Beautiful You started in 1997 as a nail salon. At the time I opened, my three children were attending elementary school. I wanted to work, but I also wanted to be a full time mom when they were home. Going into business for myself gave me the ability to do both.
I knew this property was special when we first toured it; a dental office in one half and a living quarters in the other. I saw the potential the spacious office had to accommodate multiple services, and the ample living space was able to accommodate my family. This building truly gave me the ability to be a full-time mom and full-time owner/operator simultaneously.
In 1998 I purchased our current building.
In 2004 I decided to explore other service areas and I went to California to start my training for certification in electrolysis because there is no licensing for electrology in the state of Pennsylvania. After completing my electrologist training, I enrolled at Dectro International in Canada for other types of electrolysis and laser services. As my service menu began to grow, so did my client list. Expanding seemed like the next logical step.
With the number of new clients I was receiving, it seemed appropriate to continue my electrology studies to better serve a broader community. I took the National Boards through the American Electrology Association in early 2010 to confirm my status as a CPE.
The new clients kept coming, and because I was in the bigger space, I decided to grow my service menu. In the second half of 2010, I chose to continue my education and enrolled in Gold Laser Institute (now Canadian Laser Institute) to complete my certification as a laser technician. GLI is where my interest in skincare really blossomed. With a growing service menu, my client list also began to grow. My laser service menu attracted not just people looking for hair reduction, but many clients came to me looking for post surgical scar correction and skin rejuvenation.
Skincare continued to fascinate me and there were so many avenues for me to explore, and that exploration took me back to cosmetology school to obtain my Pennsylvania Esthetics License. I had numerous clients undergoing chemotherapy and I was researching services to offer them while they were receiving cancer treatments. When I received my license in 2012, I completed my oncological skin care certification, and my business changed forever.
As an oncological skincare provider I was seeing an increase in clients undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Many of these clients had reconstructive surgery and were looking to have 3D areola reconstruction. With a comprehensive background in dermal anatomy and an education on removing pigment, I started to research the tattooing process to achieve the realistic nature of areola re-pigmentation. I wanted to better serve my breast cancer survivors and clients looking for scar correction or camouflaging. To better understand paramedical tattooing, the depositing of pigment into the skin, color theory, and scar correction, I decided to take a course in permanent makeup.
Initially, I had no interest in performing permanent makeup services. Not all of the clients I was seeing for oncological skin care were breast cancer patients, and many were interested in permanent eyebrows. Requests for other permanent makeup services were also growing, and I decided to oblige. I have always loved makeup and considered it my favorite hobby, so it was an easy transition from paramedical tattooing to permanent makeup. I had no idea that permanent eyebrows would end up being my most sought after service.
As products and devices became more targeted for permanent makeup, new styles and techniques started popping up. I began enrolling in every class I could access. I trained under permanent makeup educators from the United States to Europe, Asia and South America and alongside some of the best permanent makeup artists globally. As I grew in the field, so did my network of colleagues, which continued to open doors. Eventually I became a member of the Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals.
In 2016, I was offered a fellowship with the Taurus Medical Group – American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. The A4M is a group of medical professionals who use education to better serve their patients. I graduated from the program with Practitioner Certification. This certification gave me access to seminars and conferences I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to attend. At one specific conference, I participated in a presentation on performance coaching, and it changed my perspective on how I could consult and help my clients. I got involved with Source Point Training, at first as a client, and eventually as a Certified Performance Coach.
2022 marks my 25th year in business. I am currently licensed to operate in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and California. Education remains my top priority, and I am constantly enrolling in courses to sharpen my skill set and stay up to date with current trends and new methods across all of my service areas. My future goals are centered around education and training other permanent makeup artists. The more permanent makeup corrective clients I see, the more I see the need for better hands-on classes across the industry. Providing current and future permanent makeup artists with a comprehensive training program to improve the quality of their work is something I’m passionate about.
