Today we’d like to introduce you to Carly Miles.
Carly, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m from a really small area called the Santa Ynez Valley, about 35 minutes north of Santa Barbara. The town itself is only about a block long. The closest, recognizable town is Solvang, a tourist trap. There wasn’t much else but gift shops and bakeries when I was a kid, but now that entire area is just wineries and tasting rooms.
So as you can imagine, a small town girl with big dreams, I had to get out as soon as possible. I’ve always been an art nerd and a major music fan, and when I hit high school and had the itch to see what was outside of my nothing town, Santa Barbara felt like it had it all to me. Music, food options, nightlife, artists everywhere.
My mom was super cool taking me anywhere my heart craved action and allowed me to be so authentically myself. I started wearing all black when I was in 2nd grade, and although she questioned some of my choices later on, she still let me do my thing. Fast forward to my love for music and punk rock culture and fashion…
I somehow fell in love with tattoos really young. I would travel pretty far to find tattoo magazines just so I could see people that looked different and what art could look like, not on a canvas. I got my first tattoo at 16, in my mom’s kitchen as she sat on the couch sorta supportive but totally freaked out. The guy had a business card; I thought it was legit. After that, I started collecting tattoos and haven’t stopped since. It was never a phase for me.
Ironically my love for art and music wasn’t the career path I took; it was financed. I spent about 14 years working in financial aid at various colleges. It was a grind, and I loved it, but towards the end when loan rates were terrible, and I kept seeing people abuse the system, I knew I was meant to do better in this life. I saw this microblading trend happening on Instagram, and I thought immediately that I knew I wanted to do it and that I could be good at it.
I Google endlessly and still couldn’t figure out how I could learn it until I just stumbled upon a permanent makeup training studio. I didn’t feel like I got enough out of it and knew that I could take some of the knowledge I already had about tattooing (after having my body tattooed for the last 15 years), did additional research on my own, took a few more classes and with the amazing help from my friends that are regular body tattoo artists.
I was able to develop my own style and proper way of performing cosmetic tattooing. I fell so deeply in love with it, and I was so focused on my technique, that I didn’t prepare myself for how many lives I could change. I wasn’t prepared for the amazing women I’d meet and how much emotion it took to Tattoo someone’s face. I am so humbled by people’s blind trust in me. I built my business solely on social media and word of mouth.
Growing up in a small town, people have known me for a long time, they trust my character and my talent, and it snowballed from there. I decided to open my studio in Ventura because it was central enough to my hometown up north, and close enough to Los Angeles so I could be accessible to anyone that was interested in me. I will Tattoo until my back gives out or my hands fall off. Making people feel beautiful is a gift I will never take for granted.
Great, 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?
Definitely not a smooth road! Most young people that are new to the industry already had some kind of beauty business or audience. I just wanted only to do cosmetic tattooing and nothing else. It definitely took me longer to build my clientele than most people because I went from a very reclusive life in finance to a very public job where people scream “are you that eyebrow girl?!” from across the street. (That really happened)
So since I was seeing everyone only take up microblading and adding it to their beauty or skin care business. I just thought I had to do more than just eyebrows and put my own twist on how it’s perceived and advertised. I decided to learn to tattoo the full face so I’d have more to offer. I have a lot of friends that do regular body tattooing and although all of them were supportive they didn’t want me in their shops because it was too girlie. Haha
Please tell us about Carly Miles Cosmetic Tattoo.
I am a cosmetic tattoo artist, and I specialize in full face permanent makeup. That includes eyebrows (powder shading and microblading), eyeliner, freckles/beauty marks, and lips as well as tattoo lightening and removal.
I am also skilled in scalp micropigmentation, but I don’t currently offer it. I have just started doing tooth gems also! Real Swarovski Crystals with platinum gold backing, made specifically for your teeth. They are glued with dental adhesive (used for braces) and can last 1 month to 3+ years depending on tooth care but can easily be removed.
I’m most proud of the relationships I’ve built with my returning clients over the years. They really trust me, and it’s fun to see them once a year to catch up.
I think it’s so important to educate clients on what is being done to their face, what tools are used and how the ink will age over time. I have always set the expectation with my clients early on so they are fully prepared for the procedure and what they will experience during the healing process. I treat all of my clients like family and make sure they are comfortable contacting me while they are healing if they need support.
I hear so many clients say that they went to another artist and they couldn’t reach them for questions afterward. If you’ve never had it done, having your face wounded and scabby and itchy is traumatic for some people and in this business, you have to be sympathetic to that. Everything I do to my clients I have done to myself first.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
We had a large wood deck with a hot tub in our backyard growing up, and my sister and I would use it as a stage. We sang and danced for our friends and family and used the shower head from the hot tub as a microphone. We always fought over the microphone.
Contact Info:
- Website: CarlyMiles.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Instagram.com/carlymilescosmetictattoo
- Facebook: Facebook.com/carlymilescosmetictattoo
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