We recently connected with Evelyn Daly and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Evelyn, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
What sets us apart is that our focus is on all forms of tattooing, whether it’s cosmetic like permanent makeup and paramedical tattooing, or traditional like body art. We understand the importance of tattooing, that it is an art form that requires years of fellowship under a mentor in order to succeed. Our industry is a niche combination of body art and beauty, a whole new category in itself, therefore our expertise lies in years of experience in this special field. I have been a cosmetic tattooer for nearly a decade, and within that time I have mastered my craft, which has also given me the opportunity to apprentice and educate new artists in the permanent makeup industry.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I have been obsessed with eyebrows since age 13, and I’ve always known about permanent makeup because my grandmothers both have had their brows, eyes, and lips tattooed. Even though they looked great, their permanent makeup wasn’t my style, I was looking for something more subtle for my own brows. It wasn’t until 2014 when I discovered a new permanent makeup technique called microblading and I was blown away by how realistic it looked. My first thought was, “Finally! Something I can see myself getting done”, and my immediate second thought was “Wait, I think I can do this!” I was already managing a world class tattoo studio at that time and was doing most of the work a tattoo apprentice does, so my background already aligned to this new potential career and it was like a clouds parting from the sky “AHA!” type of moment. Everything fell into place then and there, and I have never looked back.
It is important to understand that even though we are partly in the beauty industry, the backbone of this career is the tattoo industry. Working alongside tattoo artists with a lifetime of experience, I was able to understand how pigment lives in the skin, what the rules and regulations of tattooing are, and more importantly how that pigment lasts in the body over a lifetime. Permanent makeup is tattooing, and all tattoos are permanent. Tattooing is a difficult craft because we depend on the artists before us to teach us about the longevity of a tattoo in the skin and how to apply it so that it remains pristine for the rest of the clients life. The only way to know what pigment does in the human body is to tattoo it and wait for time to pass. This is why experience is key, this is a craft that is not solely learned in a classroom, it is carefully handed down from generation to generation. Being surrounded with the knowledge of experienced tattoo artists and my own love of brows and makeup is what gave birth to this magical career.
At Bolt Brow we offer brow services (microblading, combo brows, powder brows & nano), lip blushing, lash line/eyeliner, and freckles being our most popular picks. We also offer traditional tattoos, areola restoration, SMP and scar camouflage, with a handful of semi-permanent services as well. Trust is key, knowing our clients are in the best hands is what allows us to be a cut above the rest. I am most proud of my clients, the faith they’ve had in me over the years leave me forever thankful. Not to mention that as tattoo artists we are like fine wine, we only get better with time! I am also very proud of my apprentices, their devotion to the craft and understanding the patience that is required to make this career shift and giving it their all is a sense of accomplishment only a teacher can understand. Seeing them flourish in record time brings great joy to my heart. There were so many things I had to learn on my own back then, I had to walk so they could run, and they are sprinting!
Together, our mission is to give our clients confidence and help them live the best version of themselves. Many overlook the need for permanent makeup when it comes to survivors of illnesses or injuries that leave them looking and feeling unlike themselves. Our faces are our moneymakers and even though external factors can take away what once was there, we have permanent makeup to bring us back to ourselves and how we like to look and feel. Not to mention how much time is saved getting ready in the morning! Our motto is wakeup and go, and we love giving everyone a chance at just that. At Bolt Brow you will not only find expert artists, but a beautiful and safe space to celebrate the divine feminine energy that lives inside all of us– yes even men too!
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Word of mouth hands down, people need to see results for themselves. Committing to a permanent service like the ones we offer can leave potential clients feeling a bit nervous about taking the plunge, which is completely understandable. The moment someone meets a Bolt Brow client and not even realize they have had permanent makeup is what gets new clients through our door. Once they see how beautiful and natural our work is, and find out how easy, pain free, and positive our client’s experience was they are sold. Anyone can make a before and after photo beautiful on the internet, with all the photo editing tools out there now it is hard to know what’s real and what’s not. Seeing our work in person is something no amount of marketing can beat.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In the beginning there were no permanent makeup mentors, I was surrounded by incredibly talented tattoo artists, and even though I learned so much from them, they couldn’t show me how to properly map an eyebrow. I had to figure that out all on my own. There were no permanent makeup artists in my area let alone any offering the newer PMU techniques, no one to shadow or ask questions, we had nothing in the beginning. Through trial and error I slowly but surely perfected my skills and continued to pave the way for PMU. (Shout out to all my friends who let me practice on them in those early days). After a couple of years of tattooing eyebrows I had to move to a completely new city (thank you husband) and had to build up my clientele again from zero. This was a major set back for me, but again theres only one direction and that is forward! I knew in my heart this was something that was needed in the thriving city of Philadelphia, after all it was something that had completely upgraded my own face– there had to be others out there looking for a solution to sparse eyebrows like I was. I apprenticed at several traditional tattoo shops over the years, after year five I felt confident standing on my own two feet and opened a full service cosmetic tattoo studio. My objective was to focus on PMU and be the leading experts in the industry instead of diluting our talents by offering every beauty service imaginable, I wanted something specific and special. As a Latina business owner I am proud to say that Bolt Brow is the first and only permanent makeup studio in Fishtown, a flourishing and welcoming community we are so lucky to be a part of!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.boltbrow.com/
- Instagram: @evy.boltbrow @boltbrow
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boltbrow
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evelyn-daly-b17305266
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@evy.boltbrow
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bolt-brow-philadelphia
Image Credits
Brian Hexter @hextermination