Permanent lip makeup from the artist and master PM Alla Romazanova

Alla Romazanova , founder of the Association of PM Professionals in Belarus, certified trainer, PM master (over 16 years of experience in permanent makeup), representative of NPM in Belarus, artist, founder of the permanent makeup and female tattoo studio Alla Romazanova`studio, judge of international championships, speaker , member of the Belief Association for Assistance to Women After Oncology

For a real master, the face of each client is a canvas on which a specialist, like an artist, can show his creative vision of beauty. The main thing is to sharply feel the line that you should not go beyond, fulfilling the client’s wish

Permanent lip makeup is done for different purposes. This may be the replacement of decorative cosmetics or the correction of defects, including asymmetry and scars. Each of these client requests requires a special approach. Even in such a seemingly simple work as the color and shape of the lips, there are many secrets. And, of course, special approaches will be required when working with defects. By the way, permanent make-up in Europe of the lips historically began precisely with the masking of defects. To replace decorative cosmetics, it began to be used later, and now this service is very popular in the post-Soviet space.

Decorative makeup: the choice of color and texture

One of the most important decisions in decorative permanent makeup is the choice of lip color. The rules here are dictated, of course, by the client, but in order for him to be ultimately satisfied, you need to take into account certain nuances and make sure that the color of the lips harmoniously fits into the appearance.

When choosing a color, there is always a temptation to focus on the color of the hair. But this is a fickle thing: today the girl is a blonde, tomorrow a brunette. Therefore, you need to look at what will not change, namely the mucous membrane of the lips. This is a natural color, and if you choose a contrasting color for makeup, the transition will be very noticeable, moreover, bright lipstick against a light mucous background will give the effect of “eaten” cosmetics. It is necessary not only to take this into account when choosing the color of the pigment, but also to make a smooth transition between the mucosa and the main color.

An important factor influencing the choice of color is the age of the woman. Many middle-aged clients ask for bright lips. They see themselves with red, burgundy, brown lips. But in fact, the older the woman, the more light and delicate color she needs. The colors of youth are the colors that appear on the face of a child, and it is on them that a person who wants to look younger should be guided. Any bluish shades should be avoided: a child does not have blue lips if he is healthy. And any shades of brown hide sexuality, visually make a woman older. Aerobatics - when from the outside it seems that the client has his own beautiful lip color.

Lips that are close to their natural color are now called nude. Pale pink, peach shades are chosen for them. Many people think that nude lips should be lighter than the natural color of the lips. This is a mistake: you cannot make a permanent lighter than its natural color. The fact is that in light colors there is a lot of white pigment, titanium dioxide, which is more stable than the color pigment. Therefore, over time, this color begins to look whitish, like putty.

It is very important to take into account the peculiarities of skin color. For example, if the face is oversaturated with red—say, the vessels are close to the surface of the skin, the cheeks are bright pink—then a bright red lip permanent can give the face a sore effect. And if the lips are even a little prone to blue, then cold colors should be avoided: they enhance the cyanosis, which gives the same effect.

It is quite dangerous for craftsmen who are accustomed to the Slavic color type to work with people of other races - for example, with yellow or black skin. There you need to use a different scale. For example, pink pigment on black skin can turn blue. Dark-skinned women often want to lighten their lips, but the effect is dirty due to the presence of white pigment in light colors. It's best to work with clients you know everything about and be extremely careful when working with unfamiliar colors and textures.

The choice of makeup depending on the social role of the client

About five years ago, everyone tried to clearly outline the contour of the lips, and sometimes even make a contour separately from the coloring. Now shading, watercolor lips are in fashion - they can be transparent, like lip gloss, and dense and pasty, like lipstick.

As an artist, I can say that both a clear outline and shading are good. The choice must be made depending on the social role that the client wants to play, on the tasks that the woman sets for herself. Make-up should correspond to the lifestyle, because, in addition to aesthetic, it performs social and hierarchical functions. At all times, a tattoo showed belonging to a clan, a person's place in the social hierarchy and his status. If the client is mainly interested in business communication, it is better to choose clearer, contoured, strict forms. If it is important to show tenderness, sensuality and romance, we make smooth lines.

Shape Correction

One of the most frequent and difficult requests to work with is working with the shape of the lips. According to beauty standards, the proportion of the lips is considered ideal when two-fifths are on the upper lip, and three-fifths on the bottom. Studies have been conducted that have shown that men are repulsed when the upper lip is larger than the lower.

If the face does not correspond to the ideal proportion, there is a desire to correct it. But the problem is that permanent make-up cannot reduce one lip and increase the other. There is a natural gift. You can shave off your eyebrows and draw others, but this will not work with lips. Clients often ask to widen the lip by filling the design directly on the skin. But drawing a form at the expense of the skin is too dangerous an experiment: the spade on the skin is always visible. This is due to the difference in skin textures: on the face it is like velvet, and on the lips it is like silk. The light is refracted in different ways, besides, there are pores and hairs on the skin of the face, which also creates a different sensation of color. No matter how much you break through this zone, the difference will be noticeable, this work may require an infinite number of corrections and never lead to a good result.

Therefore, the best solution is to give additional volume due to gradient coloring. If the lips are flat, you can optically enlarge them - create a 3D effect by completing the drawing in three shades. From the point of view of drawing technique, this is almost the same as drawing a sphere - making light, penumbra and shadow, a gradient transition from dark to light, highlighting. This will give the effect of enlarging the lip within its shape, without spacing the skin. For masters who know how to work with leather, it is quite easy to learn this.

In my opinion, mastering the technique of lip augmentation will always be in demand, regardless of fashion trends. If you look at photographs over the past hundred years, you can see that the fashion for lips, their volume, shape and color has changed many times. But if you pay attention to the paintings, it becomes obvious that artists always strive to depict lips plump and rounded.

The preference for plump lips has been given for centuries, and, as studies show, this is no coincidence: voluminous lips indicate a high concentration of estrogens in the female body, which indicates youth and women's health.

Asymmetry, scars, lip defects

A more difficult job that requires a very responsible approach is the masking of lip defects. For example, the issue of lip asymmetry usually cannot be solved with permanent makeup alone. First, you need the client to go to the orthodontist to check and correct the bite, and then make jokes at the beautician. Permanent make-up in this situation is the final procedure, registration of the work already done by other specialists. The disguise of a cleft lip in most cases is also possible only after plastic surgeons have done everything in their power.

Very complex and delicate work ⎼ disguise of scars: they are more dense, have a texture that is different from the skin of the lips. The pigment in the scar tissue takes root differently, so you have to camouflage the scar, punching it additionally two or three times.

Equipment selection

I work on the equipment of the Israeli company NPM Oron60. It gives great opportunities to use different configurations of needles. For permanent lip makeup, I most often use needles 1, 3 rl, 5 rs. I choose a palette of pigment colors from pastel pink to coral shades, I love natural pink - both warm and cold.

The depth of application of the pigment is approximately 0.8 mm. We work at the border of the epidermis and dermis, and if the pigment is injected at the wrong depth, the color may not be adequately transmitted. It is impossible to identify the boundary between the dermis and the epidermis by scientific methods, each person has individual characteristics. The feeling of the right depth comes only with experience. You feel the vibration and resistance of the skin with your fingertips. This cannot be calculated and automatically set the needle overhang, you need to feel it.

Important advice

If a client comes to me with requests that will harm his appearance, I politely suggest that he visit another specialist. Better to do nothing at all than to do badly. A happy, beautiful and satisfied client is the best advertisement for the master's work.