What do Mila Kunis, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Cher, Jennifer Lopez, Dolly Parton, Nicholas Cage, and Pamela Anderson have in common?

Sure, they’re all celebrities, but they and some other big names in entertainment also share an aesthetic trait. That is, they have accented their distinctive looks with permanent makeup. We’re aware of at least another dozen celebrities—including a couple of other men—who have jumped on the permanent makeup bandwagon and expect to see their numbers rise.

With advances in needling technology, pigments, and artistic techniques, demand for permanent makeup has soared in recent years. Between 2016 and 2020, permanent makeup Internet searches increased by more than 200%. The estimated 2021 $3.6 billion global market size of the permanent makeup industry is expected to experience annual compound growth of about 11% over the next five years.

Southwest Florida’s Tru Glō Medspa has witnessed this growth firsthand. To help meet the growing demand in the Naples area, our award-winning certified permanent makeup artist, Mercedeh Reynolds, has been joined by Iryna McCraw, who has over a decade of experience delivering beautiful permanent makeup results. If you’ve been interested in learning how permanent makeup can enhance your facial features and ease your daily beauty routine, they’ve put together this quick primer. It explains the basics of permanent makeup and what to expect during your permanent makeup procedure.

Permanent Makeup Basics

Permanent makeup is pigment artistically inserted into the upper skin layers that mimic makeup or enhance facial features. This cosmetic tattooing is primarily applied to the eyebrows, eyelines, and lips but can also be used to obscure scars and other facial imperfections. The artistry of permanent makeup can reduce the time needed for regular makeup application and decrease the need for daily periodic touchups.
Because the pigments are upper-skin-layer deep, the inked makeup is only semi-permanent as it fades over time. However, the initial work can easily be revived or adjusted with touchup sessions as needed.

The most popular permanent makeup treatment is microblading, which adds natural-looking hair strokes to the eyebrows. Also known as feathering and microshading, microblading can fill existing gaps in the brows, thicken sparse areas, or completely reshape them. Whether one eyebrow hair or the entire brow, the permanent makeup artist’s goal is to make the inked hair indistinguishable from natural hair.

Permanent eyeliner treatment can be equally subtle or bold, depending on the client’s aesthetic wishes. A lash line enhancement inked within the line helps better frame and define the eyes by making the lashes look fuller. Or you can go with a full-on eyeliner applied above the lash line to create your go-to permanent eyeliner, whether natural, cat-eye, winged, or smokey.

Lip blushing treatment adds consistent color to lips to enhance their definition, make them look fuller, and obscure the appearance of wrinkles. Rather than going bold with color, most clients seek a deeper layer of pigment that creates a permanent, just-bitten, blurred lip appearance.

Scar camouflage treatment is especially effective at treating scars and other imperfections that are lighter than the client’s natural skin color. The treatment is often effective at addressing hyperpigmentation spots but cannot be used on Keloid scars. Of the permanent makeup treatments, scar camouflage lasts the longest because of the scar’s thicker texture and lack of sweat glands.

The Importance of Your Permanent Makeup Consultation

Engaging in an initial consultation with your permanent makeup artist before undergoing the procedure is crucial to ensuring the best results. From your perspective, it allows you to assess the artist, ask important questions, review examples of their work, and get a sense of their skill level and professionalism. The consultation should give you confidence that the artist can deliver the flawless permanent makeup results you seek.

Your permanent makeup artist uses the initial consultation to, first, ensure that you are a viable candidate for permanent makeup, as medical conditions or skin issues could preclude treatment. Once viability has been established, your artist will focus on planning the scope of work. This entails gaining a detailed understanding of your desired outcome, evaluating facial features and skin tone, and determining the perfect pigmentation for the makeup.

The initial consultation typically closes with a detailed run-down on pre-procedure instructions, which vary depending on the treated area. Some standard pre-procedure instructions include:

• Not undergoing Botox or dermal filler treatment for two weeks.
• No chemical treatments, peels, or other facial treatments for at least a month.
• Discontinue Vitamin A and Retinal products for one month.
• Avoiding blood thinning medications for a week.
• Not working out on the day of the appointment.
• Avoiding sun exposure

Your Permanent Makeup Procedure

How you experience your permanent makeup procedure depends partly on what area your artist is treating and how extensive the work is. Adding a few new eyebrow hairs takes much less time than reshaping an entire brow or undergoing a complete lip blushing. On average, most of our client’s procedures take about two hours.

The procedure begins with a complete cleansing of the treatment area and the application of a high-quality topical anesthetic to numb the skin and minimize our patients’ discomfort levels. Once numb, your permanent makeup artist will begin applying pigment into your skin with the appropriate advanced needling tool—and needle size—needed to create the specific effects for your makeup.

As for pain, because permanent makeup techniques do not go as deep into the skin as traditional tattooing, it is not as painful. Most of our patients say they experience light scratching, vibrating, and slight burning sensations during their sessions.

Be Diligent in Your Aftercare for the Best Results

For the first few days after the procedure, the color of your permanent makeup will stand out, so we recommend that clients lay low until the pigment naturally softens and turns lighter. During this time, you will likely also experience some swelling and redness around the treated area(s). During your first day, the treated area may ooze or weep small amounts of fluid or blood, which you should gently blot with a clean gauze or damp paper towel to limit scabbing. For up to 10 days, treated areas may itch, and the skin will show signs of flaking and/or peeling, but try not to pick at the flakes and let them fall off on their own. We provide clients with detailed cleaning instructions and other aftercare recommendations that should be followed for one to two weeks to optimize results. These include:

• Do not apply makeup to the treated area.
• Avoid strenuous exercise and activities.
• Do not expose the treated area to direct sunlight.
• No facials, saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs, or long showers or baths.
• No swimming in pools, freshwater bodies of water, or the ocean.
• Sleep on clean bedding.
• Avoid gardening or yard work.

Schedule Your Permanent Makeup Consultation with Naples-Based Tru Glō Medspa

Tru Glō Medspa is pleased to have two outstanding permanent makeup artists on staff to deliver top-line facial enhancements to our Naples, Florida, area clients. If you want to learn how permanent makeup can beautify your eyebrows, eyes, and lips, Mercedeh or Iryna will gladly consult with you. To schedule your consultation, contact our Naples, Florida-based medical spa through our website’s contact page or by calling 239-919-7009.