Whether you like your brows thick and strong, thin and sculpted, or somewhere in between, perfectly groomed brows frame the eyes and face. A quick change to their shape can instantly take years off your appearance and make you look much younger and better. So, for those of you out there that haven’t yet had your brows done by me and still enjoy doing them every single day, here are a few of my tricks, tips, and products that will transform your brows from boring to ultra dramatic - some within a matter of mere minutes.

BROW TREND: THICK, FULL, AND ULTRAGLAMOROUS

As we all know, when it comes to brow trends, the pendulum swings back and forth as to what’s “in”. I’m personally seeing a return to bold brows. The last time I saw this type of brow trend was in the 80’s (ah youth, how I loved that decade). Anyway, today the look has obviously been modernized with cleaner lines and less bushiness. Besides fullness, a thick arch is a prerequisite. Unless your a seasoned brow shaper, leave this one to me by having them done professionally (yes, I mean permanent makeup) and leave the at home maintenance limited to trimming the wild few that spring up. Even if your brows don’t grow to your liking, you can fake it with permanent cosmetics.

TIPS:

• Grow them in. Overtweezed and overwaxed brows can be difficult to grow. Using a growth stimulator daily like Revitalash (yes it works on brow hair too) can help.

• Find your shape. A good eyebrow shaping can redefine your arch and the brow overall.

• Get a lift. Droopy brows can be re-elevated to a more youthful position with injectables and fillers, but the cost is high and the results short lived. The better choice is permanent makeup. They will last much longer at a fraction of the price.

A: While the title “permanent” does imply that permanent makeup would last forever in its perfect condition, this is not entirely true. While permanent makeup does last a long time, generally three to seven years, it is subject to fading – a problem easily and quickly fixable by periodic touch-ups. For some women, they feel as though the fading of their permanent makeup is to their advantage as it ages with them.

Following the initial visit, a period of six to twelve weeks is necessary to allow results to settle before assessing what needs to be touched up or brightened, if at all. The second appointment generally aids in increasing the permanence of your permanent cosmetic procedure whether it is permanent eyeliner, permanent lip color, or a permanent eyebrow procedure.

Depending on factors such as unprotected exposure to UV rays, body composition, and cellular turnover, touchups and color enhancements are generally recommended after three to seven years. Again, the amount of maintenance is determined on an individual basis. While one person’s permanent eyeliner fades within a couple of years, your permanent eyeliner may not fade for much longer.

The procedure in question and the hue of pigment used also predetermines fading. Lighter permanent eyebrow colors will fade sooner than a medium or darker shade. Light to medium colored eyebrows may require maintenance every one to three years while eyeliner may need refreshing every two to five years.

Fading will be more or less pronounced based on how you treat your skin. Something I always recommend regardless of whether or not you have permanent eyeliner, permanent eyebrow color, or permanent lip color is to wear sun screen whenever you are outside. Sunscreen will block UV rays that are damaging to your permanent makeup. While they are wonderful for your skin, use of anti-aging creams and solutions that encourage cellular turnover also affect the longevity and vitality of your permanent makeup. There is no need to discontinue use of such products, but instead simply avoid applying them to permanent makeup sites. Smoking and certain medications also affect the dermis negatively which has an effect on the longevity of your permanent makeup.

Clearly, there is no simple and easy answer to “how long will it last?” Many internal and external factors need to be taken in account. However, permanent makeup, while not a no-maintenance procedure, is a low maintenance procedure – a simple, quick touchup will keep your permanent makeup looking brand new and refreshed forever.

If you are currently considering a permanent makeup procedure, do not hesitate to give me a call, ask some more questions, and schedule a consultation.

A: The recovery process following a permanent make-up procedure really depends on which type of application you had done – eyeliner, eyebrows, or lips, areolae, etc. For each type of application, the actual amount of recovery time and the amount of discomfort involved is absolutely minimal. Having permanent make-up applied will not stop you from going about your daily life. A permanent makeup procedure is very comparable to any regular paper cut one might obtain around the house. You can expect it to scab a little and heal in a similar time frame although healing below the visible skin surface may continue longer than is visible.

Following a permanent eyeliner application, you will leave with puffy eyes, almost as if you had been up crying all night. Being as the eye is the fastest healing organ in the body, you will be completely fine to drive or go back to work immediately following the permanent eyeliner application. For the first five days, you may look as if you are wearing thicker and darker eyeliner but when the results settle you will be left with a subtle look that enhances your natural features.

Immediately following a permanent eyebrow application, your eyebrows may sting for a few hours. Swelling may occur but due to the natural thickness of the skin in that area it should not be very noticeable, if at all. Newly done eyebrows will appear unusually dark for about five to seven days following the permanent make-up procedure but once the results begin to settle, the eyebrows will lighten considerably to appear more like the result you were expecting following your permanent eyebrow application. After about six or seven days, your eyebrows may begin to itch a little as they exfoliate, which is a natural step in the process. The flaking allows the excess pigment surrounding the area to subside. Once the skin heals over the pigmented area, your eyebrows will no longer appear heavier and darker than normal but instead they will appear as the result you were hoping to achieve.

Following the permanent lip color application, the first day will bring about a swollen and tender feeling. Your lips will also initially appear as though you applied a dark & heavy coat of lipstick. Your lips will swell slightly but within days swelling will subside. After three or four days, your lips will feel as though they are chapped and will peel as a natural part of the healing process. After your lips are done peeling, the color of your lips will appear softer and more natural, depending on the result you were expecting.

For all permanent make-up applications, industry standards indicate that after approximately 6-12 weeks following your procedure a second application is suggested to touch-up, fill, or correct the initial application if necessary. This second application is optional, but generally ensures quality and the best result as well as increased permanence.

A concern some clients have upon their first time visiting me is that their permanent makeup will look obvious, noticeable, and “unnatural”. Many come to me looking to subtly enhance their beauty and brighten their looks. Of course, my answer is always yes, it will look natural.
Permanent makeup will appear to be more natural than your conventional makeup. Unless you run around telling people that you had permanent cosmetics done, they will likely never know that you did. The idea behind permanent makeup is that you will look more naturally beautiful at all times – when waking up in the morning, after a shower, after working out, at the beach, and so on. Permanent eyeliner creates the illusion of lush, thick, and healthier eyelashes. Permanent lip color fills and restores lost pigment while also brightening and enhancing the lips. The permanent eyebrow color procedure fills and thickens missing or thinning eyebrows. You can think of permanent cosmetics as merely an enhancement of your natural beauty.
However, while some do prefer the more subtle look, others do want their permanent makeup to stand out. Permanent makeup can look as natural or as dramatic as you want it to. While many do prefer their permanent makeup to be more discreet, some do want a more dramatic and noticeable look. With my advanced training in permanent cosmetics and study of classical realism airbrush and illustrative art, I have developed a skill that translates into beautiful permanent cosmetics for my clients – giving them exactly the look they desire.
One thing to also keep in mind immediately after your permanent makeup procedure is that the results will initially look more intense and more dramatic than intended. The darker appearance subsides as results are allowed to settle.

The holidays are fast approaching and you can probably already feel the first little tendrils of holiday stress creeping up your spinal column. By Black Friday many of us are gripped in the tentacles of a major holiday meltdown! Of course we love the holidays, but they’re also stress, Stress STRESS! Shopping, baking, decorating, tree trimming parties, gift wrapping, gift exchanges with friends, holiday lunch with your BFF, more shopping, office parties, MORE shopping, the annual gathering of the clan (MAJOR STRESS!), condo cocktail parties, trading gifts with your sweetie — WHEW! and New Year’s Eve is still to come!
If TIME is the gift you crave most during the holidays, permanent makeup is your perfect holiday stress reliever. Permanent makeup can shave hours off the time you spend getting ready to do all the important things you want to do during the holidays so you can spend more time doing them. Think of all the hours you spend every week preparing your face before applying makeup, applying it, then taking it all off again at night. And that doesn’t count the time spent refreshing it during the day and before you go out at night. No wonder there’s never enough time.
When your natural beauty is enhanced by permanent cosmetics, you just quickly cleanse, moisturize and you’re out the door. All that time you used to spend in front of the bathroom mirror, you can now spend enjoying friends and family!