Permanent eyeliner keeps flaking off

Yes I have had it done 4 times, the first time the reaction to the local made it had for the tech.to finish, thank god her medical doctor was an eye doctor who was able to inject me,but in 6 months it was almost gone. I had a touch up and then again redone 1 year later. My most recent, 5 months ago was great for 2 weeks but since then it has faded... This was a different tech and I told her what happened so she said she would use a stronger more permanent ink. Well it's only bearly visible and it's pale grey now I'm back to pencil.Bummer and a waste of money

had it done a second time after about 8 weeks. turned out really good. thank you for all the responses.....

Day 3 and my black eyeliner is staring to come off in scabs, leaving blank areas. I'm 51, fairly light skinned, had a leg tattoo many years ago that didn't do this. I don't remember seeing any blood, but my lids were quite red and somewhat puffy until the following evening. I also had pain issues despite her using a numbing cream. I forced myself to continue, but I was embarrassed at how often I whined. I'll try to find out what ink (US) she used in case someeone could make a suggestion. Thanks

so i still want to know if regular tattoo ink will work?

I see this is a common problem to all of us... By the way - I have to tell you all that the info I share here is relying on my own experience with PMU, I'm not a beautician or anything (I'm a physicist actually so my experience with pigmented polymers comes from industrial processes...) but some things I found out experimentally :)

I don't know where you live, I only know the EU regulations on this subject - all the inks are regulated and I don't know how many types are you here to choose from. My technician used the same ink and added some kind of primer she received from a tattooist (also regulated in the EU). The big difference in my case was needle length and water retention in the body....

I went for my last "facial maintenance" on my eyebrows a week back, the needle was on max and drew blood - some scabs are still there - but results are gooooood :)

If you try something else and get positive results - please do post here, loads of us would benefit from it !!

So, I am having the same problem. I have gone twice and each time my top and bottom eyeliner has healed and flaked off almost completly. Does anyone know the name of the "best" ink that can be used for permanent eyeliner? And I'm going to tell whoever I go to next to try to go deeper I guess...

Had my eyeliner done a week ago.one eye is okay. The other looks like this. - - - spaces. Not at all the same as the other eye. And the line isn't as long. Looks bad.

PS - if my skin was rejecting the ink, I would expect inflammation, or other signs of a response by the immune system - I did not see anything like that...

Here is what I learned so far : Within the EU the ink types are regulated, so not too many options that would go wrong. The body experiences the treatment as an injury and of course the repair system kicks into action. My skin is apparently thicker than average.

I did several things to minimize the ink-loss : first of all, make sure you have your PMU session when you are not retaining body-fluids : not just before your period or ovulation, do not drink alcohol for at least 24 hours prior to PMU, minimize salt intake 48 hours prior. Do not exfoliate or rub the skin down prior to PMU as this increases the blood flow to the area and increases fluid pressure.

To minimize body-response I also divided the PMU to a larger number of smaller sessions, and asked the technician to set the needle length to max. Things are much better now :)

I end up going for a short session about 1ce a month. I will add info here as I learn more ;)

Hi all

My skin does the same as 337's. The only difference is that I have gone for my permanent eyeliner and after scabbing off there was absolutely no lines. I got the top and bottom lines done. I've gone back for my touch up session and had to get both lines redone as if they have never been done before. All scabs have come off, but no lines yet. What is wrong? Now I have to go back next week for another session. She used Emla cream for numming the lids, but do not know what the name of the ink is that she uses. I did not have any bleading while getting this done, but she did go quiet deep enough into my skin (she actually focused on that on my last visit). Could you please help?

Sounds like your skin is rejecting the ink. I would be very surprised if the technician wasn't going deep enough into the skin. Regardless of who you are, the skin is thin in the area around the eyes. The needle only needs to penetrate about 1/16 of an inch to apply ink through the first layer of skin anywhere else on the body and possibly less in the eyelid area.

Obviously the ink is getting in there because you said after flaking there is a gray color left over. You need to find out what brand of ink she is using and try to find a different one or a similar color but it would be hard to find out what part of the ink your body is rejecting. Because tattoo inks/permanent cosmetic inks are not regulated or approved by the FDA it's hard to know exactly what's in them. Some people can't take reds or yellows which may be used to make black ink. There are other factors too like Iron-Oxide which has magnetic properties (metal). Your body will try to push them out as impurities.

Don't keep doing the same thing over and over. I would not blame the technician either. All you can do is try different ink. Sorry for all the details but I'm a tattoo artist presently doing research on inks.

hello. the brand of the ink is important I use bio touch and they have a black specially for eyeliner is thicker. And yes there are some people with thicker skin and every hard for the pigment to enter and in that case it will hurt more and 2 or 3 visit to the shop but have to go in deeper with a number one needle tell your tech. to try that. and hopefully she is not charging you. good luck

Lana - my comment about the flying was not meant that way - I meant it must have been far for YOU to travel...

Kate - I'm glad the eyeliner worked out for you (and wish the same for myself). Doing your lips sounds really painful....

My technician is returning from vacation in like 2 weeks - the last eyeliner she did with that catalyst fluid worked out much better, but it still thinner than what I wanted, and is medium-grey rather than the original jet-black the ink was. I'll also ask her the exact brand of ink she used.

good weekend all :)

Hi 337,

This happened not with my eyeliner but with my lipliner.  I went back several times and then I just gave up.  :(  I think some individuals' skin just doesn't take the ink... I have the eyeliner done and am SO happy I did it.  Before, I felt like I appeared really tired and almost had a "stoned" look to my eyes.  It has been 10 years and is holding up well.

hello, yes that would be to far for you to come here and i didn't suggest that to you do so. i am not on here to get business just to help. i mean if someone was close to my town that would be different. :)
Also not all eyeliner bleeds... in fact hardly ever. but anyway good luck to you
Lana

Flying over to have to redo your PMU is far... My technician is in the same small town as myself - luckily.

I will ask the exact ink brand, to the best of my knowledge so far the allowed ink brands are all harmonized in Europe, next to that in the last session she used some catalyst transparent fluid which improved the results, generally I had the impression it was not deep enough in the skin - because I never saw any blood, and while I think PMU is not supposed to be as deep at a tattoo in the connecting tissue, but only in the dermis (is this true ?) what I read online all kept pointing in that direction....

My technician is now on her summer vacation, I will discuss your input with her when she returns, so naturally I would greatly appreciate anything your can add.

Thanks
LG

Hello, The very first time I had my eyeliner tattooed on it flaked off too and since it was at a trade show and the people lived so far away i was going to fly to them to redo. that was the first time I had heard of permanent makeup. Then I got into the business and learned why...
In my opinion the technician did not go deep enough or it could be the brand of ink... She doesn't have to go to deep, but deep enough to feel the vibration when the needle is hitting the skin. Make sure you wait (a week for every 10 years of your age) please...Can you find out if she used reg tattoo ink, or if she used permanent make up ink.
Also i will be happy to help talk to your technician if she has any more questions.

Hi 337,

I'm not sure, but it doesn't sound like she's going far enough into the skin, usually a tattoo takes up to 2 weeks to heal and does bleed. You might want to check with myladylana this is her area of expertise.

Thanks,

-Britt

Hi Britt, thanks for your response.

This is already my second technician and I find she is quite good actually - I met several of her other customers and all have had a good job done on them, she's tops for symmetry and accuracy - what I did notice is that I'm the only east European she has... and my skin is different to most people here.

The next problem is that each time I change technician - I can not be sure I'd get a better job done, and I have to pay a "start up" fee of some 400 EUR.... TBH I find that a bit dear...

What exactly do you think she's doing wrong ?

Hi 337,

Hmm, you might want to go see someone else. All tattoos will scab and flake off to a lighter color after they heal, so that is normal. However the fact that it sounds like they are not doing it right is not cool. You might want to chat with myladylana she knows a lot about this topic.

Thanks,

-Britt