Q. What is Haute Makeup?
A. Haute Makeup is a permanent makeup alternative for a natural and aesthetically pleasing appearance for clients. This is a semi permanent makeup service, a less invasive treatment providing subtle-looking enhancement to eyebrows, eyeliner, and lips. Other services that we offer are beauty marks; lip highlights, and wrinkle softening pigmentation. Our medical camouflage treatments can help mask problem areas due to scars or other skin problems. We are committed to safe, beautiful, and natural-looking semi-permanent makeup.
Q. Is Haute Makeup Safe? Does it hurt?
A. Is it safe? Yes of course! Haute Makeup is safe for many individuals, including people suffering from cancer, alopecia totalis, and other skin conditions. However, if you have a severe sensitivity or allergies, we recommend that you check with your dermatologist before considering semi permanent makeup. Individuals must let their technicians know about their health status and medical history for maximum safety.
An individual’s pain threshold differs for each person’s distinct skin type. However, as we do not go very deep into the skin with our method, it is less painful than permanent makeup or tattooing. There is no blood but lymph (the fluid that circulates throughout the lymphatic system) may be present for people with sensitive skin. Lymph is usually translucent yellow, sometimes orange depending on the person. The Hautician® applies a topical anesthetic (Lidocaine/alcohol solution) to disinfect and numb the area as they do the service.
Q. What types of cosmetic procedures do you offer?
A. Our Haute Makeup is designed to create perfectly arched eyebrows, beautifully defined eyes, flawlessly colored lips, cute beauty marks, lip highlights, and wrinkle softening. Our single-use needle technology paired with our gentle pigmentation method can recreate the look you want. Our hair stroke techniques, detailed eyeliner, and lip contouring will amaze you! We have a before and after gallery and extensive testimonial page commending our expertise, but we recommend coming in for a personalized consultation with one of our semi permanent makeup experts to find the perfect look.
Q. What type of medical procedures do you offer?
A. The medical-grade pigments and precision device make us the safest choice for medical camouflage pigmentation services. We are able to reduce the visibility of scars or even hide them completely depending on the skin of the client. We also provide vitiligo correction, fixing cleft lips and palates, and areola reconstruction pigmentation.
Q. How long do the cosmetic services take?
A. It takes about generally 1 hour and 30 minutes for each treatment. Eyeliner and lips may take up to 2 hours depending on the size. Beauty marks take about 10 to 30 minutes. Model services, as they are also a supervised instruction and training session, can take up to 3 hours. For the body or other medical camouflage services, the time may vary due to the sensitive qualities of the skin.
Q. How is Haute Makeup applied?
A. Haute Makeup is applied with a pen-like device that contains an ultra-fine, acupuncture-thin, surgical steel (disposable and one time use) needle that draws precise lines or does gentle shading on the skin using a special technique. It is not at all similar to a conventional tattooing machine or technique. The device is designed for pigmentation of the face and as we do the service, the technician slowly goes the epidermal area, instead of deeper. It is less invasive and traumatic to the skin and the process does not draw blood.
Q. How long does Haute Makeup last?
A. Haute Makeup lasts around 1 to 2 years, depending on the person’s skin type, metabolism, environment, and sun exposure. As we pigment in the epidermis, the amount of skin exfoliation is one of the main reasons for the colors to get lighter. We are not a permanent product, as our color does get lighter and does shed off. However because we are not permanent, clients have the ability to update their look and refresh their color. They are not stuck with a shape that is outdated or that has become warped with age.
Q. What is your downtime like? How does it heal?
A. Downtime is very quick compared to more invasive treatments, such as plastic surgery or tattooing. In general, it takes about 10-14 days to fully heal. But it does not mean that clients have to stay at home! They are free to go about their day.
Right after the treatment, it may be a bit swollen but the swelling goes down within the hour for the brows and lips. Eyes may be swollen the next day after sleep during to inflammation and the eyes trying to heal themselves while the client is asleep. A cold compress made from cool, clean water and cotton pads help with inflammation.
Clients are also provided aftercare products specifically designed to cleanse and heal the skin during the downtime. There might be tightness around the pigmented area and dryness due to the dead skin accumulating on top and the new skin being created underneath. During this time, clients should not touch that area with their hands to prevent infection.
The affected area may also appear darker for the first few days as it has been freshly pigmented but when the dead skin sheds off, it does get noticeably lighter. This is completely normal and natural and will be addressed in the follow-up session.
Haute Makeup will continue to get lighter as the top layer of the skin exfoliates. During this time, we advise clients not to be out in strong sunlight without protective sunblock. Generally speaking, the more the skin is moisturized and protected, the more the color will last.
Q. What is the difference between a follow-up and a touch-up?
A. With each new complete treatment, there are two sessions. After the first treatment, clients must return 10-14 days later for their second treatment which is free of charge. This second treatment is called a “follow-up”. A touch-up session is a priced treatment for clients wanting to update their Haute Makeup. All touch-up sessions are priced by the time length since a client’s last treatment.
Q. If I want to have a Botox or other dermal filler but also semi permanent makeup, what do you recommend?
A. On average, cosmetic fillers and Botox last roughly three to six months. Our semi permanent makeup is designed to last around one year. To avoid unbalanced shapes due to cosmetic fillers wearing down in the skin, we strongly recommend having semi permanent makeup before. Lips with filler will also have problems holding the color as the filler will make it difficult for the color to be placed into the epidermis. We recommend having semi-permanent makeup prior to Botox or dermal fillers so that we are able to balance out the shape of the eyebrows, eyeliner, and the lips based on natural muscle orientation.