Apprenticeship only
$700/month
Twelve months. For artists who already completed their fundamental training.
1-Year Permanent Makeup Apprenticeship
$700/month, or $15,400 bundled with the 100-hour class
an in-house payment plan is available for this course. how it works
A one-year program for artists who want to master the business behind permanent makeup, not only the technique. You practice on real models, learn to produce natural healed results, and get guided through applying for your PMU license.
Apply Now Call (781) 853-8063
What Does the 1-Year Apprenticeship Cover?
The apprenticeship covers five areas: advanced live-model practice focused on natural healed results, client consultation and simulation, marketing and positioning, day-to-day business operations, and preparation to apply for a PMU license. It is not a second certificate. It is the year that turns a trained beginner into a working artist.
- Advanced practice on live models, with the focus on natural, healed results rather than day-one photos.
- Client simulation, consultation, expectation setting, and the conversations that decide whether someone books.
- Marketing and positioning, so you attract high-value clients instead of competing on price.
- Business training for running the practice itself.
- License preparation, hands-on hours, documentation, and guidance through the application.
Everything is taught step by step, which is the point: the alternative is a year of trial and error on paying clients. Each area builds on the last, since positioning and business training only make sense once healed results are consistent.
Inside the Apprenticeship Year
Twelve months of supervised practice at the Peabody academy, on live models and real cases.
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Who Is the Apprenticeship For?
The apprenticeship assumes you already have fundamentals, from our 100 Hours Fundamental Class or from equivalent training elsewhere, and is the right next step for three specific situations: inconsistent healed results, a strong portfolio but an empty calendar, or wanting supervised hours before working alone.
Your healed results are inconsistent
Some strokes fade, others turn patchy, and it is hard to tell whether the cause was depth, pigment, or skin type. You learn the specific adjustments that make outcomes predictable, working on live models rather than guessing on paying clients.
Your work is good but the calendar is not full
Lowering prices is the common reflex and the wrong one. Positioning is what changes the kind of client you attract, and it is taught alongside consultation skills so the two reinforce each other.
You want supervised hours before working alone
An apprenticeship-style year means you finish having already worked on real people with someone correcting you in the room, rather than learning those lessons later on a paying client with no one to ask.
How Is the Apprenticeship Different from the 100-Hour Fundamental Class?
The 100-Hour Fundamental Class teaches five permanent makeup techniques over nine days; the apprenticeship is a twelve-month program that assumes you already know the techniques and instead builds the business and supervised-practice skills a working artist needs. Most students take the fundamental class first, then the apprenticeship.
| Aspect | 100-Hour Fundamental Class | 1-Year Apprenticeship |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | Learning five PMU techniques from zero | Business, consultation, and supervised practice |
| Format | 9 days, in a small group | 12 months, ongoing |
| Prerequisite | None | Fundamentals, from us or elsewhere |
| Credential | AAM-accredited certificate of completion | No separate certificate; license-application guidance instead |
| Price | $7,000 alone | $700/month alone, or $15,400 bundled |
Someone who has never held a machine should start with the 100 Hours Fundamental Class instead.
What Does the Apprenticeship Cost?
The apprenticeship costs $700 per month for twelve months if taken alone, or $15,400 when bundled with the 100-Hour Fundamental Class. Both options use an in-house payment plan rather than the Cherry financing offered for client services.
100-Hour Training + Apprenticeship
$15,400
- $1,500 deposit to secure your seat
- $1,500 on the first day of class
- 20 bi-weekly payments of $620
Training tuition uses this in-house payment plan. It is separate from the Cherry plans offered for permanent makeup services.
Does the Apprenticeship Give Me a PMU License?
No. The apprenticeship prepares and guides you toward applying for a PMU license, but the license itself is issued by the state or town where you intend to work, not by the academy. Requirements differ by location, so meeting them is your own responsibility.
Massachusetts has no single statewide body art license: M.G.L. Chapter 111, Section 31 gives each town’s Board of Health the authority to write its own permanent makeup rules, so a permit in one Massachusetts town does not automatically transfer to another. New Hampshire licenses at the state level under RSA 314-A, and the Town of Salem, NH additionally licenses under its own Chapter 433.
The apprenticeship gives you hands-on hours, documentation, and guidance through whichever application applies to you, but it cannot issue, guarantee, or expedite a license. Confirming the exact requirements where you plan to work is your own responsibility.
Who Teaches the Apprenticeship?
Adriana Souza Santos teaches the apprenticeship personally. She has worked in the beauty industry for over 20 years, beginning her career in Brazil before opening her U.S. business in 2017, and holds Diamond Certified Trainer status with the American Academy of Micropigmentation.
Adriana has trained more than 300 students and performed over 5,000 procedures herself. She teaches in both English and Portuguese.
Adriana’s Academy operates as the educational division of Adriana Beauty Services, Inc., at 39 Cross Street, Suite 206, Peabody, MA 01960, a space reserved for students only.
Frequently Asked Questions
You need working fundamentals in permanent makeup technique, either from our 100 Hours Fundamental Class or from equivalent training elsewhere. The apprenticeship builds on those fundamentals rather than teaching them from the beginning.
Yes, at $700 per month for twelve months, if you already have the fundamentals in place. Students who need the fundamental training first usually choose the $15,400 bundle instead.
Not automatically. You still need to meet the licensing requirements of the specific town or state where you plan to work, which the apprenticeship helps you prepare for but cannot issue on its own.
The apprenticeship is a structured twelve-month program covering business, consultation, and supervised practice. The VIP Masterclass is private one-on-one training built around one student’s specific level and the technique she wants to learn or refine.
Yes. Tuition uses an in-house payment plan with a deposit followed by scheduled payments, separate from the Cherry financing offered for permanent makeup services to clients.
The apprenticeship runs $700 a month. It is the longer path: a year of supervised practice rather than an intensive, built around advanced model practice, client simulation, and the business side of working as an artist. The 100-Hour Fundamental, at $7,000, is the shorter and more structured alternative.
The apprenticeship is already billed monthly at $700. The 100-Hour Fundamental uses the same in-house payment plan; Cherry covers permanent makeup services, not tuition.
Adriana Souza Santos, AAM Diamond Certified Trainer, the American Academy of Micropigmentation’s highest instructor level, with more than 5,000 procedures across 20+ years and over 300 students trained. Supervision happens in person at the Peabody studio, in English or in Portuguese.
The two are separate paths and the right one depends on where you are starting. Bring that question to the consultation: the academy will tell you honestly which fits, rather than selling you both. The VIP Masterclass exists for exactly the cases that do not fit either standard format.
At Adriana’s Academy, 39 Cross Street, Suite 206, Peabody, MA, which is the training division and serves students only. No client procedures happen at that address; client work stays at the Wilmington, MA and Salem, NH studios.
Start Your Apprenticeship Year
Tell us where you are in your training and we will tell you honestly whether this is the right next step.
Apply Now Call (781) 853-8063Who Is This Training For, and Who Is It Not For?
This is for you if you want a year of supervised practice rather than an intensive, and can commit to $700 a month over that period.
It is not for you if you need certification quickly, the 100-Hour Fundamental is the shorter path.
What Should You Check Before Paying for Any PMU Course?
Six things are worth verifying with any permanent makeup school: who actually teaches, whether the certificate is accredited, whether it licenses you to work, how much live-model practice you get, what the price covers, and where the training happens.
| What to check | What to ask any school | The answer here |
|---|---|---|
| Who is actually teaching | Ask for the instructor’s name and credential, not the school’s. Many schools sell a brand and hand the class to someone else. | Adriana Souza Santos teaches, and holds AAM Diamond Certified Trainer status, the American Academy of Micropigmentation’s highest instructor level, with 5,000+ procedures and 300+ students trained. |
| Whether the certificate is accredited | Ask which body accredits the certificate, and confirm that body exists and recognises the school. | The 100-Hour Fundamental is accredited by the American Academy of Micropigmentation. |
| Certificate against licence | Ask whether the certificate lets you work legally. A school that lets you believe it does is selling you a problem. | It does not, and that is stated plainly here: the certificate is training. The licence to practise is issued by government, town by town in Massachusetts, at state level in New Hampshire under RSA 314-A. |
| Hands-on practice on live models | Ask how many live models you work on, and who supervises while you do. | The 100-Hour Fundamental is 9 days with practice on live models under supervision; the apprenticeship is a year of supervised practice at $700 a month. |
| What the price covers | Ask for the total, and what is not in it. | $7,000 for the 100-Hour Fundamental, $700 a month for the apprenticeship. The VIP Masterclass is quoted per student because the scope changes. Tuition can be split through our in-house payment plan (a deposit, then scheduled payments); Cherry covers permanent makeup services, not courses. |
| Where the training happens | Ask for the training address, and whether clients are treated in the same room. | All training is at 39 Cross Street, Suite 206, Peabody, MA, students only. Client procedures happen at the Wilmington and Salem studios, never at the academy. |