Tattoos vs. Permanent Makeup

While tattoo artists and permanent makeup artists both work on skin and create beautiful art for their clients, the process, tools, and inks are different. That is why depending on your goal you should go to the appropriate artist for your desired goal!

Color

Tattoo ink and permanent makeup ink have very different ingredients. When tattooing, ink is injected into the skin. You also go into deeper layers of the skin. The ink contains chemicals such as lead, nickel, titanium dioxide, chromium, and more. This is how a wide range of colors can be made. 

Permanent makeup color used are organic and inorganic pigments with iron oxides, usually with some water and glycerine added. Using organic materials help with creating more natural colors also. 

With the permanent makeup technique of sticking to the shallow layer of skin and the pigments, the color oxidizes over time and gracefully fades while tattoo ink is far more permanent. ​

Technique

Speaking of technique, let's go more in depth about it. There is a common misconception that getting permanent makeup is the same as getting a tattoo. While the idea is similar, the execution is very different. 

​I mentioned earlier in the color section about the injection of ink. Let's briefly talk anatomy of the skin. There's three layers of skin: epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis.

• Epidermis: The outermost layer of skin. The skin we see and apply makeup on.
• Dermis: middle layer made up of connective tissue, contains hair follicles, and sweat glands. 
• Hypodermis: Part connective tissue, part fat.

Tattoo artists, with their specific machine and needles, penetrate and inject ink into the dermis layer. 
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Permanent makeup artists stay on the epidermis. This is why tattoos hurt more than permanent makeup and are far more permanent.

Moreover, a permanent makeup artist is specifically trained in the art of beauty, such as creating and mapping brows, lining the lips and eyes, and knowing what to look out for in creating symmetry when working with muscular and bone structure of the face, and taking in the client's overall features.

Tools

As with the color and technique, the tools are different also. Specifically, the tattooing machines. I personally use a tattoo machine pen which is also known as a rotary machine. This pen uses a thinner needle which allows for more precision. 

Rotary machines can be used for tattooing but coil tattoo machines are more common. ​

Healing

Permanent makeup tends to heal faster as you don't penetrate the skin as deep. But while the surface is healed, it is always recommended to wait four to eight weeks from the initial treatment before scheduling your touch up session. You want to make sure the color and skin have stabilized from the initial session.