Permanently Beautiful

Hollywood stars just love to strut their stuff live onstage on Broadway. We’re always dazzled by the sheer star power lighting up the Great White Way these days. And that’s part of what makes watching the Tony Awards show so much fun.

Of course, Ann Hathaway, who’s doing Shakespeare in the Park this summer, looked darling at this year’s Tonys. But we were impressed by the glam of the more mature divas. Susan Sarandon looked fabulous. Edie Falco, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis, Liza Minelli, Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Jessica Lange also all looked terrific.

How do they do it?  And can we do it, too?  Yes, we can. Here’s how:

We may be tempted to grab the tweezers and start plucking every time we spot a gray hair!  But there’s a quicker, healthier option. Gently blend grays and prevent that telltale line of demarcation by applying hair color just on trouble spots and blending gently. Insider trick: Grays can be stubborn, so apply with a fresh toothbrush to thoroughly coat grays around the roots.

If diminished vision and a less steady hand make it hard to apply eyeliner and pencil in brows, permanent makeup can save the day – or night. Especially with brows turning patchy and eyelashes thinning with age.
Permanent eyeliner gives the appearance of thicker fuller lashes. Beautifully shaped, colored and arched brows can take years off an aging face.

A more youthful appearance can help women over 50 feel confident, look fit and polished and keep a competitive edge in both the dating and job markets. Remember, each of us deserves a Tony Award because, as Shakespeare said, all the world’s a stage.

Kristen Stewart took a break from the Italian set of New Moon to attend the MTV Movie Awards, according to InStyle, but she didn’t leave her character’s casual style far behind. While she looked stunning in a red Yigal Azrouel dress, she made a statement by pairing it with a pair of Converse sneakers. It was a last minute replacement for heels after she twisted her ankle, a trick she must have picked up from her Twilight character, Bella. In the film Bella injures her leg before prom and accessorizes her dress with a walking cast and Converse sneaks.

But how do stars like Twilight‘s Stewart and her co-star Ashley Greene go from airport casual to red carpet glamour in a matter of hours? Preparation. “We fitted Ashley way in advance because of her hectic New Moon schedule,” said Greene’s stylist Ilaria Urbinati, who styled her for the MTV Movie Awards. “We had to alter the dress,” she said of the originally straight-cut Dolce & Gabbana dress. After accessorizing with a neon clutch and a dash of vintage beauty, Greene was red-carpet ready just 24 hours after arriving from Italy. “The dress felt very old school, that’s where the idea for the hair and jewelry came from,” Urbanati told InStyle’s Lisa Tilson. “A neon clutch gave it a little edge.”

We think that Bella and her buddies get a jumpstart on perfecting their game face for the red carpet with permanent eyeliner. That’s our expert opinion. We know that when you live life on a tight schedule, permanent makeup offers a fabulous beauty shortcut.

In the 1950s and 1960s, tattoos signified rebellion against middle-class conformity, according to historian Jonathan Zimmerman. They were associated them with street gangs, motorcycle clubs, ex-cons and drunks. In 1959, the National Education Association advised schools that “potential juvenile delinquents” could be identified as “those with male kin who are tattooed.”

And it was mostly males who got inked, not females. In a culture of straight-laced Organization Men, tattoos came to embody a kind of rough-hewn, frontier-style masculinity. That’s why Philip Morris USA Inc. decided to adorn its Marlboro Man – the epitome of 1950s machismo – with a small piece of body art on his hand. “We wished to show a man who, during some moment – some loose moment – got himself tattooed,” an advertising executive explained.

Fast-forward to earlier this year, when toymaker Mattel Inc. released its Totally Stylin’ Tattoos Barbie doll. It comes with a set of tattoo stickers that can be placed anywhere on her body, plus a tattoo gun that allows children to ink the doll – or themselves.

That tells you all you need to know about the changed cultural meaning of the American tattoo. It has become just as common among women as among men. Most of all, it has gone 100 percent mainstream. If even Barbie is getting inked, and it’s totally stylin’, we can be sure that there’s nothing remotely rebellious about it.

That could be the best news of all, if you’re still debating about yourself and tattoos. If you get inked, you won’t be defying social propriety. As tattoos become more accepted, indeed, it will be unusual to find someone who doesn’t have one.

That’s why the heavily tattooed ex-rocker and reality-show star Ozzy Osbourne warned his own daughter against body ink. “To be unique, don’t get a tattoo,” Osbourne urged. “Because everybody else has got tattoos.” Of course, his daughter got one anyway.

A subtle and gorgeous way to get inked is with permanent make-up. You can flaunt it or keep it hushed as your beauty secret.

Summer’s just around the corner. And along with summer fun comes the heat and humidity that can wreak havoc with your hair. Here are a few great summer hair care ideas we culled from places like InStyle:

Frizz-Free Curls

 If you’re lucky enough to have natural curls like Beyonce, flaunt them. Avoid frizz by simply adding an anti-frizz serum to your morning hair routine. Then gently scrunches the hair while blow drying on low with a diffuser. Don’t comb it out! Let it be natural and sexy. 

Long-Lasting Braids

 Drew Barrymore and Charlize Theron recently joined the long list of stars sporting braids this season. Braids look cute straight down or pinned up. No matter how you wear them, braids will hold better and longer if you start out with wet hair, use a stronger gel than normal and spray with a little hair spray.

Straight Hair

 Celebrity hairstylists say the key to straight hair in the summer is a ceramic wet-to-dry flat iron. First, apply a protecting spray to damp hair and then use the iron. The iron helps lock in moisture and fight flyaways. Bonus tip: After using the iron, apply the spray again on dry hair to help protect against the sun’s UV rays.

 Summer beauty is no sweat with permanent make-up. It won’t melt away in the heat, dissolve into your sunscreen or disappear in the water.  With luscious lips, gorgeous eyebrows and defined eyes, you’ll be totally hot but in a good way.

There is an assumption that men who opt for permanent makeup, such as permanent eyeliner, are in professions that put them in the spotlight. While it is true that actors, singers, entertainers, newscasters and public speakers are more likely to go for permanent cosmetics, they are not the only men to do so. Really, any man who steps outside of his house is in the spotlight.  And if you want to look your best without having to spend time on certain aspects of your look on a daily basis, then permanent makeup may be right for you.

In addition to being cosmetic, permanent makeup procedures can also be used to alter one’s appearance if some facial features are less than ideal. For example, if your eyes are somehow asymmetrical or slightly out of proportion, permanent makeup can be used to change how this appears. This is why although permanent makeup is a kind of tattoo, you do not want to go to a tattoo parlor to get it done. You want to go to a skilled permanent makeup technician. An artist, like our highly skilled Board Certified and nationally recognized expert, Melany Whitney can look at your facial symmetry and see the best way to enhance it. If you want permanent makeup to correct a facial asymmetry then you need to go to a technician who has studied facial morphology. These procedures are not one-size-fits-all; they must be tailored to the individual.

Although we have been talking about celebrities who may have permanent makeup, you should know that permanent makeup is not just for celebrities.

The other day, I was on one of those local website that provides reviews and tips for service providers (restaurants, hair salons, etc.) and I stumbled across a message board where someone who had moved was looking for a permanent makeup artist.

The woman wrote that she has permanent eyebrows done years ago and that she got many compliments on them and that most people do not realized that her great eyebrows were actually a tattoo. She wanted to get more makeup done. Other people on the site were not shy. Another woman wrote in to say that she has permanent eyebrows and permanent eyeliner done and offered the name of a permanent makeup artist. 

Well, this really got the ball rolling, the message board lit up and there was quite an interesting discussion during which a number of people readily confessed to having gone for permanent makeup.

Another woman said that permanent eyebrow makeup helped her to stop obsessing over her brow brush, adding that when down correctly, permanent eyebrows look quite natural and that you need to go to the right place. At the Whitney Center for Permanent Cosmetics, we don’t just fill in brows; technicians like Melany look at the shape of your face you give you the best look possible.

The other day, perusing yahoo.com, I saw an article that was speculating about which of your favorite celebs have tattoos and what they might be.  The article started by musing over just how commonplace tattoos have become. People in all walks of life have tattoos, and while some who like to talk on the wild side may have more unusual ones, they really do not stand out as being counterculture as they once did. And as we have noted, many celebrities wear tattoos and many celebrities use permanent makeup.

Last year, while he was on Oprah, one fan that got to talk with him put Brad Pitt on the spot by asking him to talk about his tattoos in detail. Of course he was coy and refused to give up the goods on his tattoos. He did tell a magazine that at least one of his tattoos was inspired after Angelina Jolie scribbled on his back.

As for Angelina Jolie, some of her tattoos are more visible, including the writing on one of her forearms…and quite possibly some that you may not suspect. It is likely that she also has permanent makeup, which is in itself, a kind of tattoo.

Although permanent makeup is a tattoo, it is not one that you would want to have made permanent after you or a friend play experiment with your look, however. Apply permanent makeup requires an artisan’s skill, so you would only want to have it done by a professional.

There is a reason why people go to a professional when it comes to getting permanent makeup applied. This is not something that just anyone can do. And we mean no disrespect to the lovely women at the cosmetics department counter when we say this: a permanent makeup technician has artistic skill that goes beyond getting you made up for a party.

A permanent makeup artist is not getting you ready for an occasion; that person is, in a way, acting as a portrait artist. The face that a permanent makeup technician helps to enhance is the one that you present to the world on a regular basis. So your face with permanent makeup needs to make the most of your features and highlight the most compelling portions of your face. This is something that is no simple task, as you already know from applying your own makeup.

At Permanently Beautiful, our permanent makeup technicians are world-class. For example, Melany, has a unique eye and can apply permanent makeup in such a way that she can create a balanced symmetry. We may not realize it, but science has told us that on a very primal level, we are drawn to people who have balances, symmetrical faces. Our perception of facial symmetry affects how we react to people in a variety of situations—be it a date, a party or a job interview.

As we noted last week, often people who go for permanent makeup, do not want it to be extremely noticeable. Instead, they decide to go for a somewhat enhanced look that complements their features because they want a natural look.

Many beauty icons have permanent makeup, but you may never be able to guess who has decided to make permanent makeup a part of their beauty regimen. For example there is speculation that some of the world’s most photographed celebrities, use permanent makeup. In the industry, we are fairly certain that Angelina Jolie does. And there are others, such as Britney Spears, who may have also made use of permanent makeup.

And why not? We all have seen those magazine photo spreads where someone has gone out of their way to catch celebs grocery shopping or walking the dog in the hopes of seeing them look less than their best. And as those photo shoots often say, celebs are no different from you or I. Sometimes they are in a hurry. Sometimes they just want to throw on some yoga pants and run out to get some coffee. Permanent makeup means that your face is camera-ready no matter what. And it is not just for celebrities. Why shouldn’t you look your best at all times too?

According to the philosophy of Bobbi Brown and other top makeup artists, the purpose of make up is to enhance your natural beauty, and not to give you a theatrical or heavily made-up appearance. The idea is to take what you already have and make it stand out a little bit more.

At Permanently Beautiful, we agree with this philosophy. (Although, if you decide that you do want to get makeup that is more dramatic, we are more than happy to oblige.) We only want to bring out and shine a little extra spotlight on the beauty that is already there.

You should know that permanent makeup does not have to include you entire face (at least not all at once, when you see the results, you may be back for more). If you think your eyes are your best feature and you want them to get a little more attention, you can go for permanent eye liner or permanent eyebrow enhancement. If you think your eyes are fine, but want to enhance the natural beauty of your lips, then you can get permanent makeup for your lips.

What matters is that you feel your best and present a confident image to the world. You can make use of the inner glow you already have when you kick it up a notch with permanent face enhancement from Permanently Beautiful.