Is it Safe Doing Permanent Makeup During this Time?

This article originally was seen on buypermanentmakeup.com and written by Dr. Sandra Cardona on March 19, 2020.

We are going through one of the most challenging moments in history, and none of us had experienced it before. A moment in history where the world is paralyzed by a virus, no one can imagine that a tiny microbe, that only with electronic microscopes can be visualized, can cause immense damage to humanity, the COVID-19.

I have received calls that motivated me to write this blog today and shared this important information.

I am not an authority of the public health department; however, I will share with you all the measures that must be taken in the doctor's offices at this time.

Take into account the geographical location where you are, and so you can assess your possibilities.

Click here to see a map with COVID-19 cases by state.

At the moment, there are many cities and counties with restricted mobility, with a mandate to shelter at home; this may be happening in your town or not.

But when it comes to places where there are no these restrictions, all precautions must be taken.

I have always told my students that they must treat all clients as if they were HIV positive. At this time, we must manage all people as if they were COVID-19 positives because, unfortunately, many people do not have any symptoms and can transmit the virus; this includes you too.

• Offices must stay cleaner than ever, continually cleaning all surfaces

• The appointments should be spaced so that there are no people in the waiting room and not allow companions

• Review, study and implement the Occupational Safety and Health Standards by OSHA

• Remove all pamphlets and magazines from tables in waiting rooms

• Do not shake hands

• Everybody must wash their hands properly

Permanent makeup is a procedure where we are in very close contact with our clients.

Remember that the droplets of saliva transmit the virus. The masks do not prevent the person who uses it from contracting the infection, but rather prevent them from transmitting it. So if you decide to perform a procedure, both you and the client should wear masks.

It would be irresponsible to tell you that it is safe. This is a personal decision between you and your client.

This situation has forced many people to postpone appointments and has become a severe financial problem but your life is first. It is a difficult time for you as it is for us.

I suggest that you take this time to study, review topics that are in doubt, practice on synthetic material to perfect your technique.

What some people are doing is stocking up on the products they need so that when activities resume, they have the necessary supplies.

Take care of yourself and take care of others.

Stay healthy.

Dr. Sandra Cardona

What to Know: Minimum Training Content for a First-time Permanent Cosmetics Course

Now that’s you’ve decided that a career in permanent cosmetics is for you; we wanted to pull together information on what you should learn and need to know after a first-time training course.

1. First, make sure you do your research and pick an instructor with years of experience working with clients from all walks of life.
   
   Much of what you see online are young, beautiful models with ideal/perfect skin, but in reality, a vast majority of people seeking permanent make-up services include less than "perfect", mature skin with wrinkles, creases, folds in the eyelids, non-existent eyebrow hair, asymmetrical bone structure, thin lips…the list goes on and on.
   

2. Does the course cover safety and sanitation, OSHA compliance, and your local state law?
   
   This is a no-brainer but surprisingly many courses do not include this important information in the curriculum. If this is not taught, then it is your responsibility to find out and make sure you are in compliance both nationally and locally.
   

3. Being trained in risk-management is important.
   
   Learning when to say no to a procedure is important. Our students receive not only industry acceptable consent forms, but also our own medical history and consent forms.
   
   Everything you ask on the medical form must have a reason.
   
   The questions regarding medical history are specifically asked in order to have a clearer picture of the person you will be working on.
   
   All too often, we see medical forms with questions that you’d find at a physician’s office. Most of these questions are irrelevant as this is a tattoo procedure.
   
   There is an infinite number of health issues such as heart conditions, blood pressure, diabetes, auto-immune disorders, and more, that generally pose no issues whatsoever. None of the above physical conditions warrant medical clearance, but many people not having knowledge and experience will say "no" to this.
   
   Ethically, the standard according to the Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals, is that the trainer must have a minimum of five years of continual experience.
   
   Most insurance companies that specifically ensure Permanent Cosmetics require specific training for eyeliner, brows, and lips which would be listed on your certificate.
   

4. Skin disorders and diseases are topics that should be covered in your initial training.
   
   Learning how to get ink into the skin is simple, but getting the pigment placed properly into the skin requires skill.
   
   Recognizing skin-types and diseases or disorders that you cannot tattoo over such as moles, dry patches of skin such as eczema or skin cancers is a key component to becoming a skilled permanent cosmetic artist.
   

5. Facial morphology and artistry are important to learn.
   
   After all, this is the business of beauty. The better you become at developing your eye and hand coordination, the better the results will be in your clients.
   
   The important thing to remember regarding artistry is, you can be taught, however, you must practice, practice, practice. The more you practice, the more experience you have, your results will reflect the hard work you put into it.
   

6. Color theory is equally important.
   
   Not all people see color the same and although rare in women, color blindness could pose a problem. Know this before entering this line of work.
   

7. Pain management.
   
   Without this, we would have a hard time building clientele. There are essentially two questions on everybody's mind whether it be the client or the student.

   1. What if I don't like it?

   2. How much does it hurt?

   In our industry, we must use over-the-counter strength topicals such as a 5% lidocaine.
   
   Knowing how to maximize its effectiveness, combined with learning some simple psychology for bedside manner, will greatly reduce the stress and sensation the client will undoubtedly experience.
   

8. Systems and methodology.
   
   Creating a set of stand operating procedures is important to make sure you can maintain a high level of quality assurance for each client that walks through your door.
   
   For example, the very first thing you do after filling out paperwork, is take before pictures. Next, discuss, design, and have a clear understanding of what the client’s desired outcome is.
   
   Learning how to pre-design on the client using conventional makeup or pencils to simulate what they are hoping to have when healed, will give you a clear picture of what you are going to do before you begin to do it. The worst thing that could happen would be to not know exactly what she wants and hope the tattoo turns out ok.

If you learn how to do this before you ever start tattooing on models you will always have a better outcome. Overall, being prepared with proper training in permanent cosmetics is more than just knowing how to use your tattoo machine, if you can learn the above skills and procedures, you’ll have many years of success in this industry.

9 Things You Need to be a Successful Permanent Cosmetics/Microblade Technician

Over my 25+ years in the industry, I’ve been asked what it takes to be successful.

This is the list I’ve compiled over those years and I hope it helps you:

1. Enjoy interacting with people (mostly women and probably the most important of all the advice I can give).

   If you love to make people feel better about themselves and adding value to other people's lives, then read on.

2. Physical Capacity: Does your vision allow you to see up close?

   You must be able to see up close. My near vision isn't the best, so I wear glasses and additionally an optivisor magnified times three.

   As long as you can see clearly using magnifiers and proper lighting, you can do this.

3. Must-Have: A steady hand

   A little bit of nerves, in the beginning, is normal, but can you draw a straight line?

   Having a steady hand is important to create even, natural-looking shades and lines.

4. Do your hobbies include learning and spending time creating art?

   Applying permanent cosmetics is another form of creativity.

   If you enjoy sitting and creating detailed work such as eyelash extensions, nails, tattooing, beading, painting, and drawing for extended periods of time it's worth considering this field of work.

5. Do you have patience and understanding? Now earlier, we asked if you enjoyed interacting with people, but can you take a step back and give someone the exact look they’re looking for?

   Permanent Cosmetics is an art and art as we know is typically in the eye of the beholder.

   It’s important to understand the single most important person your art has to appeal to: Your client.

   The key to a successful career in permanent cosmetics is the ability to listen to your client, understand what she wants to accomplish and make sure that she understands what would be best in her interest based on your professional opinion.

6. Practice, practice and more practice. This art form takes practice, practice and more practice.

   Every single face is different. The practice of developing skills for those differences requires two things: Experience and practice.

   Remember, anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first. If I could only share with you my very first eyebrows back in 1987. I'm positive I threw away those pictures years ago. The advice I received back then was, "Always let the client draw on her own eyebrows, she knows what's best for her". WRONG! Back then there was nowhere to get training. That poor woman…and poor me.

   I learned from the school of hard knocks. Today, you don't have to if you have the proper training.

7. Why Microblade? The popularity of permanent cosmetics has been steadily climbing over the past two decades, until about five or six years ago when microblading came on the scene.

   Social media exploded with microbladed brows, nano brows, hair stroke brows, feathered brows, and embroidery eyebrows.

   Pictures blew up the internet with all kinds of eyebrows, along with new daily wear techniques of brow application.

   In fact, so much attention has been placed on brows, there are spoofs and hilarious videos depicting “everything brows”. And rightly so. Our perspective of what brows are supposed to be on the face has become partially or completely skewed.

8. Success requires hard work. This goes along with, practice, practice and more practice.

   Are you willing to go with the ebb and flow, the ups and downs of being in the service business? As with all businesses, especially the service industry, trust and reputation are what will get you through the slower times to a lifelong career that is rewarding, lucrative and very very fun.

9. Get the best beginner training you can find, and when you feel your skills have reached a plateau, hunger for more and search out more training.

   Because most states have very little, if any oversight at all, this is where you must research out who and where you will get your fundamental, beginner training.

   Washington requires you to buy your “Professional" license in order to take basic training.

   It's a very political topic, and when this rule was put into place, it was supposed to keep people from taking the 3-day microblade classes, but because all that is required to get your professional license is a check for $250.00, it stops no one.

   And to teach this, Washington State requires zero-knowledge, experience or skill. And WA is one of a handful of states that regulate us. So, to reiterate, do your research before putting down a chunk of your savings to permanently ink people’s faces. A great education is expensive but poor education costs far more.

This is a huge world of innovative creative, beautiful art. Evolving and ever-changing. Learn, learn, learn! You can never learn less than you know right now!

How do I Take Care of My Permanent Cosmetics Long-Term?

Skin is unpredictable, and no matter how carefully the aftercare steps are followed, many variables can produce an outcome that requires color adjustment, shape adjustment, or both.

But now that you have beautiful eyebrows, eyes and or lips, it would be nice to keep them this way as long as possible.

Products to Avoid

Today, there are many products and procedures designed to make our skin more youthful and beautiful. However, these are enemies of permanent cosmetics.

Products or procedures that claim to:

• Lighten

• Brighten

• Exfoliate

• Peel

• Slough off skin

• Remove age spots or freckles

…will also remove permanent cosmetics.

There is no difference between skin pigmentation whether it be an: age spot, tattoo, fine lines, or superficial scarring.

At times, you’re going to want to treat your forehead, but some home skin care products should never be used on your forehead if you have permanent brows. This is because no matter how hard you try and even though you avoid putting it directly on your eyebrows, it will at times get on them, and also it can migrate onto them unknowingly.

How to avoid this? Apply these products approximately where your crows feet are and below.

Permanent cosmetic brows should never be expose to the following products:

• Retinol

• Retin-A

• Hyaluronic acid

• Lytic acid

• Glycolic acid

• Hydroquinone

• Vitamin-C

What to Know When Using Professional Treatments

If you have professional facials, make sure the technician clearly understands to avoid getting product on the eyebrows and lips.

Laser treatments, professional chemical peels and microdermabrasion are procedures that the technician needs to be aware of in order to avoid your permanent eyebrows.

A typical result of not following these directions can be early fading, the pigment can be altered to a very odd color and a more extreme result would be pink scars or pink skin where the permanent eyebrows once were.

Outside Influences

Sunlight is not a friend of color and certainly not a friend to permanent cosmetics. The reason being is that ultraviolet rays cause fading.

Think about your couch that sits next to a window or the carpeting next to a sliding glass door. Over a period of time you will begin to notice the color looks faded where the sun hits it regularly. You don't notice it immediately, but at some point you realize that the sun has altered that color.

Even though color is considered permanent, it does fade and the more it can be protected from sunlight the longer you can go without having it touched up.

Protection Tips

Tips to protect your permanent cosmetics from the sun:

• Use 55+ sunscreen or above can help significantly

• Wear a visor or a wide brimmed hat

• Extra-large sunglasses can help somewhat but remember the sun shines from above so eyebrows can still be exposed

• Lips that have been treated can be protected with lipstick or lip balm with very high sunscreen value

• Wear foundation, sunscreen, or even pencil over the foundation with eyebrow pencil, this will help to protect your eyebrows

This may seem problematic but in the long run it's better for the longevity and keep in mind if your make-up does come off, you still have your permanent cosmetics. A little bit of care goes a long way.

Top Tips: Caring for Your New Permanent Makeup

Any New Procedure

Congrats! You've just finished your permanent cosmetics procedure and now there are a few things you can do to ensure it heals properly.

More importantly, you want to make sure you allow it to heal as "quietly" and undisturbed as possible.

What does that mean? Make sure when you are cleansing your face, whether it be in the shower, taking a bath or over the sink:

• It’s important to keep the amount of water on the new procedure to a minimum.

• Rather than rubbing or scrubbing, just a gentle pat to cleanse and to dry is all that's necessary.

• Apply a very light amount of Aquaphor or recommended ointment or cream with a clean q-tip and remove any excess with the dry side of the q-tip.

Eyebrows

Eyebrows may be the most difficult area to heal properly and a more conscious effort is needed to leave them alone.

As eyebrow permanent cosmetics are healing, they will itch and it's common to inadvertently scratch them without even thinking about it.

This will cause light spots as you scratch the scabs or dry flaky skin causing them to come off too soon pulling color with it.

The general rule is to encourage the scabs to stay on as long as possible for the best possible result.

Keeping them moisturized using Aquaphor or the recommended product by your technician during the healing time is very helpful.

Don’t overdo the moisturizer as you don't want your eyebrows to appear greasy, wet or shiny. You want them to be able to breathe but keeping them moisturized does keep them comfortable.

Eyeliner

Surprisingly, eyeliner permanent cosmetics heal well.

We naturally tend to be gentle with our eyes anyway, so not disturbing them is usually pretty easy.

The hardest part is going without mascara and eyeshadow for the first few days.

There may be some swelling, especially the morning after, but once you get up and move around, apply a cold compress often for a few minutes at a time, this will help with the swelling.

Some people may experience a little bit of redness, or bruising on the upper eyelids, but this also subsides after a day or so.

Eyelids produce oil and many clients use little ointment if any.

As the scabbing loosens off the skin, your eyelashes may hold onto the scabs. It's ok to very carefully remove the scabs as long as it’s not still attached to the skin. These scabs will resemble clumpy mascara.

Lips

Lips, being a dry stretchy muscle, and without any sweat or oil glands, tend to have a significant amount of chopping and peeling the first three or four days.

It's important to keep them well lubricated with a moisturizing lip balm such as Burt’s Bees, Vaseline or anything soothing that doesn't dry the lips out.

Don’t be alarmed as it’s very common to have swelling as lips are very vascular.

Clients with naturally thin lips rather enjoy this but clients with full lips begin to feel quite "lippy".

Typically with lips, at first they are too bright and/or dark, then they appear to have disappeared after the first few days, then the color blooms back.

There is usually some dryness or tightness for another month, so it’s important to keep them well moisturized, but most importantly with lips, if you have ever had a cold sore or fever blister, you must obtain a prescription from your doctor or dentist to prevent an outbreak.

Valtrex or generic Acyclovir is generally recommended, and you want to make sure it's in your system two to three days before your appointment.

In addition to having it in your systems beforehand, it’s important to have it in your system four days after your appointment.

This procedure does not cause an outbreak but it will trigger the virus in your system. As long as you're getting a prescription you may as well get it for your follow up visit as well.

If you don't get on this medication, you will have an outbreak and potentially have scarring and you will lose the color in that area.

So that was short term care, next, long term care.

Questions to Ask: What to Know During a Permanent Cosmetics Consultation

The idea of being permanently pretty without the hassle of trying to put on makeup every, single, morning, sounds enticing.

This is why permanent cosmetics has caught on with the popular culture in the last decade or so.

It saves time, removes the self-consciousness of, “Does my make up look good today?”, and lets the person concentrate on other more important issues.

When a person goes into a procedure and/or consultation, it’s expected that the technician performing should know what’s best for you. Sadly, a lot of the time that isn’t true.

There are the questions you should be asking a technician during the consultation portion of your procedure, well before any needle come in contact with your skin.

What to ask:

• Can your prospective permanent makeup artist simulate what your brows will look like?

• Can she apply conventional makeup to give you the shape and color depth and tone that makes you a better you, not a different you?

• Can she make them balanced, proportioned and symmetrical?

If the technician can design a prettier shaped eyeliner, lip shape or brows that give you the look your desiring with conventional makeup, more than likely, you will have a wonderful result and be happy with the permanent cosmetic.

This is the time to have all your questions answered. Keep in mind that it’s not in your best interest to let your technician tell you what she thinks what's best for you. Opinions are valid, but it’s your body and listen to your brain.

Communication is Key

Always communicate to them what you like and don't like and remember at the end of the day, all that matters is that you love.

Have they answered all those questions and you feel good about letting them tattoo your face?

Good! Because now you're excited and you’re going to love what you see.

Top 6 Questions: What to Know When Searching for a Microblade Technician

So you’re wanting to go down that journey of getting your eyebrows microbladed; cool!

This is a fun experience, but with all services, clients should do their due diligence to make sure the service provider will be able to give them the results they’re looking for.

What can you do in order to make sure your microblade technician knows what they’re doing?

Ask these six questions:

1. Can I see your portfolio of before, after and healed results?

   And have you retouched any of the photos? Raw, unretouched images are the best, as they actually show what their work looks like. Make certain these images are theirs and not copied from the internet.

2. How much experience has the technician had?

   This is not a skill one masters overnight. Not only is brow design an art, simulating hair strokes to look natural within the brow design is another art and there's a big difference between creating a beautiful eyebrow that is symmetrical, not too big, not too close together, and enhances your eyes. Additionally, implanting each and every hair stroke at the proper depth, and making it beautiful, and making it last takes skill, knowledge of the skin, proper technique and communication.

3. Will you tell me if I'm a good candidate?

   Skin is like bananas and oranges. If you have poreless, smooth skin like a banana, you may be a good candidate. If you have oily skin, and large pores, the hair strokes will turn out blurry. A simple way to understand this is to draw a line on an eggshell or banana skin and draw the same line on an orange peel. Notice the difference.

4. What are my options if I'm not a good candidate?

   There are definitely some options, such as an ombre brow, which is shading to give you a dimensional look, or maybe a combination of shading and microblading.

5. Are any touchups included?

   This is an absolute necessity. For a technician to achieve perfection the first time, every time, every client is unrealistic. Color selection initially is an educational guess. It's not an absolute science. There are many variables such as personal preference, subtle skin undertones that can be surprising, implanting pigment too deep or not deep enough will give different outcomes, therefore, is the technician skilled in adjusting the color?

If your new artist can answer these questions, great! This means you've found a great fit for you!

Why Fundamental Training vs Microblade Training?

When I began doing permanent cosmetics over 30 years ago, the most popular procedure was eyeliner. A large majority benefited by having a natural lash enhancement, or a thicker more dramatic eyeliner. Eyebrows weren't such a big thing back in the '80s. The unkept, natural Brooke Shields look was very popular and women didn't shape them at all, or if they did, they removed all but a pencil-thin line.

That has all changed as the number one request for permanent cosmetic services in the past few years has to be flip flopped from eyeliner to eyebrow procedures.

Due to the popularity of the Kardashian bold brow look and the onset of microblading, suddenly everyone is interested in learning how to do this look.

But, there is a problem with learning microblading before having a solid foundation in cosmetic tattooing.

Here’s a question you should ask yourself:

• Would you go to cosmetology school to only learn how to foil hair because you love the look and you aren't interested in cutting, solid coloring, perming or anything else?

Of course not. You wouldn't be able to pass your boards to become licensed just for learning one skill.

Currently, Washington State doesn't require you to have any knowledge or pass any test to get licensed in permanent cosmetics, but your future clients certainly do.

Why would your future clients care?

Microblading is new. It's a beautiful, natural look...when properly done.

Microblading requires more than a needle, pigment, and a forehead to work on.

But first, you should practice on something else. Go ahead, grab a paper and pencil and draw hair stroke eyebrows. If you're artistic to begin with and have a good eye for symmetry and balance, they may turn out acceptable.

Now that you’ve have mastered the art and design of beautiful brows, implanting each and every stroke into the skin is another skill set.

Recognizing how this stroke is supposed to look in the skin requires practice and experience. Some of the most beautiful hair strokes you see on the internet are implanted too shallow. They are wispy, airy, natural, and when healed, they will more than likely disappear.

On the other hand, if implanted too deep, they will be darker, thicker, murky and gray, they will be forever permanent.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that you won't like them and neither will your client.

Here are some other issues that might come up:

• Not every client is an acceptable candidate for microblading or hair stroke brows (More on that later).

• What if a client comes in with previously done brows that need shape adjusting, and or color correction?

Microblading is not going to fix this.

Retrospectively, now that you’ve completed some beautiful brows and you have a very happy client, but now she wants you to do her eyeliner and her lips!

You're doing a disservice to her and to yourself by not being able to do these other services because you only know how to microblade.

Back you go for more training, and it's a bit backwards doing it this way because unfortunately, you didn't know that you needed to know so much more than how to simply learn to microblade.

What’s the lesson?

Learn all aspects of permanent cosmetics, you’ll be doing justice not only to your clients but yourself an ultimately provide better services due to a more well-rounded set of skills.