MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio — As we watch her, with one stroke at a time, Lisa Peña is actually drawing a picture, a pain-free eye brows for Adrian Moore.
"All my life, there would be, like, people looking, and I'm like, 'What (are) they looking at?' you know?" Moore explains. "Because I don't have eyebrows."
Moore suffers from ectodermal dysplasia, a disorder affecting the skin which prevents her from growing hair on her body. Though what Moore is receiving today is actually a permanent cosmetic — or a cosmetic tattoo — Peña knows the struggle,
"I ended up losing my eyebrows having thyroid issues," she explained, "and for some reason, it does affect the hair growth on your brows."
Peña, a Latina business owner, noticed women of color needed a place to go where this would not cost them a small fortune.
"I have to make sure that we stay bilingual, that we cater to our people, to our culture, make sure our prices are affordable," she said.
That goes for both women and men. Theo Mosely says getting a permanent hairline on his bald head has made a difference, and his friends have noticed.
"(My friends ask,) 'What barber you go to? Where'd you get that tight hair line?'" he told 3News. "I don't even lie. I'm like, 'Nah, this is a tattoo."
Peña's husband Roberto is her business partner at Status Ink in Middleburgh Heights.
"A lot of men suffer from alopecia," he explained. "Different medications cause hair loss, even thyroid issues, as well, (and there are) cancer patients."
The Peñas have had this business since 2019, a small business where big miracles happen everyday
"I just felt so good when I left," Moore said, "because I felt like, 'OK, now I'm whole.'"