So, you’ve mastered a PMU skill and started working as a PMU artist. Your business probably started slow, but you gradually got more and more clients and you can now make ends meet doing microblading or PMU. But you want more.
You’re ready to expand your business and boost your PMU income. You recognize the potential your salon has and want to make the most of it. You believe in life-long learning and love a challenge.
If any of this sounds familiar, it may be time to start offering some extra PMU services.
PMUHub has prepared a list of services you can start offering your clients to boost your PMU income.
Why Is Expanding Your Service Menu Important?
Microblading and permanent makeup can be a very lucrative business once you make a name for yourself. The reality is, however, that this takes time and many artists struggle with the lack of clients and half-empty schedules.
Not working doesn’t only mean not making money – it actually costs you. You still have to pay the rent, the bills, insurance, etc. even if you’re not fully booked.
So what can microblading artists do when business is slow? Offer alternative services and generate new business!
Extra PMU services can boost your income in 2 ways:
- You earn money performing them
- Each client can potentially get more than 1 service
Here’s a list of services you can start offering with a minimal investment and within a short time.
Henna Brows
What Is It?
Henna brows is a brow treatment that involves coloring the brow hairs and the skin underneath with henna, a natural dye used for body art since ancient times.
Image source: Instagram @serrinasanchez.brows
How Can It Boost My Income?
The results of the treatment last up to 6 weeks, so if you get a client who loves the look, they could potentially come back every 2 months or so. The price of a treatment can be anywhere between $35 and $135, with around $70 being the average.
The treatment takes around 30 minutes, so it can fill the gaps in your schedule.
The results of henna brows resemble the look of permanent makeup. A clever strategy PMU artists came up with is offering free henna brows as a test-drive for microblading. You can organize special events where anyone interested in brow PMU gets a free pair of henna brows – if you get even 1 PMU client from this, it’s more than worth it.
How Do I Learn It?
In order to practice henna brows legally, you need to be certified as a brow technician and take a henna brows course. You can take a live or an online course, but since you already have experience working on brows, an online course should be more than enough for you to pick up the skill.
Online courses cost about $500, and they usually include a kit that will provide you with enough supplies to do your first clients.
PMU Removal
What Is It?
It’s the process of removing unwanted permanent makeup. There are 2 types of removal PMU artists can learn easily – saline and glycolic acid removal. These are done by opening up the skin above the pigments and injecting a removal solution that binds the pigments to it, and extracts them through scabbing.
It’s done either with an electric PMU machine, or a manual shading tool.
Another removal technique is laser, but that’s very different from what you usually do, so perhaps saline or acid removal are more practical options.
How Can It Boost My Income?
If you learn how to do removal, you can take on all those clients who come in with old PMU and want it corrected. Oftentimes, their cosmetic tattoo can’t be covered up, so they need removal. Why send them away to a removal tech?
Once you remove their old PMU, they’ll most likely get a fresh one with you. So that’s income from both removal and PMU treatments!
And it’s not insignificant income – saline removal costs around $250 per session, and glycolic acid is even more expensive than that. Mind you, most clients need 2-6 sessions.
Oh, and one more thing – these techniques work for body tattoos, too, so that’s a whole new pool of potential clients!
Image source: Instagram @phiremoval
How Do I Learn It?
You have to take a course and get certified.
You can choose between a live course and an online one. As an artist, you already know the technique and don’t really need hands-on experience (although it wouldn’t hurt). So an online course should have you covered.
You can find online removal courses starting from $200.
Lash Services
What Are They?
The most popular lash services are eyelash extensions and the lash lift. Extensions imply gluing additional lash-like fibers onto the natural lashes, while a lash lift uses chemicals to lift and curl the lashes.
How Can It Boost My Income?
The income you can earn from lash services is substantial.
The results of both lash services last 6-8 weeks. A single lash lift client could potentially come back in for a treatment every 2 months. With the extensions, it’s even more often than that. Lash extensions require infill appointments every 3-4 weeks, and there’s also the lash bath, a lash cleaning service.
If your client decides they don’t want extensions anymore, you can still charge them for removal.
The price of a lash lift is around $100, and it’s a super easy service to do.
Lash extensions are more complicated, but the price of a full set is $150-$250 depending on style, while infills are usually charged 50% of the full set price. The lash bath costs around $10-$20, while removal is around $30.
How Do I Learn It?
For both lash services, you will need to take a course. Working on someone’s eyes is no child’s play, so you really need to take it seriously.
That said, the lash lift is a super simple procedure and you can master it with an online course just fine. You can find them at around $300. Lash extensions are more complex, and hands-on training is a good idea. Live courses start at $1000, while online courses are around $500.
Image source: Instagram @beauty.bykristy
Small Tattoos
What Is It?
If you do cosmetic tattoos, you can seriously consider extending your skill to decorative tattooing. Small tattoos are a huge trend at the moment and many PMU artists have recognized the opportunity to reach a huge new group of clients with minimal effort.
Small tattoos are done with a machine very similar to PMU devices, and use ink instead of pigments. They can be done anywhere on the body, and usually only imply an outline, no shading and coloring.
Image source: Instagram @indra.tatts
How Can It Boost My Income?
Once you get the hang of it, you can do a tiny tattoo within 20 minutes. So these sessions are a great way to fill the gaps in your schedule between PMU appointments – they won’t take too much energy.
Tiny tattoos have a great earning potential – they’re priced anywhere from $40 to $250 per tattoo. The potential clientele is huge (small tattoos are equally popular with male and female clients, unlike PMU), and it’s not uncommon for a single client to get multiple tattoos.
How Do I Learn It?
You will need to take a training course. Luckily, since you already do cosmetic tattooing, the transition will be very easy. There are many tiny tattoo courses designed specially for PMU artists. The prices start at $200 for online courses, and $1500 for live training.
Teeth Whitening
What Is It?
Although it deals with teeth, LED teeth whitening is not technically dentistry. The teeth are covered with a whitening gel, and then exposed to LED blue light. The result is teeth 5-8 shades whiter.
How Can It Boost My Income?
While not everybody wants PMU, everybody wants pearly white teeth. The number of potential clients for teeth whitening is huge.
An initial teeth whitening session is priced at around $200, with 6-month or annual touch ups priced from $100 to $150.
Image source: Instagram @sydneytmd.aesthetics
How Do I Learn It?
To start offering teeth whitening services, you’ll need to invest in a machine. Taking a certification course is advisable, but since this treatment is not technically dentistry, and since it hasn’t been strictly regulated in many states, you may not need any additional licensing. Check your local regulations or contact your local health department.
Extra Tip
Once you’ve expanded your service menu, you have the opportunity to stimulate your clients to get multiple services. That’s why it’s a good idea to mix things up and offer different treatments. For example, if you get a brow tattoo client, you can offer them a lash service or a tiny tattoo at a discounted price.
Once you have a variety of services available, you can get a much more steady income than by offering only PMU.
Cover image source: Freepik
