Permanent Make-up

Permanent makeup is a cosmetic technique which employs tattoos (permanent pigmentation of the dermis) as a means of producing designs that resemble makeup, such as eyelining 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 it as a consequence of old age, disease, such as alopecia, chemotherapy or a genetic disturbance, and to disguise scars and white spots in the skin such as in vitiligo.

It is also used to restore or enhance the breast's areola, such as after breast surgery.

Most commonly called permanent cosmetics, other names include dermapigmentation, micropigmentation, and cosmetic tattooing (the latter being most appropriate since permanent makeup is, in fact, tattooing.)

In the United States and other countries, the inks used in permanent makeup and the pigments in these inks are subject to FDA or similar agency regulation as cosmetics and color additives.

Removal

As with tattoos, permanent makeup can be difficult to remove. Common techniques used for this are laser resurfacing, dermabrasion (physical or chemical exfoliation), and surgical removal. Camouflaging-- adding a new pigment which counteracts the tattoo color and attempts to emulates normal skin color is considered a poor choice by professionals.

Removal is often even more painful and laborious than the tattooing itself.

Permanent makeup regulations vary from country to country: sometimes by state, province, county or even city to city. For instance, in the US, while in most areas it falls under the cognizance of the Department of Health, State Boards of Cosmetology are often the oversight agency.

In fact, in some areas a cosmetology or esthetics license is required, while in other areas, cosmetologists are prohibited from conducting these procedures.

Exclusive to Australia, practitioners are prohibited from advertising the procedures as "permanent" since it is their opinion that the "...benefits of cosmetic tattooing are not permanent and will generally only last three to five years."

This position is not consistent with the fact that permanent makeup is tattooing and tattooing is a permanent process.