No-Shows

I never used to care if my cosmetic tattoo clients didn't show up - I always had so much else to do. Lately though, it is starting to bother me from the perspective that these people are just simply either stupid as hell because they cannot write down and remember an appointment, or they are just plain rude!

I have a full schedule, generally at least six weeks out because I do not book all day and all night, so someone else would have gladly filled that time slot! This is not just new clients...more so, the ones who are no-shows are my clients who haven't seen me for a year or two and are needing a touch up. Then they call days later and are pissed off they have to wait another six weeks or so for another appointment! I am going to have to keep some notes on these chronic time abusers...next time they show up - NO anesthetic.

Angela In Sri Lanka

So I know this is not usual and customary here and photos I should be including should be of cosmetic tattoo work, but I wanted to pay a personal tribute to a fellow cosmetic tattoo artist who is in St. Louis. It took much courage and strength for Angela Durbin to go on this mission trip to Sri Lanka to help in the "rebuilding" process. I said it like that because I have no idea how these already impoverished people can ever get things back, rebuild, but they are a humble lot and we could probably learn much from them. Great work, Angela! We love you and are glad you made it home safely!!

Online Red Cross Class

I have seen so many tattooers take the online Indiana Red Cross Class for bloodborne pathogens - they post their cards online and from what I have observed posted to a micropigmentation organization website, they seems to think it is okay for the industry - it is NOT!

It is not worth the crummy twenty bucks it costs. They seem to think it is OK to use a chemiclave - oh yeah - and you waste tons of time downloading these little short video clips that can be written in two or three sentences each - like we really need to see an old lady coughing or a dog barking. Gimme a break! This is supposed to be geared to the tattoo/piercing industry so why are we seeing videos of EMT personnel working in the field?

The handwashing technique is insane in the fact the person picks up a paper towel to dry from a stack right next to the actual wash basin itself (as if there is no chance of wetting any of the other?) rather than from a dispenser.

The exam is a joke as well....This is just plain bad!!

Here I Am

Here I am. I'm going to really give my opinion on some common practices in this industry. You can count on it!!

Misery Loves Company

Okay, so I let the "cat of the bag" and finally let someone in on my new found passion of blogging for permanent cosmetics - cosmetic tattooing - permanent makeup - or the dreaded micropigmentation - more commonly known as those micropigs!

So now devinemsm will be posting some of her own "highly regarded" wisdom. You are in for a treat now!!

Old Timers In the Cosmetic Tattoo Industry

I have mixed feelings about some in our industry who have been around over 15 years or so. I am in a situation where I feel I never stop learning. I think this is a healthy point of view. There are those out there, however, who feel they know it all - they are the Masters and everyone learns from THEM...

They are above networking, above continuing education, and above joining professional organizations. The real deal is they suck at what they are doing, much of the time. They have not gotten out of the whole "micropigmentation" gimmick that was forced down our throats back then, telling us we needed to use a single needle and "dot" the color in...pointillism...and if we were doing anything else, we were tattooooing (as if it were some sort of cult ritual.) They told people they were "certified" when all they got was a piece of paper - really a certificate of attendance - after spending thousands on a weekend class.

They call themselves things like dermalogists - better yet, LICENSED dermalogists - which is a huge deception on the general public making clients think they are medically related to the dermatology field. I have heard this word is banned by the FTC (not verified.) They have not kept up with cross contamination education and their artistry is lacking. As I have said before, I never stop learning and the day that happens means it is time to shelve my machines.

Message Boards Again

Every so often when I feel like getting pissed off, I look at some of the message boards for the industry. This time I saw a posting done by a doctor talking about injecting anesthetics for lips and brow as being fine but that "some patients get unacceptable bruising with the eyeliner due to the injectable local." YA THINK!!??

Why in the world these docs (and their tattooers) think they need to inject anesthetics is beyond me. I truly believe the "offerning" is a slick marketing ploy to get people in the door to make them think you are not going to hurt them - wonder how many eyeliner referrals you all get from those who you mess up with that gig?

If you keep your first pass shallow and just break the skin - you can lay in some anesthetic gel - OTC strength designed specifically for this industry- and within seconds, you can do another pass, repeat the anesthetic, and go to town. It is not rocket science - it hurts like hell having the anesthetic injected and the bruising is horrific for many. When they leave my studio, they are minorly puffy - they look like they just sat through a sad movie. I wish people would truly LEARN what is appropriate for this industry.

Tattooing vs. TATTOOING

Yesterday's posting brought to mind a trend out there where cosmetic tattooers are breaking into the more traditional form of tattooing. There is nothing wrong with that - I have a tattoo studio where we offer both services. The problem is, just because you have a needle and ink, it does not make you a body artist. Just because you have a few sheets of flash does not make you a body artist, either.

"I just do small decorative tattooing," is the common response from them. "You know, butterflies and hearts." Yeah, I know - black outlines filled with a couple colors - yaaaaaaaay...little Mary knows how to stay within the lines! Yes, exactly that - coloring book work at best, and most often fast-fading junk with shaky, uneven lines - or thick, heavy stuff trying to correct the mess.

I am not saying every cosmetic tattooer who takes on body art works like that, but there is a trend for some suppliers, in order to sell more pigment colors, to throw in some small flash and there ya' go.

Body artists go through months of apprenticeship for a reason - respect that concept. If you want to do body art - really want to do it, you need to learn how first. Traditional tattoo artists rarely cross over into cosmetic tattooing for the same reason - it requires a LOT of education - not just a week to become truly good.

A Very Sad Tale of Eyebrow Tattoooing

I recently saw a cosmetic tattoo client who came to me with red crooked, hooked eyebrows - they were so bad, she would not sign her consent for me to use the pictures, ever. Here is what happened: she has a tattoo artist who has done quite beautiful work for her. For some reason, she insisted he tattoo her eyebrows. He did what he only knew to do - shaved the hair!

Yup, took her eyebrows right off - well that is what we do on the body, so why not the face? Gotta shave off that hair to keep the skin as clean as possible, no needles tangling with those hairs, etc. Well it just does not work that way with cosmetic work. We tattoo brows to compliment existing hair - to make it appear as natural as can be.

So my fellow tattooer has a very small selection of brown tones - many are heavy in a red base. While this might be fine for drawing hairs on that grizzly, when they fade on the face and turned maroon, who is going to be happy then? I cannot figure out how the shape turned into tadpoles going off in different directions - quite possibly she was lifting one side of her forehead more than the other, which is quite common. He would not know about that, I guess.

So by doing her a favor, and at bargain basement rates - (I won't even state the fee, it was obscenely LOW - would not even cover my supplies) - he created a tremendous amount of work for me. We don't know what we don't know, sometimes!

Permanent Cosmetics Underground

The time has come where all honest, talented cosmetic tattooers insist that their peers "come out of the closet" - or more accurately, get the hell out of the basement! I cannot believe how many people think it is OK to be tattooing out their houses: in their basements, bedrooms, or on kitchen tables. I have heard horror stories of clients going to these establishments and being tattooed on the technician's child's bed!

This must end and it must end now. All tattooers should be working out of licensed facilities. If not, why not? Are they operating illegally? How can they carry insurance like that? Sure, some will say they have room specifically set up for it - that is is very professional, has hot and cold running water, etc. I would love to see their sharps pick up log, where they dispose of their contaminated waste, and what their local city/county knowledge of their presence is. If you don't want to conduct business in a proper manner - find another one - there is no room in the cosmetic tattoo industry for you!

Ethics in Cosmetic Tattooing

I (sorry to say) have been reading more industry related websites. I "love" it when these people say things like it is painless, there is no bleeding...oh, the best one yet: "Using the hand tool is less invasive than the coil machine." Oh really??? Pigment must magically sink into the skin, then.

Tattooing is invasive - you have to get it into the dermis to stay, plain and simple. Do these people think potential clients out there are idiots or are they....ummmm....not playing with a full deck??? Are these so-called cosmetic tattoo professionals so naive they buy into all the mumbo jumbo??? Clean up your acts, especially your websites and STOP MAKING US ALL look stupid - you are an embarrassment to the industry!

Eye Wash During Eyeliner Tattooing

This should be something routine, something each and every student should be taught when learning cosmetic tattooing, but I am still amazed, actually appalled, over how many people neglect this very important step - washing out the eye!

In all my years doing cosmetic tattooing I have not had the incidence of corneal abrasions reported by others - only one, actually, and she claims to have had several over the years since the globe of her eye is quite large and things find their way in there. She said she knew she had something in her eye but rubbed it anyway, causing the abrasion.

I have NEVER had a client with a corneal burn from anesthetic; probably because I am careful not to use an anesthetic preparation that is more than the over-the-counter legal strength, but I also irrigate the eye when a client complains of burning there from the anesthetic.

Ironically, I know of technicians who PURPOSELY anesthetize the eye so the client will NOT feel burning - this is the stupidest thing I have heard for eyeliner tattooing. If you take away sensation, what warning signs do you have that something is in there that can cause harm??

Also, saline for contact lens rinsing is just that - it is NOT meant to be used as an eye wash. Spend the few dollars more and get the real deal and keep your clients safe. Spend a few more dollars and buy empty pigment bottles to transfer the eyewash in - you can easily cover them with barrier film - the small size bottle will give you better control when irrigating the eye.

Client Positioning for Facial Tattooing

Time and again I have seen cosmetic tattoo artists try to tattoo without working on a flat surface. This means they must turn the client and position the area to be tattooed "on top," because you are not going to get as smooth or even of a line if you are twisted and working awkwardly down next to you in the case of a lip procedure, for instance.

What this means is each "section" of the lip should be tattooed in a different position for the client. You should have her turn toward you for the "away" side, flat for the middle, and then, most importantly, turn away from you to work on the side closest in. That is the only way you can get proper positioning with the right amount of stretch so that you can work comfortably, and SEE the area you are working on precisely.

Black Eyeliner

For some odd reason in this industry, people shy away from black eyeliner. They say it makes you look harsh, that when tattooed it turns to blue, or some other falacies.

The truth of the matter is, we are tattooing the color INTO the skin, not drawing black liquid eyeliner on the skin. When you put brown tones into the skin, they seem to always make reds stand out. Red around the eyes, red in the eyes. When you use black - and it does NOT have to be straight black, you can make a gray wash that is quite transparent and soft - it actually makes the whites of the eyes appear whiter and blue and green eyes really look quite bright.

If you use the right kind of pigment, you will not be getting blue tones, either. I have not touched mine up in 15 years and they are still dark gray.

Thick Lower Eyeliner Tattooing

This is a simple posting - NO

I just won't do it. If the client wants to look like a clown or worse (skank comes to mind, sorry) with heavy drawn on lower eyeliner, that is up to them. I am not about to put my name to it.

What is truly amazing are the clients who ONLY want the bottoms and not the tops - that drags them down even more. Most times it is because their top lashes are thin and/or they have wide upper rims (wet tissue area) so that when they draw on eyeliner above the lashes, it looks bad.

Once they see that I am filling in the lashes all the way down to the wet tissue border on the top, they love the look - they just never knew how to achieve it.

It is our primary responsibility NOT to just give them what they want, but to TEACH them what they want first!

Stand Behind Your Tattooing!

I grow tired of clients coming my way who have decided to switch artists because they can no longer get their artist to return their calls. I would understand better if the client has unrealistic expectations, but nine times out of ten it is because the artist left them with incomplete work and they don't want to touch up the job as a freebie or at a small fee.

If cosmetic tattooing is not perfect after two or three processes, I truly believe it is the artist's responsibility to continue to work with them at least a couple more times to be sure it is not one of those rare occasions where color is just impossible to take on the face.

Seasoned artists know what I am talking about - oftentimes the client has a lot going on in their system - they come right after chemotherapy or they have autoimmune disorders, etc. In any event, the cosmetic tattoo client has a right to be treated well and one establishes a better source for word of mouth referrals when the work is complete and something to be proud of.

Cheek Blush Tattooing

Once again on a local message board, people are trying to learn how to tattoo blush. Probably one of the most over-rated and poor choices in the industry. Most cosmetic tattoo artists do not know how to properly shade or do a wash of pigments. They do not realize how much titanium these manufacturers put in their red products so even if well-diluted, it can come out chalky looking over time.

A big issue is the fact that so many women get rosacea. How will they be able to effectively treat it if their cheeks are loaded with a tattoo pigment containing white? Another big factor to consider is that most women end up using foundations and powders so the tattooed "blush" is not going to show - and what color to choose, besides? When you need a more coral tone for a new hair color or outfit and you have pink cheeks, how will that look?

I personally will not do this procedure - it is not money well-spent for my clients.

Eyeliner Observations

Clients seem to be more afraid to have eyeliner tattooing done over any other procedure. Makes sense...working around the eye, they are worried about blinking and getting stuck.

Someday I will video my eyeliner technique - it is amazingly safe. Clients who watch it are surprised to see exactly how far I actually work from the eye itself. It is all about proper grip and stretching techniques.

I have seen far too many techs stretch the top lid straight out rather than anchor it to the brow bone as well. One needs to expose both sides of the top lashes and to see the entire lid margin or wet tissue under the lashes in order to safely fill the lashes (all the while still keeping the eye relatively closed.

With only a lateral stretch, it is actually quite easy to slip that needle past the lashes right into the eye and I am not kidding. Have I seen someone do that? Absitively!! Does it hurt? Posilutely!!

What about the lower lid? Does the eye have to stay open for a smooth line? Of course not. That being said, however, people with baggy saggy lids may need to have the eye open for the very lateral aspects of the lower lid tattooing for a smooth finish. Most times, however, with some template marking with the client sitting up, the tattooing can still be done with a slightly closed eye. It makes sense to protect the eye in this fashion and keeps the client comfortable.

Cosmetic Tattoo Pigments

This will be short. I was talking to someone today about cosmetic tattoo pigments and she was so very sure she needed to use pigments with a lot of glycerin in them, otherwise they will dry up and she will "lose" most of it if not used it up quickly.

Marketing CaCa. You know, I personally feel a heavy glycerin product wastes even more. It clings to the sides of the bottle and you cannot get it all out when it starts to get "old." Try putting some alcohol in it and shake it down and you will easily see what I am talking about!

I don't particularily like working through an oil slick, besides, and that stuff gunks up the bottle no matter how tight you cap it, it seems to find a way to ooze on out of there....ewwwww.

I am, as you know, a big fan of "washes" so I would rather work with a pigment that is as plain as they come and when diluted, I know what I have - in other words, very little to NO glycerin at all.

Lip Tattooing

I guess since cosmetic tattoo artists with years of experience ask me to conduct private workshops for them and they send me lip clients by the dozens, I am pretty much thought of as the lip expert in my area. Actually I have lectured in several places in the country on lip tattooing as well.

Here is my secret: Keep it simple and be in charge - period!

No matter what the client does or wants, this means NO extreme, over the lip border stuff unless you are working over baggy, saggy lip tissue. A young firm lip has a definite and noticeable vermilion ridge and it will be obvious if you extend it too much - fake and trashy looking, actually.

Artists who think they can train in lips over a week or two course and produce adequate work are fooling themselves and hurting their clients. You have to have a fair amount of experience in other tattooing before you should attempt lips - they are unlike any other part of the body and are the hardest thing to do.

Once again, I am reading on a message board about how EVERYONE battles to get good color retention in lips....this is a load of horse hocky. If you know what you are doing, what tools to use, what colors to use, you get the job done - PERIOD!

More to follow when I am in the mood...

Cosmetic Tattooing Colors For Eyes

I used to wonder why cosmetic tattooers saw value in creating so many different colors in eyeliner tattooing. Most times it looks terrible, especially after fading. I personally believe it is more of a ploy for the pigment manufacturers to sell more product. They are the ones who promote all the different eyeliner colors - far more than the trainers out there. Just because the client wears green or blue eyeshadow and liner all the time does not mean that is what we need to tattoo there. They can add these colors in a subtle fashion on their own and change them as needed.

Most times these women require some education as to what they should be applying, anyway. If they are fashion or trend conscious it is not a tattoo procedure they should be thinking about unless it is subtle and basic.

Basic black eyeliner - most of us wear black mascara, anyway - is the starting point. It heals into the skin so it is never going to look like harsh liquid eyeliner. If it is kept within the lashline, it is going to give a natural, but defined appearance. What this will do is make the whites of the eyes look whiter, and blue and green eyes will pop right out dramatically.

If you put brown tones into the skin, the red in and around the eyes will be enhanced instead. This is not cosmetic counter magic, this is tattooing pigment that reflects from within the skin. If you want to go thicker with it or are extremely fair, then it is various shades of gray that you are looking for.

DO NOT be adding white to get this gray. I cannot understand why cosmetic tattooers or manufacturers do this - cut their blacks with white to make a heavy murky product (other than to sell my eyeliner colors) when the tattooer only needs to dilute the black to varying degrees, depending on how light they want the gray to appear. I have spent too many years trying to touch up that heavy look of matte battleship gray eyeliner people walk into my studio with.

So now you will say you cannot use black because it fades to blue. This does not happen so often in the eye area as it does in the brow area (black in brows in a no no but that is another topic.)Most manufacturers have adjusted their "eyeliner black" to prevent this and a soft fade to a gray that carries a bit of blue is not unappealing for eyeliner- they will still have to have far less touching up to do when using black rather than browns.

Black is where it is at, boys and girls.

Using Light Eyebrow Colors

I am once again seeing people in my studio who have had previous eyebrow tattooing applications that have faded into murky, pasty messes. I don't understand why people are unable to learn to simply stay away from heavy white cuts in their pigments. Titanium dioxide is a huge pigment molecule and when all else fades away, that will still be there taking up space in the skin and reflecting poorly.

It is so much simpler to go with a darker color and dilute it down to create a wash if you are doing a total brow fill. It provides a much softer looking result, like a brow powder would over a pencil. It also leaves room for many more touch ups over the years as the colors fade.

Hair stoke applications only look good when there is hair there to begin with to blend, or if there is a soft wash applied first as a base. Otherwise, you can really see just lines. People are more used to seeing brow pencil or powder so it would be best to mimic that look rather than look like the client was at it with a fine point sharpie marker.

Some in this industry think they are being artistic when they apply different colors, including very light ones for "highlighting" to try to produce the appearance of depth. Skin is a far different canvas and you cannot duplicate painting techniques there. Brow colors fade rapidly and these unhappy clients come my way with faded out brows consisting of whitish hunks of tattooing mixed with gray and orange looking undertones left behind - not an easy fix up, for sure.

Don't try to WOW your client with this kind of initial tattooing that ultimately provides unrealistic expectations for the long haul. Less is more and a conservative approach is always the way to go.

Micropigmentation

Sounds like a computer term or something to me. It certainly never told me it was cosmetic tattooing. I can easily deal with permanent cosmetics - even more than permanent makeup, because cosmetic tattooing is what we do. We provide a cosmetic effect when we tattoo.

Micropigmentation is something someone made up so they would not have to use the "T" word. (This now edited: I read that it was because MICROSCOPES were used in the tattoing process...oh boy, we sure all use those, don't we??) When I went to a useless two day training (that's all they did back then) I was told that if you poked the color into the skin with a single needle (they say pointillism) it was micropigmentation. Anything else was tattooing (ewwwwww - not THAT!) Of course over the years they had no choice but to accept other methods of tattoo like how most everyone tattoos (other than pointillism) but the name still stuck.

So this sounds very much like it was taken from the day when people could not be happy with what they really did..like an embarrassment. So they made up names that were esthetically more pleasing and in the end, they looked foolish. (This now edited too...people got pissed off that I used the word micropigs here...a term those of us "affectionately" called ourselves who bought into that whole scheme years ago...most of us got beyond that...many have not - such a shame!)

Client Base For Permanent Cosmetics

Over the years I have heard it all. People say they cannot get clients because no one refers their friends, etc., since they keep their cosmetic tattooing a secret. They also say it is because the area they work in is too conservative. I find this hard to believe. The Midwest is quite conservative and my clients (while there are the rare few who keep it under wraps) are generally my biggest promoters. In fact, 90% of my business is from word-of-mouth referrals.

If your work is outstanding and your clients are happy, most times they will set off a whole chain of referrals. They start coming in with their friends as the "experienced tattoo client" and actually are quite helpful to have as another set of eyes when working out eyebrow patterns, for instance.

A satisfied client will oftentimes actively recruit for you to such an extent, they are approaching people they see in the spas, fitness centers, golf clubs, and churches, telling them about how helpful permanent cosmetics can be for them. So many times people will say, "I don't really know the person who referred me, but she gave me your card and I really like what you did to her eyebrows."