How to prepare for Permanent Makeup : My Top Tips!
Picture this. You’ve spent ages looking for just the right person to do your permanent makeup. You’ve booked and waited for your consultation, had your patch test and booked your treatment. It’s finally time to get excited about getting your new eyebrows, eyeliner or lips! You turn up for your appointment excited to get started, only to be told that you can’t have it done. You’d be pretty gutted, right?
In this post, I will walk you through what you must and must not do in the run up to your appointments and teach you how to prepare for permanent makeup treatments and get the best possible results.
When we book your appointments into our booking system, you will instantly receive confirmation and reminder emails in the run up to your appointments. These emails contain vital instructions outlining how to prepare for permanent makeup, that you must follow in order to ensure that it is safe for us to proceed with the treatments. It is worth remembering that your complimentary retouch is as important as your initial procedure to ensure the results are perfect and are going to last as long as you what them to.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR PERMANENT MAKEUP :
A TIME LINE
12 WEEKS BEFORE...
Plastic/Facial Surgery.
If you’re having or thinking of having facial surgery, you may be wondering how to prepare for permanent makeup and how having these surgeries can impact on your permanent makeup results.
If you’re scheduled to have any kind of facial surgery for cosmetic or medical reasons, you must wait a minimum of 12 weeks (3 months) before having any kind of microblading or permanent makeup treatments.
Facial surgery is a highly invasive procedure and it can take up to 12 months to fully heal from. Once the top layers of skin have recovered it is usually safe to proceed with cosmetic treatments. This ordinarily takes around 12 weeks but can take longer in older clients or those with other medical conditions such as diabetes, which are known to slow and impede healing.
8 WEEKS BEFORE...
Discontinue growth serums (eyebrows/eyeliner only).
Eyelash and eyebrow growth serums are products that are applied directly to the skin on the eyebrow or eyelid to stimulate growth. The key word here is “stimulate”. If you’re using growth serums regularly, then you are stimulating the hair follicle and the skin which can make the skin very vascular and thin, resulting in bruising, swelling and bleeding during treatment, affect the outcome of your treatments and impact on how to prepare for permanent makeup.
It is imperative that you discontinue use fo the products for a minimum of 8-12 weeks prior to an eyeliner or eyebrow microblading or permanent makeup treatment and do not continue use until completely healed from all sessions.
4 WEEKS BEFORE...
BotoxⓇ or Dermal Fillers.
BotoxⓇ is a registered brand of wrinkle smoothing injection also known as obotulinumtoxinA. These are injections that relax the muscles in your face to smooth out lines and wrinkles, such as forehead, crow’s feet and frown lines and are usually injected into the upper face.
Dermal fillers are products that are injected into the skin to add volume. They are commonly made from substances as hyaluronic acid and injected into the lips to increase size and volume and into wrinkles to replace lost volume. They can also be used to fill sunken tear troughs, reshape noses and enhance the cheeks, chin and jawline.
If you’re having or thinking of having BotoxⓇ or dermal fillers, or have recently had these treatments, you may be wondering how to prepare for permanent makeup and how having these treatments can impact on your permanent makeup results.
Whilst your results will look instant, dermal fillers can take 2-3 weeks to settle into the correct position. With BotoxⓇ the muscle will begin to relax after 2-3 days but can take up to 4 weeks to completely settle.
During your microblading or permanent makeup treatments, I will stretch the skin and muscles around the area being tattooed to implant pigment as efficiently as possible. If you’ve recently had BotoxⓇ or filler in that area, we risk “moving” the injected substance or interfering with the final result.
I recommend waiting until you’ve had all of your microblading or permanent makeup treatments before getting BotoxⓇ or dermal fillers or waiting at least 4 weeks after having these treatments.
2 WEEKS BEFORE...
Laser, IPL or electrolysis on the face.
Lasers can be used on the face for several reasons, thread vein removal, hair removal and facial rejuvenation are all common treatments that lasers are used for.
IPL is another form of hair removal used on the face and electrolysis can also be used to remove thread veins as well as moles and skin tags.
If you’re having or thinking of having laser carbon facials, laser hair removal, IPL or electrolysis on your face, you may be wondering how to prepare for permanent makeup and how having these treatments can impact on your permanent makeup results.
Again, if you are having facial treatments involving lasers, IPL or electrolysis then waiting 2 weeks is advisable to ensure that any inflammation from these processes have subsided.
If you are having any of these treatments directly on the area to be tattooed or if you are at all unsure then speak to me before attending your appointments.
No Skin Peels.
Skin peels (also known as chemical peels) are products that are applied to the skin to remove dead skin cells and stimulate the production of new ones. They are primarily used for skin resurfacing, often for the reversal of sun damage, reducing age spots, pigmentation and evening out skin tone.
There are generally 3 different strengths of peels, superficial, medium and deep.
Superficial peels, which are those available over the counter at your local pharmacy or drug store.
Medium peels which are often applied by your local beauty therapist as part of a facial.
Superficial and medium peels are the kind that give temporary results and need to be repeated in order to maintain the results.
Deep peels are usually only applied by a Doctor or Dermatologist and work much deeper in the skin with much longer lasting, often permanent results.
How to prepare for permanent makeup after a skin peel will involve waiting an appropriate amount of time before having your treatments. The following is a guide…
Mild : 2 weeks
Medium : 4 weeks
Deep : 12 weeks
Stop using Retinols/Retinoids.
Retinols (also known as retinoids or Retin A) are skin care products that are derived from Vitamin A and need to be discontinued when considering how to prepare for permanent makeup.
Whilst hugely beneficial for your skin and used for a number of reasons such as, sun damage, anti ageing, acne treatment and skin rejuvenation, they can be very problematic if your planning on having microblading or permanent makeup.
Retinols can be purchased over the counter in strengths of up to 2%, whilst Retin A cream is a stronger formulation currently only available with a prescription.
Retinols have a very stimualting affect on the skin. The higher the percentage of retinol in your product, the more potent the formula. This can cause the skin to become very vascular and thin causing excessive bruising, bleeding and swelling and
If you are using a cosmetic strength, over the counter Retinol I advise discontinuing use 2 weeks before your microblading or permanent makeup treatments and waiting all of your sessions have been completed and you are fully healed before recommencing use.
If you are using a prescription strength Retin A cream you will need to wait at least 8 weeks after stopping use before you can proceed microblading or permanent makeup treatments and waiting all of your sessions have been completed and you are fully healed before recommencing use. If you are on a prescribed version of Retinol, discuss the implications of stopping this medication with you Doctor or Dermatologist before doing so.
1 WEEK BEFORE...
Waxing, lamination, tinting, bleaching, henna or lip plumping products
Waxing is a quick, convenient and common method of hair removal for eyebrows and lips. Waxing of the facial hair can cause temporary inflammation of the skin and superficially remove some skin during the hair removal process and impact on how to prepare for permanent makeup.
I advise waiting at least 1 week before having microblading or permanent makeup on that area to ensure that any and all inflammation or reaction to the skin has subsided and the skin is in optimal condition to be tattooed.
If you suffer with grazing (a term used for a waxing burn/grazing of the skin after waxing) then wait at least 4 weeks until you come to see me as the skin will need longer to repair itself before being tattooed.
Eyebrow lamination is a treatment used to manipulate the hair growth of the eyebrow, often resulting in a “fluffy” brushed up look to the eyebrow hair. It is a chemical process, as are tinting, bleaching and henna and also impacts on how to prepare for permanent makeup.
Whilst tints are used on eyelashes and eyebrows, henna is only applied to eyebrows and facial bleach is more likely to be applied to the upper lip.
Like waxing, any chemical or product (including lip plumping products) applied directly to the skin can cause inflammation and as such I recommend discontinuing use and waiting 1-2 weeks before getting microblading or permanent makeup.
Remove eyelash extensions (eyeliner only).
Unfortunately, I cannot tattoo through eyelash extensions so they need to be removed before your treatment.
I recommend professional removal only. As professional removal involves using a solvent to dissolve the lash glue, it is a chemical process and as such can cause temporary inflammation to the eyes, impacting on how to prepare for permanent makeup.
I recommend waiting 1 week after eyelash removal before having your permanent eyeliner treatments.
Stop using fake tan/sunbeds.
During your microblading/permanent makeup treatments I analyse your hair, eye and skin colour to ensure we select the perfect colours for you. Fake tan can obscure your natural tones and result in the wrong pigments being chosen so ensure you stop using fake tans at least 1 week before and show me your beautiful, natural skin tone at your appointments.
UV exposure is the top cause of premature fading of your microblading or permanent makeup results, so if you want your results to last, it’s time to ditch this habit.
Sun beds can also cause temporary inflammation of the skin which can take up to a week to subside. If you have even a mild sunburn, it’s best to postpone until you’re fully healed (around 4 weeks).
2 DAYS BEFORE...
Stop drinking alcohol or taking over the counter pain killers.
*DO NOT discontinue taking any prescribed medications without discussing with your Doctor.
When I am tattooing your eyebrows, eyeliner or lips, I am implanting pigment into your skin. I apply the correct amount of pigment for the desired results, so we want to retain as much of the pigment as possible during the healing process.
I recommend avoiding drinking alcohol or taking any over the counter pain killers for 24-48 hours before your treatments. Alcohol, ibuprofen, aspirin and other anti coagulant medications thin the blood, so impact on how to prepare for permanent makeup as they can cause unnecessary bleeding during your procedures.
This results in pigment being pushed out of the skin whilst we are tattooing so can affect how much pigment you retain. If you want great results, pass on that glass of wine with dinner for a couple of days before.
1 DAY BEFORE...
Remove contact lenses (eyeliner only).
If you normally wear contact lenses, this also impacts on how to prepare for permanent makeup for the eyes. Please ensure your contact lenses have been removed 1 day prior to your appointment.
Have your glasses with you on the day as you will not be able to wear your contact lenses for at least 1 day after the procedure.
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