How does one reach the international level in the permanent makeup industry? Where does it begin? Perhaps with a beautiful Instagram feed? Perhaps with participation in a championship — or even with one major victory?
To discuss this, we invited Svitlana Levytska, an international-level permanent makeup artist, speaker, trainer, and judge of world championships. Her journey in the beauty industry spans 22 years, ten of which she has dedicated specifically to permanent makeup.
Her list of achievements includes victories at such well-known industry championships as WULOP and ETALON. At both competitions, Svitlana won first place in the “Lips” category. And these victories are not only about technical mastery. They are about something more — in particular, competitiveness on the global stage and the ability to maintain a consistently high professional standard.
We ask Svitlana to complete the sentence that begins with the words, “The international level in the PMU industry is…” She immediately picks up the thought and says: “It is the ability to think not in terms of technique for the sake of technique, but in terms of the result that remains on the client’s face for a long time.”
Svitlana Levytska is an expert in modern permanent makeup techniques who began her career in Ukraine and later worked in several regions of Italy, as well as in Poland and Austria. In 2024, Ms. Levytska immigrated to the United States, where she continued what she had started in her home country: learning and teaching colleagues, organizing master classes, preparing artists for championships, and practicing, practicing, practicing.
Svitlana’s signature approach is built on the combination of three components. The first is aesthetic, the second is technical, and the third is analytical, which involves an individual analysis of the client’s appearance. Ms. Levytska is convinced that only this approach can create a result that not only looks beautiful, but also enhances a person’s facial features and remains consistently harmonious after full healing.
“The international level in PMU is not simply the ability to create perfect brows, lips, or eyeliner enhancement,” says Svitlana. “An artist must understand facial anatomy, color theory, skin types, age-related changes, client psychology, and the limits of their own intervention — in other words, they must be professionally mature.”
Step One: Discipline in the Fundamentals
The first step toward the international level is discipline in the fundamentals.
“Many artists want to move quickly to signature methods, complex techniques, and high-profile appearances,” says Svitlana Levytska. “But it is the foundation that distinguishes a strong specialist from a random participant in the market.”
A precise hand position, stable pigment implantation depth, understanding of the healing process, and the ability to predict color after skin regeneration — all the elements that shape a professional reputation — were skills she learned from some of the best specialists in the industry. Svitlana’s mentors on this path included such well-known PMU gurus as Elena Osennyaya, Sviatoslav OTCHENASH, Lidia Gudasova, Yuliana Drujynina, Natalia Yovchik, and others.
Despite this strong professional school, Svitlana Levytska continues to improve her qualifications, closely follows industry trends, enhances safety standards, and keeps track of competition requirements, which change from time to time.
Step Two: Developing a Signature Style
“The international market is not looking for copies. It values specialists who have a recognizable aesthetic but do not impose it on every client,” Svitlana calls this one of the key trends in the industry. She says that a strong artist is not the one who creates the most noticeable result, but the one who knows how to emphasize a person’s individuality.
Svitlana herself specializes in powder brows and the hair-stroke eyebrow technique, as well as lipstick-effect lip pigmentation with a 3D effect, ombré, and watercolor lip techniques. A separate chapter of her practice is working with complex cases, including alopecia and vitiligo.
Step Three: Participation in the Professional Industry Environment
“Championships, conferences, judging, educational programs, and international collaborations give an artist not only status but also professional validation,” shares Svitlana Levytska. She has repeatedly served as a speaker at international championships, including Ukraine’s BROWISTA in 2024 and the American ETALON in 2025.
Since 2024, Svitlana has been regularly invited to serve on the judging panels of world-class industry events: VSELENNAYA, WULOP, InterGlow, and the Worlds PMU & Microblading Championship Miami.
Drawing on her international experience as both a judge and championship participant, she notes: “The international level in PMU is also impossible without ethics. We work not only with a person’s face, but also with their self-esteem and trust. Selling a procedure under any circumstances? Absolutely not. Taking responsibility for the consequences? Yes, that is truly what defines an international-level specialist.”
Finally, we ask Svitlana to express her most valuable experience in one sentence, and she answers: “Learn from the strong, compare yourself with the best, and never stop — especially after your first recognition.”
A perfect word of guidance from a specialist who has already reached the global level — and still has no intention of stopping.
