How My Clients Gave Me Hope, Even as the Pandemic Upended the Tattoo Industry
This story is part of [our series](https://www.allure.com/story/covid-effect-beauty-industry] exploring the ongoing pandemic's effect on individuals and businesses in the beauty industry. Bethany Wolosky, a cosmetic tattoo artist at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn, NY, shares her perspective from one of the hardest-hit cities in the world.
From "The Brow Artist," February 2018: "Your forehead is Bethany Wolosky's canvas, and if you give her a shot, she'll change your life with a pair of spectacular, incredibly precise brows, any way you want them. (Plus, she's always available for yearly touch-ups.)"
I work at a tattoo shop doing cosmetic tattooing — mostly eyebrows and freckles. Right before New York was put on lockdown, the owner of the shop decided to close — essentially he gave us until the end of the week. I did my two days worth of appointments and then stopped, and started to call and reschedule my clients.
All salons and spas and tattoo shops are different, but where I work, at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn, we're all independent contractors. Essentially we work for ourselves and pay the shop for use of the space. Since we aren't employees, we weren't able to [initially] apply for unemployment, but I think we can now under the new legislation. [Ed note: Independent contractors who are not traditionally eligible for Unemployment Insurance may qualify for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance under the federal CARES Act.] I haven't — I've been living off of my savings. My savings strategy is just being a really frugal workaholic Capricorn. [Laughs] I work a lot and try not to spend a lot. Also, I'm not Ubering to and from work, not ordering out, I'm cooking at home, I'm not going out drinking.
I'm lucky that I've been able to save some money, but I know that's not the case for everyone. I'm also lucky that I have a lot of appointments. I've had to reschedule over 50 to 60 appointments, which has been stressful: Trying to individually contact each of them, not knowing if we're able to open. All of my clients have been super-understanding. Usually, I book six to eight weeks out. I'm slowly moving all of my March and April appointments to the end of May and June, hoping we'll be open by then.
It's been so surprising how many of my existing clients have been ready and willing to go through with their appointments [later]. It's given me confidence that I won't be too financially affected when this is over. As crappy as this situation is, they're looking forward to getting back to the real world, to doing things that make them feel good about themselves. I thought it would be a lot more difficult to reschedule and get people booked, but it seems like people are really happy to continue supporting me.
We don't know what this is going to do to the economy. People might not have money to get the beauty services they got a month ago, two months ago. At the end of the day, cosmetic tattooing, tattooing in general, is a luxury service when people have the extra money to do it. If you've lost your job or blown through your savings, it may not be at the top of your priority list. It's always a worry that I might not be booking as much as I was before.
That being said, me and my friends cannot wait to get all of our beauty services. I can't wait 'til I get my lashes done. My friends who are hairstylists are like, "This sucks, but we'll be so busy when the lockdown lifts." In the meantime, I've been purchasing tutorials from other cosmetic tattoo artists to see how other people do the same job as me, looking for a trick or a tip that makes my life easier. It's all useful information. Everybody does their job slightly differently. No better time to learn than sitting at home.
As told to senior beauty writer Brennan Kilbane. To learn more about Bethany Wolosky or to see her work, you can visit the Three Kings Tattoo website or follow her at @highheelslowlife on Instagram.
Read more from this series:
Now, take a moment and watch this woman's joy as she shaves her head for the first time:
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Originally Appeared on Allure
