Permanently Beautiful

The possibility of infection begins the minute you open a new tube of mascara or unscrew the lid on a new pot of creme eye shadow. Every time you touch the point of an eyeliner pencil or glide a wand of lip gloss across your lips you are collecting and spreading potentially harmful bacteria. Makeup applicators and the makeup itself are prime breeding grounds for harmful Staphylococcus bacteria, dermatologists warn.

Makeup contamination begins from the moment you open the package of a new cosmetic. The more often you use and the longer you keep a makeup product, the greater your risk of developing a serious bacterial or fungal infection on your skin or in your eye. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received 169 reports of serious cosmetic-linked infections last year, but noted that the majority of infections attributed to cosmetics are never reported.

Contaminated makeup can cause irritation of the skin or trigger an allergic reaction. However, the most dangerous and most frequent health risk occurs when bacteria enter the eye where they can cause itching, highly contagious conjunctivitis, painful styes and, if left untreated, vision damage.

Dermatologists say creme and liquid cosmetics present the greatest risk and recommend replacing powdered makeup products every 12 to 18 months and creme or liquid cosmetics, as well as all eye makeup, every 3 months. That can be expensive if you wear quality cosmetics that often sell for $30 to $50 or more per item. The safe, cost-effective solution is permanent cosmetics.

Age is called the great equalizer. The natural aging of our face and body is something we all struggle with. Some people embrace their wrinkles; others banish them with Botox or cosmetic surgery. But the search for beauty as we approach and move past middle age need not be so polarized. Permanent makeup offers some attractive choices for people at both ends of the aging/beauty argument.

You don’t have to let those first gray hairs and tiny wrinkles brand you as “old.” There are a few permanent makeup tricks you can use to fool Mother Nature. To create a more youthful appearance, focus on improving skin condition, eyes, eyebrows and cheeks.

• Skin condition. Light, airy moisturizers were wonderful when you were young, but skin becomes drier as we age. Switch to a heavier, creamy moisturizer with more plumping power.
• Eyes. Expertly-applied permanent eyeliner adds crisp definition and youthful sparkle to your eyes. 
• Eyebrows. Thick, dark, luxurious eyebrows are a sign of youth. Permanent eyebrows can restore rich color to age-faded brows and fill in thinning brows, giving you a more youthful appearance.
• Cheeks. When we’re young, our cheeks are naturally rosy. A subtle blush of permanent makeup across your cheekbones restores the rosy look of youth.

When people decide to replace their glasses with contact lenses, they generally do so to improve their appearance and vision. Unfortunately, if tiny flakes of eye liner, mascara, eye shadow or foundation fall into a contact lens-covered eye; vision blurs and eyes turn red and watery — not the most attractive look!

Bits of makeup trapped behind a contact lens can cause serious eye damage, ophthalmologists warn those who wear contacts. Trapped makeup can scratch the cornea, introduce bacteria into the eye, and cause serious eye infections. According to studies, incidents of ulcerative microbial keratitis, a serious eye infection that can permanently damage sight and result in blindness, have increased by 400% since contact lenses gained popularity. Contact lenses are now considered the leading risk factor for development of this sight-robbing infection.

To prevent eye infection, physicians recommend that contact lenses be inserted before applying makeup to prevent contamination of the lens. Lenses should also be removed before removing makeup, again to prevent contamination and lessen the risk of infection. Many contact lens wearers, as well as women with sensitive eyes and those who suffer from airborne allergies, solve the problem with permanent eyeliner, permanent eye shadow and permanent eyebrows. Permanent makeup eliminates the application of eye makeup and the potentially dangerous residual flaking that occurs with use of liners and powders.

On NBC’s The Doctors yesterday, permanent makeup took center stage as the doctors discussed the benefits permanent makeup offers many women. As obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Lisa Masterson and plastic surgeon and reconstructive surgery expert Dr. Drew Ordon pointed out, permanent makeup offers time-saving advantages for busy women from soccer moms to corporate executives who want to look their best but don’t have time to spend on makeup. Permanent makeup also meets the beauty and grooming needs of women who are allergic to makeup; people who suffer small motor impairment caused by arthritis, disease or aging and find it difficult to apply makeup; and women with vision problems who cannot see well enough to apply makeup.

The audience observed permanent cosmetic procedures being performed on 35-year-old mom and pilot Trish. Extremely fair, Trish had very light eyebrows with some small gaps in the hair growth and nearly invisible eyelashes. With facial skin, lips and eye lids nearly the same tone, Trish’s face lacked color and definition, leaving her looking sallow and washed-out without makeup. Using permanent cosmetics, Trish’s eyebrows were darkened and the gaps filled with hair-like brush strokes. Permanent eyeliner was added to bring out Trish’s eyes and add definition to her lashes. Permanent lip color in a shade somewhat darker than her skin tone was applied to define her lips. The transformation was stunning. Trish went from mousy to vibrant right before the audience’s eyes!

Next time: Permanent makeup advice from The Doctors

Nicole Scherzinger

With her sultry smoky eye makeup, gorgeous high cheekbones and beautifully defined full lips, Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger was a dance floor standout from the first day of this season’s Dancing With the Stars. Her sexy smoldering look was a good match for the flirty crowd-pleasing tango she danced with partner Derek Hough to win the mirrorball trophy this week. Nicole’s weekly appearances on the tenth season of the popular dance show have women across the country clamoring to re-create her alluring smoky eye makeup. Far from the overdone shadowing of some smoky eye fans, Nicole’s eye makeup highlights and outlines her eyes, making it impossible to take your eyes off them. Well, maybe not impossible. I’m sure my guy wasn’t the only one checking out those incredible costumes!

To create Nicole’s smoky eyes, first apply a sheer nude color over the entire lid. Then, from the lid to the crease, apply and blend a rich plum or dark brown eye shadow. Blending is the key to creating perfect smoky eyes. Keeping eyeliner as close to lashes as possible, line your entire eye in the same plum or brown shade as your shadow. Use a super thin brush to gently smudge liner up toward your crease and toward the eye’s outer edge. Finish with a double coat of black mascara.

Artistically applied permanent eye liner makes your eyes look sexy 24/7 and creates the perfect foundation for Nicole’s sultry smoky eyes.

On a recent Today Show segment, co-hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotba embraced the natural look, appearing on the show sans makeup. Before revealing their faces to the cameras on “no makeup day,” the women took viewers for a backstage look at the intense daily makeup preparation that goes on before the cameras roll. Ann Curry said, “Sometimes I feel like on the show I wear enough makeup to frost a cake.” While the Today Show women agreed they felt “liberated” without makeup and often went “au naturel” at home, they professed to more than mild nervousness about appearing “naked” in front of their television fans. At 45, Honda said she felt self-conscious without makeup. Kathy Lee confessed, “… it’s the dumbest thing we’ve ever done. I had a classic anxiety dream about it…”

What we noticed in checking out the photos from Today’s ”no makeup day” is that without their makeup these high-powered, attractive women look washed out and older. It looked like a few of them fudged a little, too. Kathie Lee definitely looked like she was wearing mascara and eye liner. Natalie Morales may not have been in full face makeup, but her eyes were definitely made up. Check out the pics on The Huffington Post and see what you think.

Women who wear permanent makeup have the best of both worlds. They enjoy the personal freedom of not wearing makeup with the confidence that comes from knowing they look beautiful every minute of the day.

Permanent Eye Makeup

If you wear contact lenses, you know how painful it can be when a flake of mascara or a particle of eyeliner drops into your eye and becomes trapped behind your contact lens. Instantly, you’re tearing up and squinting in pain. Your eyes tear uncontrollably, a natural reaction to foreign matter that helps the eye cleanse itself. Unfortunately, all those tears start dissolving your eye makeup, making matters even worse and smearing contacts with a hazy film of makeup. It can be a struggle just to remove your contact lens so you can clear out the debris. All this from a nearly microscopic flake of makeup!

Makeup experts recommend putting on your eye makeup before you put in your contact lenses to help prevent such problems, although poor vision (the reason you wear contacts!) can make that tricky. To conceal the redness experienced by many contact lens wearers, try using a beige-colored eye pencil to line the inside rim of your eyes. Eyeliner can be applied directly over the beige pencil. Using liquid eyeliners and cream or gel eye shadows, which are less apt to flake during wear, instead of pencils and powders will also help prevent makeup from interfering with contact lenses. 

Artistically applied permanent makeup is the only foolproof eye makeup solution for contact lens wearers. With permanent eyeliner and permanent eye shadow, you never have to worry about applying eye makeup and your eyes always look naturally gorgeous.

Glam-rock is back and it has put punky, dramatic, kohl-rimmed eyes back in the spotlight. With the opening of the Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning film The Runaways, eye makeup is stepping back in time to revisit the 1960s when Joan Jett and Cherie Currie formed one of rock’s most famous all-girl bands. In keeping with the film’s realistic portrayal of the young teens’ rise to fame, makeup artists were instructed to create a look that was realistic, teen-aged blemishes and all. Without the typical Hollywood flawless skin to wow the camera, makeup artists for The Runaways focused on the eyes.

Pouring over old magazine ads and watching hours of concert footage of the real Runaways performing, makeup artists for the film focused on weird, tiny details to create an authentic look on screen. For instance, Jett and Currie painted only one fingernail red. But it was their dark smoky eyes that created the band’s signature look in the ’60s.

With permanent cosmetics you can create your own permanent signature look. Permanent eyes can rim your lids in thin or thick permanent eyeliner in the color of your choice so you look beautiful day and nice. When you want to glam or punk it up, add a thicker layer right over your permanent cosmetics. Permanent makeup gives you the best of both worlds.

Jen's Natural Look

Jennifer Aniston worked her way into American hearts as Rachel on Friends and never left. She’s the proverbial “girl next door,” fresh and wholesome looking. Jennifer uses a few special makeup tricks to create her very natural look. She may look like she’s not wearing makeup, but it’s a light hand and adept application that give Jen the natural appearance admired by so many.

How does she do it? Jen only applies eyeliner to her top eyelid, usually leaving the bottom lid naked or applying only a faint, thin stroke of liner to the bottom lid. To enhance her natural look, Jennifer chooses eyeliners in pale grays and light browns. She counts on a medium coating of mascara on both top and bottom lashes to make her eyes pop. To enhance her eyes, Jennifer favors barely there, lightly applied eye shadow in pale grays, beiges, pinks and lavenders. Jen sticks to natural looking lip colors in light brown, peach or pink. Her trick is to color her lips just slightly darker than their natural color.

Permanent makeup can give you Jennifer Aniston’s natural look 24 hours a day without tedious time in front of the mirror. You can have permanent eyeliner in a natural shade tattooed on just your upper lid or add a barely there line to your lower lid. Permanent eye shadow can enhance your eyes with natural beauty 24/7 and it never cakes or creases. Your lips will always look naturally beautiful with permanent lip color. Permanent makeup is the ultimate natural look!

Have you ever heard a woman say, “I feel naked until I put my face on”? For many women putting on their makeup is more than part of their morning routine, it’s a symbol of their femininity. Like doing their hair and dabbing on their favorite scent, applying eye makeup and lipstick makes women feel more beautiful, self-confident and ready to meet whatever the day has in store. Even women who favor the natural look and choose to skip foundation prefer the way they look with a dash of eyeliner, a swipe of mascara and a touch of lipstick. Makeup enhances our natural beauty and makes us feel good about ourselves.

A stroke, arthritis, muscular dystrophy, long illness, accident or other degenerative condition or disease strikes at the very core of who a person is as an individual and a woman. The inability to apply makeup when motor skills are lost and hands shake can be a tragic blow to a woman’s sense of femininity and sense of self. Without makeup she no longer sees in the mirror the woman she once was. It makes her loss cut even deeper. Permanent cosmetics can restore a woman’s sense of personal beauty and her self confidence in her appearance.

Artfully applied cosmetic tattooing can create beauty-enhancing permanent eyeliner, permanent eyebrows, permanent lips or even a full face enhancement. With permanent makeup, a woman who is no longer able to apply her own cosmetics can still look like she’s just applied fresh makeup.