PMU Starter Kit — What a Complete Permanent Makeup Kit Actually Contains

The four parts of a working PMU kit

One: the machine. This is the only part that cannot be upgraded cheaply later, so it is the only part worth spending on now. A coreless motor with controlled runout, a 3.0 mm stroke, universal cartridge fit and a real warranty. The FNS Micropigmentation Machine is US$288 and ships with a universal 100–240 V adapter and fitted case.

Two: pigments. Four to six shades, not twenty. A working brow palette is a light taupe, a mid brown, a deep espresso and an orange or warm corrector; add a coral and a rose base if you take lip work. Certified pigment runs US$22–$38 per 15 ml bottle — anything at US$3 a bottle is not a bargain, it is uncertified ink going into a client's skin.

Three: cartridges. 20–40 to start, mixed 1RL for crisp hairstroke, 3RL for outline and a 5-point round shader for powder work. Universal fit means you buy on price forever rather than being locked to one supplier.

Four: consumables. Practice skins, nitrile gloves, barrier film, pigment rings, cotton pads, numbing gel, aftercare balm for clients. Cheap, unglamorous, and the thing beginners forget to budget.

What a real starter kit costs

Machine US$288. Starting pigment palette of five shades, roughly US$140. Forty mixed cartridges, roughly US$40. Consumables and practice skins, roughly US$80–$120. That is US$550–$590 to be genuinely ready for paid client work, and every one of those items is a business asset rather than a gamble.

Compare that with a US$130 all-in-one kit. You get a pen with a motor rated for a few hundred hours, twenty bottles of pigment you cannot legally or safely put in skin, and no warranty. Artists who start there typically replace the machine within twelve months and throw the pigment away in week one, which makes the cheap kit the expensive route.

What you should never buy bundled

Pigment. Bundled pigment is where kit sellers hide their margin, because it is the item buyers cannot assess in a photo. Buy pigment separately, from a line that publishes its chemistry and batch numbers.

Numbing agents. Regulations differ by market — Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia all treat topical anaesthetics differently. Buy locally compliant product rather than whatever ships in a box from an unknown factory.

Proprietary cartridges. A machine that only accepts its own branded cartridges hands the seller permanent control over your largest recurring cost.

The FNS kit approach

We do not sell a padded box. You buy the machine at US$288 and choose your pigment shades from the 23-shade signature range, so your palette matches the skin tones you actually work on rather than a generic assortment.

Use the free pigment selector to pick your starting shades by Fitzpatrick type, and the free brow mapping calculator to build your first mapping workflow before your first paid client sits down.

Everything ships direct from Hong Kong with dispatch inside 24 hours on business days, tracked, with a 12-month warranty valid in every market and APAC repairs handled from our Hong Kong depot in 3–7 days.