Pacemaker ALERT

Pacemaker ALERT

 

I recently had a client that came in for a unilateral areola tattoo, following her mastectomy and had pacemaker placed under his skin, approximately 5 inches from where the tattoo needed to be placed.  

Fortunately, we require medical clearance prior to areola tattooing and her cardiologist called to speak to me to explain that he was concerned that there could be interference from the machine so close to her pacemaker and called a medical supply company to deliver a magnetic donut that was to be placed over the pacemaker while I performed the tattoo procedure.

I had never come across this before. I feel compelled to share this information since this presents a significant risk. The medical clearance we require was a blessing. I would not have been able to proceed without getting such clearance.

Medical Clearance happens to be the law in NJ but I encourage everyone to do so. It is so simple. I just ask my client to bring one sentence from their doctor or surgeon on letterhead or prescription pad stating they are cleared for areola tattooing.

Warmly,

Rose Marie Beauchemin

The Hidden Power Of Color

The Hidden Power of Color

I love color! I love testing my eyes to color and even staring, not obviously at someone, but noticing what is so right about the colors they are wearing along with their jewelry, nail polish and hair color, or what is wrong. What my eyes are seeking is harmony, color harmony, seeing if the colors they are wearing are in harmony with their skin. 

We can look at someone and immediately notice they appear to be glowing. What is it that makes them glow? Their hair style may not be extraordinary, their clothing may not be outstanding but there is no denying they are simply glowing. 

We may look at the next person and notice they appear sallow, pale, bland or even worse yet, barely visible. What is it that is making them appear this way? They may be wearing a trendy and attractive outfit but why doesn’t it make them glow? 

What we are seeing is the profound effect of their color undertone.  The glowing woman got it right and happens to be wearing colors that have the same undertone as her skin or complexion and the sallow one did just the opposite. She wore colors with the opposite undertone and missed the boat entirely. 

When you bottom line color, there are only two undertones that encompass every color…Warm (Golden) and Cool (Blue).

Understanding and recognizing warm and cool colors is all the information we need to be able b to begin duplicating that glow, every single day.

How does that pertain to us and our practices?  Recognizing and selecting the correct undertone when we select our pigment colors for our client’s permanent eyebrows and permanent lip color is critical. 

Another great example is when you first see the color of the eyebrows or lips on a woman as opposed to seeing her entire face or eyes. We should always notice someone’s eyes first.  We may think it has everything to do with the brightness or the depth of the color but it is basically the undertone. Have you noticed your eyes keep going back to that color that is not in harmony? Now that I said this, you will notice it even more. 

If her eyebrows are too warm or too cool for her complexion and in the opposite undertone, that feature becomes dominant and keeps your eyes bouncing back to it. You cannot help it. This also occurs when a woman is wearing a lipstick that has the wrong undertone. Your eyes will be pulled to her lips even during a conversation and you can’t stop! Nothing is more frightful than a blue based burgundy or plum lipstick on a woman with a warm complexion. It is like nails scraping on a blackboard. Once your eyes become keen, it will actually almost hurt your eyes. Yes, I am exaggerating but you get point.  

This is not a judgmental exercise! This is simply how you sharpen your eyes so you can select the right PERMANENT eyebrows and the right lip color for your client. Our clients are entrusting us to know better than they know what looks well on them. We are the artists!!!   

To figure this out, it is simple, Take yourself to the nearest fabric store or you can even order small amounts (1/2 yd.) of the following colors online. Look for polyester that doesn’t fray on the edges or need to be hemmed. 

These following colors are considered Determinant Colors. These may not be what your client will run out to buy but they are extremely effective in figuring out if your client is Warm or Cool.  Your client will love this exercise! 

You will be amazed how many people make random purchases and countless, expensive makeup and wardrobe mistakes. This information is life-long! We are born with an undertone and it never, ever changes. We may respond to the lighter and brighter colors of our spectrum but it remains the same. Oh, and no one is both!!!!  One will always be dominant. It’s either Warm or Cool. So, you can see how valuable this information will be for your client.  

It only takes a few minutes! It’s quick and fun and often surprising to your client and even you. It happens to me, all the time. We can never make a guess! I always want the fabrics spread from shoulder to shoulder, across their chests to show me their skin response. Then, we can proceed with the most flattering of pigment color selection and have our clients invested in this decision. 

Work these sets of colors, one at a time across your client’s chest, shoulder to shoulder, right under their chin.  Take each set and one at a time compare the set of colors. Where does their complexion glow? Where do they get shadows and or dark circles? Is it Black or Brown? If you can’t tell, just move on. There will be a set that will quickly indicate whether your client is Warm or Cool. 

Cool vs. Warm

Jet Black vs. Chocolate Brown (be sure the brown is warm as opposed to a dark taupe) 

Light Pink vs. Light Peach

Stark White vs. Yellowish Ivory

Hot Pink vs. Pumpkin

Banana Yellow vs. Buttercup

Blue Red vs. Orange Red

Burgundy vs. Rust

If you happen to carry a makeup line in your salon or practice, ask your clients to return with all of their makeup and have a Dump Your Makeup Bag event. It is a great wine and cheese event and you will sell them the correct makeup. They will love you, forever. This is simple yet life changing since they now have direction when they shop. 

I hope you have fun with this tidbit of information. We would love to hear your comments!!!! 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year!!!

When to Correct a Color Residual and When NOT to!

When to Correct a Color Residual and When NOT to!

I have wanted to share my opinions regarding discolored eyebrows for some time. I am basing these opinions on my more than 25 years of experience, using many different pigment companies and analyzing how they heal in the skin.

We receive calls almost daily with questions regarding residuals left from previous procedures. What does one do with this stain or leftover color?

I first want to say that permanent makeup pigment colors, after several years, will leave some stain or residual. A great metaphor I use is, imagine you colored your hair just once, one single time.  It would first begin to fade and then the color would continue to change over time until it no longer resembled the original color that was used. It would be unrecognizable and this process is called oxidation. The base color of the hair dye, your climate, your lifestyle and your hair products will affect how this one-time hair color faded and also how it would oxidize.

Permanent Makeup colors will eventually behave in this same manner after years, if not touched up. There will be some residual color remaining that may not even resemble the original color that was tattooed.

There are some residuals that are of concern and some that are not. The residuals that hold no concern for me are: shades of red, orange, coral and pink. In other words, warm residuals.

I do not see these residuals as an issue. I either utilize the warm residual or simply do a cover-up with a taupe shade. I utilize it by adding a taupe shade of hair strokes and allow the warmth to remain in between them. This technique heals out beautifully. If it is a powder brow, I may not add warmth to my selection. This would depend on the amount of warmth I am working over and if there is enough residual to warm my pigment selection.

If we receive a call from a client, regardless of where she had her procedure done and she says her brows are turning orangey, we just tell her it’s time for a color touch-up. We do not make a big deal out of this since it is anything but a big deal!

We are often asked by practitioners if our Face Inks pigments heal red. If you choose a warm base that is too warm, this will occur with any and all pigments.

Light gray residuals can often be ignored, as well, if you are tattooing a darker color than the light gray residual over it.

The more difficult residuals are the darker gray, darker blue, blackish tones and purple. These are not a cover-up. I consider these a color correction and they generally take a minimum of 2 visits.  I make no commitment of how many return visits will be required with these types of corrections, although it is rarely more than 2.

Face Inks Goldfinch is a fabulous purple corrector. I will often add some Milk Chocolate to it, since it has a golden brown base.

For the darker grays and blues, I use Henna and Butterscotch.

Turquoise and shades of green simply need red.  Adding Henna or Cocoa to your selected brown will help stamp this out. However, if migration has occurred, it may require a salt removal in addition to the color correction.

For correcting color, I always use a 5-round and do not travel nearly as deeply in the skin as I would a regular procedure. My goal and my visual is to place the color on top of the color to be corrected and not place it as deeply as it was initially placed.

We must keep in mind there are many factors that affect how a pigment color wears or fades in the skin. What is their overall complexion? Some very fair people can heal on the cool side while some hold onto the warmth in a color. Ruddy complexions can heal with cool tones, as well, since the pink or redness translates and adds blue to the healed color.

Where are they on the Fitzpatrick Scale?  The more color in the skin, the more blue. Deeper skin tones and higher on the Fitzpatrick Scale can tend to heal cool if some warmth is not added to balance the blue in these higher numbers.

What is their skin undertone? The undertone of the skin also affects how color will heal over the years. Warmer undertones often hold onto the warmth in a brow shade while olive tones can eventually oxidize with a cooler tone.

What is their lifestyle and where do they live? Those that spend a great deal of time outdoors will fade more quickly and you will see your pigment residual sooner than those that do not spend time outdoors. Warmer or tropical climates will often tend to pull warm tones.

What skin care products are they using? Retinols and Glycolic Acids can affect the way color ages, matures or oxidizes in one’s skin.

So, all of the above can and will affect the amount of time color will last in the skin and how it will fade out. Do not allow anyone to tell you differently about their pigments!!!  Skin is a live organ and is always changing and moving. Skin exfoliates, tans, peels and we expose it to various conditions and chemicals.

So, in conclusion, keep your words sweet, since you never know when you will have to eat them! In other words, be careful not to criticize someone else’s residuals, especially if they are the typical warm or cool residuals, since you will one day be touching up your own!

Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green

I am sure you’ve heard of the brilliant book Blue and Yellow Do Not Make Green. It was written by Michael Wilcox, and no one explains color better than he does.

Why did he choose this catchy title? Because blue and yellow don’t always make green. It depends on the base of the yellow and the base of the blue. So, you get the idea. The base of the color will change the outcome. 

Here’s an example that pertains to permanent makeup: Why do we see so many purple eyebrows? If the base of a brown pigment is purple, it had to be made with a blue and red or a blue-based black and red pigment. If you add a warm yellow-orange or an orange to warm it up (Butterscotch), you will end up with a very purple eyebrow. The reason behind this is that red and yellow made the orange that you added to warm up the brown, which was made with red and blue or a red and blue-black pigment. This made the purple base.

The red from the orange, which was added to warm the brown, already had a purple base. This purple base that was obviously made with red and blue just became more prominent. So… you never want to use a brown with a purple base. How do you tell? Smear your colors out on white paper and run them under water. You’ll see the base of the color right there.

To correct these purple brows, you need a green-yellow (Goldfinch), and not a warm one. The green-yellow is cool, and it has no red to accelerate the purple in the brows. Goldfinch with a little Milk Chocolate is a terrific corrector for purple eyebrows. I use a 5 round and don’t go as deeply as I would in a regular or initial procedure. You want the corrective formula on top and not at the same level or below the purple residual.

I think it is important that we understand what creates purple brows. If they are occurring in your practice, consider changing the browns you are selecting or try another pigment line.