Permanently Beautiful

Men can enhance their look or take years off of their appearance using permanent cosmetics.  Men are often looking for a more subtle and undetectable look than women when it comes to cosmetic enhancement.  The advanced techniques used by The Whitney Center for Permanent Cosmetics have made getting an improved, yet natural look possible for men in New Jersey, New York, and around the world.  Men can use permanent makeup to enhance the following key areas:

Eyebrows – Eyebrow enhancement is one of the most popular permanent cosmetic procedures for men.  Permanent cosmetics can provide more distinguished eyebrows to frame the face and restore the look of once prominent, strong, youthful, and masculine brows.  The Whitney Center for Permanent Cosmetics uses a special single hairline feather stroke application to add density while maintaining a natural appearance.   

Eyelashes – Men also sometimes choose to use permanent makeup for eyelash enhancement.  Permanent cosmetics are a great solution for restoring a more youthful and awake, yet masculine look.  Special techniques by permanent makeup artist Melany Whitney provide only natural looking enhancement to bring out “eye appeal.”   

Lips – For men, permanent cosmetics are a great solution for correcting scars, discoloration, or unevenness around lips.  Correcting lip line asymmetry is even possible through the use of permanent cosmetics.

Power Makeovers (see our previous post) aren’t just for women. Stiff competition from younger rivals has older, experienced male executives and managers looking for new ways to maintain their competitive edge. Recession-driven layoffs in middle, upper and executive management have revved up competition both in the workplace and on the job market, putting more mature workers in direct competition with much younger rivals. A touch of gray may still be an asset in America’s corporate board rooms, but looking old has never placed men at a greater disadvantage than it does today.

To keep their job, gain a plum promotion or score a new job, men are using all kinds of new tricks to outfox Mother Nature and give themselves a competitive edge. Sales of hair coloring products for men are on the rise. More male patients are seeking cosmetic surgery procedures to achieve a more youthful face and body. And men are turning to permanent cosmetics for men to give themselves a more commanding, more youthful appearance.

Under the hands of a skilled permanent cosmetics artist, permanent eyebrows can reshape, darken and add commanding fullness to thin or light eyebrows. This specialized form of cosmetic tattooing can redefine unattractive, irregular lip lines and restore youthful, natural color to pale, aging lips. Permanent makeup for men can also camouflage scars, including many scars from transplant and cosmetic surgery. A permanent cosmetics Power Makeover can give men the younger, more vital, more commanding appearance needed to jump ahead of the competition.

Women aren’t the only ones hoping to receive a gift certificate for permanent cosmetics this holiday. Men just as interested in looking good all day, every day. In a tight job market, appearance counts. Gray hair, bald spots, pale lips and thinning eyebrows shout old and tired. You may have years of experience, but that’s not instantly visible when you meet with a hiring manager or apply for a step up the corporate ladder.

Hiring managers are always looking for experience, but they also want to see energy and vitality. Companies spend thousands of dollars training new and promoted employees. To maximize their investment, they’re more likely to choose a younger-looking man over one who looks old and tired. Permanent cosmetics for men can give experienced workers the youthful appearance that attracts job offers and propels men up the corporate ladder.

Cosmetic tattooing performed by a skilled permanent makeup artist can turn thin, gray eyebrows into dark, thick and commanding brows; the eyebrows of a leader. Permanent makeup for men can tint aging pale lips with the natural vibrancy of youth. An artistic permanent makeup artist gifted in color matching and pigment application can make those bald spots that brand you as past middle age disappear, shaving years off your appearance.

This holiday, show your man you believe in him. Give him the gift of permanent makeup and give him the competitive edge he deserves.

The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten

They may only comprise 1% of all breast cancer victims, but men can be just as devastated by a breast cancer diagnosis as women. While decades of consciousness-raising afford women plenty of support during their fight against breast cancer, male victims suffer in silence. The embarrassing stigma of contracting what is perceived to be a woman’s disease keeps most male breast cancer victims silent and isolated. Until now.

A group of ex-Marines gathered in Washington D.C. last week to pose for a beefcake calendar promoting male breast cancer awareness. All of the men were stationed at the Camp Lejeune Marine base in North Carolina in the 1980s when drinking water was found to be laced with toxic chemicals. More than 65 former Marines who served at Lejeune have contracted breast cancer, most after age 60s. Calling themselves ”The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten,” they form the largest male breast cancer cluster known.

Male breast cancer often necessitates a mastectomy to remove cancerous breast and affected lymph nodes. Men are left with ugly scars across their chests. In the pec-dominated male world where shirts are often duffed to beat the heat or play sports, mastectomy-caused chest scars and loss of pec-defining nipples and areolas are embarrassing. Permanent cosmetics for men can restore a man’s confidence in his appearance by using paramedical tattooing to create the very realistic illusion of a 3D nipple and areola.

It’s been half a century since makeup catapulted John F. Kennedy to the presidency in 1960. You may be too young to have watched the first televised presidential debate, but makeup carried the day for JFK. He allowed TV makeup artists to powder away before the cameras rolled while his opponent, Richard Nixon, waved them away in a macho huff. Back then, manly men did not wear makeup! It was Nixon’s undoing. On camera Kennedy appeared cool and collected while a profusely sweating, heavily bearded Nixon looked sinister. The image mesmerized viewers and gave Kennedy the edge he needed to win the presidency.

Since then, makeup has become a staple in the broadcast and entertainment industries but still carries an unmasculine stigma in the everyday world. Cutthroat competition in a tight job market is changing mainstream male attitudes as men look for new ways to gain a competitive edge. The power of makeup to make them look more attractive, younger and more commanding is enticing, but enough stigma remains to make men cringe at the thought of being found out.

Permanent cosmetics for men is the perfect solution. Cosmetic tattooing can darken eyebrows to make them appear more commanding, turn pale lips a healthy pink, focus attention on the eyes to create a more penetrating gaze, camouflage unattractive scars, and even out patchy beards. And no one will ever know because permanent makeup is tattooed into the skin. There’s no telltale powder or smearing to give your secret away!

It’s taken men a long time to move past Old Spice and discover the benefits of cosmetics. Sure, a few savvy metrosexuals have tuned in over the past decade. And Queer Eye for the Straight Guy did get men to think about moisturizer. But Dove’s introduction of a body care line for men was considered a risky venture when it debuted last year. Most guys still start to squirm when you start talking about male makeup, but times are changing.

Credit the intersection of several unique events for creating the tipping point that has men hitting the makeup counter. The long drawn-out recession, continuing disastrous job market, and the aging phobia exhibited by the multitudinous Baby Boomer generation have created a cut-throat job market in which a more youthful appearance is as critical to winning a job or promotion as a sterling resume. Look tired and old and you’ll find opportunity slamming the door in your face.

Eye gel to reduce crow’s feet, stick concealer for hiding dark circles under the eyes, eye serum to reduce under-eye bagginess, anti-shine powder to keep you looking cool and in-charge, products to hide razor burn and blemishes, tinted moisturizers to even skin tone are all growing in male popularity. To prevent threatening the masculinity of their customers, manufacturers are careful about how they market these cosmetics, masking them as advanced skin care products. More men are turning to permanent cosmetics for men. They’re choosing lasting cosmetic enhancements over the embarrassment of daily makeup applications.

It turns out there’s more than a smattering of truth to the perception that beautiful people get more than their fair share of the good things in life. Beauty pays, particularly at the office. Called the “Beauty Premium” by economists, pretty women and handsome men do, in fact, have an easier time getting a job, earn more money and rise higher and faster up the corporate ladder than their less attractive coworkers. 

Beauty may be only skin deep, but it confers measurable advantages that affect every aspect of a person’s life. Studies have shown that beautiful people receive more attention than those who are less attractive. The bias begins early in life. Scientists have found that babies stare longer at people with attractive faces and that pretty children receive more attention from parents, teachers and friends. The beauty bias extends throughout life to bosses, mentors and potential mates. In the workplace, handsome men earn 5% more and beautiful women, 4% more than their average-looking coworkers. Hard work and merit have their benefits, but in the business world pretty people are more apt to reel in that big account, get that plum assignment or be awarded that kick-ass promotion.

Savvy businessmen and women are turning to permanent cosmetics to enhance their natural beauty, correct facial flaws and improve their competitive edge at work.

More about the beauty bias on Thursday

Artistically applied permanent cosmetics for men can camouflage male pattern baldness. Nationally renowned permanent makeup artist Melany Whitney is able to create the appearance of a full head of hair with the artistic application of precise tattooing techniques. Permanent makeup for men can disguise bald spots and thinning areas, creating the appearance of a full, natural-looking head of hair. See the results for yourself. Visit our Permanent Cosmetics for Men website to see before and after photos of tattoo applications to camouflage bald spots.

With permanent cosmetics, men can retain the look of a full head of hair without messy lotions, ugly transplants or unnatural looking toupees. Permanent cosmetics move with you naturally whether you’re sweating at the gym, swimming laps or making a presentation in the board room.

Women aren’t the only ones seeking permanent eyebrow enhancements (see our Sept. 8 post). More men are recognizing the youthful effect of full, thick eyebrows and turning to permanent cosmetics for men to recapture lost youth. Maintaining a young, virile appearance isn’t about ego; it’s about keeping your competitive edge. In today’s uber-competitive job market, it’s essential to look young. Show your age and people start to wonder if you’ve lost your edge. You become an easy target for up-and-coming young turks battling for a spot on the corporate ladder and easy pickings for layoff-hunting executives. Full, thick eyebrows created with paramedical tattooing can restore that predatory look of youthful vigor and turn you back into the hunter, instead of the hunted.

As men age, they start to lose hair not just from their scalps, but from their eyebrows. Once strong, virile, commanding brows become thin, particularly in the inner nasal area that defines a man’s face. Aging brows become soft and sparse and seem to disappear into the face, leaving the impression of ineffectiveness, indecision and weakness. Exactingly performed, single stroke paramedical tattooing can recreate each individual natural hair, adding depth and thickness to brows and restoring the virile look of youth.

Visit the Whitney Center for Permanent Cosmetics website just for men to learn more.

The new summer movie, “My Sister’s Keeper,” puts out there on the big screen what people look like when they undergo chemotherapy.  In the film, the older of two girls in a family has leukemia and the younger sues to stop having to donate her body parts to keep her sister alive. The sister with the illness is realistically shown with no hair, eyelashes or eyebrows.

As often supportive friends and family do, the mother in the movie, played by Cameron Diaz, shaves her own hair so she will be bald like her cancer-stricken daughter. But she still is Cameron Diaz and still looks beautiful. She still has her striking eyebrows and eyelashes. People undergoing chemotherapy don’t. And it can make the ordeal even more devastating. Especially for women who in our culture continue to have a premium placed on their looks.

Permanent makeup can help give anyone facing chemotherapy – a child, man or woman – the chance to feel better about themselves when they look in the mirror. And they deserve every bit of feeling better that they can get. Applied by a professional, permanent makeup can give them eyebrows and eyes that help them look like their former selves.

It may be better for someone who has cancer to have permanent makeup applied before chemotherapy or in the early stages of treatment to reduce stress and promote healing. A doctor’s release should be provided. Alternatively, with approval of the physician, permanent makeup can be applied in the midst of a course of chemotherapy during an off-week when no chemo drugs are administered. Advance approval of the doctor is recommended for all attendees before enrolling in the clinic.