THe Upgrade Department
About The Upgrade Department.
Built in West Hollywood. From 20 years of being in the industry of knowing what good looks like.
About
This is where everything converges.
I spent more than 20 years in New York City — working across beauty, fashion, and creative direction at a level where the standard for how things look is set very high, and the tolerance for anything less than exact is very low. L'Oréal Paris. Chanel. Bobbi Brown. Mario Badescu. Clarins. New York Fashion Week. Zac Posen. Badgley Mischka. Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. Reebok. Matrix. And on and on… Two decades of understanding beauty not as a category but as a craft — and learning on the deepest level that how a person presents themselves is rarely trivial.
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In 2018 I got certified as a tattoo artist. Not because I wanted to draw other people's ideas on other people's skin — that part, to be fair, didn't ignite much for me. Where I did find passion was what else was possible. What it gave me was technical precision: needle mechanics, pigment behavior, depth control, the relationship between ink and skin over time. The foundation I didn't know I needed for what I didn't yet know I was building toward.
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I came home to California and, in a full circle moment, back in West Hollywood where I'd lived when I was 18 years old. And I brought all of it with me — the beauty industry knowledge, the creative director's eye, the tattoo artist's hand, and a wealth of experience — and applied it to the one service category where I kept thinking shouldn't someone be doing this better?
Scalp, brow, and beard micro-pigmentation done by someone who spent 20 years understanding and defining how things should look for some of the most influential brands in history, 8 years understanding precisely how to make them that way, and a lifetime of not settling for that's just how it's done...
That's the point of difference you get with The Upgrade Department.
Why open a whole new studio?
The catalyst for why I decided to take the risk and open my own studio: Looking for someone to treat me for density. Without cutting my hair off. Who knew this would be so tough?! Worse, finding a studio that understood my needs and my questions was a challenge:
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Yes, it takes more time with hair, but I wasn't willing to buzz my head. (again — isn't there a better way?)
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I wouldn't accept that diluting black or dark brown ink enough will match blond follicles. (It will not!)
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Lastly, there were several studios that were a little too "Bruh" for me, trying to mansplain color theory but getting it dead wrong, not understanding that diluting their basic dark ink is just going to go shadow-grey on someone like me. Worse, they don't seem to care.
I was surprised how difficult it was to find someone to work with me… the way I work with clients. So I took the gamble — I believe our community has plenty of men who are specific in their goals, clear in their expectations and want to be in, and support, businesses that want our community. Which means when a client sits down and tells me they want density without cutting their hair off or losing their length — or want to make sure their micropigmentation fits their skin & hair tones, I'm not approximating what that means — I know exactly what they're after, and I know exactly what's possible.
West Hollywood isn't just part of the address.
The Upgrade Department is right in the heart of WeHo because that's where I live, where I belong, and where a significant portion of the clientele I had in mind when I built this already is. The West Hollywood community one of the most appearance-conscious, detail-oriented, and word-of-mouth-driven communities in the country. We appreciate local, we appreciate inclusivity, and we appreciate quality. Maybe that's because, historically, we've had to work a little harder to find service providers who understand our community without needing to be explained to.
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This studio requires no explanation. It was built with that client specifically in mind — not exclusively, but specifically. The environment, the approach, the brand, and the work are all calibrated for someone who notices the difference between good and exact, and who expects the person doing permanent work on their face and head to be both.
How we work.
The Upgrade Department does not rush. Every treatment is built across multiple sessions because dimension requires time — lighter pigment first, deeper tones after, refinement last. The consultation exists not to sell a service but to make sure the right service gets recommended. If the result won't be what you're hoping for, that conversation happens before anything else.
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The RN partners who deliver our skin services were not chosen for convenience. They were chosen because their standard matches ours — medically credentialed, conservative in their approach, and as invested in a result that doesn't announce itself as we are in work that doesn't look like work.
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The skincare edit included with every upgrade isn't a goodie bag. It's moisturizer, vitamin C, undereye treatment, and SPF chosen because aftercare is part of the outcome — and because the outcome is what we're accountable for, not just the session.
The background, briefly.
For clients making permanent decisions, knowing who is doing the work matters. Here's the short version.
Micropigmentation training & certification
Formally trained and certified in scalp micropigmentation with a specialization in hair-on density and hairline work. Ongoing education in technique, pigment science, and skin behavior.
Tattoo artist certification — NYC, 2018
Licensed and certified in New York City. The technical foundation — needle mechanics, pigment depth, skin behavior over time — that underlies all micropigmentation work at The Upgrade Department.
20+ years in beauty & fashion
Creative director across L'Oréal Paris, Chanel, Bobbi Brown, Clarins, Mario Badescu, Matrix, Reebok, New York Fashion Week, Zac Posen, Badgley Mischka, L.A.M.B. by Gwen Stefani, and others. The eye for how things should look is not incidental to this work.
Personal SMP client
Hair-on density and hairline work — done on myself, with my hair intact. Not a talking point. A reference point.
The Studio.
The Upgrade Department is located on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood — a single, dedicated studio space designed for focused work in a considered environment. Not a suite inside someone else's salon. Not a shared space with a rotating schedule. A permanent address, built for one purpose, at one standard.
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Consultations and treatments are by appointment only. The studio is designed for privacy, precision lighting, and the kind of unhurried pace that permanent work requires. There is no waiting room full of strangers. There is no front desk experience that makes you feel like a number. There is a clean space, a clear plan, and two people in the room who both want the result to be exactly right.
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The RN partners who deliver our skin services were not chosen for convenience. They were chosen because their standard matches ours — medically credentialed, conservative in their approach, and as invested in a result that doesn't announce itself as we are in work that doesn't look like work.
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The skincare edit included with every upgrade isn't a goodie bag. It's moisturizer, vitamin C, undereye treatment, and SPF chosen because aftercare is part of the outcome — and because the outcome is what we're accountable for, not just the session.
Come in. Let's talk goals and plans. We'll figure out what The Upgrade looks like for you.
Book a consultation. $50, applicable toward your first micropigmentation service. You leave with a plan.