Don’t Be Afraid to Try New Tools & Techniques

It is so incredibly interesting seeing the new trends and techniques that have developed in permanent makeup industry. So many new artists and the magic of the internet has brought them right into our living rooms. I’m in awe at the generosity I see from so many of these talented artists.

As a leading permanent makeup training institute, our training and our language has changed dramatically with our trainees to teach them these techniques and how to achieve various effects on procedures.

For example, we once said, to every class, the slower you move the faster you’ll be done. Now, we ask our trainees, what effect does your model want to achieve and what needles and speed are you going to choose to achieve this effect?

The most requested permanent brow effect is, a few hair strokes showing clearly in the front of the brow, and shading or powdering in the rest of the brow.

Now, our trainees, after hours of practice and homework, can choose, their needles and speed of motion to create various effects.

For years, we had moved away from single needles, because new practitioners didn’t understand how deeply and easily, they could travel into the skin. If used on an eyeliner, they could easily migrate the ink and even pigment. This risk was increased by moving a tattoo machine, slowly, up onto the eyelid, so we chose larger round needle groups, since they didn’t travel as deeply and greatly reduced the risk of migration. Now, single needles are popular, once again, for hair strokes, some detail work but mostly whip shading. This single needle is used like never before on the face, and it’s beautiful.

Every day, I love reading, hearing and seeing the new choices made by our artists, ranging from the thinnest to the thickest needles (even .40 are growing in popularity) and see what they are doing with them. Interesting, we are not much different than the fashion world. We move into extremes and bore quickly, always in search of a new toy. Well, we have the new toys.

We have also evolved into the tattoo world, where I began, and have tattoo needles available that are extremely sharp; tight and loose, rigid and floppy, and these different configurations allow us to recreate any makeup technique that we wish, on skin.

There are so many choices and it is fun and exciting to work, again, creatively, but one thing has not changed that we always want to take with us with any new needle or technique, and that is stretching.

The more stretching we do in any area we are working, the better the entry of the needle. Depositing your color will ALWAYS be improved with good stretching. If you can manage a 3-way stretch, even in small areas, using your pinkie finger for the third part of the stretch, your needle entry will be easier and smoother.

Remember, how you put color in is how it will heal out. Stretching will never change or be less critical, even with all of our fabulous and artistic applications.

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