Permanent Makeup Enhances Your Makeup

Your Permanent Makeup Enhances, Not Replaces, Your Makeup Routine!

This article is written by artist Jill Hoyer

The most requested words I hear from clients are “I want my permanent makeup to look natural”. That puts my client and I on the exact same page until her “natural” look turns into a makeup replacement. Replacing one’s daily makeup with “natural looking” permanent makeup is a tall order. We are so used to our makeup and how it sits on top of the skin looking vivid, dark, and vibrant. Your permanent makeup tattoo is under the skin – the skin actually acts like a sheer curtain over the tattoo and dulls it. So why not just go darker? You can, but the darker, more saturated your permanent makeup is, the more it looks like a “tattoo”…. hmmm, wasn’t the request for a natural look?

Keeping it natural and enhancing means this:

Brows: Don’t be afraid of “shaded” brows. I like to use transparent pigments – I water my pigments down for more of a water-color effect – not a solid effect. This allows the skin to show through the color keeping it soft and natural. I really like to keep the edges of the design soft – I often use dimension, brushing and hair stroking as enhancements in addition to the overall background shaded design.

Eyes: Keep the permanent eye makeup in the lash line. Most people can do a darker charcoal or black since its just in the lash line. Even adding a slight color of light grey or a mossy green above the lash line color is still very pretty because it isn’t too thick and there are no wings, tails or cat eyes! Did you know those “tails” on the eyes will droop as the skin ages? Believe me, I used to do tails and, over time, watched as the skin fell and changed the design – not so becoming now. It’s common sense that these tails would fall with age I know, but it’s such a popular request that many artists do it although it only initially looks ok. My point is, add your tails with your topical makeup.

Lips: Think about permanent makeup on the lips as more of a lip color restoration. I softly line lips in a natural color and then blend and shade this into your own lip color for an airbrushed effect. Allowing some of your own lip color to show through naturally highlights & makes the lip look fuller. Lips are a different kind of tissue with no pore structure – permanent makeup needs to be a “blush” of color so to speak…otherwise, it can overtake the natural sheen of your lips and can look chalky sitting in your lip tissue.

As you can tell, permanent makeup enhances your natural look, but won’t replace your makeup when you need a fully ‘made up/ look! If you or someone you know is interested in Permanent Makeup, please give us a call, or stop by anytime to chat. We’d love to see you!