We were lucky to catch up with Monika Salazar recently and have shared our conversation below.
Monika, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
The very first time I saw the term “microblading” and what it was, honestly, was on Instagram. I was working at a studio doing full body waxing and I specifically remember waiting in my wax suite between guests with one of my coworkers aimlessly scrolling, when I saw it. I’m pretty sure it was an ad or sponsored post about microblading. As a couple years went by at the waxing studio I started to notice a lot of my clientele were people asking me to wax and shape their eyebrows. Brows seemed to dominate my mind. I thought about the microblading post for so long and even vented about it with some of my regulars who all encouraged me to research and learn more! I found an Aesthetics Academy here in Austin that offered a microblading course and started the enrollment process. After that class, I received my first certification for tattooing and started working on brows immediately!
I think if I were to start from the beginning again I would focus on color theory and techniques from the jump. It’s the basis of everything, for every client, for every service. When I first started, I was taking courses to get certified in as many services that I could offer. Granted, you typically do get a little bit of color theory with a new service training but not as detailed as a course strictly about color. I’m not someone who studied art growing up so getting into color theory later in my line of work came up because I was getting frustrated that I didn’t fully understand how the colors I was using were reacting differently for everyone. A couple years back I focused a whole year to training more in color theory. I took multiple courses, online and in person, I started playing with colors on my own, mixing and matching, downloading exercises from the Internet, etc. It was definitely the more challenging aspect of PMU for me but it made me appreciate the art and process so much more now.
Within the past 3 or so years I’ve had the opportunity to attend more classes, network at events, and learn from top PMU artists at conventions. A lot of the people I’ve worked with in the beauty and tattoo industry have also challenged my knowledge to help me grow, it’s great having like-minded people around you to push you to try different things and excel at something you didn’t think you would. From little things like learning the ins and outs of your tattoo machine to learning vast color theory in the skin.
Monika, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m from a Military household in Killeen, TX and always wanted out to a bigger city. With the Military we were always traveling so it was only natural to me that I wouldn’t want to be stuck in a small-town mindset. I made the move to Austin on my own in 2015 and had no idea of what I would be doing. I had previously taken Cosmetology courses for 2 years in high school but when I graduated I knew immediately that I wanted to do something beauty related but I really didn’t want to do hair. I started at ACC with a Business Management degree just to get the ball rolling. I always had the idea of having some sort of business as a spa, salon or whatever it may be, so I was hopeful that business management would kick start me. As I finished at ACC and gained more friends, a lot of the girls I was starting to hang out with were already working as Estheticians. One friend in particular I had started to bond with worked in Med Spas for a long time and I thought it was the coolest job ever. We talked about it quite often as my curiousity grew and she was the one who gave me the nudge I needed to go back to school to get my license. I went to Avenue Five Institute and graduated in 2017.
I started as an Esthetician mainy doing waxing and later on, lashes. I loved both jobs equally but still wasn’t feeling content with what I was doing. I started my PMU journey in 2019 and have been in love with it ever since. Combining my passion for makeup and tattooing into one. Now I get to offer Microblading, Powder Brows, Lip Blushing, and Freckle tattoos! I think what can set me apart from others is my minimalistic approach. My main focus isn’t to completely change something about someone but to make them love what they already have again. Bringing those brows back to life and making those features pop. I believe each feature of a person makes them unique and beautiful, so I love creating brows and lips in different shapes and sizes. Everything about you from your bone structure to your makeup routine makes you different from the next person; I don’t want to give you “those” eyebrows, I want to give you YOUR eyebrows.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I want to travel! A goal of mine is to be have the right amount of exposure to be able to travel through different cities. There’s always opportunity to offer services to a wider range and learn from more artists. Companies and programs have PMU conventions for working and seminars for growing, just like body tattooing and other arts! Artists are building a bigger community for our industry and it’s getting more familiar with people in different countries.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I find changing the perspective of something by altering it with your design really satisfying. At home I really enjoy things like decorating, DIY, and painting, too. With PMU you can enhance someone’s features by creating more definition or color and the same goes for a piece of furniture that you painted. It has new life!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.browswithmonika.com
- Instagram: @browswithmonika
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrowswithMonika