Posted on June 11, 2019 by Paul A. Boulos Cosmetic tattoos are increasing in popularity as techniques and results improve. However, when the beauty procedure first because popular over a decade ago, the ink wouldn’t always appear natural.
Some people were left with misshapen and dark eyebrows, lips, and eyes after trusting treatments. Even those who were happy with their results at first noticed that as time went on and the ink faded, the cosmetic tattoo would make the skin appear blotchy and discolored. It’s one thing to have an unwanted tattoo, but when it’s on your face it can be incredibly uncomfortable to be in public. If you find yourself unhappy with your cosmetic ink, you aren’t alone. Here are some of your options.
Do Not Get a Touch-Up
One of the first things a cosmetic tattoo artist will recommend after you express your unhappiness with your results is going to be a touch-up. Unless you’re unhappy because the makeup isn’t dark enough, a touch-up would be a huge mistake. Adding more ink will only blur the lines and leave you with darker colored semi-permanent makeup. If you don’t like your results, it’ll not only be harder to cover up with real makeup, but you’ll be stuck with it as it’ll take much longer to fade naturally.
Do Not Get a Color Correction
Your cosmetic tattoo artist may also suggest a color correction, which is ultimately the same thing as a touch up using different colored ink. This can work sometimes if you’re using an experienced and highly trained tech, but it’s still risky. Unfortunately, if your cosmetic tattoo is too dark or done in black ink, this isn’t an option. However, if your eyebrows, for example, are grey they can be corrected with orange ink to create a natural-looking brown brow.
Do Not Camouflage
Using ink that matches your skin tone, some cosmetic tattoo artists will offer to camouflage the unwanted ink. While theoretically, this may sound like it could work, it’s not that easy. If it were, tattoo artists would use this technique to cover up unwanted body tattoos on their clients. Not only does this not work, but it can make it far more difficult to remove the semi-permanent makeup with other methods.
Get a Second Opinion
If you don’t like the results you get, even if it’s months after your treatment when the ink has had time to settle, don’t go back to the same technician. They did a poor job the first time around, and will likely make it worse if you seek their services again. Do your research and find a cosmetic tattoo artist that comes highly recommended and specializes in correcting the mistakes of others. They will likely tell you that you need to get a few laser tattoo removal treatments and allow the skin time to heal before they will work on them, which is the best way to go.
Exfoliate the Skin
Using a damp washcloth, exfoliate the skin where the unwanted ink rests on a daily basis. You may want to use fine sea salt or facial scrub to speed up the fading process. If your unwanted cosmetic tattoo is on the older side, it may be significantly faded already and you may only need to exfoliate regularly for a few months in order to get rid of it. Newer tattoos will likely need laser treatments. If your cosmetic makeup is still healing, then wait to exfoliate, otherwise, you may end up with scabbing and scars.
Get Laser Tattoo Removal
Often the only way to repair the damage done by poorly executed cosmetic tattoos is to get the best tattoo removal treatments. Depending on how dark and what color the ink is, you will likely need several laser treatments in order to completely remove the tattoo. If you decide that you want to continue using cosmetic tattoos instead of traditional makeup, you can have the ink faded with the laser just enough so that a proper touch-up can be done. Be sure to use a laser clinic that only hires medical laser technicians with the proper qualifications and experience to ensure you’ll be taken care of.
Before scheduling your first laser tattoo removal treatment, learn what you can expect in this video:
