World-leading permanent make-up artist teams up with York College to co-deliver exciting new course

Antony, who was recently crowned a World Leader at the World Micropigmentation Conference and Awards Conference in Dubai, will be passing on the expertise he has acquired during a distinguished 13-year career in the industry.

On completing the course, meanwhile, students will receive a VTCT (iTEC) Level 4 Certificate in Micropigmentation with Antony Turner – a qualification that will ensure they meet proposed new Government regulations and are legally permitted to practice as permanent make-up artists.

Antony also offers “lifetime mentorship” to all graduates of his course, which will start on Monday February 24th with six weeks of theoretical pre-learning.

Materials for that period will be supplied by Antony who, along with York College tutor and recent graduate of his course Caroline Botsaris, will then oversee six days of practical tuition and assessments from Monday, April 7th to Saturday, April 12th.

Antony will provide a start-up kit for all students, too, with sufficient stock to complete all the case studies needed on the course, as well as one year’s business insurance.

Throughout the qualification, learners will prepare for and achieve a range of non-medical, aesthetic micropigmentation effects on the brows, lips and eyeline, as well as providing the relevant aftercare.

Students, who should have completed a beauty-related Level 3 qualification to be accepted on to the course, will be required to work on their own models to put together a portfolio of evidence that demonstrates assessment standards have been met.

Tuition will also include Marketing and Social Media Management modules while students will benefit from discount codes for major permanent make-up suppliers, as well as for conferences and award events.

Places are limited, so anybody interested is advised to act quickly with the cost of the course £6,000, which represents a 25 per cent discount on the amount Antony normally charges for his training tuition.

Outlining why he has chosen York College as an educational partner, Antony said: “The size of the college and reputation that the place has really appealed to me. The building is impressive, as are the salons, with hygiene standards that are first-class, which is very important.

“It’s a very clinical environment and that’s the first impression you get when you walk into the salons.”

Antony started his business in micropigmentation from the back bedroom of an apartment he lived in at the time, as he created a working space with wipeable surfaces.

He also did plenty of networking with salons during those early days but will offer students the chance to rent a discounted space at his Leeds-based clinic.

Added to the experience he can pass on about the industry’s pitfalls, he is hoping to give the course graduates a real head start in the profession – with the most talented potentially being recruited to help ease the workload burden of an eight-month waiting list for his services.  

“I think people who do this course will set off months, if not years, ahead of where they would be otherwise, because I’ve made the mistakes already over the past 13 years, so can advise the students on what not to do and what to avoid,” he reasoned.

“When I trained, I didn’t get any mentorship, so I offer lifetime mentorship, which sounds a bit unrealistic but, quite often, I’ve found, with people that I have trained, that they don’t really need me three or four years down the line. It’s normally the first six or eight months of working in the industry that people need that troubleshooting support.”

Antony has welcomed the imminent legislation, meanwhile, that will prevent under-qualified permanent make-up artists from working in the sector.

“It’s very important that the industry is regulated,” he declared. “There was an issue during Covid – not necessarily with permanent make-up but tattooing in general – where people were going online, buying their own stuff and tattooing people. They were charging for their services, but didn’t know what they were doing.

“Even though permanent make-up will fade away eventually, to get rid of it straight away, if you don’t like it, requires laser treatment, so there needs to be regulated training and qualifications. It’s no different to a driving test because you can’t just get in a car and off you go.”

Antony’s work has now received more than 500 five-star reviews on Google and he has judged and demoed at multiple conferences in London and Dubai.

He is also a Brand Ambassador for world-renowned permanent make-up artist Tina Davies, who he has developed pigments with and collaborated with for his own online course that attracted clients from the United States, Canada and various other countries worldwide.

On how rewarding the career pathway he has chosen can be, when allied with a strong work ethic, Antony said: “If you have an attention to detail, are artistic and like working with people, it’s great because you’re basically making people happy every day.

“I had a lady the other day who, for an unexplained reason, had lost all her hair and, after I did her brows for her, she was overcome with tears of happiness, so it’s a very rewarding job because you’re making a difference.

“It can be very varied work as well, as everybody is looking for something different when you’re drawing on their face.”

Commenting on the exciting new partnership, York College Hair & Beauty Curriculum and Standards Manager Karen Goodman said: “We are so pleased to be working with Antony on the delivery of this new course which, along with his amazing pledge to provide lifetime mentorship, will equip students with everything they need to forge a career in the burgeoning micropigmentation industry. 

"It is vitally important that anybody wanting to practice as a permanent make-up artist is fully regulated and, as a College, we regard it as our responsibility to ensure that is the case by providing the most comprehensive education for our students in this field of the beauty industry. Numbers on the course are limited, though, so please act quickly to secure your place.”

For full information about our VTCT (iTEC) Level 4 Certificate in Micropigmentation with Antony Taylor and to apply for a place please visit here

To learn more about Antony’s work, click here

You can also meet Antony and ask him any questions at our next Open Event on Monday, February 10th (5.30-8pm). Register your place here