Daria Kruchinina: a brow stylist training and obtaining a license in the USA

The makeup artist and brow stylist. She moved from Krasnodar (Russia) to New York. She has worked with top models and prestigious fashion and beauty brands. She has collaborated with the leading world and Russian magazine: Vogue, L'Officiel, Nylon Spain, Rose & Ivy, Tatler Russia.

“Brow technician, Barbicide and other dirty stories” – this could be called the new Tarantino film, but this is just a trailer for the reality of the beauty industry in the United States.

Working in Russia, I did not think about licensing. There, you care more about the image, training, certificates, real skills, and materials, but not about the state number in the frame at the workplace.

About working as an eyebrow artist in America: this profession equates to cosmetics and esthetics training.

Simply put, you can be a make-up artist without a license (it is not required), but you cannot remove a single hair from the client’s face or body with any tools: scissors, thread, tweezers. If you are a brow artist, welcome to the schools of cosmetology and aesthetics, where for an amount of 6 up to 35 thousand, they will teach you …

… will teach you what a brow artist will only need 5-7 percent in work: basic knowledge of skin and facial structure.

The training of brow stylist in America

I will say right away: there is no lash & brow training in cosmetology schools. Working according to the standard scheme for determining the highest point of the eyebrow, working with tweezers and one dye, which is the most popular and available in the United States, is not a very good approach.

Therefore, they often go to study to a specific technician, and not to school. The school is only needed to get a license.

The number of hours of study (like the amount per course) differs from state to state. For example, in California, you need to successfully unlearn 1600 hours in a cosmetology school, while in New York – 1000.

Often you have to learn how to do a manicure, style your hair, and carry out depilation simply because these items are in the exam. Fair? In my opinion, this is a strange teaching system that does not provide knowledge in one specific subject. For such an amount of money, it is unreasonably expensive and sad.

During the exam, you will have to pass a written test, consolidate, and demonstrate your knowledge on the model. But the most interesting thing is that every three years, it is necessary to renew the license (it is easy to do, through an online site such as “government services”) without confirmation of the increase and passing new courses. That is why we often catch ourselves thinking: “Well, how do they do it? It is the last century! But in our country… “

About US sterilization regulations

According to law, a brow stylist must:

Clean the tool from visible waste particles under running water (clean & sanitize),
Clean metal instruments in an ultrasonic bath,
Disinfect instruments by placing them in a clear glass container containing disinfectants. Often it is Isopropyl Alcohol% 70, or Barbicide diluted 1: 4 with water. By the way, an independent laboratory has confirmed that barbicide kills Covid-19.
Tools must be in a container with disinfectants for at least an hour.

After that, the instruments are dried and stored in a closed UV box for at least 45 minutes. These are the official guidelines of the healthcare website.

Here is an official quote from the manufacturer of the Barbicide: “Sterilization is the killing of all microbial life and requires an autoclave and is mainly used in healthcare.”

In their opinion, thermal sterilization is necessary only if you are a doctor or directly related to work in the health care area.

For me, this is a sad story since I still buy kraft bags and sterilize tweezers for the added convenience, health, and trust of my clients.

I have come across the fact that many clients merely do not understand “what kind of brown tweezers bag.” Then I talk about the advantages of additional sterilization, and they come back to me with “dirty stories” of manicure and pedicure technicians, for example 😅

Brow technician insurance

In the United States, the beauty industry feature is that it is always necessary to “play it safe,” and sometimes even to be insured in the literal sense. There are special insurances for workers in the creative and beauty sectors. Insurance minimizes work stress and the risk of getting a subpoena.

For example, four years ago, in one of the most famous salons in SoHo [South Houston is one of the most expensive districts of Manhattan districts, popular with celebrities and fashionable people], I witnessed further litigation. The technician dropped the spatula with an eyebrow wax (it fell on the client’s face, half-covering her eyebrows and eyelashes). They had no wax remover in their salon, and the woman’s scream echoed throughout the building. After four months, I found out that the salon paid her compensation of 75 thousand dollars + coverage of all medical bills, and the technician lost license forever. There are now two options for the technician: move to another state and study again or change the activity field.

They can also be subpoenaed for an allergic reaction or for a paint that lasted three days instead of declared 10.

What do I personally do for my peace of mind?

I make out professional insurance;
I work only with adequate clients;
I make an appointment through a prepaid website. The client reads the terms and conditions and indicates that he agrees with all possible risks (allergies, individual reactions), the duration, and the cost of the procedures. A separate mandatory item is a warning about the withdrawal of the remaining amount for the procedure in case of no-show, cancellation, and delay.

Here’s an interesting insight I found myself: if you do it cheaply, no one will use your services. Americans are adequate to the average and higher cost, but the low price scares them away. What can not be said about the word “free”: so I have models for “free” eyebrows dyeing for a month in advance!

I sincerely wish each technician work to look like a romantic, light, and enjoyable comedy ❤️