Permanent Makeup Information, Permanent Makeup Color Problems, Makeup Lighting and Skin Tones

INFORMATION: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO DO PERMANENT MAKEUP? HOW LONG DOES PERMANENT MAKEUP LAST? PERMANENT MAKEUP COLOR PROBLEMS. LIGHTING EFFECTS ON PERMANENT MAKEUP.

How Long Does It Take To Do Permanent Makeup?

How long it takes depends on a couple of things:
1) What type of tattoo machine is used.
A. Fastest is the coil machine. It is the powerful
machine used by body art tattooists.
B. Medium powered rotary machine is most often used
by permanent makeup technicians.
C. Slowest is the hand tap method. No power to it.

2) What method is used to numb area.
A. Topical numbing takes a while to work and wears off quickly.
B. Injections of lidocaine numb faster and effects lasts longer.

An experienced professional with an electric machine can do a permanent makeup job in one visit, and usually not need a touchup visit (unless you get one of those rush jobs and enough pigment is not implanted, or not implanted correctly). The hand tap method requires multiple visits to implant an amount of pigment comparable to the amount an electric machine can implant in one session. The difference is like comparing using a sewing machine or using a needle & thread. The amount of correctly implanted pigment and the type of pigment are the two main factors that determine how long the permanent makeup will last. I use a rotary machine.

Adequate control of pain and bleeding allows a permanent makeup artist to implant the amount of pigment needed for longevity in one session. A limited amount of work can be done with OTC topical numbing meds. It takes something stronger than that to do creative work that will last for years in one session. Using only OTC topical meds can take longer to get the work done with constant stopping, reapplying and waiting on the topical to work. After a while, the OTC topical meds are even less effective and the client becomes increasingly uncomfortable. That may be reason enough for permanent makeup artists to do as little as they can get away with.

Office time for permanent makeup procedures vary depending on which procedure it is. Time spent filling out paperwork, discussing styles and colors, pre-marking brows or lips, numbing time, and working time have to be considered. Office time for permanent eyebrows is a couple of hours; working time is about an hour. Office time for eyeliner is a few hours, working time is a couple of hours depending on the thickness and style. It takes longer to get started on eyeliner, and there is more stop, wipe, & rinse during the procedure. Office time for lips is at least that much. If touchups were needed, office time would be half that.

How long does permanent makeup last?
Permanent makeup will fade off over the years. While this may be disappointing to some people, others may be more comfortable with this knowledge. The national average time span between touchups is said to be 4-6 years for eyebrows and eyeliner, 3-4 years for lips. Occasionally a person can be found who has had their permanent makeup over 10 years, but it is a rare occasion. There are other people who need a touchup after a couple of years. The disappearing permanent makeup is faded by UV rays, pigment removal by the body via ducts in eyelash and eyebrow hair follicles, possibly body chemistry, anti-aging products applied to the face, cellular turnover - rejuvenation, etc. Lighter colors fade faster than darker colors. Permanent makeup lasts longer on older women because they aren’t out playing in the sun as much, and their cellular turnover rate is slower. The bright side to "permanent" makeup fading off is that it makes it easier to change color, shape, and placement over the years.

How long the permanent makeup lasts also varies with who did it. Differences among permanent makeup artists include 1) technique, 2) amount of pigment implanted, and 3) type of pigments used. The technique must implant the pigment at the correct level. Sometimes artists are not sure what the correct level is, or want to avoid hurting the client. The correct needle depth has slight differences in various age groups, skin types, and area being worked on. The amount of pigment implanted must be sufficient. Rush jobs are usually gone or mostly gone before a year has passed. Minute for minute, an electric machine will implant more than manual hand tap. Sometimes less pigment is implanted for a light or barely there look, as is the case with lash enhancement or blush. The type of pigment has a lot to do with how long the permanent makeup will last. Pigments made by one manufacturer may work better for permanent makeup than another’s. The pigment brand chosen for use by a permanent makeup artist is influenced by the beliefs of their instructor, who was influenced by their own instructor. Like other types of sales, pigment manufacturers have their pitch and mud throwing.

Permanent Makeup Prices
The prices for permanent makeup eyebrows, eyeliner, and lips vary among permanent makeup artists. Price comparison in permanent makeup = apples and oranges since artists are not doing the same thing the same way. Other factors considered include skill and experience, time involved, number of visits typically required for the result, facility/overhead expenses, and whether a physician is involved that allows the comfort perks of prescription meds.

Clients should get several years enjoyment from their permanent makeup application. Permanent makeup services are not different than any other cosmetic service. When botox, lip filler, or chemical peel effects are wearing off, full price is paid to do it again. After the free touchup period, our office gives a reduced price on returning eyebrow clients, but not on eyeliner or lips due to time involved.

Permanent makeup eyebrows cost less than eyeliner despite the fact that it is a larger area. Permanent makeup eyeliner takes more prep time and procedure time. Some permanent makeup artists price eyeliner according to the thickness requested. Some have low rates but are just giving little strips for that price and may not be implanting enough for longevity. The new trend in pricing lips is to charge according to small, medium, large, and extra-large. It seems reasonable that requests which only require half the time should not cost as much.

Specials and discounts are more often for the benefit of the business than for the customer. Two basics on why businesses have sales are 1) needs business, and 2) sell what is not selling. The monthly special is to create a sense of urgency to jump in there. The group discount is another example of relying on someone else to round up customers. The makeup might also look like it was a discount, done in record time. There will always be people who choose a lawyer, surgeon, or hair stylist by calling around to find the best price. Everyone gets a piece of the pie.

Permanent Makeup Touchups
We give a full year time frame in which clients may return for adjustments or perfections. Touchups are not done any sooner than two months after the last procedure because the area has to be thoroughly healed.

Eyebrows may need a touchup for a variety of reasons. The brows may need additional strokes to fill it in more, or maybe an area didn’t take well. The color may need an adjustment, or the client may wish to have the brows lightened or darkened. Other reasons include things like one tail looks longer, one looks like it is in closer to the nose, one looks thinner, etc. These are all minor imperfections that are easily fixed on a touchup visit. Years later, when the brows are fading and you just need "layering" or additional strokes (or a warm-up or color change), it is a 50% touchup fee – half price of whatever is being charged at that future time. Small adjustments can be made with placement / position over the years as needed to compensate for the aging process.

Eyeliner almost never needs a touchup. Free touchups are limited to reasons like if an area didn't take well, or there is some imperfection, or if you didn’t get what you asked for. Otherwise, too many clients would request a touchup because they like it and want more of it - thicker and darker than originally asked for. Sometimes it is because a client requested defined, then wanted smudgy, or wants to add a color. A permanent eyeliner touchup within 1 year to add or change from the original request is charged a 50% touchup fee. Years later, when it is time to redo it, it is full price.

Lips usually do not need a touchup. If within a year, you see any faint areas, imperfections, color adjustments needed, or if it looks like a second procedure would be beneficial to increase the pigment concentration for longevity, a touchup should be scheduled. Years later, when it is time to redo it, it is full price.

Color Adjustments
Permanent makeup colors can be modified or changed. On the first procedure, the permanent makeup pigment color + your skin pigment color = final pigment color. (Two persons choosing the same pigment color will look similar but not identical) On additional procedures, when you apply a different color over an existing color, it will blend to create a new color. First pigment color + skin pigment color + second pigment color = final pigment color.

Odd Permanent Makeup Colors
The ugly truth about permanent makeup colors – what everyone knows but won’t tell.What may be hiding under topical makeup: purple eyebrows, pink eyebrows, rusty peach eyebrows, green eyebrows, gray eyebrows, black brows or eyeliner that turned blue, lip color that looks maroon, purplish lips, bluish lips, grayish lips, and black lips. There are three sets of causes for permanent makeup colors turning weird. Undesirable permanent makeup color changes may be due to 1) pigment type used, 2) technician inexperience, or 3) hyperpigmentation physiological response.

1) Pigment type.
The two groups of permanent makeup “types” are A) non-iron oxide and B) iron oxide. The most undesirable color changes occur with iron oxide pigments. I DO NOT use iron oxide pigments. A reason more important than undesirable color changes is the fact that iron oxide pigments leave a rusty pink peach trace in the skin after the color has faded off. Non-iron oxide pigments fade off without any traces as though they were never there in the first place, which is important when permanent makeup needs to be redesigned. Permanent makeup needs to be adjusted over the years as facial skin drops with aging, altering angles and/or placement. It may need adjustments after cosmetic surgery/ face lifts. Permanent makeup needs to be redesigned if it was a bad shape to begin with, had improper placement, or had other errors/ mistakes. Colors can always be changed/ adjusted/ corrected, but when an eyebrow or eyeliner line needs to be in a different spot, the iron oxide pink trace can limit options.

A) Non-iron oxide pigment color changes. The worse thing that happens with non-iron oxide permanent makeup is that warm brow colors turn ashy over the years as it is fading off, and will need a warm-up touch-up. A swipe of brow powder is a quick fix until you schedule an appt. If adjustments in shape or placement is desired, allow the permanent makeup to fade off as much as possible before the redo. Non-iron oxide eyeliner colors hold pretty well. Blacks can sometimes appear to have a slight tinge of blue after a few years in cool skin tones viewed under cool lighting. Dark blackbrown can be substituted for black. Lip colors fade off without much change other than becoming a lighter version of the original.

B) Iron Oxide pigment color changes. Iron oxide brown permanent eyebrow colors tend to turn pink & purple in about a year. Then a peachy pink trace is left in the skin and it never seems to go away. Iron oxide black eyeliner is notorious for shifting toward blue over the years. Pigments placed in facial skin have different results than the same pigment placed on the body. Facial skin tone is different than the rest of the body, skin is thinner, and the face is exposed to more UV rays. Iron oxide lip colors begin to look a little maroon.

iron oxide permanent eyebrows eventually turn pink

photo courtesy Premier Pigments

2) Technician inexperience.
Permanent makeup color results are not an exact science. Results are a combination of experience, education, best guess, and luck. Pigment companies sell lots of colors, but experienced permanent makeup artists learn to add a pinch of this and a dash of that to make the color turn out right for each client. It takes years of observation of various colors used on various skin tones to know what to expect from the colors. The artist needs to know how a color looked after several months and after several years. If the client wasn’t thrilled with the artist the first time around, the client goes somewhere else the next time, and the first artist doesn’t have a clue what is happening with the colors and keeps doing the same thing the same way. Some manufacturers make better pigments, but even within the best, there are certain colors experience teaches one to steer away from. Correcting colors is easier than getting it right the first time. Manufacturers make pre-mixed color correction bottles.

3) Hyperpigmentation.
Post-traumatic hyperpigmentation, as discussed under “risks” is something the body is doing. It has nothing to do with which pigment was used, or who the artist was. Permanent makeup artists try to screen out high risk clients, but can still be unpleasantly surprised when it happens to a client without known or obvious risk factors. Hyper-pigmentation after eyebrows is virtually unheard of – even with high risk clients. Hyper-pigmentation after screening out high risk clients for eyeliner is rare. When it does happen, an area above or below the tattoo looks like overly tanned skin. Hyper-pigmentation after screening out high risk clients for lip procedures happens occasionally. It can happen with lips even though the person has not previously had hyper-pigmentation problems anywhere else on their face or body. Lip hyperpigmentation may present itself in a variety of forms. The appearance may be the tanned skin look outside of the lip tattoo, but is more likely to appear as an altered lip color. The lips will look somewhat purplish, bluish, or grayish. They look cyanotic like the person has been holding their breath. Sometimes lip hyperpigmentation can be spotty and there will be small areas of dark brown or almost black on the lips. A client with freckles can get more freckles on their lips after the permanent makeup procedure.

A thousand bottles of color corrector will not fix hyperpigmentation because it has nothing to do with which color was implanted. It is the body's physiological response after trauma like how the area around insect bites or pimples turn dark on some people. Additional procedures will only worsen the problem and lengthen the time it will take for the hyperpigmentation effect to clear up on its own. Permanent makeup artists without vast lip experience might mistakenly think the problem is that the color didn’t turn out right and try to fix the color with a corrector, but instead makes the lips more purple, blue, gray, or black brown.

Daytime / Nighttime Makeup, Indoor / Outdoor Makeup

Makeup and skin tones might look fine in front of the bathroom mirror at home, but then looks too pink/red and harsh outdoors, bluish at the office, and greenish at the restaurant. Residential lighting is typically “warm” and has a red or yellow cast. Office lighting is typically “cool” and has a blue or green cast. The color of light, whether indoor or outdoor, natural or artificial, has a color temperature expressed in Kelvins (K) to describe the warm to cool tone. A Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a method for describing the effect of a light source on the color appearance of objects or people on a scale of 0-100. It gets worse! The color of the lighting is further complicated by color reflections or light waves bouncing off walls, furniture, and carpet. Pictures taken in outdoor light uaually show exaggerated reds and pinks in facial skin. Pictures taken outdoors but in the shade will usually look blue. Surround yourself with plants for green skin tones. As you know, facial skin tones are affected by the color of your clothing. We all have certain colors we do or don’t look good in. Eye color can look different with color of clothing. Skin tones, topical makeup, and permanent makeup are all affected by environmental lighting, and permanent makeup is affected by skin tones.

The permanent makeup is in the upper dermis layer. The epidermis is on top of the permanent makeup, so you are looking through a thin layer of skin to see it. This thin layer of skin has reddish, bluish, or whatever color of skin tones, so it is like looking through a sheer curtain of whatever color. A permanent makeup artist considers skin tones when applying permanent makeup, but the permanent makeup color hue and luminance will be affected by environmental lighting. Skin tones and topical makeup are affected as well, but people accept and excuse it. When someone tells friends that they have permanent makeup, it is placed under extreme scrutiny due to fascination that it is a makeup tattoo. Click on the pop-up chart to see how different colors of light affect different colors of objects. Light intensity is another variable. Makeup may look too strong in bright light, or not strong enough in low light. Since permanent makeup does not have a dimmer switch, there may be times when you need to tone it down with powder in bright light, or beef it up with more makeup on top for low intensity lighting. Color selections are ultimately the client's choice. Keep in mind that the more neutral and natural tones have a broader, across the board acceptable appearance in multiple lighting situations (topical makeup and permanent makeup).