For me, a successful application of makeup is all about the eyeliner. If I manage to get it on straight and properly shaped, I’ll strut through the rest of the evening winking at everyone who looks me in my perfectly-lined eyes. Or do so in my sassy dreams, since this actually almost never happens. It’s more likely I’ll apply some eyeliner, smudge it around until it’s acceptable, and slink out of the house heading for dim lighting and Audrey Hepburn dreams of the perfect cat eye.
For others, applying makeup is a burden they wish to be rid of for good. Permanent makeup ensures some will never have to buy makeup remover again. But what makes a person decide they want their lips permanently redden, or eyes lined for good? Does it come from a desire to diminish one’s time in front of the mirror each day? Or is it about something a little darker, like an inherent disbelief about natural beauty?
Permanent makeup, also known as micro pigmentation and cosmetic tattooing, is actually manipulating tattoos on the eyes, lips and eyebrows to look like makeup. The procedure is supposed to use the same FDA-approved inks that are in licensed tattoo parlors, though some reports have been filed of users employing printer’s ink or car paint. And while a knee-jerk reaction might regulate this procedure to the Land of Botox and Fillers, some have it done who have lost their eyebrows or skin pigmentation to disease, chemotherapy, alopecia, old age and scarring. It can even be used to help breast reconstruction in which the areola has been removed.
And yes, others have it done who want to simply wake up in makeup or feel confident in the pool. You see it advertised in doctor’s offices, day spas, and nail salons. Be advised that cosmetic tattooing often requires separate certifications from the state, so just because a salon has certification for general beauty procedures does not mean they are licensed to draw permanent eyeliner on your lids.
There are several problems that can arise as a result of permanent tattooing. First, if you are not satisfied with your initial procedure, you are virtually stuck with it. Permanent makeup is extremely expensive to undo, as well as difficult to actually reverse. The industry is largely unregulated, and Consumer Reports Health notes that by 2003 the FDA had identified so many patients with negative reactions that it advised “the application of permanent makeup can result in serious, long-term, disfiguring reactions.”
Further, there are reports linking permanent makeup to unwanted tissue growth. Needle slips into eyes have been reported, and even skin cancer might be connected to it. But most of the time, an undesired outcome of cosmetic tattooing is that the color simply degrades with time.
So is it worth it? Obviously it’s a personal choice – but a choice someone should make well-informed. In the meantime, I’m going to go practice steadying my eyeliner hand.
Image: pumpkincat210