FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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Semi Permanent Makeup is an invasive skin pigmentation technique that is commonly applied on eyebrows, lips and eyeliner area with the use of semi permanent makeup needles or microblading blades. 

Nano Brows is a recent SPMU technique becoming popular amount younger clients due to its slightly longer lifespan compared to Microblading and also modern patterns used.

Nano Brows technique is applied on the eyebrow hair area with the use of an SPMU machine and needle.

Nano Brows is often referred as Machine Hairstrokes or Korean Nanoblading where eyebrow hairs are drawn one by one with the use of an SPMU machine and needle, as opposed to a blade with microblading.

There are fever nano brows patterns in the market compared to microblading, We, at GMA, are teaching the most popular nano brows pattern in the market, at our Nano Brows Training courses.

Lip Blush SPMU, aka Lip Blush, is a semi permanent makeup technique applied on the lip area, above the wet-line with an SPMU machine and SPMU needle.

There are a few different SPMU techniques associated with lips, such as: Ombre Lips, Lip Liners and Dark Lip Neutralisation.

Lip Blush treatments are becoming popular as they are slowly replacing lip filler applications due to their less invasive nature. A fuller, more symmetrical lip and a clearly defined cupids bow can easily be achieved even with a single session of lip blush semi permanent makeup treatment.

Dark Lip Neutralisation is a new SPMU technique that is changes the dark background tone to lighter tones, such as pink tones. This is a lengthy treatment (3 to 4 sessions) that would last for at least 2 years plus. 

Microblading is one of the popular semi permanent makeup techniques available in the market for several years. 

Microblading is applied where the eyebrow hair is located (or supposed to be located) with the use of microblading blades. 

Microblading is often referred to as Manual Hairstrokes where simulated eyebrow hair (hairstrokes) are drawn one by one by scratching the skin using a blade, microblade, by hand.

Multiple microblading patterns were created by SPMU artists over the years. Some patterns are easy to to master, some are not. Most importantly, some microblading patterns are preferred by clients and some are not. At GMA we offer our students the best of both worlds; popular and easy to learn microblading patterns.

Ombre Brows is a semi permanent makeup technique applied on the eyebrow hair area with the use of an SPMU machine and needle. A gradient of a colour tone (often shades of brown) is applied on the eyebrow area to reflect a "pencilled makeup" look.

Powder Brows is an alternative SPMU shading pattern that simulates a powdered eyebrow makeup look. Powder Brows results in an overall dotted pattern which simulates a "dusted & powdered" makeup as opposed to a "pencil shaded" look.

GMA Ombre Brows Training course teaches both Ombre Brows and Powder Brows SPMU techniques.

Combination Brows is a semi permanent makeup technique applied on the eyebrow hair area with the use of microblading blades and/or a digital SPMU machine. 

Combination Brows combines "Microblading and Shading" or "Nanoblading and Shading" techniques achieving a natural look compared to only microblading or ombre brows. 

Learning Combination Brows is essential for covering up discoloured and/or uneven eyebrow tattoo applications, often referred as "Blue Brows" or "Red Brows".

We offer two Combinations Brows courses at GMA; "Manual Combination Brows Training" and "Machine Combination Brows Training" that teaches Microblading, Ombre Brows, Powder Brows and Combination Brows or Nanoblading, Ombre Brows, Powder Brows and Combination Brows respectively. 

Lip Neutralisation is a Lip Semi Permanent Makeup Technique.

Lip Neutralisation is a fairly new technique that changes the darker background tone of the lip area to lighter tones, such as pink or nude tones. 

This is a lengthy treatment (3 to 4 sessions) that would last for at least 2 years. 

Hyperrealism Brows is fairly new name used in the semi permanent makeup industry. 

The name "Hyperrealism Brows" promises a more realistic final look compared to microblading, nanoblading or ombre brows techniques. Unfortunately this usually is not the case. When looked closely, the result of a Hyperrealism Brow application is often identical with the result of a Machine Combination Brow application.

There are some artists/academies that push more elaborate hairstroke patterns into their work, to make this new name to look like a brand new SPMU technique. Please keep in mind that "Hyperrealism Brows" is not a new SPMU technique.

Hyperrealism brows is essentially a Machine Combination Brows technique (which GMA already teaches) where Nanoblading (Machine Hairstrokes) and sometimes a form of shading is applied together.

Your clients, almost always, would like to achieve a natural looking SPMU end result rather than a modern art piece on their face.

Please inquire our Combination Brows Courses to master one of the most popular brow SPMU techniques that creates a highly realistic eyebrow SPMU result, a.k.a. Hyperrealism Brows now.

Eyeliner SPMU is a semi permanent makeup technique applied on the upper or lower eyelid just on the eyelash line, above the wet-line. 

This aim of this technique is to enhance the look of the eyelash area, making the lash area seem fuller, that is why this technique is often referred to as Eyelash Enhancers.

This is a sought for treatment, especially by clients over 35.

Although eyebrow SPMU techniques, such as microblading or nano brows, seem to be the common answer, we recommend you to consider learning as many techniques as you can, such as Lip Blush and Eyeliner SPMU.

Offering multiple SPMU techniques right at the initiation of your business will surely increase your revenue per client, over time, with no additional advertising costs. 

As your existing clients realise how convenient their mornings became by having a combination brows treatment, some will start considering lip blush and eyeliner treatments, just to waking up with the convenience of having makeup.

Offering multiple techniques will establish your business as the go to clinic for semi permanent makeup treatments and influence your business professionalism and desirability positively.

As a business owner, it is always a good idea to add services to your business and increase your revenue streams.

The short answer is yes, offering semi permanent makeup treatments is a profitable business. 

SPMU is one of the highest paying beauty services, considering the per hour spent and low consumable costs of the treatments. It's fairly easy to start a licensed & insured business with small investment capital and ongoing costs, compared to the services offered in the beauty industry.

We have witnessed that professionally managed SPMU businesses stayed buoyant during COVID and the cost of living crisis, showing excellent resilience to two consecutive economical hardships that the world has seen yet.   

Microblading or other SPMU services are exceptional careers that a complete beginner can take up as a growing side income, full time job or a lucrative addition to the services that an existing beauty clinic is already offering.   

Semi Permanent Makeup training and certification would open the doors of your business for higher paying beauty services.   

A 2 hour microblading, nano brows, powder brows, combination brows, lip blush or eyeliner SPMU treatment starts from £250 and can go up to £400 with gained experience.

The answer is No. Prior training, experience, qualification or certification is NOT necessary to attend and complete any of the SPMU training packages we offer.

The answer is yes, as long as you also complete the following 2 legal requirements:

1) You must acquire a Business Licence from the local council you are planning to operate at.

2) You must purchase a Public Liability Insurance from an insurance provider.

Completing the above 2 steps, after you complete an SPMU training course, will allow you to offer semi permanent makeup services legally in the UK. You cannot offer SPMU services in the U.K. if you do not have a license and public liability insurance. 

Legal requirements may be quite different for our International Students.

Semi permanent makeup licensing requirements of local councils do vary and can prove being not only time consuming but also costly. 

We highly recommend you to review the requirements of the council you are intending to operate at, before reserving a course with any SPMU academy. These requirements are often found at the website of the local council, under "Business Licensing".

We recommend our International Students to investigate their local requirements, which may be enforced by local or nationwide laws at the country they are intending to operate at. 

GMA SPMU Courses are insurable by Insync Insurance in U.K. and internationally accredited by IFBC. 

Please review our Terms & Conditions for details.

Professional SPMU artist application quality can be achieved in 3 to 4 months, with daily practices and using our support system, which is included in all of our training packages.

Our semi permanent makeup training material is designed for complete beginners, ensuring that our students grasp a clear understanding of the foundation and application of the chosen semi permanent makeup technique(s) on a real person, leaving the course confident and well informed. 

This approach applies for microblading courses, lip blush courses, ombre brows courses, combination brows courses and eyeliner courses. 

Expecting perfect SPMU application results immediately after the classroom sessions and guided case studies is not realistic. Getting better will take time, that is why ongoing support and unlimited amount of visits to the academy has always been a part of GMA spmu courses. 

We recommend our graduates to allow 3 to 4 months, along with daily practices and using our support system, to achieve excellent applications results.

GMA semi permanent makeup courses take place at our main training centre located at 6 Crown Brentwood/Essex CM14 4BA. This is the only location that GMA SPMU training courses are offered.

We may not be close to where you live, but most of our students with long commutes preferred to stay at nearby hotels located within walking distance to GMA SPMU Academy. The common feedback we receive from our students is; staying at a hotel for the duration of the course allowed them focus on the topics better. 

Please feel free to contact us for hotel recommendations around our academy.

Our one to one SPMU courses take place daily, including Sundays. 

Please contact us to find out about the availability of a specific SPMU training package.

Detailed information on how to book a course can be found here. 

The fees of our SPMU Training courses are listed here. 

Detailed information on how to book a course can be found here. 

We do not offer finance, instalment or Buy Now/Pay Later payment options due to the following reasons:

Completing an SPMU course does not cover all costs associated with being able to offer SPMU services. 

Upon completion of your course, you will likely face further immediate and ongoing costs, such as licensing, insurance, advertising and consumables, that must be taken into consideration before you can start offering SPMU services. These costs could be substantial in some cases.

Some academies offering  "Finance" or "Buy Now/Pay Later" payment options, would prefer not to mention this fact, which could be devastating for an SPMU graduate if the funds needed to support the business, is not there.

Please keep in mind that a financed (finance/instalments/buy now pay later) training option will cost you more overall. Also roughly 80% of small businesses fail within the first 12 months and the second most common issue is cash flow issues (*Source: Forbes).

Please budget your initial and ongoing business costs well before you decide entering the SPMU Industry. You will most probably need some savings put aside to be able to cover the costs of your business at least for 6 months.

We do go over the initial and ongoing costs and how to effectively minimise them during our "Business Setup" session at our SPMU courses.

Yes, our courses are offered as one to one, private, face to face session at our academy. Please contact us to find our current available dates for our one to one SPMU courses.

If you have a target training date or week, please feel free to let us know this too, we would be happy to check our availability and try to meet your target date. 

We do not offer Online SPMU Courses for one simple reason: it does not work.

Learning, in its simplest form, can be defined as the transfer of information and experience from one individual to another. 

Unfortunately video tutorials or online training modules remove the teacher out of the learning process. Although you can go back and forth in a video, a single training scenario is recorded in the video and you can't ask questions, get feedback or instant correction on your work from a video file. 

Lack of a teacher providing live feedback on your work during a semi permanent makeup training session, significantly decreases the quality of transferred experience hence the overall semi permanent makeup training.

In our 16 years of SPMU training journey, we were lucky enough to test every training method under the sun and realised that online courses, video tutorials or thick documentation were not enough to fully transfer our experience to our students. That is why we do not offer online SPMU courses.

ALL GMA SPMU courses and case studies takes place face to face, while student and teacher sharing the same physical classroom.

We prepared a 3 step checklist in the hope that it would help you choose the best semi permanent makeup course or academy.

1) What are the credentials of my SPMU teacher?

Find out the full name, picture, evidence of previous work, period of treatment and training experience of the teacher who will train you. 

Established academies would make this information openly available on their website without the need for you to ask. If you are not immediately seeing the name and picture of the person who will train you and her/his credentials on the website of an academy, this should be considered as a red flag. Some academies may even resort to hiring inexperienced SPMU artists just for the day of your course.

The more experienced your teacher, the more experience she/he is likely to share with you. 

Experience comes with time. It is widely accepted that 10.000 hours of experience is the bare minimum to master a new skill. This means that your teacher should have a minimum of 8 years of active SPMU training experience (not only as an SPMU artist). 

Gina Lee, who teaches all of our SPMU courses personally, has 17 years of traceable active SPMU training experience. She is also an SPMU Certification Judge since 2012 at IFBC.

2) How many graduates does the academy have?

Established academies will openly share this information on their website as this would be in their best interest, reflecting positively on the training experience of the academy in question.

Lack of this information should be a red flag.

3) How well did graduates do after completing their SPMU courses?

Expecting immediate success from every single graduate is not realistic but if the academy in question is operating long enough with a good track record, there must be a natural string of evidence of successful graduates. 

Established academies would share the work and success of the graduates openly as this would be in their best interest.  

If you are not seeing this information openly, it's probably because there is none. 

We hope the above helps you in choosing the best SPMU academy!

GMA SPMU Academy Ltd does NOT have any representatives or branches in any country.

GMA SPMU Academy Ltd. is registered in United Kingdom and all our courses take place at United Kingdom. All reservation and/or payment communication must take place either from +44 (0)7 505470075 or academy@ginaspmu.co.uk there is no other path or form of communication.

All of the payments in relation to reserving a training course (or paying a balance or paying for SPMU products) must be made via bank transfers to our UK Bank (details are always shared after the training dates are agreed) or via our online store or website, if the payment is going to be taken from a card.

Only GMA SPMU Academy Ltd. and its directors are authorised to take payments on behalf of GMA SPMU Academy Ltd. No other person, company or entity located in United Kingdom or the rest of the world, is authorised to take a payment (or payments) on behalf of GMA SPMU Academy Ltd.

All payment communications of GMA SPMU Academy Ltd. are handled via +44 (0)7505470075 or academy@ginaspmu.co.uk or from the deposit payment link found at our website.