Permanently Beautiful

Painting by Melany Whitney

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder; but when cancer survivors look at themselves in the mirror, they focus on the scarred tissue from cancer surgery, the doughy flesh of reconstructed breasts and the baldness left by chemotherapy. The person they see in the mirror is unfamiliar, ugly, unfeminine. Yes, cancer survivors will agree, they’re lucky to be alive, but it’s not enough. They long to look attractive and feminine again, to feel whole. Physicians may be able to restore the body, but artistically-applied paramedical tattoos and permanent cosmetics can revive the soul, restoring the natural beauty and self-assurance that cancer stripped away.

Doctors’ offices, spas and tattoo shops have begun offering cosmetic tattooing. A nurse or ink tech may be able to tattoo a bull’s eye on a breast mound, but that won’t make it look like a real breast. Many cancer survivors disappointed with the botched results of inferior medical tattoos turn to permanent cosmetics artist Melany Whitney for help. Working with the country’s top cancer specialists and plastic surgeons, Melany uses her technical and artistic skill to recreate life-like nipple/areola complexes to complete reconstructed breasts. Melany’s close association with recovering breast cancer patients led her to create an innovative paramedical tattoo technique that creates the illusion of a natural areola and protruding, three-dimensional nipple. For breast cancer survivors, Melany’s artistic gift is the difference between surviving and living!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and traditional tattoo shops are doing a brisk business in pink ribbon and cancer tribute tattoos. The body art industry has also expressed an admirable increased awareness in the need for permanent cosmetic and paramedical tattoo services to assist recovering cancer patients. However, there is considerable concern among experienced paramedical tattoo professionals that unsuspecting breast cancer survivors who rely on the limited training and fledgling experience of ink artists focused on expanding their financial base will be deeply disappointed in the results obtained. Should results fall short of expectations, the potential to inflict additional emotional pain on already suffering cancer survivors is tragically real.

A Massachusetts ink artist who 8 years ago decided to expand his tattoo business into the paramedical field began the transition with a week-long certification course at a Texas intradermal cosmetics technical school. In an interview with The Herald News, the ink artist admitted that it took years of practical experience after receiving his certification “to get to the point where you’re actually getting the ink to go where you want it to go.” He said that his experience as a former makeup artist gave him an edge in learning the complex pigment-blending techniques necessary to create the natural-looking skin colors so important to successful paramedical tattooing. He also had to learn sanitary and anesthetizing procedures that were quite different from those practiced by ink artists.

Next time: Choose your paramedical tattoo artist wisely

Permanent makeup isn’t just about personal beauty and convenience. The same procedures that make you look beautiful without a stitch of makeup, prove a godsend to accident victims, physically and emotionally scarred by their injuries. Referred to as cosmetic and medical tattooing or paramedical tattooing, permanent makeup can be used to camouflage scars and artistically redraw features that have been damaged by an accident or ensuing surgeries.

Nationally renowned permanent makeup artist Melany Whitney is frequently sought out by cosmetic reconstruction surgeons to assist their patients. Reconstructive surgery can repair the broad damage to the human body from serious accidents or burns, but it cannot restore the fine personal beauty lost in the aftermath of such accidents. It takes the considerable technical skills and remarkable personal artistry of a national expert in paramedical tattooing and permanent makeup to restore beauty to damaged features. Melany has derived great personal satisfaction from being able to help accident victims and surgical patients regain their sense of personal beauty and self-confidence.

Earlier this year, Melany was asked by Dr. Mehmet Oz to help restore an accident victim’s tragically scarred face. Disfigured by an accident in her teens, the now middle-aged woman had given up hope of ever looking attractive. Melany was able to use paramedical tattooing to camouflage the woman’s facial scars and redefine damaged features. To see Melany’s miraculous results, click here to watch Melany on the Dr. Oz show.

The nice weather has brought out waves of pink-shirted walkers and runners bobbing their way through American towns. They wind through city streets in their pink shirts to support women who are fighting breast cancer and to raise money for local cancer hospitals and the American Cancer Society. Nearly everyone in America has shared a family member’s battle with cancer or has supported a friend who is fighting against this insidious disease. Every year, breast cancer strikes 1in 8 women and a number of men. An estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer were reported among American women in 2009, in addition to 62,280 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer. Among U.S. men, 1,990 new cases of invasive breast cancer were reported.

When breast cancer necessitates the removal of a breast, the decision can be traumatic, affecting a woman’s core view of herself. Our breasts are part of what define us as women. Losing a breast to mastectomy makes many breast cancer survivors feel less feminine and less confident about their appearance. Long experience working with breast cancer survivors led paramedical cosmetic tattoo expert Melany Whitney to develop a realistic three-dimensional nipple and areola restoration technique that helps women regain their feeling of femininity after a mastectomy. Click here to find out more.

Dr. Mehmet Oz

In a moving segment on the Dr. Oz Show (click the link to watch), Melany Whitney was able to change the life of a woman whose badly scarred face had haunted her for 27 years. At the age of 15, Suzanne’s face was shattered in a devastating car accident. It took doctors 10 hours and 500 stitches to reconstruct her face, leaving massive, ugly scars. Five plastic surgeries were able to repair most of the facial damage but not the hideous scars. Even makeup was not able to hide all of the scarring that slashed across Suzanne’s face. At the age of 42, Suzanne felt doomed to a life where people quickly turned away on meeting her and children found her frightening. Every time she passed a mirror or caught her reflection in a shop window, she was reminded afresh of the horror of that moment long ago when her life changed forever.

Moved by Suzanne’s plight, Dr. Oz sent her to Melany. Melany carefully mixed permanent cosmetic color pigments to precisely match Suzanne’s facial skin tone. She then injected and blended the pigment into the skin layers along the white scars on her face, completely hiding the scars. When Suzanne joined Dr. Oz and Melany on stage to show off her new face, she was ecstatic. For the first time, she said, her daughter had told her, “Mommy, you’re so beautiful.”

Watch the video on our website to see how Melany and permanent cosmetics changed Suzanne’s life.

Facial scars leave their mark not only on the skin but on the soul. There is something about our face that more than any other part of our body determines our comfort with ourselves. Perhaps it’s that our face is the window through which others see us. Most see only the reflection in the glass; few come close enough to peer past the surface into the soul. With no knowledge of our depths, we are judged by our face.

Facial scars can be damaging to our sense of self. Even a small scar from a childhood injury or teenaged acne can undermine our self confidence and make us feel ugly when we gaze in the mirror. I know a young woman who had thyroid cancer surgery. Despite understanding the necessity, she was so devastated and embarrassed by the thin scar that slit across her throat that it destroyed the way she saw herself. It did not matter that others saw only a minor imperfection; she saw a monstrosity. For years she wore turtlenecks and multi-strand chokers until she was finally able to come to terms with her appearance.

Cosmetic tattooing performed by an artistically accomplished paramedical tattoo artist like Melany Whitney can permanently hide facial scars and restore your confidence in your natural beauty. Prominent plastic surgeons nationwide frequently refer their patients to Melany to remove the embarrassment of unsightly scars or natural skin imperfections. There is no need to suffer. Cosmetic tattooing can restore your natural beauty.

Billed as “fantastic plastic,” women showed off their breast implants, nose jobs and face lifts at Miss Plastic Hungary 2009 in Budapest earlier this month. “It’s time for Hungarian women to care more about their appearance,” judge Marton Szipal, a professional photographer, told the Associated Press. As you might expect, big boobs and strippers appeared to dominate the contestant field. But the contest wasn’t just about augmented breasts and cute little nose jobs, plastic surgery to her toes allowed one contestant to walk normally. Espousing the humanitarian view, plastic surgeon Dr. Tamas Rozsos said, “This is about restoring harmony … eliminating asymmetries and giving women the opportunity to have normal features.”

Like other readers, I laughed at the ridiculousness of human vanity; then I got to thinking. We may pooh-pooh the idea, but appearance does count. How we see ourselves and think others see us — inside and out — forms the core of our self-esteem. Even little things like a bad hair day can send our self-esteem plummeting. When we look good, our spirits and confidence soar. We can take on the world!

Everyone has what they consider little ”flaws” in their appearance. These “imperfections” can chip away at self-esteem and become a stumbling block in our quest for a successful and satisfying life. Sometimes plastic surgery is the answer, but it entails significant risks and the outcome doesn’t always meet expectations. In many instances, permanent makeup or paramedical tattooing can camouflage the self-defined “imperfections” that hold us back without the risk. Click here to find out more.

I love the cool tat-designed Warriors in Pink t-shirt worn by NCIS star Pauley Perrette in the new Ford Cares fight against breast cancer public service announcement. Pauley plays the fabulously funky, tat-loving, sweet and huggable Princess of Darkness Abby Sciuto on the hit CBS crime show. The fight against breast cancer is close to Pauley’s heart. She lost her mom to breast cancer in 2002. When you purchase Pauley’s cool Midnight Warrior T-Shirt or other Warriors in Pink gear, Ford donates 100% of net profits to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.

Warriors in Pink is just one of several new breast cancer awareness efforts aimed at younger women. At the forefront of this edgier, humorously self-aware approach is Canadian-based charity Rethink Breast Cancer. Their tongue-in-cheek, jiggly, giggly Save the Boobs psa recently rocked YouTube. Sponsors of Toronto’s annual Boobyball breast cancer benefit gala, the group is trying to connect with MTV-raised women who don’t see breast cancer as a personal risk, despite the fact that 5% of U.S. women battling breast cancer are under 40.

Pink t-shirts proclaiming “Save the ta-tas” and other cheeky slogans have catapulted Julia Fikse’s same-named Southern Cal t-shirt business to popularity among 20- and 30-somethings. The fashion designer donates 5% of every sale to breast cancer research and awareness in support of family members who are battling the disease.

That same personal involvement with women battling breast cancer led renowned paramedical tattoo artist Melany Whitney to develop her unique 3-D nipple and areola breast restoration technique.

Your mother may have been horrified when you got your first tattoo, but it wouldn’t be surprising if she had a tattoo of her own now. Tattoos have been gaining in popularity since the 1970s. Getting “inked” isn’t the social taboo it was when your parents were young and tattoos were associated with felons, bikers and the seamier side of life. Today, tattoos are mainstream, as likely to be seen in the corporate board room as at a university coffee shop.

Whether you have a small, discretely-placed butterfly or a sexy, eye-catching low rider, wearing a tat makes you feel sexy, sensuous, independent, free-spirited and maybe just a little bit dangerous. Tattoos are all about the attitude, how they make us feel about ourselves. Interestingly, this isn’t the only time in modern history that tattoos have gained wide acceptance. Tattoos were popular among wealthy high society women (and men) during the 1930s. The rich and famous used to host elegant soirees so they could show off their newest tats to their envious friends.

Permanent makeup is the ultimate beauty tattoo. Using safe, sterile paramedical tattooing techniques, the highly experienced technician like Melany Whitney can give you perfectly shaped eyebrows; line your eyes with no flake, no run eyeliner; permanently add your signature color to lips and more. Artistic permanent makeup tattooing can correct facial flaws and enhance your natural beauty. And because it’s a tattoo, you look amazing 24/7. For your next tattoo, consider permanent makeup.

Just a year after a double mastectomy for breast cancer, Christina Applegate looked radiant at this year’s Emmy Awards in a stunning navy silk charmeuse gown from Basil Soda. I loved the sensually draped bodice and eye-catching sheer lace midriff. At the January SAG awards, the Samantha Who? star was just as gorgeous in an emerald green off-the-shoulder gown from Emanuel Ungaro. Christina hasn’t let her battle with breast cancer or her decision to undergo a double mastectomy hold her back. Thanks to the surgery, the television comedian is cancer free, as lovely as ever and working hard.

Like many women who undergo a mastectomy for breast cancer, Christina had breast reconstruction surgery. While surgery can return nature’s curves to a woman’s body, the lack of visible areola and nipples can make reconstructed breasts seem less than real to cancer survivors. It was her desire to help cancer survivors reclaim their femininity that led nationally recognized paramedical tattoo artist and permanent makeup specialist Melany Whitney to develop a realistic-looking three-dimensional areola/nipple complex for reconstructed breasts. Click here to see the amazingly realistic results of Melany’s unique nipple and areola restoration technique.

As Christina knows, self confidence comes from within, but how we look does affect how we feel. Paramedical tattooing restores the breast’s natural beauty, helping cancer victims regain confidence in their own femininity.