Today we’d like to introduce you to Deepa Berar.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Deepa. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Hi, I’m Deepa! I’m a cosmetic tattoo artist in San Diego. I first got my start as a makeup artist and hairstylist 15 years ago. I’m originally from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, which is a suburb close to Toronto. All I dreamt of in life was becoming a makeup artist and working at MAC Cosmetics. After finishing makeup school, I got to realize that dream! While working at MAC, I also started working as a makeup artist for a local news station. That was definitely one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. For ten years, I got to make people TV ready for the news and morning show, which was like a dream come true. As if that wasn’t enough, I even got to go on air and do live beauty segments! Sharing my knowledge with viewers was so fun and pushed me to face fears of public speaking. While all of this was happening, I launched my blog and YouTube channel, sharing makeup and hair tutorials with viewers around the world.
Three years ago, I suddenly lost 70% of my hair within the span of five months. At the time, I had a six-month contract with a hair company as a brand ambassador. By the time I was creating my last video for them, I had to use my cousin as my model. Having no idea what was going on with my health and what to do was so incredibly scary. I’ve always been pretty resourceful, so I tried my best to put the fear and depression and anxiety aside and did a TON of research on my condition- Alopecia. Through research, experimenting and diligence, I discovered a natural way to reset my body and stop the hair loss and even grow my hair back!
I’ve always felt a strong need to help others, so I decided to share what I did and learned with the viewers on my YouTube channel and to my surprise, so many people reached out about their hair loss! Just like that, I had found my purpose in life- to help others going through hair loss/autoimmune disorders.
While all of this was going on, I was going through a long-distance relationship and travelling back and forth between Toronto and San Diego. After marrying my love, I made the permanent move to San Diego and when thinking about what to do out here with my makeup career, it hit me one day- why not start Microblading and Scalp Micropigmentation?
After all, it combines the best of both worlds- makeup and hair loss. So I launched my career as a cosmetic tattoo artist or PMU artist. Nine months later and we have a beautiful studio in Bay Park and a full calendar of clients! Truly, blessed to get to do what I love for a living.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has not always been a smooth or easy road; there have definitely been a lot of struggles along the way. I’ve always been a firm believer in if you can dream it, you can do it, but you’re going to have to sacrifice a lot and work really hard to make it happen. The way I see it is if it were easy, everyone would do it. So I’ve always jumped on every opportunity that came my way. You never know where you’re going to end up, but if you don’t try, you won’t get anywhere.
There were many times when I was exhausted but had to find a way to push through. I remember working a full-time job, two part-time jobs and still getting up super early to edit videos, bring my laptop to work and fit a blog post in on my break. Travelling back and forth between Toronto and San Diego and constantly settling into a new place and a new routine only to have to go back. Starting a brand new career and building a business in a new country was definitely challenging.
So no, it has not always been an easy road, but if you want something bad enough, you have put your big girl pants on and push your way through it.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Cosmetic tattooing or permanent makeup, as it’s also known, is a method of tattooing pigment into the skin. It differs from traditional tattooing as it is implanted into the upper layers of the skin, which allows us to use pigments that are more natural, stay truer to color and give much more natural-looking results. While it has been around for a while, it is still relatively new to North America and the growth within the industry has been so exciting to watch! Clients are getting everything done from their eyebrows to eyeliner all the way to scar camouflage.
Currently, I’m specializing in hair loss. For the brows, it’s commonly known as microblading. Through this, we can add color to the brows to mimic the look of makeup, draw on individual hair strokes or do a combination of both. Scalp micro pigmentation is the process by which we implant tiny dots of pigment into the scalp to replicate the look of hair follicles. The idea that you can give a person the appearance of a full head of hair is so exciting and so fulfilling. I’ll be adding more services soon like scar camouflage where you can minimize the appearance of scars by making the color of the scar closely resemble that of the client’s skin.
Previously the only things that people had were makeup or hair fibers, which they would have to reapply daily or expensive treatments like hair transplants which a lot of people could not afford. This is my opportunity to help people find long term solutions to feel better about themselves.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think if anything the industry will only grow in popularity as more people have permanent makeup procedures performed. Innovation will lead to many more services being added to the mix. Experience will give artists the capability to provide clients with very natural, realistic-looking results. It differs from traditional tattooing because it isn’t permanent, so you have the capability to change your looks as trends change, but it’s also permanent enough that you don’t have to worry about putting on your eyeliner or eyebrows every single morning. It’s all about convenience and time. I believe permanent cosmetics will be just as popular as hair or nail salons in no time and I for one am so excited to watch the growth of this industry!
Contact Info:
- Address: 3007 Clairemont Dr., Suite 13
San Diego, CA
92117 - Website: www.deepaberar.com
- Email: info@deepaberar.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/deepaberar
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/deepaberar
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/deepaberar
- Other: http://www.youtube.com/deepaberar
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