Miami or New York: which cohort.

The three-day intensive is the same course in both cities, with the same curriculum, the same three certifications, the same instructor and the same live-model days. Choose by the dates, the journey and the clients you plan to work with, since those are what differ between the two.

What is identical

The teaching follows the same three days in both cities. Day one covers the fundamentals: skin, depth, the papillary band where pigment holds, machine control on practice skin, needle and cartridge behaviour on the Apollo. Day two is Modern Color Theory taught as a discipline, melanin ratio and undertone through to mixing for a human head, and the first live-model work. Day three is live models under supervision, hairline design, the transition into growing hair, and the business of the first ninety days. You graduate with SMP Fundamentals, Machine Expertise and Advanced Color Theory for SMP, the starter kit, and mentorship that continues by direct message for as long as you work.

I teach both cohorts myself, in the room where my own client work happens, and there are no assistant trainers.

What differs

The skin you learn on is the biggest difference. Miami’s models span the widest range of undertones any cohort sees, Caribbean, Latin American, Mediterranean and Northern European, often in the same week, so if your future clientele is diverse, or if color theory is the part you most want to see proven on actual skin, Miami is the stronger classroom for it. New York’s models run broad too, but the Miami mix is the one students talk about afterwards, usually by the second evening.

Getting there and staying there differ as well. Brickell is fifteen minutes from Miami International, with hotels within walking distance of the studio at a wide range of prices. Chelsea is reachable from three airports and every train line, and the studio sits between Penn Station and the subway, which suits artists coming from the Northeast corridor by rail. Miami is usually the cheaper stay, and New York the easier commute for anyone within a few hours by train.

Then there is who you sit beside. Miami cohorts draw from across the Southeast and from Latin America, so the room tends to include artists who already run brow or lip studios and are adding SMP. New York draws tattoo artists and barbers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as often as PMU artists. Neither is better, but the peers you meet become your first professional network, so it is worth choosing the room whose businesses look like the one you want.

The licence you will practise under matters too. If you intend to work in Florida, learning in Florida means the compliance conversation on day three is about your own state, and the same holds for New York. Florida licenses tattoo artists through the Department of Health; New York City licenses them through its Health Department, with the rest of the state handled locally. The course covers both, but the one you hear in the room is the one where you are.

Check the timing, too. Cohorts are small and run on set dates, seats are confirmed at application, and the current dates for each city come with the prospectus. If your timing is fixed, that will often decide the city for you.

How to decide, in order

1. If a cohort date fits and the other does not, take the date.
2. If both fit, and you will build a diverse clientele, lean Miami for the skin range.
3. If both fit and you are within train distance of Manhattan, lean New York for the commute.
4. If neither of those separates them, choose the city whose peers run the kind of studio you want to run.

Whichever you choose, the checklist in how to vet a trainer applies to this course as much as to any other, and we would rather you held us to it: live models, color theory as a discipline, the instructor’s own healed work, and mentorship that outlasts the weekend.

Apply through the Miami training page or the New York training page. If you’re still deciding whether this is the trade for you, how to become an SMP artist covers what the work pays, what the law asks, and the path from course to first client.

Is SMP training in Miami the same as in New York?

Yes. The three-day intensive runs the same curriculum, the same three certifications, the same live-model days and the same instructor in both cities, with no assistant trainers. You graduate with SMP Fundamentals, Machine Expertise and Advanced Color Theory for SMP, the starter kit and mentorship by direct message. What differs is the dates, the journey and the skin you learn on.

Which city is better for learning SMP color theory?

Miami, if your future clientele is diverse. Miami's models span the widest range of undertones any cohort sees, Caribbean, Latin American, Mediterranean and Northern European, often in the same week, so color theory is proven on real skin in front of you. New York's models run broad too, but the Miami mix is the one students talk about afterwards.

Where is the SMP training held?

In the studio where the instructor's own client work happens. The Miami cohort is in Brickell, fifteen minutes from Miami International with hotels within walking distance at a range of prices. The New York cohort is in Chelsea, between Penn Station and the subway and reachable from three airports and every train line. Miami is usually the cheaper stay, New York the easier commute by rail.

Sources

• Florida Department of Health, Tattoo Artist Licensure
• NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Tattooing licences