Scalp micropigmentation: the Rico Clinic method

The mandatory first step, from Vlad. What a poor treatment does to a client's self-esteem and to the industry, why SMP is not easy money or a place to cut corners, what the work really asks of you (long hours, difficult skin, clients carrying trauma) and why it is worth it, and the path to practicing: hygiene and sterilisation training, the permits you need, equipment, a studio, and finding clients.

1. 1.1The reality of SMP work (watch before anything else)
2. 1.2How to become a practicing SMP artist

For anyone exploring SMP as a career, a part-time business, or a service to add to an existing one. Vlad explains the ethical basis of the work: helping people change their relationship with how they look, with their mental health in mind. He shows how he approaches hair loss and what clients ask for, tells the story behind the Rico SMP standard, and gives an honest picture of the economics.

1. 2.1Why we do SMP: helping people with how they feel about their look
2. 2.2How Vlad approaches hair loss and what clients want
3. 2.3The Rico SMP standard: Vlad's story
4. 2.4SMP as a career, a side business or an added service: the numbers

A free introduction for anyone curious about SMP. It explains what scalp micropigmentation is and how it differs from a tattoo, what a realistic result looks like, why it fades over time, and what the published research does and does not show.

1. 3.1What SMP is, and how it differs from a tattoo
2. 3.2What results look like, and what to expect
3. 3.3How long it lasts, and why it fades
4. 3.4What the research says, and what this course adds

The groundwork for every client: a plain-language guide to hair loss: how hair grows, pattern hair loss in men and women, patchy, diffuse and scarring hair loss, hair loss that can recover, and scars from transplants, injury and burns. It shows why the kind of hair loss decides whether SMP is right.

1. 4.1How hair grows, and why it is lost
2. 4.2Pattern hair loss in men and women
3. 4.3Patchy, diffuse and scarring hair loss
4. 4.4Hair loss that may come back
5. 4.5Scars from transplants, injury and burns

The first professional skill: judging who is safe to treat. It covers stability, referral, skin conditions and allergies, medication and pregnancy, darker skin, and the screening questions to ask every client.

1. 5.1Stable before treatment, and who to refer first
2. 5.2Skin conditions, keloids, infection and allergy
3. 5.3Medication, pregnancy, MRI and other clinic rules
4. 5.4Darker skin and the Fitzpatrick scale
5. 5.5The screening questions you ask every client

Practical skills: Screening and referral

The hygiene standard behind every session: hands, gloves and single-use items, cleaning and disinfection, setting up the station, sharps and needlestick injuries, and the routine between clients and at the end of the day.

1. 6.1Why hygiene comes first: hands, gloves and single-use items
2. 6.2Cleaning, disinfecting and setting up the station
3. 6.3Sharps, needlestick injuries and your exposure plan
4. 6.4Between clients and at the end of the day

Practical skills: Room set-up and clean-down; Hand hygiene and gloves; Sharps and biomedical waste; Needlestick plan

What the law expects of an SMP artist in Québec and Canada: staying inside cosmetic work, pigments and Health Canada, free and informed consent, minors, client records, privacy under Law 25, and consent for photos.

1. 7.1What is regulated, and staying inside cosmetic work
2. 7.2Pigments and Health Canada
3. 7.3Free and informed consent, minors and the consent form
4. 7.4Client records, Law 25 and photos

Practical skills: Photos and photo consent; Records

How to run a consultation that ends with a safe, agreed plan. It covers the first contact, the client's hair-loss story, examining the scalp, the emotional weight of hair loss, honest expectations, when to stop, and how to record the plan.

1. 8.1What the consultation is for, and the first contact
2. 8.2The hair-loss story, and examining the scalp
3. 8.3Emotions, expectations, and when to stop
4. 8.4Agreeing the plan: design talk, photos and notes

Practical skills: Health and hair-loss history; Noticing appearance concerns; Honest expectations

The equipment and materials: machines, needles and cartridges, how pigment, colour and dilution affect the healed result, and how to set the machine and needle.

1. 9.1Machines, needles and cartridges
2. 9.2Pigment, colour and dilution
3. 9.3Machine and needle settings

How to design a hairline that looks natural for the client's face and age, plan the crown and the density, avoid design mistakes that are hard to fix, and draw and photograph the plan, practiced on a mannequin head.

1. 10.1Placing the hairline and shaping the temples
2. 10.2Planning the crown and the density
3. 10.3Design mistakes that are hard to fix
4. 10.4Drawing the plan and photographing it

Practical skills: Design drawing and approval; Hairline and temples

The core skill, practiced on artificial skin and mannequin heads: what a dot must look like, the right depth and angle, placing dots consistently, building density over several sessions, and checking your own work before treating anyone.

1. 11.1What you are making: the look of a follicle
2. 11.2Depth
3. 11.3Angle, the dot, and placing the dots
4. 11.4Building density over sessions
5. 11.5Practicing on skin and mannequin heads, and checking your work

Practical skills: Round, small dots; Irregular, even spacing; Depth; Density in layers

A full treatment day the clinic's way, from preparing the room and the health check to consent, approving the design, pacing the session and keeping the client comfortable, and finishing with aftercare and the next booking.

1. 12.1Before the client arrives, the health check and consent
2. 12.2Drawing and approving the design on the day
3. 12.3The session: pace, breaks and comfort
4. 12.4Finishing, aftercare talk and the next booking

Practical skills: Confidentiality and boundaries; Talking during a session

What happens after a session: what normal healing looks like and why it looks darker at first, the aftercare instructions clients follow, the signs that are not normal, and the touch-up session.

1. 13.1What normal healing looks like
2. 13.2Aftercare: washing, sweat, sun and everyday life
3. 13.3Warning signs, and the touch-up session

Practical skills: Aftercare with teach-back

How to recognise problems early and respond correctly: infection and skin reactions, blurring, results that are too dark or shift colour, the routes to correction, and how to handle a disappointed client.

1. 14.1Infection, allergy and other skin reactions
2. 14.2Blurring, too dark and colour shift
3. 14.3Correction routes
4. 14.4Disappointment and complaints

Practical skills: Handling a complaint

Treating real clients under Vlad's supervision in the clinic, assessed against a competency checklist for safety, the client, technique and aftercare, until every skill is signed off.

1. 15.1How supervised clients work
2. 15.2The competency checklist: safety and the client
3. 15.3The competency checklist: technique and aftercare

After certification: how to find clients honestly, and the marketing strategies Vlad has seen work, without claims you cannot back up.

1. 16.1Finding clients honestly
2. 16.2Marketing strategies that work