visual reference. This is particularly helpful for your client to have at home, in an aftercare pamphlet, so that they can refer to these explanations, instructions, and pictures as they are experiencing these different stages after their procedure. This will also help avoid the panic phone calls from your clients as they are going through their healing stages…

For example, when the eyebrows look too dark in the first week of healing, or during week 2-3 the pigment has dropped beneath the skin surface as the eyebrows are healing from within, therefore the eyebrows will appear much lighter in colour, and the client will feel as though the procedure has not worked for them.

The pamphlet will go on to explain that on week 5, pigment that has retained into the skin will resurface to the top layer of the skin – ie, the healed result. Your client will then understand that when they come in for their perfecting session, whereby the technician has learned that particular client’s skin, how much shrinkage has occurred of the pigment during the healing stages, and thus how thicker to take the brow, to re-enforce any initial hair strokes, and to also create more hair strokes in between the initial strokes created, to create more depth to the brow.
If your client does call you, calmly reassure them that what they are experiencing is entirely normal, and referring to their aftercare home kit. Sometimes all a client needs is verbal reassurance from their artist.

Calling your client one week after their procedure is an excellent practice. It gives you the opportunity to touch base with your client and see how they are feeling, allowing you to address any concerns that they may be experiencing.

At this time, your client will have washed their brows; the scabbing will have sloughed off the brow; therefore, the brows won’t be as dark, and the pigment will slowly start to fall beneath the surface of the skin.
This is a good opportunity to reassure your clients and reiterate their month of skin healing, giving your client confidence and reassurance during their healing stages.

Another helpful resource as a new artist is watching many different artists work on YouTube. You will be able to visually watch an artist create, how they are using their tools, and how they are holding the skin during the procedure. Make sure you research these artists as you want to learn from the best, and you also want to make sure that you don’t pick up any bad habits that another artist may have.

In conclusion, make sure you perfect your technique and practice as many hours as you can. When you have completed your training and are working on your clients, adopt practices that help your clients understand the procedure, their healing stages and their aftercare.

If you are unsure about any information that you come across or just want to have a chat regarding the basic steps of any brow cosmetic tattoo procedure, or if you have completed your fundamental training in cosmetic brow tattooing, and are still not confident in any areas of brow cosmetic tattooing, please give Gina a call on 1300 627 697, and we can arrange a free consultation over the phone with Nicole the Owner of Mien Brows & Mien Brows Academy, to discuss any mentoring you may require on your journey to becoming the best artist you can be.

If you are interested in becoming a Cosmetic Tattoo Brow Artist, visit our Website www.mienbrows.com where you will find information on our Beginner Brow Tattoo Course.