Is permanent make-up right for you?

Many women would love to wake up every morning with their make-up freshly in place -- their lips colored, their eyes lines, and their eyebrows penciled. However, most women have to re-apply their make-up every single day. Well, not anymore! Nowadays, you can actually have your make-up permanently painted onto your face. However, before you go out to get your face permanently painted on, you should carefully consider whether or not this "beauty treatment" is going to be right for you-for the rest of your life.

The medical term for a permanent makeup procedure is dermal micropigmentation. The treatment is similar to tattooing-pigment is applied under the skin to create permanent color. The pigment goes onto the second layer of skin, which is called the dermis. There are many reasons that people decide to get dermal micropigmentation. Women who are very active in sports and exercise often wish that they could wear make-up, but they can’t because they sweat, and their sweat smudges their makeup. Women who suffer from health problems such as arthritis may have a hard time physically applying makeup everyday. Other women simply want to save time. Women who have thin eyebrows often pencil on their brows everyday, and they would love to rid themselves of this annoyance. Women who suffer from oily skin sometimes complain that their makeup smudges throughout the day.

While there are clearly a plethora of legitimate and logical reasons for wanting permanent makeup, the sheer permanence is often very intimidating. After all, if you think back over the course of your life since you began wearing makeup, you have probably changed your makeup styles many times (anyone who lived through the eighties can certainly attest to that). This is a valid concern, but dermal micropigmentation is generally geared towards a natural-looking makeup enhancement. In other words, if you are brown-haired, you wouldn’t go in for permanent eyeliner in a cobalt blue shade. It should be more of a soft brown tone. There are many colors available, but it is strongly advised that you stick to neutral tones. You don’t want to have a permanent evening out-on-the town look, after all.

The most common dermal micropigmentation procedures include eyeliner, eyebrows, lip liner, lip color, and areola coloring. Also, micropigmentation can be used for individuals who have skin discolorations, since there are dyes that match up with skin tones. The tattooing process is performed under local anesthesia or sedation, and each treatment generally takes about an hour and a half. Costs vary, but most treatments are within the $200 to $500 range. Following a dermal micropigmentation procedure, mild to moderate swelling and discomfort should be anticipated, but these symptoms generally last for less than a day, and the area should be healed within ten days. There is no need to be hospitalized (unless there are complications) for this procedure, and patients can go home very shortly after their treatment.

If you are serious about getting permanent makeup, the most important thing to research is the professional that you are going to have performing the treatment. It is crucial that you verify that the individual is licensed and certified. It is best to go to a Board Certified plastic surgeon. Ask to see before and after pictures of patients that have had the same treatments done. Make sure that you meet with your plastic surgeon to discuss the methods that he is going to use. Some doctors do the procedure by hand, while others use a machine, for example. If you do not feel confident and comfortable with the first surgeon you meet with, go to someone else. This is permanent, so you want to be absolutely positive that you are in the right hands.