The Foli Sim Story

Foli Sim is family owned and operated. Kate Dawes is the Director, Senior Artist and Leading Practitioner in scalp micropigmentation, working alongside Michael Dawes as General Manager and a team of artists across the three states. Being family run rather than franchised means decisions about standards, training and pricing are made in-house rather than dictated by a franchisor.

Foli Sim has been delivering SMP since 2011, around fifteen years, and in that time has treated more than 10,000 clients. That timeline matters because it covers the full lifecycle of the work: the team has seen how pigment behaves after five, ten and fifteen years on real clients, which informs how hairlines and density are planned today rather than relying on theory.

It refers to the combination of time in the field and volume of work: continuous SMP practice since 2011, more than 10,000 clients treated, and certified studios operating in three states. It also reflects the team's standing in the wider industry: Kate Dawes has presented at Australian and international conferences, including the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery's World Congress workshop in Bangkok.

The business evolved from Medical Hair Restoration Australia, a Perth-based trichology clinic that identifies and treats the underlying causes of hair loss. That clinical grounding is unusual in the SMP field and shapes how consultations are run: the cause and likely progression of your hair loss are considered before any pigment plan is drawn, not treated as an afterthought.

Yes. Every Foli Sim studio is Australian Health Department Certified, and the team holds industry-standard infection control certification. All procedures are performed in sterile clinic conditions using single-use needles, in private treatment rooms. Certification is not a one-off: studios are held to those standards on an ongoing basis, which is a reasonable thing to ask any SMP provider to evidence.

Only medical-grade equipment and pigment formulated specifically for scalp micropigmentation. This matters more than it sounds: SMP-specific pigment is designed to lighten rather than shift colour as it ages, which is why properly applied work does not develop the discolouration sometimes seen with general tattoo ink used on the scalp. Needles are single-use and disposed of after every client.

Completed treatments carry a 12-month satisfaction guarantee that begins on the completion of your 3rd session. It applies to clients who attend the full series of sessions their artist recommended at the initial consultation. The team also maintains contact after treatment rather than waiting for you to raise something. Your artist will confirm exactly what the guarantee covers before you begin.

Kate Dawes is Foli Sim's Director and Leading Practitioner, based at the Fremantle studio in Perth. She is an accredited and registered Trichologist with the International Association of Trichologists, received a Diploma of SMP from Goldeneye in Europe in 2011, and completed her Masters in SMP with Scalp Micro USA's Matt Iulo in 2017. She came to SMP after decades in the hair industry.

No. Foli Sim is independent and family run, with no franchise fees or head-office levies built into what clients pay. Beyond cost, it means the same people set the standards, do the training and answer for the results across all three states, rather than quality varying from one franchisee to the next.

More than 10,000 clients have been treated since 2011, and the business holds a 5.0 rating from over 700 Google reviews. Volume is worth asking about when comparing providers, because SMP is a skill built on repetition: pattern recognition across thousands of scalps is what allows an artist to predict how a particular skin type will heal and hold pigment.

Yes. Interest-free finance is available through our partner ZipMoney, and our team can walk you through how it works alongside the treatment plan your artist recommends. Because every plan is priced to the individual, the figures are discussed at your free consultation rather than published: call 1300 668 490 or email info@folisim.com.au to arrange one.

Artists train with recognised industry bodies in Australia and overseas rather than learning solely in-house, and the leadership team attends and presents at international conferences. That outward-facing approach is deliberate: SMP technique, pigment formulation and equipment have all moved considerably since 2011, and a clinic that stops learning ends up applying methods that date the results.