Need a Career Switch? Here’s How to Become a Microblading Artist!

⏱️ 5 min read

If there’s one industry that will forever be booming then that’s the beauty industry. Nowadays, the focus has shifted to getting more long-term results and a new branch got its spotlight – the permanent makeup industry.

Permanent makeup treatments have been gaining popularity for years now and they don’t seem to be slowing down. Each day new artists start their careers in this field. So if you’ve been considering joining in, there has never been a better time than right now!

Here’s how to become a microblading artist.

Why Become a Microblading Artist?

Microblading is by far the most popular career choice in the permanent beauty industry. This treatment is a pioneer and by far the most sought-after treatment.

Making any radical career switch can be scary as it requires quite a bit of initial investment, but with permanent makeup, it really pays off. The demand is still exceeding the supply, so if you have a good business plan you can succeed in this field easily.

Plus, the permanent makeup industry is incredibly profitable!

How to Become a Microblading Artist?

There are a few steps you need to complete to become a PMU artist. Each of these steps requires time and effort to complete, but it will be so worthwhile.

Let’s get into more detail about each of these important steps.

Enroll in a Course & Get Certified

Enrolling in a course is the official first step in beginning your PMU career. There are many options out there, but the main distinction is if you’d prefer to do a live or an online course.

Live courses take several days to complete and at the end, you’d get a certificate of attendance. This is not the same as certification of completion. For that, you’d need to keep practicing online and take a test.

Online courses take a bit longer to complete but you get support from the trainer all the way through them. In the end, you get the certificate of attendance and the certificate of completion.

Either way, to get the official certification you need to pass the exam at the end of the training.

Image source: Freepik

Seek Out an Apprenticeship

In some states, completing an apprenticeship is required before you start working. But even in those that don’t require it by the law, it’s a good idea to shadow an experienced artist and learn their tips and tricks.

Although unpaid (or paid very little in tips and apprenticeship fees), this is an excellent way to further sharpen your skills and gain practical knowledge. This will make you seem more professional and trustworthy, hence getting clients in the future will be easier.

Getting a State-Issued License

Seeing as permanent makeup procedures involve some health risks, most jurisditions require artists to obtain a license before they’re able to practice microblading.

To obtain a professional license from a board or institution in charge, you’ll need to attend health and safety training – bloodborne pathogens training, and perhaps something additional.

This is a very important step as your client’s health depends on whether you do things safely and sterilize equipment properly.

NOTE

The certification and licensing process might be a bit different depending on the regulations of the state you’re in. In some places, you might only need a certification to be able to practice microblading.

In any case, the certification needs to be issued by a registered trainer or an academy.

Other states need some additional certifications as well, such as first-aid training or bloodborne pathogen training. Sometimes even an apprenticeship is required before being able to work on your own.

You can check the licensing requirements in your state here.

Getting Started

When you’re just starting out, you don’t need to have your own salon right away. You just need to have a working space. Oftentimes, new artists will rent out working spaces (AKA microblading chairs) in already-established salons.

But if you’re financially able to, you can open up your own salon or turn a room in your house into one.

You need to at least have the basic equipment to be able to work. That includes:

A range of pigments and disposable supplies,
A stash of aftercare products you’ll be providing your clients with. Your equipment needs to be sterile and everything needs to be properly sanitized in between each appointment. Here’s how to keep your salon spotless.

As for the furniture – at the very least you need to invest in a good bed and lighting.

To help you with that, here’s an article about How to Choose the Best Microblading Chair and here’s How to Choose the Best Salon Lighting.

Image source: Instagram @evertruesalon

Getting Clients

To be able to grow, you need to keep bringing in new clients – and for that, you need to have a good marketing strategy. Social media is the best form of showing off your work and what most people will be doing their research on.

So, you need to focus on keeping your profiles attractive and active. Here are a few articles that can help you out with that:

Branching Out

Building a reputation as a knowledgeable and trustworthy professional gives you the freedom to gradually grow, raise your pricing, and expand your business.

And while microblading is a very good starting point, there are also many other PMU procedures that are very highly sought after. Mastering these other techniques will help you increase your income and make your business grow.

Image source: Freepik

So, How Long Does It Take to Become a Microblading Artist?

All in all, this may seem complicated but if you take into account that starting a new career in another field would be much harder (and probably less profitable), the permanent makeup industry is a fantastic choice.

It requires relatively little investment and soon you’ll start turning a profit while working in a stimulative environment.

A microblading course costs between $1000 and $5000 and takes a few months to complete. The price depends on whether the course is live or not and how well-known it is.

So if you look at the average price of a microblading session, which is around $600 for less than 2 hours of work, you can potentially be making thousands a week very soon.

And on top of that, there are so many benefits microblading artists get to enjoy – being your own boss and creating a custom working schedule are just the most well-known ones.

For more details on how to become a microblading artist, also check out:

Cover image source: Freepik