Today we’d like to introduce you to Alysha Tucker.
Hi Alysha, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I was 20 I was managing a well-known LA restaurant, and it was a really stable job, I had been working with the company for several years, and it was a very comfortable spot to be in, especially at my age. I wasn’t passionate about it, but I was comfortable and financially stable, but I knew I didn’t want to work there for the next 20 years, and I was feeling burnt out. One day randomly, I was offered the opportunity to be an assistant manager at the tattoo shop I frequented, I decided to take a leap and take the job part-time.
It was a high-end, woman-owned tattoo shop in West Hollywood, and all the artists (but one) were women, so it was a really empowering and fun experience, like being at girl’s summer camp, but with tattoos instead of campfires, even though I almost accidentally managed to set the shop on fire at one point.
I was working full-time at the restaurant and still working at the tattoo shop for a few months, and I had never been happier, the more I stepped away from the restaurant, the more I realized I had to get out of there and figure out my passion and what I really wanted to, managing restaurants wasn’t going to be the end of my story.
I’m a really creative person, and I’m a bit all over the place, I hate structure, and managing was literally all structure, all corporate, and no creativity. I was going back and forth for weeks thinking of cosmetology school because of how much I loved beauty and makeup. In High School I was “the brow girl”, like how every school had the piercing girl who would secretly pierce people in the bathroom at lunch, that was me, but with brows. I always had someone asking me to thread their brows at lunch.
I was searching up local cosmetology schools when a random ad popped up for Microblading and Cosmetic Tattoo classes. It was like a light bulb went off and everything in that moment came full circle and made sense, this was the course for me. I fell in love with permanent makeup in that exact moment, the moment was actually really surreal, I felt like I drank 5 Redbulls, it was like I just knew that this was it.
I’m a very chaotic yet calculated person, taking risks wasn’t really my thing, but that day I just felt like I had figured out my purpose and knew I had to commit to it and make it a reality or I would be too scared to take the leap later. I quit my stable job at the restaurant that same day I found the ads for the microblading and permanent makeup classes.
Looking back, I think my family genuinely thought I went crazy when I told them what I did that day, it was so random and irresponsible. But I did it, and my life’s pretty much revolved around permanent makeup ever since, and I’m grateful I took the risk and trusted my gut to open my own business. I now have two studios, one in West Adams, Los Angeles and the other right outside the Valley, in Santa Clarita, Valencia.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a crazy journey to say the least. I got certified a little less than a year before COVID started, so right as I started trying to get my business in order, get everything legally set up, and start taking models everything got shut down.
I probably saw a handful of clients before the shutdowns, tattoo studios were closed about a year or so in Los Angeles, and we kinda got forgotten about I think.
During that time the tattoo shop I had worked at was forced to close, and I found a new studio to work at once the restrictions were lifted, however, that shop was still in construction. Covid pushed back construction for months, and nobody even came to inspect the studio to open for close to an additional six months.
I was stuck, a new artist and business owner who had only a handful of clients under their belt. It was about 2+ years I was set back, with no idea when I would actually really get to get started.
I was having to develop my skills and continue to learn how to become a better artist and train myself with no real guidance or proper mentorship, I felt lost.
At the time, I had only taken 1 class, and one class isn’t really enough for new artists, you don’t develop the proper skills or really have a deeper understanding on PMU after one class. It’s difficult to develop your tattoo skills on your own without additional guidance or training, but its also just as hard in this industry to find someone who wants to mentor new artists and guide them, most trainers actually don’t have much experience in the industry and are just looking to make a quick buck off new artists.
It’s a really tough industry to break into and grow in, adding covid in the equation made for a really difficult journey.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Blush Baby Los Angeles?
As I continued working in the industry, I started navigating more towards Lip Blushing which actually made me change my business name to Blush Baby Los Angeles, which seemed like the perfect fit. Lip Blush is a subtle way to enhance your lips. Lip Blush is another PMU service like Powder Brows or Microblading, where I add a pop of color to your lips, think of it as a semi-permanent lip tint. I use shadows and illusions with how I shade in the cosmetic tattoo to make lips appear fuller, more symmetrical, and defined. I also offer Lip Neutralizations which is the art of neutralizing darker pigments within a person’s lip to shift the color lighter or to make uneven pigment within the lips more even and one color.
Lip Blush has become my most booked service, and is my specialty, and definitely what I’m most known for at this point. I love doing brows and have other services on the way, like Microchanneling and fine-line tattoos, but Lip Blush has my heart.
My “Watercolor” Lip Blush (sheer, opaque natural looking lips that heal like a tint, with little to no outlines.) and “Contour/Ombre Lip Blush” (think Kylie lip kits but without the overlining) are my most requested services when it comes to Lip Blush.
My aesthetic is really making everything look natural while enhancing it, and I think that’s why people gravitate toward my work and the techniques I specialize in. Traditional Lip Blush is more of a thicker lipstick look, but it typically looks really heavy and unnatural, which isn’t really my style. I think my emphasis on natural results really sets my business apart.
I think I’m currently most proud about beginning my training academy and offering Lip Blush classes to teach and guide new artists looking to start their journey. After having such a rough journey myself and understanding how hard it can be to find a mentor and even a training program that is the real deal, it pushed me to create something special and something that will actually develop strong new artists in this field. I’ve invested so much time developing this training program and have put so much love into it, I can’t wait to begin this journey of teaching new artists and offering them an opportunity to make their dreams a reality. I am so passionate about lip blush and permanent makeup as a whole that this experience to train new artists properly and give them the knowledge, skills, and support they need to succeed means the world to me. I’m grateful to have made it to the point in my career where I feel like I can give back the helpful knowledge I’ve learned and help teach new artists.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My biggest blessing was taking my most recent class with Selena Georgianna, owner of LA MicroBrow. When I took an advanced brow class with her, I didn’t have a mentor, I didn’t have a full business plan, I didn’t even have a studio, I didn’t really have anything at the moment other than anxiety and a shaky business plan.
As I mentioned previously, it’s so hard to find someone to guide you in this industry and to have the desire to want their students to succeed, but Selena is that mentor.
As soon as I stepped into her studio, I felt an instant connection to her and felt like I was finally in the right place. She genuinely wants her students to succeed and it shows. That single class not only further developed my skills, but the support she’s given me and the impact it’s had on me and my career is invaluable.
I’m beyond thankful that I found her and her class; it came at just the right time in life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blushbabylosangeles.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blushbabyla/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/blush-baby-los-angeles-valencia-3
- Other: https://squareup.com/appointments/book/0a1iw69jtha7b8/LFGPDSEHK6SBN/services
