Popular Misconceptions About Permanent Makeup

I recently came across a beauty blog whose author, a makeup artist, gives her reasons why she is "not a fan of permanent eyeliner." Undoubtedly there may be others who may share these and other commonly held misconceptions about permanent makeup, so I'd like to address each one of them. If you are interested in getting permanent makeup but have been apprehensive, this should be helpful in dispelling some common myths.

1. I don't want anyone's needle that close to my eye. I'm already blind enough.

Not every technician may work this way, but I always do eyeliner with the client's eyes closed. This makes it all but impossible to get the needle into the eye and cause any harm. And while blindness is not even a known risk from any possible complications with permanent eyeliner, the only person who's needs to be able to see impeccably
is the person performing the tattoo.

2. As we age, our skin droops and so does the eyeliner. Ewwwwwww. I could just see my tattooed eyebrows hanging down to my lashes. Hmmm, eyeliner…

This has got to be one of my favorites. Everyone's skin starts to droop as we age, but think about this. Say you wear makeup – you fill in your eyebrows, draw some eyeliner around your eyes, and apply lip color on your mouth; well, whatever makeup you apply to your features to enhance them stay with your features. Perhaps your eyebrows are now a couple of millimeters closer to your eyes than they were when you were 20. Would you keep drawing them in a couple of millimeters higher where they were before your eyelids started to sag? Tattooed makeup is no different in that it stays with your features, no matter where your features may gravitate. It's far more likely that regularly applied makeup will wind up where you don't want it when it runs or smudges.

3. I've seen plenty of BAD eyeliner tattoos. Remember Michael Jackson?

We've ALL seen plenty of bad tattoos of every type. With permanent makeup this shows up as poorly shaped eyebrows, odd colors, crooked lines, lopsided lips and more. Most of these seem to have happened to people who went to an inexperienced technician or looked for a bargain price. Luckily, correcting bad permanent makeup is one of our specialties.

4. There are risks in the dyes. The FDA said it has reports of more than 50 adverse reactions to certain shades of Premier Pigment brand ink. They include blistering, swelling, cracking and peeling skin around lips and eyes that, in some cases, caused serious disfigurement and difficulty in eating and talking, federal regulators said [sic].

Premier Pigment is but one manufacturer of cosmetic tattoo ink and it was only one batch of their product that had been found to cause adverse reactions. There are plenty of other manufacturers who have never had issues with their pigments.

5. There are sanitary issues.

Sanitary issues are of concern in any food, medical, or personal service establishment, and the establishment's cleanliness is a good indicator of the sanitation it maintains. Research your tattoo artist thoroughly instead of just price-shopping or finding someone in the Beauty Services section on Craigslist.

On top of that, I love makeup. I don't want to be stuck with one color eyeliner everyday. I like blue, green, red, black, bronze and more. So I need variety which I wouldn't have with the permanent.

Who says you have to be stuck with one eyeliner color? Good permanent eyeliner is not only well-placed (always as close as possible to the lash line) but the color and intensity also carefully considered so that the immediate overall effect on the eyes is having thicker and darker eyelashes rather than sporting Cleopatra eye makeup. No matter what color your permanent eyeliner happens to be, you'll always be able to add additional eyeliner and eye shadow of any color right on top.

Permanent makeup may not for everyone any more than cosmetic surgery is, but it continues to grow in popularity and despite the occasional horror story, the majority of patients surveyed about their cosmetic tattoo or surgery have not regretted their decision in the least.