Today we’d like to introduce you to Roxanne Crisp.
Roxanne, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As an artist growing up I was always intrigued by both the beauty and tattoo industries. After finishing high school, I decided to start my journey in the beauty industry by working as a freelance makeup artist. A couple years later I attended the esthetician program at Paul Mitchell the School in Costa Mesa, California. There I learned so much about the science and techniques behind skincare which took me into a different direction from makeup to waxing eyebrows. When I realized how powerful a small thing like eyebrows can be for someone’s appearance and confidence, I decided that was all I wanted to do. Over the next few years I continued to work as a brow waxing technician specializing in the rehabilitation of damaged eyebrows. I studied every possible solution to growing eyebrows back, which there are many but unfortunately there is not always a solution. That had me going a bit crazy, so I started researching more invasive hair regrowth techniques and methods. I found a few new trends that had started popping up since the brow craze really started to blow up and become a trend. The one which stuck out to me the most and seemed the most realistic was cosmetic tattooing. BUT as an esthetician and tattoo enthusiast and collector, I have seen many bad face tattoos and permanent makeup.
This made me very cautious when approaching the possibility. I attended a permanent makeup class here in Los Angeles that was promoting a class for “Hair Stroke Eyebrow Tattooing”. They claimed that when you use a single needle and machine you could apply what looks like fine hair strokes to the eyebrow giving a fuller appearance. Well, I had to find out how true this was, so I tried it! and I was right, the hair strokes did not heal as they claimed, the lines appeared thick and bulky. Putting this on the back burner for a few months, I kept researching and eventually found a manual method of eyebrow tattooing which we refer to now as, “Microblading”. With my knowledge and experience, a manual application made much more sense for the face. When I first started to microblade almost 5 years ago, there was little to no information or education on the “new” method of tattooing. This left me no other choice but to figure it out on my own. Luckily alongside my own self learning were a few other girls doing the same thing, we found each other and become friends, helping each other learn by trading notes and experiences. As my client base grew and my work became more and more noticed I decided I should help others out by teaching my methods and experiences. While I was working at a salon in Toluca Lake, I started the Crispy Brows Academy in November 2015. I started to get so busy I was driving myself a bit crazy. Business was growing faster than my own self could keep up with, so I hired my assistant Kirsty who had worked with me at a waxing salon a few years prior. Not soon after that I started sharing my room in the salon with my best friend and fellow esthetician Katie.
Katie came on board with the Crispy Brows brand as an eyelash extension and waxing specialist. I loved her attention to detail and slowly started apprenticing her in Microblading. Once she started taking clients business really started to boom and we were outgrowing our little room. The next step was to open my own studio. With the help of my girls we had found a space. My dream to open my own business finally became a reality in May of 2017 after years of practice, hard work, loyalty and dedication. As of January 2018, the Crispy Brows Studio has a full house of 7 amazingly talented women performing all types of cosmetic tattoos and other beauty services.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not, I struggled on and off for years. Building a clientele for waxing in the beginning became somewhat easy because I was extremely lucky to have gotten hired straight out of school at a very busy waxing studio in West Hollywood. Unfortunately, I have worked for some awful people who are very disrespectful. This affected me negatively which in turn hurt my performance as an esthetician. Not in skill, but with client relations. Impatiently, I abruptly tried branching off to work on my own by renting a small space, but I was not ready to run my own business and it slowed tremendously. I became discouraged so heavily that I applied for a part time retail job. This only lasted a few weeks because going back to retail reminded me that I wanted way more than that. I DID want to own a business, I had just forgotten. I quit the retail job and went back to work for another salon. There I regained my confidence in my work as an esthetician and waxing specialist. I was able to rebuild my clientele and start branding myself. I again found myself under the thumb of someone who shows no respect to the people who work for them, but this time I was patient. I kept my opinions to myself and continued to work as hard as I could. Years later a great opportunity to rent a room at a beautiful salon fall right into my lap. This time, I was ready. I moved into that room and officially became my own boss. The salon had general house rules, be respectful of your fellow renters etc., but you as an individual were your own business. It gave me the opportunity to learn how to run a business properly and was a safe environment to do so because it was only me. I worked alone for a couple years before I realized I needed to hire people I could trust to help me if I was going to grow my business any further.
So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Crispy Brows Studio story. Tell us more about the business.
The Crispy Brows Studio is a tattoo and beauty studio. We specialize in Microblading eyebrows, freckle tattoos, eyelash extensions, Rejuavpen micro-needling treatments, and other cosmetic tattoos. I am the most grateful for my talented and fearless team, they are all so dedicated to their craft and thrive to always learn more and perform the best that they can. I believe it’s our passion in what we do that truly sets us apart.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
That is my favorite part about the beauty and tattoo industries, the trends don’t stop shifting or changing. This allows for us to always be learning and growing, one of the best parts about it all in my opinion.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2728 Griffith Park Blvd, Los Feliz, CA 90027
- Website: www.crispybrowsstudio.com
- Phone: 3109948877
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: crispybrowsstudio
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