Cosmetech Jan/Feb 06

Richard with his
mother Toni, who
encouraged him to
try his hand at
permanent
cosmetics.
Richard Victor, Forest Hills, NY
by Debbie Jensen
R
ichard Victor has been an artist for over 10
years having received a Bachelor of Fine
Arts from Long Island University in
Brookville, NY as well as having studied at The School
of Visual Arts, Fashion Institute of Technology and
Pratt Institute, all in New York City. With formal
training and a strong natural eye for both design and
color theory, Richard translated his artistic talents to
make-up and permanent cosmetics.
Richard Victor never leaves home without his tweezers.
Should you be the friend with an eyebrow hair out of
place, he’s going to get you, or your eyebrow that is.
This self-professed eyebrow obsession began early in his
10
life. There
was
just
something
about
the
eyebrow that drew his attention, stirred his emotion,
made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Unkempt eyebrows were a matter he would take into his
own hands. He would show these people he could make
them look fabulous! And so it was, Richard became
known in downtown Manhattan as “the guy” to shape
and pencil on eyebrows, transforming woman after
woman into the beauty queen he knew she could be.
Owned by his mother, Toni, Richard works his magic at
salon La Rage’, in the small village of Bayport, NY. He is a graphic
designer by trade, with a degree in fine art, a secret passion for
eyebrows on the side. His mother encouraged him to learn
permanent cosmetics, knowing that he would have “the stuff ” to
take his eyebrow obsession to the next level. His mother was right.
He enrolled in training. His program included 60 hours of
instruction and experience with the rotary pen and hand tool. He
chose the hand tool and set up shop at La Rage with his mom.
Richard was eager to get started. It didn’t take long for the word to
spread. He admits that most of his work comes from word-ofmouth. Richard explains, “My mother is 50something years old. She is very beautiful
and other women trust her beauty sense. She
is an incredible sales-woman and sends me
many women, especially from her own age
group.” At the start of his career, Richard
went and visited all the salons in his area with
his portfolio and offered a 10% discount for
new referrals. He created an ad for the local
newspaper. No one came from that ad, with
the exception of the woman who placed the
ad for him. Now he relies exclusively on
word-of-mouth, his ability to do good work
and his mother and sister’s ability to sell it. They both have
permanent makeup done by him.
only proud of him because he's my son, but also an asset to my
salon,” says Richard’s mom, Toni.
Known for his natural enhancements, Richard maintains a personal
style that he describes as very subtle. “I’m not afraid to turn people
away.” he says, “Earlier in my career I was afraid to turn people away.
I wanted to please everyone. Now, I tell them that I have to be
comfortable with what I do, as well as make them comfortable with
what I do. If I’m not comfortable with the makeup they are
requesting, I turn them away.” He uses an example of a woman who
came to him early in his career; “This woman came in who had
penciled her brows on for many years in a
design which was very rounded and harsh for
her face. I suggested other treatment options,
softening her look, etc. She insisted on the
same design that she had previously been
wearing. I made the mistake of letting her tell
me how to do my work. For a long time,
when she would come into the salon, I felt
uneasy about her eyebrows. I did not like
how they looked on her. Fortunately, she
recently asked for a touch up and took my
advice on design. I was able to soften the
brows and she looks much better now.”
Richard continues, “Tomorrow I have a woman coming in who
wants a turquoise blue or jade green eyeliner. I will try to convince
her to go with a soft brown or a brown with those under-tones in
them. If she does not take my suggestion, I will probably turn her
away. I don’t even have green pigments in my box, as that is not my
style. I have to be comfortable with what I’m doing. I do naturallooking work. That is my specialty.”
“I have to be comfortable
with what I’m doing.
I do natural-looking work.
That is my specialty.”
“My son Richard was always an artist. He always had the gift of
creativity. Being a salon owner for many years I see trends come and
go, but permanent make up is the most practical. I think Richard has
natural talent to bring out the beauty in women without being overly
made up. My clients think that he is a perfectionist, talented and a
very special person. They do nothing but praise his work. Clients
look in the mirror and are so excited that their make up is on and it
looks so natural and perfect, What can I say? He's the best!!! I'm not
I asked Richard what his concerns and frustrations are in his practice.
“My biggest frustration comes from trying to convince the client
that her makeup will not look the same in a few days as it does on
Examples of Richards work: Before, immediately after and healed photos of eyebrows done by Richard Victor using the hand tool.
Jan / Feb 2006
11
Before and after eyebrows
the day of the procedure. They never believe me at first. So,
when they first leave the appointment, I have a nervous
feeling. I try to replay in my mind the many phone calls from
women who call later to say I was right, the makeup faded and
they love it now,” he says. “But I’m always wishing for a way
to get them to believe me from the beginning!” He also
expressed concern about his pictures. Being a graphic artist, I
assumed his portfolio would be awesome. To that he stated,
“My portfolio is pretty good, but my pictures are a challenge.
I do a lot of videos for the web and it’s not the same as print.
I’ll do a procedure and think it’s really great work, then I look
at the picture and think, wait, that picture could be better!”
Richard also expressed concerns on matters of legislation. “I
think that there should be standardized testing for technicians,
like in the beauty industry. I don’t think we should be
regulated by the medical industry, or the beauty industry, but
by our own industry. We’re the ones who have experience with
this! It’s not a medical procedure
and it’s not a beauty procedure.
We should have boards that
make up people from our own
industry.
We
recently
encountered some bad PR here
in New York when a newspaper
article compared technicians
performing eyeliner procedures
to people who do tonguesplitting! What kind of
comparison is that?” he
exclaimed.
As a three-year veteran to the
industry, we feel that Richard
Victor will be one to keep an eye
on. His website originally
caught
our
attention
( w w w. r i c h a rd v i c t o r. c o m ) ,
particularly his eyebrow work.
Looks like he might be the next
big thing. We’ll have to wait and
see, but you’ve sure got our vote,
Richard. We wish you much
success. C
Reprinted permission Cosmetech Magazine. Visit
us online at www.cosmetechmagazine.com or call
866-515-5878
12
Richard in his treatment room.
The drawing on the wall behind is one of
his original pieces.