Thursday, March 20, 2008

Permanent Makeup

Who might be a Good Candidate for Permanent Cosmetics?
When properly applied, permanent makeup is a convenient and time saving enhancement. No more scrambling to draw on those brows before leaving the house. Busy women can save up to twenty minutes each day and find freedom from the hassle of daily make-up application. Permanent Makeup is terrific for women who have vision problems and cannot see to apply traditional make-up, or for women who simply have a hard time applying make-up. Never again will your lip color or eyebrows disappear or your eyeliner smudge during swimming or other outdoor activities. Permanent cosmetics can be delicately applied for those who prefer a more natural look, or it can be applied in a more dramatic way if desired.
Brows can be drawn hair by hair in multiple colors, so that it is virtually impossible to detect without close scrutiny that they are not naturally grown. Chemotherapy patients can have their eyebrows redefined, or their eyes lined for a tremendous morale boost and a healthier appearance.
Women of any age, even through their 80’s can be good candidates for permanent make-up, providing their skin is in healthy condition. However, women under 35 generally do not need as much make-up, and may be less comfortable with a life long “look.” For them, eyelash enhancement , which is color applied only within the lash line, is a pretty and natural look.

Who Might Not Be a Good Candidate for Permanent Cosmetics?
People who tend to easily hyper-pigment, along with people who tend to develop keloid scars should avoid the procedure.
Those who spend a good deal of time in tanning booths or in the sun are not good candidates, as UV rays will alter the pigment tones, sometimes turning them grey, orange or blue.
People undergoing a major life trauma, might be wise to wait until the situation is resolved, before permanently altering their looks,
People on certain types of medication may not be good candidates, and should consult their physicians first for the go-ahead, as should diabetics and women who are pregnant or lactating.
*For those prone to cold sores, an anti-viral medication should be prescribed before permanent lip color is applied to prevent a possible outbreak, and people with mitral valve prolapse should take prophylactic antibiotics, just as they do prior to having dental work performed.

Pigment Retention in the lips
Since the skin of the lips is of a different nature than the skin on your face, it is more difficult to deposit permanent pigment into the tissue of the lips. On the average, a permanent lip coloring procedure must be repeated additional two times after the initial application, at intervals of not less than four weeks for maximum uptake. Under no circumstances should an application be repeated within a time frame of less than two weeks. The tissue of your lips is not ready to accept new pigment at that time, as the healing is incomplete. In fact, a wait of six weeks between applications is optimal. A few days after your initial pigment application, your lips might look as if much of the pigment has disappeared with the shedding of the excess surface pigment. However, within a few weeks, through the natural exfoliation process, you will see the color "bloom" back out. Although there might appear to be a lack of pigment in your lips early on, the tissue beneath your lips has been saturated with pigment. The color will become more visible with subsequent applications, and you will notice a much greater uptake of pigment as it builds over previous applications.
In some cases, the color may appear to be blotchy if the pigment, due to irregularities in the skin and other factors, takes more in some places than in others. This can be evened out during the touchup procedure. With lips, repeated application is usually the only way to achieve optimum results.
As each person has a different chemical and genetic makeup, it is impossible to tell in advance exactly how much pigment retention you can expect with each application, or how many applications you ultimately will need, since the amount you retain is unpredictable.

Doing Your Part
Your post procedure maintenance is very important, and instructions are provided to ensure that you know how to properly care for your newly tattooed lips. Permanent makeup procedures are also affected by the canvas (your skin) that they are performed on. If your skin is sun damaged, thick and uneven in texture, or excessively dry or oily, the result cannot be expected to be perfect after the initial procedure. Lifestyle, certain medications, smoking, metabolism, facial surgery, and age of skin can all contribute to fading or lack of retention of pigment. The amount of pigment you retain or lose after each application depends on many factors , but with proper care, your lips can remain beautifully colored for years to come.