Permanent makeup
type of makeup
Permanent makeup, also known as permanent cosmetics, derma-pigmentation, micro-pigmentation, semi-permanent makeup and cosmetic tattooing, is a cosmetic technique which employs tattoos (permanent pigmentation of the dermis) as a means of producing designs that resemble makeup, such as eye-lining and other permanent enhancing colors to the skin of the face, lips, and eyelids. It is also used to produce artificial eyebrows, particularly in people who have lost them as a consequence of old age, disease, such as alopecia areata, alopecia totalis, chemotherapy, or a genetic disturbance, and to disguise scars and hypopigmentation in the skin such as in vitiligo. It is also used to restore or enhance the breast's areola, such as after breast surgery, or to give an illusion of more hair volume to the scalp.
History
The most widely documented first use of permanent makeup treatment was done by the famous U.K. tattoo artist Sutherland MacDonald. In 1902, at his parlor, #76 Jermyn Str., London, he "perfected his method of giving a lasting complexion of the utmost delicacy to pale cheeks." The tattooist George Burchett, a major developer of the technique in the 1930s, described in his memoirs how beauty salons tattooed many women without their knowledge, offering it as a "complexion treatment ... of injecting vegetable dyes under the top layer of the skin." Permanent makeup became much more commonplace beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was used to address hair and pigment loss due to disease, and now it is considered very normal.
Usage
Reasons for application
One may opt for permanent makeup for a plethora of reasons. For some, it can replace the daily application of traditional makeup products in favor of a more lasting solution. This is especially useful for older women whose eyesight might not be good enough to apply the makeup or who have degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's which severely limits motor ability. Others may have the procedure to restore color areas that have lost it due to disease.
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This entry incorporates text from “Permanent makeup” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.