Is a Nano Brows Class Ideal as Your First PMU Training?

In my opinion, no.

Nano hairstrokes performed with a machine are one of the trickiest permanent makeup brow techniques to master—especially when you’re starting with absolutely no previous PMU experience.

And here’s where things get interesting: nano brows have some major advantages over traditional microblading.

Machine hairstrokes can be suitable for a wider range of clients than hairstrokes created with a manual microblading tool. When performed correctly, nano hairstrokes can also create less trauma to the skin because instead of creating a continuous cut with a blade, the machine implants pigment through a series of tiny pixels. Nano strokes are also known for creating softer more natural healed hairstrokes than Microblading.

So if nano brows have all these advantages, why haven’t experienced microblading artists everywhere simply thrown away their blades and switched completely to nano?

Or at least, why haven’t they all already added nano brows to their list of services?

Because creating beautiful machine hairstrokes is a lot harder than it looks.

Plenty of experienced microblading artists (and even experienced powder brow artists) have tried transitioning into nano brows (or tried adding it to their list of services) only to discover that creating clean, consistent, crisp hairstrokes with a machine is an entirely different skill.

Now think about that for a second.

If an artist who already has plenty of experience working with living tissue, understands skin, pressure, depth, hairstroke patterns, and knows how to use a machine for shading, if they can still struggle to create good nano strokes, why would we expect a complete beginner—with no microblading experience AND no machine experience—to pick up a machine and immediately master one of the most technically demanding brow techniques?

Don’t Let Anyone Throw You to the Wolves

Start with the fundamentals first.

Learn manual microblading and machine shading.

Get comfortable working on skin. Learn how pigment behaves. Learn proper depth. Learn how different skin types respond. Learn brow mapping, color theory, hair stroke patterns, needle control and how healed results differ from what you see immediately after the procedure.

Then train in nano brows.

Will nano still be challenging? Absolutely.

You’ll still have to work hard to master machine hairstrokes—but you’ll be learning an advanced technique with the advantage of an existing foundation instead of trying to learn an advanced skill completely from zero.

Starting your PMU career with nano brows is like starting a complicated video game on the highest difficulty level before you’ve even learned the controls.

Why make this harder on yourself than it already needs to be?

Look at the Artists Teaching Nano Brows

Don’t just take my word for it.

Find some reputable artists producing beautiful nano hairstrokes today and scroll all the way back through their older work.

Look at what they were doing before they became known for nano brows.

You’ll commonly find years of experience with techniques such as microblading, powder brows and combination brows before they developed the machine control necessary to produce beautiful nano hairstrokes.

Now do the same thing with the nano instructor you’re considering.

What techniques did they learn first?

How many years had they already been doing permanent makeup before they started producing the nano work you’re admiring today?

That history matters.

You shouldn’t compare the work of an instructor with years of foundational PMU experience to what a completely new student can realistically expect to produce without learning the fundamentals and easier techniques first.

You Need More Than One Technique Anyway

There’s another major problem with learning only nano brows as a beginner:

Not every client is a good candidate for hairstrokes.

As a PMU brow artist, you should eventually understand multiple techniques so you can recommend what is appropriate for the person sitting in front of you—not simply recommend your favorite technique or the only technique you know how to perform.

That’s why I believe a well-rounded brow artist should eventually understand skills such as:

• Hairstrokes 

• Machine shading

• Combination brows

• Color correction

• Saline removal

Machine shading is especially important.

Even if your ultimate goal is to specialize in nano brows, there will be clients for whom hairstrokes aren’t the best option. If shading isn’t in your skill set, you’re limiting both the clients you can safely work on and the options you can offer them.

And What Happens When Your Own Work Needs Correcting?

This is something beginners don’t always think about.

You’re not only learning how to create beautiful brows on virgin skin. Eventually, your own clients are going to come back for touch ups and their skin won’t be virgin anymore.

And your first work isn’t going to be perfect.

Depth is one of the hardest things for new artists to master. Work too superficially and pigment may disappear. Work too deeply and hairstrokes can heal blurry, ashy or gray.

Even experienced artists can struggle with depth.

So what happens when one of your own clients comes back with hairstrokes that healed too cool or gray?

You need to understand color correction and machine shading.

You can’t properly address every correction by simply adding more hairstrokes over compromised hairstrokes. Sometimes adding more strokes only makes the brow heal even more gray than what it already was. 

Saline Removal Is Another Valuable Skill

Saline removal is another useful procedure for a brow artist to understand.

Mistakes happen—especially while you’re learning.

Maybe a stroke accidentally extends farther than intended. Maybe a small area needs to be lightened or removed. Knowing what options exist when something goes wrong can make a huge difference in how you handle those situations professionally.

Your goal shouldn’t be to pretend you’ll never make a mistake.

Your goal should be to develop enough knowledge and skills to know what to do when something doesn’t go according to plan.

Looking for Your First PMU Brow Course?

Before enrolling in any permanent makeup training, don’t choose a course simply because they’re going to teach you your favorite technique. Or because the instructor’s fresh work looks beautiful.

Look deeper.

Look at their healed results. Look at their students’ work. Look at what techniques are actually being taught. If you’re interested in learning nano brows, make sure they’ll also teach you the other fundamental techniques as well. Look at the support you’ll receive after class. And most importantly, ask yourself whether the course is designed to build a beginner’s foundation—or sell a beginner an advanced technique because it’s currently popular.

If you’re trying to choose your first PMU brow training, click here to read my detailed guide on how to choose a good PMU brow course.

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