Five years after losing her eyebrows at age 40, Nina Tran and her husband Tony Moda are opening their third permanent makeup shop, and first in the Dayton area.
The new studio at the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek offers microblading, a tattoo-style permanent makeup application that uses a blade with 18 needles to draw one hair stroke. It’s the same service Tran got in California to replace the eyebrows she lost. Now Tran has permanent eyebrows, eyeliner and lip color.
Would you ever get permanent makeup? (don't worry it does fade over time)
— Holly Shively (@hrshively) October 1, 2018
“I felt 29 years younger,” she said. “It changed my face instantly.”
The microblading technique can be used for eyebrows and bald scalps. Determining the eyebrow shape and placement is a science consisting of a metal tool that finds the golden mean and technology that draws lines to determine spacing, Moda said.
»RELATED: Kroger’s new clothing line debuts in stores today
The duo also offers eyelash extension, needle-induced wrinkle removal, scar treatments that “wake up” the cells and permanent eyeliner and lip treatments.
“It builds their confidence and makes them feel so much better,” Tran said. “If they’re willing to do it, that means they’re willing to change their lives.”
To help customers decide whether they’ll get a treatment, Phi Ink is also adding technology into the mix, where customers will be able to see what they would look like with permanent makeup, a “Snapchat for beauty,” Moda said.
BIZ BEAT: Beavercreek shopping center showing sign of a ‘renaissance’
Tran said customers don’t have to worry about how aging will affect their permanent makeup. It’s “permanent” because it can’t be washed off in any way, but it will start to fade after a year or so.
Each treatment to maintain the semi-permanent applications is half price. She estimates that the original service will cost around $550 each.
Tran and Moda first started the business when they discovered a demand for permanent makeup in Lima, where both were nail technicians. Tran traveled to Austria, Serbia, Vietnam and California to learn from four different experts before opening her first Phi Ink Studio in Lima three years ago.
She and Moda opened a second shop in Lima last year and opened their Beavercreek store on the second floor of the Mall at Fairfield Commons beside JC Penney last week.
»RELATED: Sears closing at Fairfield Commons Mall, new stores announced for space
“We are excited to welcome Phi Ink Studio Academy and their unique beauty services which complement the products and amenities our guests can find at The Mall at Fairfield Commons,” said Dawn Mader, marketing director at the shopping center.
Since she started the services in Lima, Tran has worked on over 800 clients between age 16 and 90 years.
“I always try to make myself better and better every day,” Tran said. “That’s the reward to me.”
The studio is also an academy that teaches other cosmetologists how to perform the application. Moda said he’s taught between 30 and 40 students since he started.
FIVE FAST READS
• WWE’s Starrcade coming to Cincinnati
• Elder-Beerman’s website relaunched with similar brands
• What to know about the amusement store moving into Beavercreek's Sears
•What's killing Sears? CEO says pensions
• Tipp City luxury home built by German Baptist crew for sale
About the Author