Please Say NO to Mucosal Tattooing!

Please Say NO to Mucosal Tattooing!

It is disturbing to see how many permanent makeup educators are still teaching mucosal tattooing or wet-line tattooing. I was fortunate enough to have Dr. Charles Zwerling, an ophthalmic surgeon, as my mentor when I began my career in permanent makeup. He warned the American Academy members of the dangers and contraindications of performing this procedure. He explained that each blink that we blink is assisted by a lacrimal system, which is our tears and a sebaceous system which is provided by the Meibomian Glands that line this mucosa or wet-line.

There are approximately 35 Meibomian Glands that line each eyelid. They spread a sheath of oil across the globe of the eye with each blink. Once tattooed, they are scarred over and ultimately can produce dry eyes. They will never recover. As women mature, oils lessen, overall, especially in the eyes. The Meibomian Glands tend to dry up so any production of these precious oils become more necessary.

I urge my fellow practitioners and my fellow trainers not to perform or teach this. Once I explain to my clients that request this procedure what can and will occur, they are over it. Sometimes, women want what they want and I find I must place some degree of fear in them and I do. I explain how necessary these glands are and how miserable women are that can no longer wear contact lenses or watch a movie without requiring eye drops. I tell them how dry eyes itch and burn and the discomfort is constant.

How to Prevent Bluing as Black Eyeliner Fades

Countless times, we have been asked how to prevent bluing as black eyeliner fades. 

I’d like to explain that there are many reasons for this blue residual that appears at various times, from weeks to years.

One’s complexion plays a huge role in how black stays black. The best metaphor I can give you is to watch a professional basketball game for just five minutes. You will see many races, nationalities and complexions on the court, and many of these players have tattoos. In their tattoos, you will notice several shades of blacks and blues. This is due to their skin undertones. So, you see, we must place some responsibility on our clients for how black their eyeliner will remain. We can use the same black pigment on half a dozen women with different ethnic backgrounds and achieve six different results. Skin is a live organ and when we are working in it, we are working with someone’s DNA. These characteristics play a huge part in how color will heal in the skin.

On a basketball court, you will see fair men with very blue tattoos that were meant to be black. You will see some black men with blue tattoos and others that are still black. This could be due to the age of the tattoo or the ink used. Now, look at an in-between complexion and you will see various shades of blacks and blues. This is a great metaphor to give to your client that is insisting she wants her eyeliner to remain black forever and not like her friend’s that turned blue. I explain to my client there are no guarantees on what their complexion will do with it and how black it will heal in their skin. I know it’s going to be very black if I use Black Noir with 2 drops of Carbon. But it is a great reality to give your client.  

You may question why we see black tribal tattoos on people that seem to remain black but our eyeliner procedures do not. We cannot – and I repeat we CANNOT – use these black inks on the face, especially around the eyes. This would be dangerous on many levels, with migration being the highest level of danger and allergic reactions coming in a close second. These inks come with the tremendous risk and high probability to river into the surrounding area of the eyes and cheeks. You must also know that they, too, will eventually turn bluish since blue will always be dominant in black, regardless of whether you’re working with ink or pigment, and the base of these tribal inks is blue. 

There are many black pigments to choose from in our permanent makeup world. Face Inks has developed five blacks and they each achieve a different result—which basically means more or less blue and more or less intensity. 

Almost Black: Almost Black is a favorite among many practitioners and is a soft black that tends to have the eventuality of a gray fade as opposed to blue. It is great for women that are not quite committed to the black liquid eyeliner look but need a dark liner. It also slips into the skin, very nicely.

Onyx: Plain Onyx is quite blue. I tend to use this on my fair women with blue eyes. It is dark but if they are natural blondes or redheads, it will achieve a blue cast much quicker. I like to place the Onyx C (Carbon) between the top lashes and use the plain Onyx on the lid. This provides a deep frame and softer eyeliner. It’s quite beautiful. 

Onyx CI (half Carbon and half Iron Oxide): Onyx CI is a great black when you want to achieve dark black eyeliner that generally pulls more grayish tones over the years. However, remember that your client’s complexion plays a tremendous role in how black will fade out.

Black Noir: Black Noir, our most popular black, has a warm base. It is our blackest black on most complexions. The base of the black has a significant effect on how long black pigment will remain black. If there is a bit of warmth added to the black to alter the base, you can achieve a longer lasting black.

  

Onyx C: Onyx C is Face Inks straight carbon. This can be used straight between top lashes ONLY!  However, I do darken Black Noir by adding 1-2 drops of Onyx C to a half cup of Face Inks Black Noir. I find I can achieve the blackest black with this formula. I never use a needle smaller than a 3-Outliner when I am adding Carbon. Carbon is ink and has no particle size. This can increase your risk of migration, especially with the use of smaller needles. 

It’s important to know that any eyeliner color can migrate if placed too deeply. Use caution when performing this procedure.

The Truth About Mascaras

I love experimenting with inexpensive makeup. I often find them to be as good or better than expensive designer brands. Mascaras are a great example of this.

Our eyelashes have a texture, just like our hair, so they respond differently to various mascaras. Think of mascaras as you would hair preparations like mousses, sprays and gels you would put in your hair to achieve specific effects. Some will be too heavy and weigh it down and some will lend body and add volume. Finding the right weight and viscosity of mascara for your eyelashes can be a trial and error drill but doesn't have to be an expensive one. 

The fine texture of eyelashes, which most women have, will appear longer and thicker with a more viscous and dryer formula. Wet formulas will stick fine eyelashes together, weigh them down and won't be able to separate them. The dryer mascara will separate, lengthen and volumize finer eyelashes.  

If you have eyelashes that are more coarse, your eyelashes can handle a more wet formula without being weighed down.  

Recently, I have found love with Maybelline Great Lash and L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly mascaras. I was never a fan of a real wet mascara, the kind that sticks your lashes together and appears as though you just lifted your face out of the water. I prefer a dryer formula that separates, lifts and thickens each eyelash. Actually, I like my mascaras best about 3 weeks after I first open them. They thicken and become a bit dryer and then they really separate and add volume to my eyelashes.  

A former Borghese mascara user, I swore I could never live without it and then forgot to pack it for a vacation. The closest store was a pharmacy and I decided to just grab a Great Lash, since so many of my clients had told me they used it. I shuttered at the packaging, the tacky pink and green. No sleek tube? It seemed a bit wet, at first, but by the end of the week I was in love! The brush was firm and separated my lashes, beautifully. My bottom eyelashes are extremely long and most mascaras would leave me with black dots under my eyes just from looking down all day, since I am a permanent makeup artist. With Great Lash, no black dots! Since I have permanent eyeliner, myself, I found I could even place my wetting drops in my eyes, after a long day of work, without the mascara running. It was water-resistant! Could this be? Perfect! 

My other backup was L'Oreal Voluminous mascara. Working as a makeup artist for many years, many artists knew that L'Oreal made a great mascara. It was inexpensive and went pretty far. It was also a formula that was gentle and didn't irritate sensitive eyes. We didn't get the benefit of its full, round brush since we had to use our skimpy disposable brushes. However, it worked on various textures of eyelashes, separating and creating fullness without clumping. 

When they recently began to advertise the L'Oreal Butterfly mascara, I had to try it. It is truly great! It has a great brush that lifts and separates beautifully. The Waterproof Butterfly Mascara is fabulous from the very first application but a mascara remover is necessary to remove it. This formula is simply wicked and perfect for that special occasion where you really want to flaunt your lashes at their longest. 

The brushes in your mascara tube are important but not as critical as the mascara, itself. When the formula is right, the brush was always secondary to me.   

If you find your mascara is melting into your eyeliner every time you wear them together, consider changing your eyeliner or consider permanent eyeliner. If they eyeliner you are using has oils that meltdown, they can manage to smear and displace any mascara. Experiment to see if this is the case by just wearing your mascara without eyeliner to see if it remains intact. 

The best part, these 3 tubes of mascara, collectively, are still less expensive than just one tube of most department store designer brands and every bit as good or better.  

 

In closing, I do have one major Pet Peeve that I must put out there. How stupid do mascara manufacturer think we are when we look at their ads in magazines and they are showing eyes with false eyelashes, while bragging about their fabulous lash-lengthening mascaras??? The public, especially anyone that has any makeup experience, can see this from across a room. It is insulting women's intelligence.  Please stop!!!

Please Say NO to Cat Eye Tails!!!

I hope I don't make too many enemies with this blog but I feel compelled to write it. Every day, I receive from two to a dozen pics of eyeliner procedures, performed by practitioners in the trendy Marilyn Monroe style or the Cat Eye or the Retro Eye. These eyeliner procedures are applied as one might wear their over-the-counter makeup, extending out from the corner (canthus) of the eyesin a dramatic, sweeping tail. This is one style of eyeliner that simply should never be done, permanently! 

The corners of the eye, both inner and outer canthus, are points of migration. You may get away with a few but that Fitzpatrick 1 will come along and you will be sick if you see her migrate. This risk is greatly increased if you are using any form of carbon. Secondly, that tail is going to travel down and will require removal in the years to come. How soon? No one knows. It's all genetics. 

Women's eyes and mouths show age quite early. It generally begins with the eyebrows. As they move downward, the tails of the brows, where the skin is sometimes transparently thinner, push the outer corner of the eyes downward, as well. What you are tattooing today will not the same or look well in a few years. As a matter of fact, it can be disastrous. I have seen manystyles like this have to be excised by a plastic surgeon. However, this was many years ago, before practitioners realized, as faces maturefeatures drop downward. Practitioners soon came to learn that eyebrows that were tattooed too long or too low were longer and lower in just a few years. 

The WIDTH of an eyeliner is not an issue. I will accommodate any requested width, it just cannot extend past the outer canthus. I wear a very wide eyeliner, myself, that was tattooed, initially, 25 years ago. It still works because I didn't have it placed past the outer canthus of my eyes.

Please use discretion when younger clients request this trendy look. Explain to them that some things just do not translate well with permanent makeup and that this tail that she will love today will require removal up the road. How quickly? She would be gambling with her DNA. Also, inform her how nasty a removal would be in that area with no guarantee you will even be able to get it out. Swelling, hematomas and maybe even a black eye can result from removal. Please say NO!!!