Messed up permanent make up

mkuechel, I completely agree with you about making sure that if you do anything permanent, you think about it good for a long time. The price you pay for a mistake is quite harsh. I think the same as you about micro hair grafts. I wish I would've thought about it before I made the mistake of having permanent make-up done on my eyebrows. I'm looking now into having hairs from my head placed on my eyebrows. It sound crazy but it is possible and it is a much natural look. I'll let you know after I have it done but I'm looking forward to it.

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Milly - are you sure you want to do that? Remember how much of a mistake was messing with your eyebrows, what if this goes wrong too? Don't mean to be a cynic but if I was you I'd just settle for drawing them in every day - yes it's annoying and takes time but at least you can make sure you look how you want to before leaving the house. I read up on eyebrow transplants a while ago and it showed pictures of the girl who had it done - they took 8 months to grow in (the hair doesn't grow straight away, the follicles have to take first, and even then they didn't look right because they grew straight out of her face, just like short spikey hair sticks up. Not a natural look as you can imagine. Whatever you decide though good luck. How is the laser coming along? I've decided to take a break from all that for a while after getting turned down once again. x

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I had my whole eyes tattoed and they look horrible. I look like a hooker. They are arched like the character Endora on Bewitched. I hate it and feel like people are staring at me all the time. I live in Arizona and don't know what I should do. My eyes are angled up like a a comma on the ends. Any suggestions? It's too late to try and scrub.

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Kathryn, After messing with my eyebrows with the tattoo, I swore that I would never do anything again. But... I was researching and read on a doctor that does plastic surgery and specialized in hair loss. His specific specialty is eyebrow hair. I was completely against doing anything too but I looked at his pictures and went in for an appointment. It takes 3 months for the hair to grow out because they are implanting the follicule. This doctor implants the hair in the direction the hair will grow out so you don't have hair sticking out. I'm still researching him and his expertise, believe me. Anyways, I'm still in my laser situation. The ink has been removed but my skin is still a bit pink. I'm going in next week to discuss using a laser that removes the pinkness on the skin. I'm just really tired of waking up so early to stencil my eyebrows. I feel like a slave but I'm going to be EXTREMELY careful. It's sad to hear that you have had to go through so many obstacles. I had to call so many places too. Doctors are afraid of what can happen, it sucks!!! I can understand why you need a break. :)

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I got my eyebrows tattoo'd this last August, and the tattoo artist did a horrible job. It really is a devistating experience! I have gone through so much stress from the whole experience. I wanted the tattoo to look sudden and grey-ish, but she insisted on using a dark brown color that incorporated some red. I went for several laser consults, and found that the Q-switched medlite lasers were the treatment of choice with very little scarring. Depending on the color of the tattoo, the doctor/nurse would use the appropriate wavelength for each color. I've gone for 2 treatments, and after the first treatment, my eyebrows turned fluorescent orange. I expected it, since the nurse said this can happen when the black laser breaks up the black ink particles, and the orange is left behind. She then targeted the orange with a red targeting laser which should fades the orange over time. Either way, I can cover up the orange with foundation and put some grey eyeshadow over my eyebrows, and they good sooooo much better than when they were dark. I couldn't cover them up. After the second treatment. I can notice a fading of the orange, but it's still very very orange. I am very optimistic and have no regrets whatsoever about doing the laser tx since I know I am on my way to getting rid of these brows. Do some research. Go to a dermatologist who removes tattoos with the q-switched lasers who have all the wavelengths that can target each color appropriately. I made a huge mistake in tattooing my eyebrows. And of course regret the decision after the fact. But what's done is done, don't ponder on what a horrible decision it was. Just do the research and get rid of them. Apparently the laser does not affect the hair and hair loss is not a factor. If it is, it's only temporary. The laser can also make your eyebrow hairs white, but that's also temporary, so to me, it's all worth it. Hope this helps! Best of luck to everyone!

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Hi ML. I totally agree with you about not blaming yourself for making the decision, after all, all we are guilty of is putting our trust in someone who subsequently wrecked our lives. They are to blame, not us. It's just a shame there is no compensation for the emotional damage it causes you. After a lot of time pondering over the hair-loss thing, I decided to bite the bullet and today went for my first (Q-switched Nd-Yag) laser session in two years. It was pretty painful but no worse than having the actual tattoo put on. At the moment the hairs on the end of the eyebrow I had treated have gone white/grey! And there is also some pinpoint bleeding and the tattoo has turned blue (from the mix of red and blue pigment used to make the brown). Looks kind of bad but I am not worried, because I had the end of the other eyebrow treated last time and within a month it had faded a lot. And until then I have got a side fringe to cover it up so no-one will ever know! This really is a traumatic experience, as you and the rest of those who have been "branded" as I call it will know. I can't wait til the day I get rid of these horrible eyebrows and can start living again. To think the only reason I had them done in the first place was to make my life easier - ha! To anyone who is considering having this done - PLEASE DO NOT. I wouldn't wish the upset it causes when it goes wrong on anyone. Good luck to ML and anyone else currently having treatment. I will keep you updated on mine!

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Hi, does anyone know if the eyeliner tattoo fades with time?? It's been almost 6 months and I can not get over it... as Kathryn says, to think I did this to make my life easier... and now I find myself spending even more time doing my makeup -trying to cover up these horrible lines and the result does not come close to how it looked before... so stupid... what a nightmare... good luck to everyone...

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I had permanent eyebrows done in October 2007. I have dark brown hair and the tech insisted he could match the tattoo pigment as closely as possible to my hair color. Of course...we all know the ending to this story. The tech told me that they would be darker at first and then fade and soften significantly. Well, he was right, and they did...only they were the wrong color. I should have known there was going to be a problem as soon as I got up from the chair and one of the ladies working there walked by the door and said "What did you use on her? Black?" Sure enough, they were black. They faded to a grayish/black color. Hardly dark brown. About a week after the procedure I called the tech and said "What color are these supposed to be again? Cause they look black and I am very unhappy." He got an attitude with me and told me they hadn't even had time to heal yet and I needed to just calm down and wait. That was very rude of him. Nonetheless, after waiting two months (which is more than enough time to get a good idea of the final result) they were still blackish/grayish. He told me to come back during the first part of 2008 because he could assure me that he could correct the color. I told him that since he assured me the first color would be dark brown and it wasn't that I didn't really trust him to "fix it." I had already been looking into laser removal and had contacted a couple of clinics to inquire about the procedure. I went for my first laser removal treatment last night. The laser tech used a Q-Switched NDYAG laser. I was (like many posters here) worried about the loss of the eyebrow hair I did have. I never had much, but it is dark brown and I always filled in sparse areas with a dark brown eyebrow pencil. They assured me that no permanent hair loss would occur. Hair removal is done using a long switch laser, which means the pulses of light emitted from the laser are longer in duration. The Q-Switched is a short pulse laser. The light pulses are not long enough to focus on a hair follicle and remove it. Also, one of the other laser clinics I talked to (that I ended up decided not to go to because it was too far away) said even permanent hair removal lasers are not always effective and most of the time unless you have many, many treatments, some or all of the hair will eventually come back. She assured me of this because she says she has a terrible little demon (hair) on her chin that she has had treated several times but the damn thing keeps coming back! LOL. The procedure itself started with the signing of a consent form, much like when you first go to get permanent makeup done. Then this particular laser clinic puts an ice pack on the area to be treated, but in this instance they could not really leave it that long on my forehead because the skin there is very thin and the ice pack is very cold. So then they put goggles on me to protect my eyes from the laser light. The procedure took about 1-2 minutes and had a moderate discomfort, but I have a high tolerance for pain. The description of the pain as a rubberband being popped on your skin over and over is a very accurate representation. Pretty much...if you can get the tattoo, you can get one removed. The laser tech said he had removed many eyebrow tattoos and they generally respond to treatments a lot faster than traditional body art tattoos. He said it could completely come out in 1-2 sessions, but that is just a guestimate. The risk of scarring is very minimal, but not impossible. But if you didn't scar from the tattoo itself then it is unlikely you will scar from a removal. Another thing the tech told me to ask a technician when you are considering removal is whether the laser technician or clinic owns their lasers or are they renting them. If they own them then the odds are they have been properly maintenanced and had proper upkeep. Immediately after the procedure, my eyebrows were swollen and red...they also burned like the were extremely sunburned. After 3-4 hours, the burning sensation and the swollen area were gone. The clinic gave me bacitracin ointment to keep on the area for the next week and then they said after a week they should be fully healed. Mine did not bleed or anything, but there are a few spots that are dark red as if they were almost getting ready to bleed. The laser tech told me that they may appear to get darker at first, but in two weeks I should see a noticeable difference, and in approximately 1-2 months the body should have done all it is going to do and then I will know if I need additional treatments. In regards to the pigment changing color: I asked about that as well. He said if a pigment was to turn a different color then they have different wavelengths that can be used to treat those colors in the tattoo as well, so the color change would not be permanent if at all. I did not have any color change. After the treatment, however, they do look more of a dark brown now than the blackish/grayish they did look. However, that change may just be temporary or not a true representation since I do have the ointment on them and that is a clear/milky color which you be distorting what the actual color is under the ointment. I will update in about two weeks when I can actually tell you whether there was a change or whatnot. I had that I made this decision just like most of the people I have seen discussing their stories here. It is very hard to find information on removal or before and after pictures. I know...I looked...and looked...and looked. Just like everything else on the web, if there is one legitimate source of photos, then other web-sites just copy and paste them into their web-site. It does not provide much additional or comparative information. I really researched permanent cosmetics and thought I was making a good decision that would make my life easier. However, whenever you put your body in someone else's hands you never know what you are going to get...and it is a terrible thing to think that you might have to live with someone else's mistake for the rest of your life...especially when it is ON YOUR FACE! But you live and you learn, and hopefully we have all learned our lesson never to do anything permanent like this again. I hope... Good luck to everyone and I will update you soon. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me. I have done extensive research and I know how hard it is to get answers sometimes. In times of trouble all you really want is someone to listen to your questions and who hopefully has an answer for you. I will try to answer any questions, and if I don't know I will say I don't know. Thanks guys. Ashley

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Hi Ashley, thanks for sharing you story with us! You are in exactly the same situation as me right now, just had my first laser session a week and 3 days ago, still waiting to see what happens to the colour. At the moment it is blue! But I was expecting that. You definitely did the right thing going to get your eyebrow tattoos removed so soon after having them done, I had mine done in summer 2004 and my life has just not been the same since. I wasted my time trying loads of alternative treatments and seeing if they faded on their own (this is what the permanent makeup "artists" tell you - what a load of rubbish, they are as much tattoos as regular body tattoos and are not going anywhere!-sorry to tell you this Kate). I am worried about losing my natural eyebrow hair too, but I have decided that if the worst comes to the worst and I do have to draw them on, at least I can make sure they are how they should look before I leave the house in the morning. That has got to be better than seeing someone else's awful attempt at artwork every morning when you look in the mirror! I really hope the treatment is goes well for you, do let us know how it goes and I will do the same. Thank God this page exists so we know there are other people who share our troubles! To Kate, with the permanent eyeliner, I am not sure what you can do about that. I went to about 4 or 5 laser clinics before I could even find someone willing to treat my eyebrows because they are so close to the eyes and it is dangerous. When I go for treatment I have to wear goggles that protect my eyes from the laser beam. When I was researching laser treatment a while ago I'm sure I read somewhere that they can put special contact lenses to protect your eyes if you are having permanent eyeliner removed, but I don't know any details about this, you will have to see if you can find some information. One piece of advice - do not try Rejuvi - that alternative treatment where they tattoo a substance into your skin. I don't know if you read my previous post but I had it done and it was the worst experience of my life. It also left my skin a little scarred, and did not remove any tattoo at all. Total waste of time and money. I wouldn't suggest trying any other at-home treatment, you have got to be really careful with your eyes. There is one treatment you might be interested in - having another tattoo put on but this time skin-coloured pigment to mimic the natural colour of your skin. Apparantly this can be quite effective - I was offered it but turned it down, as I did not want anything else putting into my skin, and I was worried that the pigment colours might mix with the tattoo colour already there and come out some bizarre shade! Well, hope you manage to find a treatment to suit you, do let us know how it goes. Good luck to everyone - one day we will be free of these tattoos!

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