Permanent make-up: methods, costs and tips

When you think of permanent make-up, you think of black bars over the eyes and unnatural lip contours? Then you only know negative examples, because if the treatment is carried out professionally, cosmetic tattoos are a fine thing. In addition to saving time in the morning, permanent make-up is also so popular because it makes daily make-up superfluous and sits as it should all day long – even when sweating in the gym, while bathing or in the sauna. Not convinced yet? In the lip area, the beauty treatment stimulates cell activity and thereby reduces small wrinkles.

Another plus point: Permanent make-up helps many women and men to feel beautiful again after an illness. For example, if eyebrows do not grow back after chemotherapy, tattooed eyebrows give the face its old contours back. After a mastectomy, nipples can be reproduced with permanent make-up and give breast cancer patients new self-confidence.

Contrary to what the name might suggest, beauty tattoos don’t last forever, only for a few years. In contrast to a “real” tattoo, the mineral or synthetic color pigments are only pierced into the epidermis. This is renewed regularly and allows the permanent make-up to fade over time. So if you decide to get a cosmetic tattoo, you don’t have to worry that the eyeliner may no longer suit you when you retire. As a rule, permanent make-up lasts two to five years. Its actual durability depends, among other things, on the skin type, individual skin renewal, lifestyle and the application site. For example, eyebrow tattoos fade the fastest due to the high sebum production in the T-zone.

Before you can look forward to permanent make-up, you should seek detailed advice from a professional beautician. A professional will pre-record the result of the treatment on the desired area of ​​the face or body and provide a cost estimate. You should be skeptical if a template is used for marking. The permanent make-up should always be individually tailored to the customer and not run according to a “scheme F”. Also ask in the studio which color pigments are used and clarify whether there is an allergic risk.

Before tattooing begins, the affected areas are locally anesthetized with a special ointment. Nevertheless, the treatment can cause slight pain on the sensitive lips and eyelids. The duration of the treatment is around one hour, depending on the extent.

Fresh out of the beauty booth, there are a few things to consider. The treating cosmetic expert knows exactly what do’s and don’ts there are after the treatment. In the first few days afterwards, neither greasy creams nor make-up should be applied to the treated areas of the skin. Also taboo: direct sunlight and heavy sweating.

More than one session is usually required for the final result. As the skin is injured when tattooing, it will shed some of the ink during the healing process. On average, you should expect two to three sessions. And don’t worry if the result seems too bright or highly pigmented at first: the pigments will fade over the course of the first week, so that the result will look beautifully natural after it has completely healed.

Gone are the days of thin eyebrows: women who partook of plucking orgies in their youth know that this is not without consequences. Often the hairs only grow back sporadically instead of turning into bushy eyebrows à la Cara Delevingne. The solution? Microblading! This special technique conjures up a particularly natural result and is currently the most popular type of beauty tattoos. With microblading, the beautician does not work with a classic permanent make-up device, but tattoos by hand. Tiny lines are scratched into the skin with a type of scalpel equipped with particularly fine blades. Color is then applied to the eyebrow area. The result: thicker brows that look particularly natural thanks to the manual work.

When emphasizing the lash line, the base of the lashes is filled with small dots. This not only makes the eyelashes appear fuller, but also more contoured – which is why the treatment is particularly popular with women with light eyelashes that are hardly visible without mascara.

Also very popular is a permanent eyeliner, which flatters the individual eye shape as a subtle line. Perfect for women with deep-set eyes: an eyeliner that curves slightly upwards at the outer corner of the eye to open up the view. The beauty treatment on the eyelids is particularly practical for women who wear contact lenses. Because the color injection makes mascara and kajal superfluous, so that make-up residues can no longer get into the eyes and conjunctivitis or irritation are a thing of the past.

Many women want more voluminous or more even lips – no problem thanks to lip modeling. During the treatment, the edge of the lips is contoured in the natural lip color to even out imbalances or to perfect the shape of the lips. When contouring the lips, the cosmetics professional uses a darker shade of color to emphasize the mouth. However, the entire lips can also be colored – usually not in bright red, but in a natural shade.

In addition to lid, lip and eyebrow tattoos, artificial freckles and beauty spots are becoming increasingly popular. But only from a professional, please! Because only an experienced expert can tattoo freckles in such a way that they look really natural. It is similar when modeling nipples after a mastectomy: the cosmetic replica requires a lot of sensitivity and is not offered in every studio.

Of course, the pleasure of waking up in the morning in top style has its price. And rightly so! Don’t be fooled by cheap offers. Supposed bargains usually have a catch. Also make sure that a follow-up inspection is included in the price. If you’re unhappy with the result and want to get rid of the permanent makeup, it’s doable, but expensive – and painful. Multiple laser treatments are usually required to remove a beauty tattoo. So please don’t save at the wrong end.

What costs should you expect for long-term make-up? For eyebrow tattoos you pay between 300 and 500 euros. With the lips, it depends on whether you only have the contour tattooed (around 250 to 300 euros) or have the lips completely filled in (around 700 euros). A permanent eyeliner above the eye costs around 150 to 200 euros per eye, a little less on the lower lid. Comparatively inexpensive are beauty spots from 50 euros per piece.

Anyone who decides to have permanent make-up after an illness such as breast cancer is usually reimbursed part of the costs by the health insurance company, for example if the eyebrows no longer grow back after chemotherapy or if the nipples have to be optically re-formed as a tattoo.

Like most cosmetic procedures, a permanent make-up treatment is not completely risk-free. Among other things, there is a risk that you will have an allergic reaction to the color pigments. Inflammation, scars, infections and nodular tissue formation are also possible. If the color used for your beauty tattoo also contains pigments with iron oxide, they can cause burns during an MRI examination. In magnetic resonance imaging, the radiation heats the iron particles. In order to avoid skin injuries and unnecessary pain, it is therefore important to inform the doctor treating you about the permanent make-up before the MRI.