Our Team
Sarah Rillon
Owner of the Permanent Makeup Studio of Virginia | Owner of the Permanent Makeup School of Virginia | Owner of The Makeup School by Sarah Rillon | Licensed Permanent Makeup Instructor | Licensed Master Permanent Makeup Artist | Makeup Artist | Hairstylist | Licensed Permanent Makeup Artist at the Permanent Makeup Studio of Virginia | Certified Member of the SPCP (Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals) | Girlz Ink Trainer Program Team Member
Sarah Rillon, owner and founder of The Makeup School by Sarah Rillon and owner and founder of the Permanent Makeup School VA, has dedicated 25 years of her career to honing her beauty talents and training and mentoring aspiring makeup artists and everyday people. A talented creative, Sarah specializes in all forms of art and trades in the beauty industry, including PMU, makeup, hair, and skin.
Sarah began her professional career in the beauty industry at MAC Cosmetics as a manager, educator and platform artist, facilitating seminars and teaching all over the nation for over 11 years.
After facilitating her first large-scale makeup seminar for her personal brand “Sarah Rillon MUA” in 2013, Sarah's vision was broadened towards the want and need of schooling for makeup artistry in Hampton Roads. This seminar was one of the key inspirations that prompted Sarah to open The Makeup School by Sarah Rillon. Open for almost 10 years now, The Makeup School has facilitated over 20 back to back fully booked long term programs, with students attending from all over the country.
Sarah and her team of over 40 employees have consistently provided makeup and hairstyling services to tens of thousands of clients for special events, weddings, commercial, fashion and film year after year.
Sarah's mission to bring joy and confidence to every client resulted in her desire to add skin and permanent makeup services to her portfolio in 2016, subsequently attending Esthetics school and founding the Permanent Makeup Studio of Virginia. Sarah is currently 35x certified in permanent makeup, specializing in signature techniques in microblading, microshading, machine nanostrokes, machine ombré, even saturation natural to dramatic powder brows, lash enhancement, top and bottom liner, winged and ombré eyeliner, lip blush and lip tint, blush, bronzing, scalp micropigmentation, areola and nipple pigmentation, stretch mark and scar camouflage, and saline and angel removal. Sarah also received the best technique award in 3 of her PMU certification courses amongst over 50 other students in her classes. Two of her awards were specialty techniques for Leann La’s “Fuzion Artistry” signature natural powder brow style and “Brow Daddy’s” signature dramatic powder brow style—which exemplifies Sarah’s versatility in her skill set and brow styles.
Due to the tenure that Sarah and each of her hand selected artists have in the beauty field, her and her team have an extremely healthy client base acquiring and performing several services daily. It is not unusual for Sarah to be fully committed with PMU clients an average of 6 to 8 months out in advance.
Sarah is also a licensed master permanent cosmetic tattooer and instructor, specializing in permanent makeup techniques outside of the spectrum of eyeliner, eyebrows and lips—there are only a small handful licensed throughout the entire state of Virginia.
Sarah describes herself as an optimist, a golden rule follower, Type A and OCD, addicted to straight clean lines and precision in every form, in addition to being food, fashion and design obsessed. Sarah loves traveling and discovering new places, enjoying nature and scenic beauty, and experimenting with the latest beauty products and techniques. When she isn’t busy running multiple businesses and beautifying the world, she loves spending time with her husband, 21 year old son, 3 year old daughter and 2 year old baby girl—and attempting to catch a nap in between.
Michell Dao
Licensed Permanent Makeup Instructor at the Permanent Makeup School of Virginia | Licensed Master Permanent Makeup Artist | Licensed Nail Technician | Licensed Permanent Makeup Artist at the Permanent Makeup Studio of Virginia
Michell Dao was born and raised in Virginia Beach, VA. She spent her formative years in the nail salon with her family, which led her interest in all things beauty-related: nails, makeup, and permanent makeup!
As of 2020, Michell has almost 20 years of experience under her belt as one of the most sought-after nail technicians in the region. As a long-time makeup lover, Michell especially loves researching and utilizing cosmetic brow products and techniques. Michell began to experiment with brow techniques years ago, learning the art of brow shaping to add as an additional service for her clients.
Upon working with her clients and witnessing their struggles with their own brows, Michell decided to explore the world of permanent makeup back in 2016. She has been fortunate to train with well-known PMU artists from all over the world. From then on, Michell has become skillfully trained in a multitude of PMU techniques and is currently certified 7 times in Microblading, Ombré, Tinted Lips, Eyeliner, and multiple master PMU techniques.
Michell is also a licensed master permanent cosmetic tattooer and instructor, certified in areola micropigmentation, scar and stretchmark camoflauging and scalp micropigmentation—only a unique few have this licensure in the state of Virginia. As a seasoned permanent makeup artist, Michell has performed thousands of PMU services.
Michell has maintained a steady and loyal clientele throughout her career as a PMU technician, and takes the utmost pride in making her clients feel and look like the very best versions of themselves.
In addition to her career, Michell is married and a proud mother of 3. She loves all kinds of food, spending time with her family, fitness training, and short walks on the beach.
Anna Oliynyk
Office & Operations Manager at the Permanent Makeup School of Virginia and the Permanent Makeup Studio of Virginia | Licensed Permanent Makeup Instructor at the Permanent Makeup School of Virginia | Licensed *Master* Permanent Makeup Artist | Certified Makeup Artist at The Makeup School by Sarah Rillon | Licensed Permanent Makeup Artist at the Permanent Makeup Studio of Virginia
Anna Oliynyk was born and raised in Ukraine. She moved to the United States in 2010 when she was only 10 years old. Anna is a graduate of the Global Studies and World Languages Academy at Tallwood High School. While in high school, she began doing makeup on her friends and family for special events such as prom, homecoming and birthdays. Because of her love for makeup and her search for more growth in the industry, in 2019, Anna decided to pursue makeup artistry as a career. She decided to enroll in the “Makeup for The Aspiring Makeup Artist” long term program at The Makeup School by Sarah Rillon. After successful completion of the program and internship at The Makeup School, she was hired as a makeup artist for the company—continuing to service clients for special events, weddings and expanded into commercial and production clientele.
While working at The Makeup School, Anna’s interest in permanent makeup sparked and Sarah recognized her true potential in the field. Sarah proposed a full training program for Anna, and offered to take her completely under her wing—mirroring all of the training techniques and knowledge she possessed in PMU. Anna was honored and took up the challenge, and in 2019, she received her Permanent Cosmetic Tattooer License allowing her to legally perform permanent makeup services in the state of Virginia. Anna has been thoroughly trained by Sarah Rillon and Michell Dao in brow, liner and removal techniques offered at the Permanent Makeup Studio of Virginia. Anna has performed hundreds of PMU services, and often times services many clients that were previously seen by Sarah and Michell. Her clientele is continually growing every single day, as she stays consistently booked daily. Anna’s demand has grown so much that she is now usually booked out at least 2 months in advance.
Anna also has a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Old Dominion University. In her off time, she loves long naps, staying up to date with the newest beauty trends on social media, and spending time with her boyfriend.
Our PMU Artists In Training
We Currently Have Several PMU Artists In Training And Are Expanding Our Team Immensely!
Our very special employment program is exclusively offered to our PMUSchoolVA graduates. This program is a very structured, detail oriented training program with a mandatory probationary period before they can perform any services on PMUStudioVA clients. Our program requires continuing education with in-depth instruction and around the clock guidance to ensure all of our artists have all of the proper capabilities to be experts in the field of PMU.
Our current artist, Anna Oliynyk, piloted and completed our first training program, and has truly proven its successfulness.
We are very excited to announce all of our new hirees in the coming months! Stay tuned for updates.
We Can Help
Make Your Life Easier
Waking up with beautiful brows, eyeliner and/or lips can be an integral step towards personal confidence and ultimate convenience. Permanent makeup is perfect for those who are looking for an alternative to the ongoing cost and additional time needed to apply topical cosmetics daily.
Cut Down Your Morning Routine
Get ready in half the time with perfectly structured brows, symmetrical winged liner and tinted lips already done for you. And imagine skipping the frustration of having to create beautiful makeup artistry on your own every single day!
Build Your Confidence
It is no secret that permanent makeup can completely alter your face, and enhance all of your beautiful features for the better. Allow us to balance your features and facial structure with our knowledge, skillset and expertise. Gain the confidence you never knew you could have without lifting a finger.