Once you’ve made up your mind to have permanent make up done the next step is finding the right person to do it for you. Word of mouth referrals are always the best so if you know someone that has had permanent make up done have a good close up look at the work and if you are happy with what you see and your friend gives a good review then the next step is contacting the PM Artist.

If you don’t know anyone that has had it done you will have to find someone on your own. You can call your local salons to see if they know anyone or you can search the internet. If you are getting a referral from a salon make sure it is an upmarket salon with a good reputation.
When searching for your artist the last thing you want to do is shop for price. Obviously you don’t want to be ripped off so it is not necessary to go to the most expensive person you find but you certainly don’t want to go to the cheapest either. Good quality inks and anaesthetics cost money, not to mention needles and all the other consumables. So the best thing to do is phone around and find out what the average cost is to do permanent make up. The more specialised and current the treatment, i.e. Microblading for eyebrows, the higher the cost will be.

Once you have found a few people in the right price range you’ll want to write down all your questions and concerns before making your calls so you don’t forget to ask everything you need to know before making up your mind. Some good questions to ask would be, how long have you been doing permanent make up, how many make up clients do you see in a week ( you’re looking for someone who specialises in permanent make so she must preferably be doing it every day), how long does each procedure take ( you don’t want to be on the bed for longer than an hour and a half maximum per procedure), what pigment do you use (once you get the name do a google search and read up on the pigment), ask if she can send you unedited photos of her work, you can even ask for some contact numbers of other clients she has done so you can get first hand referrals.

Last but not least, listen to your gut. If you walk into a salon or speak to someone on the phone and you get a bad feeling DON’T IGNORE IT. Women’s intuition is very strong, it is our little friend on our shoulder guiding us in the right direction and more often than not we ignore it and get ourselves into trouble. I have had many clients that have come to me with permanent make up disasters and so often they tell me they didn’t feel comfortable with the person but were too embarrassed to leave. This is a permanent, most times irreversible, procedure you are having done to your face. Imagine how much more embarrassed you will be if the job is botched. Rather be embarrassed for 2 minutes and walk out of your treatment if you are uneasy.