TucsonPermanentMakeup.com

Eyelash Enhancement

One of my favorite eyeliner treatments is the eyelash enhancement. The pigment is placed in the lash line for a soft, natural look.

Refreshing lip tattoos

This first picture is lips that I had done a few years back. The client wanted the color deepened a bit and just a little fullness added. We used the original color which is a warm red tone. The brightness calms down quite a bit a just a few weeks. And of course some of the fullness is due to a little swelling in the fresh tattoo.

Maggie Maye's Tattoo Grand ReOpening

Maggie Maye's has a new website.
www.MaggieMayesTattoo.com
We have officially reopened the store front of Maggie Maye's Tucson Tattoo. Of course Greg and I have been busily tattooing in the back private studios all along, but now we have opened the store front again. It is and exciting time for us! We love the seclusion of the private courtyard studios and we aren't giving those up. But now I get to have that front room interaction with the public that I have sorely missed the last few months.
We are being joined by Jeff Scrivner and Mark Fowler. Both are experienced, mature tattoo artists.
Watch Cox Cable to see our new commercial (coming soon) commemorating our 10 Years in Tucson.
We will also celebrate our Grand ReOpening - 10 Year Anniversary with weekly giveaways that will include 50 Dollar Gift Cards and Maggie Maye's T-Shirts. Come share in the fun.

Fresh Eyebrows

Happy customers is what makes the work of permanent cosmetics so very rewarding.

Maggie Maye's Tattoo has a New Website

www.MaggieMayesTattoo.com
Maggie Maye's Tattoo has a new website. I will still do my permanent makeup in my private studio behind Maggie Maye's, but I will also be up in the street shop for body art and piercings. So now you can view examples of my work on 3 sites.
www.TucsonPermanentMakeup.com
www.TucsonTattoo.com
www.MaggieMayesTattoo.com
The new site is not quite done....I'll have the portfolio of Jeff Scrivner added by the end of the day and then I'll tweak it all week.

Fresh Eyeliner

This eyeliner was just tattooed. It's a little swollen but not too bad. The puffiness will reside in a couple of days. If she looks a little tired, well, she is. The tattooing doesn't really hurt too bad because the topical anesthetic is very good, but the experience will make you a little tired.

Permanent Makeup isn't all I do

Permanent Makeup is my speciality but I also am lucky enough to be able to dip my needles in brighter pots of ink. I love that about body art...I get to use more and brighter colors. And tattoos on feet are my very favorite.

Freshen up Your Face

Last weekend I had the pleasure of working on a customer I hadn't seen in several years. We reshaped and freshened her brows and lips and simply touched up her eyeliner. Annette loves her new makeup.

Tattoo Removal

Tattoo Removal: Old School or New?

By Rick Barker, Owner

http://www.inkbusters.com

With the resurgence of the tattoo these past two decades there has naturally been a growing interest in having tattoos faded or removed. Of an estimated 48 million Americans with tattoos today, roughly 17% are said to want them removed (i).

The reasons behind removing tattoos are varied, but often times have to do with the tattoo’s location. If it’s visible, it can be a distraction to people we work with and possibly hold us back from getting promotions. The art itself may no longer reflect who we are. Gang or hate related tattoos can be life threatening, not to mention a hindrance to a good career. There is also the former lover or spouse’s name now not so popular with the new lover or spouse. There are many of us who simply want to fade a tattoo prior to getting a cover up. Whatever our reasons, we have a variety of options to consider today - none of which are perfect or pain free - but here they are:

• Laser Tattoo Removal


• Dermabrasion and Excision


• Variot Tattoo Removal


• Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA)


• Tattoo Removal Creams

Laser Tattoo Removal

Most everywhere we look today we are told laser tattoo removal is the way to go. True enough, but a problem with that is most of us can’t afford laser tattoo removal. It’s not covered by most health insurance plans, costs upwards of $400 per treatment, and usually requires eight to ten treatments. If you are one of the lucky few that can afford laser, there are a few things you need to know.

Different lasers are needed to remove different colors in a given tattoo. The laser that works great on black ink can’t make a dent in red or yellow ink. Depending on the colors of your tattoo, your laser surgeon will need at least three different types of lasers. Ask your doctor if he or she has ALL of the lasers needed to remove your particular tattoo.

Many doctors advertising laser tattoo removal let their nurse or laser technician perform the actual procedure. If you can afford laser tattoo removal, make sure your doctor will do the work and that he or she has extensive experience removing tattoos with a laser. It is possible - albeit not common - to find doctors that specialize in laser tattoo removal and do the work themselves. Avoid the doctors that only have one laser to work with and don’t actually do the procedure themselves. They will only lead you to very expensive scars.

Cost: $$$$$

Pain: Severe without anesthesia

Effectiveness: 95%

Dermabrasion and Excision

Dermabrasion involves sanding the top layers of skin with an abrasive tool while excision involves surgically removing - cutting out - the tattoo from the body. These are two of the least desirable ways to remove a tattoo because of extreme scarring so we won’t go into much detail about them here. However, it’s important to note excision may still have a place in tattoo removal today.

Consider this: Contrary to the best case before/after photos we see online, few tattoos are ever 100% removed. In most cases there is some residual ink left where the artist may have gone in a little too deep. For these small lines or dots that may exist after your primary tattoo removal effort, excision may be an excellent way to finish your overall strategy. Most cosmetic surgeons are skilled enough to remove the remaining ink and close the incision with little to no visible scaring. Like laser removal, this won’t be cheap, but it may complete your effort towards near 100% removal.

Cost: $$$$

Pain: Minimal with local anesthesia

Effectiveness: 95%

Variot Tattoo Removal

Left breast tattoo before

Variot tattoo removal.

Variot tattoo removal has been around for over a century and uses a tattoo machine and an acid to remove tattoos. In 1888, French physician Variot G. Nouveau tattooed a solution of tannic acid, glycerin, and distilled water into the skin of a patient over a tattoo. The result was a thick scab. When the scab healed and parted from the skin, it took a lot of the tattoo with it. There was scaring and certainly room for improvement, but Dr. Nouveau proved that over-tattooing with an acid to remove a tattoo does work.

After 4 treatments of Variot tattoo removal using

a 10% glycolic acid gel and topical numbing

creams over an 8 month period.

Dr. Nouveau’s technique was later improved upon and introduced to America by the Journal American Medical Association in 1928 (ii). It was then considered the best way to remove tattoos. Decades later, tannic acid was found to be a carcinogen, and lasers appeared on the scene shortly thereafter. Variot tattoo removal was all but forgotten by the medical community.

In 2004, after a long hiatus, Variot was reintroduced to doctors by the British Journal of Dermatology as the “Chemical Extraction Technique (iii).” In that research a San Francisco doctor reported only a 6% chance of scarring while removing body tattoos, and a 2% chance of scarring while removing permanent makeup tattoos. Instead of using the original tannic acid solution, the doctor created his own solution and used a state-of-the-art medical grade tattoo machine.

Today many tattoo artists have heard stories about or experimented with tattooing saline or hydrogen peroxide into the skin, or simply dry-tattooing the skin (derma-pricking) in efforts to fade or remove a tattoo. There are also several companies selling their own liquids to be tattooed into the skin in efforts to fade or remove a tattoo. All of these efforts owe their origins to Dr. Variot G. Nouveau’s ground-breaking efforts in 1888.

Your best hope today of finding someone who offers some variation of Variot tattoo removal might be within the permanent makeup artist community, but a few traditional tattoo artists do offer the service. It’s usually cheaper than laser and can be more gentle to the skin than laser when done properly.

Cost: $$$

Pain: Mild with topical numbing creams

Effectiveness: 90%

Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA)

The thought of applying an acid to our skin to remove anything seems extreme or even insane to most of us. However, that is exactly what thousands of men and women do every day in order to remove fine lines, wrinkles, and acne scars on their faces. What they are doing is commonly referred to as a facial peel and can be done on the body as well. In that regard, acids have been used to remove fine stretch marks, brown spots, warts, and calluses on the hands or feet. Acids have many more uses and are sometimes referred to as the poor man’s laser. These cosmetic acids, as they are sometimes called, can be very beneficial to our lives when used intelligently.

Homemade tattoo, before TCA treatment.

TCA is a popular non-prescription acid commonly used by doctors, health spas, and private individuals to treat the skin conditions mentioned above. It usually comes as a clear water-like liquid and is applied to the skin with a cotton swab. TCA has been twice medically tested and proven to fade and/or remove tattoos. Results were initially published in the British Journal of Plastic Surgery in 1988 (iv), and the South African Medical Journal in 1990 (v). In both studies TCA was found to be a simple and effective tattoo removal agent with an 85% success rate.

After 3 TCA treatments. Professional tattoos can take

at least a year to get a similar fade.

The process behind TCA tattoo removal is actually very simple. A mild or controlled burn is generated on the surface of the skin, much the same as we do with a laser. This burn triggers our body to repair the damaged skin by growing new skin. In the process of doing this the ink naturally breaks apart and migrates to the surface with the new skin growth. Your body actually does most of the work. The acid or the laser is simply the trigger mechanism.

Cost: $

Pain: Mild for most, moderate for some

Effectiveness: 85%

Tattoo Removal Creams

Many tattoo removal creams contain Hydroquinone, which is usually the active ingredient in skin bleaching creams. Over the counter sales of skin bleaching creams containing Hydroquinone are banned in the UK, France, Australia, Japan and several other countries because Hydroquinone is known to cause cancer and a debilitating skin disease called Exogenous Ochronosis.

In August 2006, the FDA proposed a similar ban on over the counter sales of Hydroquinone in US markets (vi). If or when the FDA’s proposed ban is made law, tattoo removal creams containing Hydroquinone will be taken off the market.

While the idea of a smooth, pain-free cream removing a tattoo may be appealing, there is no published medical evidence we know of suggesting this is true. Barring new evidence, we encourage consumers to use caution if considering one of these creams, particularly when Hydroquinone is involved.

Cost: $$$

Pain: Excluding Cancer and Ochronosis, none.

Effectiveness: No published studies to support claims available.

Tattoo Removal Reality Check

There is no such thing as perfect pain-free tattoo removal. Most tattoos are never 100% removed and there is usually some skin discoloration. If you try to take out every last bit of a tattoo there will likely be scarring (vii). Trying to remove a tattoo too quickly will also lead to scarring (viii).

Patience and persistence are usually the most important ingredients in any tattoo removal strategy. The latter said, it is possible to get most of the tattoo out to a point that it’s no longer recognizable as a tattoo, and may be easily covered with a little foundation or a new tattoo.

Article Source: TattooFinder.com and InkBusters.com

The information provided above is to be used as general information-only purposes and is not intended in any fashion to replace medical advice, to be interpreted or used as a medical treatment program, or to be used to diagnose or cure any disease or medical condition.

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(i) Harris Interactive poll conducted online between July 14 and 20, 2003.

(ii) M.D. Shie, A Study of Tattooing and Methods of Removal. Journal American Medical Association; 1928; 90:94-96.

(iii) W. Cheng, Chemical Extraction Technique for Tattoo Removal. British Journal of Dermatology; 2004 December; 151: 1282-83.

(iv) T.A. Piggot & R.W. Norris, The Treatment of Tattoos with Trichloracetic Acid: Experience with 670 Patients. British Journal of Plastic Surgery; 1988 Mar; issue 41 (vol.2):112-7.

(v) D.A. Hudson & R.U Lechtape-Gruter, A Simple Method of Tattoo Removal. South African Medical Journal; 1990 Dec 15;issue 78 (vol.12):748-9.

(vi) http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/E6-14263.htm

(vii) At some point the owner (surgeon?) needs to recognize all that can be done has been done. To reproach the tattoo after this point will only damage/scar the skin further with minimal results.

(viii) All too often the owner sees early positive results and thinks increasing the strength of the effort will lead to a faster positive result. This is false. Patience is the most important ingredient of any tattoo removal strategy. There is no overnight solution.

Are Permanent Cosmetics Right For You?

Who is a candidate for Permanent Makeup?

Answer: Women (and men) who want to look their best all the time. Permanent Makeup is perfect for busy people who don't want to spend too much time each day applying makeup. For people who have light, sparse or half eyebrows. For people who have sensitive eyes or sparse lashes. For people who are physically active or who have oily skin that sheds makeup easily. And for people with poorly defined or descending lips. Alopecia sufferers can benefit from the application of Permanent Makeup.

1. Do you have an occupation where you perspire often requiring you to re-apply makeup often? Do you have an occupation where you feel better looking as if you are wearing light makeup all the time?
2. Do you want the convenience of waterproof makeup that will not smudge or run?
3. Do you have eyes that appear "washed-out" without eyeliner? Do you want to "sleep in" or squeeze more time into your day?
4. Do you have thin and uneven lips that take away from facial balance?
5. Have you experienced hair loss or have sparse, uneven or no eyebrows due to over plucking, aging, Chemotherapy treatments or Alopecia Areatea?
6. Are you allergic to conventional cosmetics. Do you wear contact lenses or eyeglasses that cause watery eyes or smudged eyeliner?
7. Have you had a mastectomy? Areolas can be re-created and re-pigmented after having a mastectomy.
8. Are you a man who has thinning or sparse hair, eyebrows or eyelashes?
9. Do you have physical limitations that make it difficult to apply makeup? Do you have dexterity difficulties, arthritis, paralysis or vision limitations? Do you have cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis or any other motor skill problems that limit your ability to put on makeup? Do you suffer from Parkinson's disease or any other tremors that limit your ability to apply makeup? Do you have presbyopia or other visual limitations? Have you experienced loss of mobility or paralysis due to a stroke?

After the procedure you will always look as though you are wearing "light" makeup. It has a very positive psychological value and increases confidence and self worth.