Manual techniques in permanent makeup

What needs to be done to inject the dye into the skin and get an image of a small dot? The easiest way is to take a needle, dip it into the pigment and make one successful puncture with the needle dipping into the dermis. If it is necessary to obtain an image of a line, for example, 5 mm long, it is enough to make about 10 of the same punctures. Is it possible to create such a line with one or two movements? Of course, yes, if the puncture is done not by one, but by several needles at once, interconnected in a line

Since time immemorial, manual technologies for skin pigmentation have been used in different countries to perform artistic tattoos and permanent makeup. At the same time, they not only exist, but are also being improved in parallel with the development of tattoo tools with electromechanical drives for the movement of needles. In recent years, masters have been using various technologies of manual permanent makeup in their practice.

We do not want to ask a categorical question: which technology is better - manual or hardware? We think it would be more correct if specific masters of artistic tattoos and permanent make-up take part in this discussion. But we are sure that both methods of applying a dermal tattoo will always exist in parallel, and each master who has made his individual choice will consider himself right. However, understanding the questions that arise from the reader, we still consider it necessary to note some features of the technology described in the article.

Injury and speed of healing

Many clients who have already tried hardware skin pigmentation on themselves note less pain and faster healing after procedures using this technology. This is not at all difficult to understand if we consider the following fact. To achieve the same effect of skin pigmentation, this method does not require more time, and in many cases the procedure is even faster than with hardware methods. And accordingly, the number of traumatic effects of a needle on the skin, necessary to achieve a similar result, with a manual method is tens and hundreds of times less. The master, trained to work correctly manually, makes the needle module as many movements and impacts on the skin as necessary, and no more. In comparison with modern devices for permanent makeup, in which the machine drives the needle with a frequency of 50–180 reciprocating movements per second, the master of “manual” technology cannot physically make more than 3–5 movements per second with the needle module. However, this turns out to be quite enough. As a result, neither unnecessary unproductive needle movements nor excessive skin injury are needed. But in order for each movement of the master's hand to be effective, he must undergo a special training course.

The next feature of manual technology is the wide variety of needle arrangements offered to the master in needle modules. Among the 20 different needle configurations, there is even a bunch of 114 thin needles for working on the lips and areolas. Different needle modules are selected by the master depending on the task that he - as an artist - sets for himself before the procedure, on the characteristics of the client's skin and the subjective preferences of the specialist. As a result, the master can perform any work on the eyelids, and on the eyebrows, and on the lips, and on the areola, as well as camouflage tattooing.

Comfort for the client and the master

Masters who love manual work note the ability to finely control the entire pigmentation process, focusing on their own feelings, and manage it. Tactile receptors are not muffled by the vibration of the handle (tattoo machine, apparatus). Everything is exclusively in the hands of the master. The accuracy of work can be even higher than when using an apparatus that has to be “pacified”.

The proposed method provides maximum comfort for the client during the permanent makeup procedure. The needles of the old model, connecting with each other in the needle module, were fastened in such a way that they had different lengths. The longer needles of the anterior end of the bundle differed from the shorter needles of the rear end in greater flexibility. Different spring characteristics of the needles in the bundle made it difficult to achieve the quality of permanent makeup. In the new system, all needles in one bundle have the same length and, accordingly, flexibility. Disposable sterile modules are easily attached to reusable handles that weigh less than 14 grams. This design provides a better and more uniform application of the pigment and a much more comfortable for the client skin pigmentation procedure.

Experience and training

In our opinion, it is fundamentally wrong to try to judge manual technology by masters who have not practiced it, or have not previously received appropriate training from a certified instructor, or have tried to work only using more primitive manual Chinese technologies. Some permanent makeup masters, having learned the manual technique of skin pigmentation, completely switch to it, putting the device aside, others have their own personal subjective view of what is better to do in permanent makeup with a more familiar device for them, and what - by hand. But in order to make the most correct choice, it is necessary not only to undergo qualified training, but also to try to gain skill in the manual technique of performing procedures.