Yesterday I had sight of a new Semi Permanent Makeup magazine and I was horrified by some of the techniques being used.  I have always been very vocal about Semi Permanent Makeup being conservative because the ink, in most cases, will never fade 100% and then it is I who is stuck trying to shift residual ink with lasers and ocular shields.

 There is a new trend for pushing the boundaries of SPMU and whilst this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is when it’s going to come back to hunt the client years later.  SPMU is not meant to make you look like you’re fully made up and ready for a night, it’s meant to make you look like you’re not NOT wearing any makeup.  Permanent Makeup should be classic to make sure it doesn’t go out of style.  Think of a Channel suit or a Balmain dress.

When we work on a person, we need to think of how the procedure is going to stand the test of time.  A butterfly eyeliner (this is an eyeliner that also has shading making it look like eyeshadow) with White, Blue and Greens done on a 25 year old will turn into a MOTH eyeliner 25 years later,  which no laser will be able to remove. Those colours can simply not be read by my lasers.  The reason I say “my lasers” is because I use CE verified machines that are made to my specs, making them gentler, so that I’m able to laser eyeliners and remove ink on the face safely.   Please don’t be fooled by the word “safely”.  Any time I stick a metal plate inside your eye to protect your cornea and then use a laser on your eyelid…THERE ARE RISKS INVOLVED AND IT’S GOING TO HURT.

 The same applies to Lip Colours.  I see this trend for using white in lip colours to deliver a highlighted soft lip colour which …I have to admit, looks..FANTASTIC!  The only problem here is that the titanium oxide molecules of WHITE are tini and will remain in your skin for ever and ever and when the other colours fade, you will still have the titanium oxide in the skin and no, my laser will not be able to read it.  Which means I can’t fix it!

Picture courtesy of Master Rhonda Vancati

 We have a duty to our clients NOT TO US!  If you’re here to make a name for self promotion and to see your name in lights, you’re in the wrong business.   All your doing is creating work for me.  The only approach to Semi Permanent Makeup is a CONSERVATIVE approach.

I’m sorry if this sounds like a rant, but if you could see how scared people are of the pain, healing time and possible complications of removal.  If you could hear them whimpering from the pain of the laser.  These are your clients 10 years from now, yes YOU, the ones doing and training the Butterfly eyeliner and using WHITE, BLUE and GREEN pigments.

Rant over