Might Be More and Less Serious Than You Think. New York, NY
I was wrong - bad idea
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Loving my "Permanent" Eye Liner and Lipstick!
Emilia is an angel, committed to your health and happiness as well as your beauty.
Went for eyeliner & lips, and the eyeliner didn't stay, lips showed only the outline. I was glad the eyeliner didn't stay because it turned out the lower line made my eyes look smaller. Weird. Went back for a touch up of upper liner and lips and Emilia spent an hour and a half going over multiple times, and also changed the lip color to match my own better and changed the liner shape. She said I might have to come back once more and she'd touch it up, but I don't think I'll need to. It is PERFECT! You wouldn't notice it on me unless I told you, but it makes a difference and a natural look was what I wanted.
Understand it might be more painful than you expect, could be hard or impossible to drive afterward and might take longer than you thought to heal--those all happened to me. Oh, and "permanent" makeup only lasts 1-3 years. But worth it! Thank you Emilia!!! Amazing customer service.
This experience made me realize how difficult the procedure is and how much skill and artistry is required--and it's potentially dangerous if you're letting someone near your eye with what's basically a drill. You can probably find someone cheaper but this is not the place to skimp. Find an expert.
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Less serious: It lasts only 1-3 years, not at all...
It lasts only 1-3 years, not at all permanent. That could be good or bad.
More serious (for me - I did lipstick and eyeliner with a very reputable and skilled provider):
1) Lips - You can get cold sores even if you've never gotten them before, apparently. I was prescribed meds to avoid this, thank goodness.
2) Eyeliner - You're trusting a STRANGER to use a DRILL just a millimeter away from your EYEBALL. I didn't realize what a bad decision this was until I was in the situation. And it would have been also crazy to stop partway through. I will NOT do this again for that reason.
3) Eyeliner - You might not be able to drive or see afterward, for the rest of the day. I hadn't anticipated this, was in massive and progressing pain, and had to abandon my car on the way home because I couldn't drive any further. It hurt so much (cornea scratch, maybe?) I went to urgent care, but left when the wait was godawful.
4) Lips - Very painful despite numbing cream, at least for me. I'd had injections over a year ago but she said that still makes it more painful. The generously meticulous touch up took almost 2 hours. Ouch.
5) Lips - Might take longer to heal than you expect. I had a big conference to attend on Day 4 and thought I'd be out of the woods by then, but I had a dark and crusty ring around my lips, with bits falling off. And of course you can't put on makeup. Day 5 was ok.
6) You might need to go back more than once. After the first session, my eyeliner faded completely, and the interior of my lips faded, leaving just a dark line around. When she did the touchup , she said I might need to come back again.
7) It's a real art and you should only trust an expert. There are many judgment calls to be made: shape of your lips, even if they're tracing your lip shape, thickness and placement of eyeliner, lip color, hard or blended contours, if blended, how blended, etc. Even with an expert, I had to be careful about communication and didn't get quite what I expected (though if it sticks, I'm happy), and she chose to change the lip color when we did the retouch because the original pigment had mixed oddly with my coloring. Do NOT skimp on your provider.
8) There are many things to avoid during the healing process (sweating, sun, makeup, swimming, almost everything you might think of putting on your eyes or lips), but also things to avoid later - e.g. no peels, no
retinol, etc. Get informed.
Eyebrows are the most popular. I'd only do eyebrows and lips, and get lash extensions but no liner. Another offering, should you desire, is areola darkening.
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Thank you for sharing your personal experience. Your review is very detailed and really gives anyone researching permanent makeup things to consider beforehand.