La Bellissima

About Martha

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Greetings! As the owner and sole artist at La Bellissima, I am privileged to welcome you to my website and to have the opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself and my values as a permanent makeup artist and master eyelash artist.

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For most of my adult life, I have been an educator. I received my doctorate in 1994 from PSU. After my children finished middle school, I decided to "reinvent" myself, so I did a complete 180 and went to beauty school. Having received my esthetics and cosmetology licenses, I opened La Bellissima and began offering hair services, facials, professional makeup, spray tanning, waxing, and eyelash extensions. The eyelash extension portion of my business really took off, especially after I became certified in Russian volume lash extensions. Eventually earning five separate certifications in eyelash extensions, I decided to limit my offerings to lash and brow services only. Around 2014, a new enhancement for eyebrows called "Sleek Brows" began sweeping through Europe. No sooner did I become certified in Sleek Brows than yet another eyebrow enhancement started to become all the rage in Asia and then Eastern & Western Europe: microblading.

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When I researched this new phenomenon, I learned that in Oregon, one had to become a full-on tattoo artist in order to do microblading.  This requires 360 hours of tattoo schooling, instruction in the handling of bloodborne pathogens, and first aid & CPR training - unheard of in other states, especially nearby Washington (where I am also a licenses tattoo artist). After mulling it over, I decided to take the plunge and started cosmetic tattoo school in 2016. There is only one type of tattoo license in Oregon, so it didn't matter for licensing purposes whether I studied artistic or cosmetic tattoo, but the latter seemed to make the most sense. I learned eyeliner and lip tattoo, as well as the standard powder brow tattoo. I also spent a little bit of time studying medical tattoo, such as areola repigmentation for breast cancer patients - and it's my goal to offer those services in the future; I just need to complete work on some models. After becoming certified in CPR and first aid, as well as the handling of bloodborne pathogens. I finally became a licensed tattoo artist in June 2017. While I was in tattoo school, I began studying microblading with the world-renowned PhiBrows Academy and became certified as Portland's first official PhiBrows Artist.

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The reason I chose PhiBrows was twofold: I really like the way PhiBrows artists create the hairstrokes in a microbladed brow; the stroke pattern is very natural, using shorter strokes that look much more like actual hairs than what I see in other work. In addition, unlike most other microblading and even eyelash extension programs that award a certificate just for attending a 1- to 3-day course, PhiBrows requires each and every artist to submit their work for evaluation by their master instructor, or even by the Academy's founder, Master Branko Babic. I have been so pleased with PhiAcademy, that I also enrolled in and graduated from their manual shading course (PhiShading).

 

Here is a list of my current certifications:

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1. PhiBrows microblading

2. PhiShading (manual shading)

3. Phi Perfection

4. NPM Areola repigmentation (in process)

5. Brows by Linnie

6. Academy-S Advanced Liner, Brows & Lips (in process)

7. Beauty Angels Silver Advanced Microblade & Shade

8. Li-Ft Removal

9. Needle & Prick

10. Wedge & Wing Eyeliner

11. Lavish Lashes Classic Lash Extension Technique

12. Hilaree Brand, My Brand Lashes, Volume Training Course

13. Irina Levchuk, Lash & Brow Design Academy, Russian Volume Extension Technique

14. Nataliya Morozova, Luxury Lashes, Moscow, Russia, Luxury Russian Volume Extensions

15. Nadia Afanaseva, Eye Design Ⓡ New York, 4 Techniques of Russian Volume

16. Barbicide COVID-19 Certification

17. Milady Infection Control Certification

18. Bloodborne Pathogen Handling

19. CPR & First Aid

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Professional Memberships:

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• American Eyelash Association

• Society of Permanent Cosmetics Professionals

• American Academy of Micropigmentation

• Better Business Bureau (invited A+ member)

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I also run two online educational forums and am working on creating a certificate-level academy in permanent makeup theory.

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Although I had initially wanted to limit my new service offerings at La Bellissima to permanent makeup, there continued to be demand for my lash services.  I still value the reputation I have built in Portland as a master eyelash artist and, as a four-time recipient of the Best of Portland Eyelash & Eyebrow Artistry award, I am proud of the work I have done and continue to do.  I am certified in classic & Russian volume eyelash extensions by 5 different international certifying masters and am a founding member of the American Eyelash Association, a finalist for Lash Magazine, Inc.'s Lash Artist of the Year (in two separate categories), and a contributor to the same publication.