A guide to cosmetic tattooing for permanent eye makeup

Permanent Eyebrow Makeup or more commonly known as Cosmetic Tattooing has grown in popularity and influence over the years.

The minimally invasive treatment offers a semi-permanent solution with brow-like hairs for long-lasting and full brows. Whether you are seeking a routine upgrade? Interested in investing in the treatment or wanting to know more about the beauty hack, discover our informative guide that showcases the answers to the most pressing questions.

What is Cosmetic Tattooing or permanent eyebrow makeup?

There are two forms of semi-permanent eyebrow tattoo methods. Microblading, which uses a thin hair-like blade to gently etch pigment in the upper layers of the skin giving a hair stroke-like effect or Micropigmentation; where a special tattoo machine (medically designed for semi-permanent tattooing) is used. This embeds small droplets of pigment in the uppermost layer of the skin used for creating a soft powder or ombre brow effect.

Whilst every individual is different, results often retain for a minimum of 18-24 months for Microblading and 2-3 years for Micropigmentation.

What does the treatment involve?

Eyebrow tattooing or permanent eyebrow makeup is not as scary as people expect it to be. The procedure itself is minimally invasive (and often no pain depending on the threshold) whilst the needle penetrates the skin superficially to imprint the brow-like hairs. The full treatment time including designing, choosing correct pigment, numbing and tattooing should take about 2 – 3 hours.

In terms of healing, your technician should give you all the aftercare materials and ointments you need. We recommend wiping the brows with clean water morning and night and applying a nourishing ointment after. The full healing time can take 10-14 days, in this time the brows can feel a bit itchy but it’s totally normal and manageable (if it becomes a nuisance, applying a gentle cream will help to relieve the itchy sensation).

One of the biggest concerns is that the eyebrow will be left with a blue/green colour, however, cosmetic tattooing or permanent eyebrow makeup has advanced so much that we don’t use traditional tattoo inks. We use pigments that are specifically designed for semi-permanent tattooing that are mainly derived from minerals, plants and veg. These safe pigments stay natural and fade away into a lighter shade of that colour rather than turning blue/green. These pigments are also medically developed to work with the skin and have a minimum reaction, unlike traditional tattoo inks that are made up of harsh metals and chemicals that are more likely to irritate the skin or give a reaction.

Your Technician

You want to ensure that you do your research and find a technician that is fully qualified as there are many practitioners that deliver this treatment without accreditation and may not have all the essential knowledge to deliver perfect lasting brows.

Ensure your technician has a VTCT level 4 in Microblading or Micropigmentation and it is important for your technician to have met the training requirements and is educated in using the right equipment/pigments for the permanent eyebrow makeup as this is crucial for your results.

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