Please Say NO to Cat Eye Tails!!!

I hope I don’t make too many enemies with this blog but I feel compelled to write it. Every day, I receive from two to a dozen pics of eyeliner procedures, performed by practitioners in the trendy Marilyn Monroe style or the Cat Eye or the Retro Eye. These eyeliner procedures are applied as one might wear their over-the-counter makeup, extending out from the corner (canthus) of the eyesin a dramatic, sweeping tail. This is one style of eyeliner that simply should never be done, permanently!

The corners of the eye, both inner and outer canthus, are points of migration. You may get away with a few but that Fitzpatrick 1 will come along and you will be sick if you see her migrate. This risk is greatly increased if you are using any form of carbon. Secondly, that tail is going to travel down and will require removal in the years to come. How soon? No one knows. It’s all genetics.

Women’s eyes and mouths show age quite early. It generally begins with the eyebrows. As they move downward, the tails of the brows, where the skin is sometimes transparently thinner, push the outer corner of the eyes downward, as well. What you are tattooing today will not the same or look well in a few years. As a matter of fact, it can be disastrous. I have seen manystyles like this have to be excised by a plastic surgeon. However, this was many years ago, before practitioners realized, as faces maturefeatures drop downward. Practitioners soon came to learn that eyebrows that were tattooed too long or too low were longer and lower in just a few years.

The WIDTH of an eyeliner is not an issue. I will accommodate any requested width, it just cannot extend past the outer canthus. I wear a very wide eyeliner, myself, that was tattooed, initially, 25 years ago. It still works because I didn’t have it placed past the outer canthus of my eyes.

Please use discretion when younger clients request this trendy look. Explain to them that some things just do not translate well with permanent makeup and that this tail that she will love today will require removal up the road. How quickly? She would be gambling with her DNA. Also, inform her how nasty a removal would be in that area with no guarantee you will even be able to get it out. Swelling, hematomas and maybe even a black eye can result from removal. Please say NO!!!

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