Permanent Eyeliner - Part 1 - Lower Lid

Ok.... so permanent makeup. (that is not my eye pictured!).

I have now had top and bottom eyelid eyeliner done. So a couple of comments first up for basic info:

- At the place that I went to, they only do it in black (which makes sense now that it's done as there's a fair bit of fade)
- They don't use the same tattoo gun(?) pen(?) thing that they use for normal tattoos
- I don't know that they get heaps of training before they start working on people
- Don't do top and bottom on the same day...in fact I challenge you to attempt it because it's almost impossible (your eyes just can't take it)

Alright so where to start. I originally went in thinking I'd get my eyebrows done too, but I soon decided against this when she drew them on and suddenly I had no other facial features except eyebrows. They were just way too perfect and way too obvious. Just not how I roll.

The reason i thought to get the permanent makeup done is... well you already know I like trying new stuff. You also probably have figured I'm pretty keen on stuff that saves time (laser hair removal, permanent hair straightening)...kind of a natural progression. I also have 3 traditional (usual) tattoos, so there was no fear for me in regards to getting something tattooed.

Also - my Mum has the eyebrows done (she had them done in Malaysia) and she's very happy with them.

I've just moved to Melbourne and I did some googling for places that do the permanent makeup(NB. In Australia it has to be called "semi-permanent makeup" - they can't use the term "permanent" because it does fade and apparently that gives a false impression to the consumer). So I googled about and found a chain that does it. I would normally avoid a chain, but, and this is not a race thing, just a "what I know".... I would have normally tended toward an asian establishment to do it... but as mentioned - new to the city so wasn't really "in the know". So the chain had good info on their website and from what I had researched thus far, seemed to have the right kind of writeup. Check it at www.essentialbeauty.com.au

Ok so from there I just picked a place nearby... yada yada.

Pricing - varies a bit, but it's generally going to cost you at least $200. At this place it was $295 for just the lower lid, if you got both lower and upper it was $395... I think... argh sorry I downloaded two $50 off vouchers (one for Mum, one fro me) so I got a $100 discount. Anyway, somewhere in the $300 - $500 range.

So I had two sessions, two weeks apart, I'll start with the first session...

When I got in there, she popped a white anaesthetic cream on my lower lid. Has to stay on for 30 mins. Didn't go that well for me as my eyes would NOT stop watering. Mum and I had to hold bits of my face taught so I couldn't close my eyes (once I closed them the cream would go in my eye and sting). So 30 mins of holding my face. Good times.

Then she starts tattooing - now if you've had a tattoo, you know the sound of a normal tattoo pen thingy. This had exactly the same sound... high pitched 'eeeeeeeeeeee'

So she puts some ink on her glove and basically dips the needle into the ink and then tattoos it on your eyelid - I watched when she did Mum's eyes - she worked in small strokes. So lots of small strokes along the eyelid, then moves to the other eye, then back, then to the other, then back.... etc. She needs to go over it about 4 to 5 times to get good colour and coverage.

The first round was fine, I could feel it, but no pain. So kind of like scratching, pulling a bit, but no pain. I thought "easy peasy". Oh I forgot to mention both Mum and I took two panadol beforehand as well.

Second round - umm ok it's starting to hurt. Bearable, but I was thinking "I'm not sure if I can do 4 rounds....". I started to tense up at this point. Oh and even though I was supposed to keep my eyes open, I totally couldn't (just cause, well, something near my eye? My eye is going to close). The girl said that was okay though, she could still do it. Alright she wasn't really a girl, I should really refer to her as the "lady" but it seems nicer to call her the "girl".
Anyway...
Okay so I was feeling pain. Imagine umm ok it wasn't burning, it was... PAIN. I guess think of if you had a small cut on your finger and you keep brushing something on it. That kind of pain on an already pained area? Stinging pain, stinging, semi-sharp pain.

Third round. I'm starting to mentally sweat. Before she even starts I'm saying "I'm not sure how I'm going to go here". I suck it up and try to breathe my way through it. It HURTS. Goddamn it hurts. I mean it REALLY really hurts. My eyes teared up throughout the entire process, but in this round, as my Mum described it, I was "really crying from the pain".

After the third round I sat up and said "yep I can't do any more".

Mum went next and she was a bit tougher than me - she went 4 rounds. Her lids seemed to bleed a bit (the girl just wiped it away each time). Mine didn't really bleed.

When done, the girl popped some bepanthen (see my other post on this miracle item) on our eyes, and we were on our way. Pain after leaving? No. Swelling? Mum had a little, I had not really much.

Afterwards:

So you put bepanthen on it and try to keep it dry... I topped up with bepanthen every now and then... probably every couple hours I suppose, or just when i woke up and when I went to bed. When the tattoo is "fresh" it's very dark black. It just looks like you've put on liquid eyeliner. And it's a bit shiny from the bepanthen, but you can certainly be out in public without concern.

They say your eyes might feel gritty and dry.... I didn't have this in the first round. Didn't really feel anything different.

I had it done on a Friday morning, the scab came off on Monday morning. I was putting bepanthen on with a cotton bud and on the Monday morning the bud had all these little black bits on it (the scab) and I could see what the actual tattoo looked like - it was WAY lighter than the liquid eyeliner look that I had just after getting it done. Much thinner too. The girl had mentioned that we would need to come back in two weeks for a touch up. I originally thought "pfft no I won't", but it was clear that I would (plus I needed to come back to do the upper eyelid anyway).

After the scab came off - business as usual. I did already like the way it looked, but definitely wanted a touch up. But no further care or concern was necessary, my eyes were as normal.

Next: Part 2 - Upper Lid & Touch Up of Lower Lid.....

Stay tuned..... (PS Part 2 was a VERY different experience.... mostly due to the addition of another anaesthetic cream....)

Permanent makeup / Cosmetic tattoo

I'm currently getting eyeliner (top and bottom lid) done, so an update on the process is "coming soon".

Thus far I've had the lower lid done.... as a quick summary:

Very happy with the results but goddamn it hurt! My mum took it a lot better than I did. I was pretty surprised as I've had full body laser and I also have 3 tattoos (granted they are not on my face). Oh AND they use anaesthetic cream. AND I had taken two panadol.

hmm.

But clearly it wasn't so bad that it would stop me from going back to 'complete the set' and get the top line done. (You can't get both done at the same time... bit too much for your eyes).

I'll do a full post when I have both sets complete.

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque - AWESOME!!

This masque actually does reduce pores. I've never actually found a masque that literally did that before. It's green, and yep minty obviously... it's quite nice to put on, refreshing and it doesn't have that horrible chemical smell. You pop it on for 15 mins then wipe off.

Easy.

The bonus? It costs like $US3.50!!!!! Wow. I ordered mine from Vitacost online. Pretty cheap postage too.

I also bought the Mint Julep Natural Facial Scrub (right) - same price, and it's lovely. Nice amount of grainyness - I don't normally use a face scrub on my lips, but I now use this one every day. It doesn't tear them up, it's gentle and it feels really nice with the cool mint in it. Seems to work better than other scrubs I've used too.
Very happy with it!

I jump in the shower, splash the warm water on my face and a couple minutes later I use the scrub (I like to let the warm water open my pores up a bit first). Then I follow with a cleanser.

Now... if you're gonna buy stuff internationally and pay postage... well... you may as well buy a bit more.
So - I got the Grape Seed Extract Peel Off Masque as well.

It's great! I use this one once or twice a week - it's really handy because after you put it on, you don't need water/bathroom etc. I often put it on at night before bed.
It starts to tighten up on your face and you can tell when it's ready to peel off. And then that's it. You peel it off, chuck it in the bin. You're done. No need to wash your face etc.

Handy :) Oh and yep.... same cheap cheap pricing. The only note I would make with this one is that it doesn't smell as nice as the mint julep range. Oh and you look pretty weird with it on! Like a mannequin.

Sebastian Laminates

Sebastian laminates - oh how I love you.

This is my "go to" shampoo. It's amazing. I always like to keep two different types of shampoo on hand as my hair randomly becomes somewhat immune if I just use one, and laminates is one that I always have available.

It's hard to describe why it's so awesome - your hair feels so clean, but it doesn't have that "too clean" feeling where it feels kind of hard? That sounds crazy but you know the feeling - like if you washed your hair with just soap - that feeling. Okay so it does not do that. It's so the opposite. I think it's the only shampoo I've ever used that I wouldn't be horrified if I didn't have a conditioner at hand as a follow up.

It also seems somehow to keep the hair cleaner for longer. My hair doesn't get oily/itchy as soon as it would with other shampoos.

Also - the hair afterwards just sits way better - smoother.

I really can't say a bad thing about Sebastian Laminates. Highly recommended. Buy it. Use it. Love it.

Nak Aromas Hair Care Range

Ok - so every now and then you find a product so good that you want to have it's babies. Here is one I found.


My bestie gave me the 'Ends Therapy with Argan Oil" (right). Now my hair is fairly fragile - it's been permanently straightened AND I am a regular lap swimmer so it cops chlorine regularly. But HELLO aromas - when I wash my hair and pop through the ends therapy - I don't even have to straighten my hair it just sits perfectly. No crinkly dry bits, no flyaways... and it feels beautiful. I love it.

So I decided to get the rest of the range, including the intensive treatment bath (above left) - I usually use Kerastase Masquintense as my treatment, but this is just as good, smells BEAUTIFUL, and it is HALF THE PRICE. Boo yah.

The other product I got is the oil (below). I don't want to carry the tube of ends therapy to the pool with me (I like to pretend I'm not high maintenance) so the small bottle of oil is perfect sized. Works a charm.

So it's a product line that smells beautiful, is very reasonably priced, and WORKS. And it works really really well. That argan / moroccan oil - it's magic!

I absolutely love it.

Should be available at any Price Attack or Hairhouse Warehouse.

Regrowing Eyebrows

So... did anyone else go pluck-crazy in their yester-years and maybe now have slightly thinner eyebrows than they would like?

Surely I wasn't the only silly one... surely!

Well it happened... mine aren't super thin.. nor that terrible tadpole shape... but I have to fill them in a bit or else in photos I look like they are really sparse. So I was looking into how to regrow them or stimulate growth.

Consensus is... as with any hair growth... MASSAGE. Massaging the follicles helps stimulate your hair to grow. Brushing your hair is massage on your scalp as well, so that helps in the process.

The second, and combined option, was to put Castor Oil on your brows each night.

So that's what I've been doing.

Kind of rubbing them when I can... not too hard don't want them to fall out... and applying the castor oil with a cotton bud each night.
It's supposed to thicken them up too, as in the strands.

Ok so I've only been doing it for about a week and a half... I suspect that may not be long enough to see much improvement. But I swear it's working!!!!! I seem to have a lot more little hairs coming out where I used to have nothing.
As for the thickening... I'm not really sure. Maybe?

I'll keep trying this for a couple more weeks and pop an update in. So far so good! I think it will be more of an indicator when I get past the 8 week mark as that is the lifecycle of hair growth....

Fingers crossed!

Oil Cleansing Method

The Oil Cleansing Method... sometimes referred to as OCM... basically rubbing oil over your face and somehow it's a cleanse.

I know what you're thinking - how does that cleanse and surely that just pimples up your whole face.

Surprisingly no. It's supposed to be really great for blackheads and for making your face all soft and lush.

Does it? Well I don't really know. hahaha. Ok so I went to buy the oil - I read up on so many sites about what oils to get... castor oil seemed a main ingredient... but also Jojoba, grapeseed. So I planned to go and get the two main ones - castor oil and jojoba.

Castor oil I could get easily from the chemist... I think it was between $7 to $10? Maybe even a little more. Then when I went to get Jojoba oil from a health food store it was bloody expensive. Like $22 or something for a tiny bottle. So I looked around and found the Moo Goo one, which combines both of these, with a couple of the others that were in my "would be good to have but way too much effort to try to get them all" such as avocado oil and ricebran oil.

MooGoo one was I think somewhere between $20/$30? Could have even been less, I can't remember, but it was clearly just cheaper and easier for me to get that one rather than buy the rest separately and try to mix it up myself... and find something to put it in yada yada.

Ok so what you do is basically rub it all over your face (rub firmly on the blackhead areas) and then steam it for a bit... when I first started I did the sink full of hot water with a towel over my head... or else I used a hot face cloth on my face.... Now I'm quite lazy so I put it on for a while, then turn the shower on hot (before I get in), don't have the fan on... then switch it to normal heat to get in and let all the steam surround me. It's probably not as effective but yeh.. it's certainly easier.

Does it work.... again.... I don't really know. I didn't see any of the miraculous things other people mentioned, like "omg zero pores now" or "wow I could see the blackheads just come out". For me - yep I did definitely see that it cleansed my face better than normal cleanser. So that's a plus. I did also notice that if I didn't do it for a while... my face would go back to how it was.

So I guess it DOES work. But a couple of things to note. Don't do it every day... maybe once a week. Otherwise you get those really deeeeeeep painful pimples. No no no.
Also - it's not a miracle cream so don't expect too much.

Have I sold it to you? Probably not. hahaha Ok final word is yes it does cleanse your face quite well, and yes it does soften up your face, but no it is not a miracle cream.

I'll let you decide for yourself.