Helios Founder Craig Petralia Talks To Think Before You Ink About His New Business — A Permanent Makeup Supply Brand: “I'm Adding A Sister Company To Helios, Túle Beauty”
By Sidra Lackey
Craig Petralia is founder of Helios Tattoo Supply, one of the leading manufacturers and supply companies for tattoo supplies, within the tattoo industry. Petralia has been working for over 20 years in the tattoo industry. Helios was launched in 2015 in Petralia’s home and since then, the company has grown exceptionally, reaching a revenue within the millions. Helios was created “with the artist in mind” and Helios’ high quality cartridge needles are used by some of the best tattoo artists in the world. But in 2023, Petralia decided to enter into the world of permanent makeup, by creating Túle Beauty. Túle Beauty was founded in 2022 with Maryann Langer, a multiple award winning PMU artist with over a decade of experience. Túle Beauty says their goal is simple: “We want to help you create your best work. The way we want to do that is by providing PMU artists with the highest quality products available, at the best possible prices. We’ve researched and tested hundreds of products to make sure Túle has the highest quality on the market.” Think Before You Ink had the pleasure of getting an exclusive interview with Craig Petralia on what made him switch into the industry of permanent makeup products.
“I haven't switched,” Craig Petralia corrects Think Before You Ink. “I love the tattoo industry and everything about it. I love the people, the products, the culture, and I will continue to until the day comes that I am no longer able to work. I'm adding a sister company to Helios, Túle Beauty.” Petralia moving momentarily from tattoos to focus on permanent makeup, may seem like quite the leap. Petralia explains why he wanted to start a permanent makeup supply company. “The reason I wanted to start a PMU supply business is actually my partner, the incredibly talented Maryann Langer, who is an award winning PMU artist of 15 years. I was talking to her while she was ordering supplies and realized how difficult it was for her. Prices were extremely high, she couldn't get everything she needed in one place, and the quality of the products she was ordering wasn't anything special with regards to the prices she was being charged, so I looked at her and said, “We can do this better.” That day we came up with the idea for the new company.”
In his own words, Petralia describes the inspiration behind Túle Beauty. “The inspiration behind Túle is simple: To make the lives of PMU artists easier and help them create their best work, by offering them innovative, quality products with affordable pricing. While researching PMU brands we noticed a significant void that exists among our competitors. We are not going to elaborate on what that is, but we believe we have filled that void.” Think Before You Ink asked Petralia what Túle Beauty intends to bring into the still growing PMU industry. “Innovation,” Petralia promises. “We want to make our products stand out by offering features that other companies don't. We want to find ways to both improve existing products, and develop new ones, to help solve problems and make the artist's job easier.”
Considering Petralia’s 20 years of experience within the tattoo industry (he is not a tattoo artist however) Think Before You Ink asked him how that gives him an advantage in this new space of permanent cosmetics. “This is an interesting question,” Petralia says. “It's not my background in the tattoo industry that gives me an advantage. It's the experience having built a company and a brand from scratch that gives it to me.” He continues saying, “How many times have people said, “I wish I could go back 10 years in time knowing everything I know now?” That's essentially what I am doing. I am starting a new company with all the knowledge that I have gained over the last eight years building Helios. All the mistakes that were made don't need to be made again, I have already learned from them. I expect to make some new ones, but I will deal with those as they present themselves and hopefully they will be few and far between. That's just one edge.” On another edge that Petralia is confident Túle Beauty holds within the PMU industry: “The second one is our secret weapon. As I bring the knowledge and background of building a new company to the new brand, my partner Maryann brings all of her experience working in the PMU industry, which gives us just as big of an advantage. Maryann's knowledge of the products, techniques, industry, and all of her training are priceless. She has been testing the quality of all our new products herself and ensuring we meet the quality standards that artists will come to expect from Túle Beauty.”
Think Before You Ink wondered what would be the staple product for Túle Beauty, as with Helios, needles are the staple product. Petralia tells us, “microblades.” He further explains, “We have engineered them from scratch over the last year, and have developed a product that we believe solves some issues that existing products have, and also offers some cool new features.”
On Túle Beauty’s plan for 2023, Craig Petralia reveals to Think Before You Ink, “The goal for 2023 is to establish Túle Beauty as a trustworthy, reliable brand that artists can count on to deliver orders quickly and accurately.” He ends the interview on one last note. “We also want to establish ourselves as being known for impeccable customer service. Our products will speak for themselves. The experience our customers have with the people behind the company are what is going to set us apart and build trust.”
Craig Petralia encourages those interested in his new brand Túle Beauty, to:
“Check out www.tulebeauty.com to see all of the cool, fun, and unique things we bring to the PMU community!”
You can also follow Túle Beauty on IG @tulepmu