*warning* this post contains photos of me without makeup and feeling pretty gross. You have been warned.
I got my first tattoo at 50.
It’s not what or where you’d think.
I will admit I’ve never been drawn to tattoos even with all of they hype they have experienced in the last ten years. Before you were badass if you had a tattoo. Now everyone has them and really if you don’t have one you’re the one that stands out.
I’m going to let you in on a secret…tattoos HURT!
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
I have a hard time wearing makeup around my eyes, especially my lash line or lashes. I am a natural blond and have lots of long straight very blond lashes. I normally get lash extensions so I don’t need to wear mascara. I used to get my lashes dyed, but that started irritating them too much.
Permanent makeup isn’t something I thought I’d ever want to do but I found myself dreading the days when I’d wear makeup around my eyes.
The gal that does my lashes also does permanent makeup and it looked darn good on her. It only took me seven years to convince myself I should give it a go.
My Experience With Permanent Eye Makeup
What you need to know about “permanent” makeup is that it isn’t permanent. It’ll last about five years before the pigment fades away.
It normally requires two sessions during which time you will need to heal completely in between. Normally people wait about a month or more between sessions.
Tattoo Tip!
If you’re going to get your first tattoo, don’t start with your lash line.
Cause that’s what I did and it was freakin’ PAINFUL!
Don’t let anyone tell you it is like having some slight “scratching”, unless they of course mean scratching by this guy…
or maybe this guy…
Another tip…it’s not just the needles that hurt.
It’s the stretching of the skin, which is stretched within an inch of its life. It is possible I have as much swelling on my upper lid as I do on the actual lash line due to the stretching and pulling of the skin around the eyes.
It felt like that whole area was bruised.
I actually felt too ill the first two days to take photos or do anything.
The first day I spent most of the day in bed icing my eyes trying to get the swelling and pain down. It was seriously painful for a good 36 hours, granted I do have fibromyalgia so my body amplifies pain but I still think others would find this quite unpleasant to say the least.
They do use Lidocaine to numb the area, but honestly it still really hurt. I found it a bit better after the needles has pierced the skin and then the Lidocaine was reapplied so it was able to absorb into the skin better. Also the Lidocaine doesn’t last long. When it came out it hurt like Hell.
I was totally delusional about the entire eye tattoo experience.
I’m not joking when it was everything I could do to stay for the second eye. If you like torture or a masochist I highly recommend this.
Did I mention it took almost two hours?
Yep…two hours of serious pain.
I had no idea that after the procedure I needed to avoid makeup, water and touching my eyes for ten days. I have to put on a salve that is very similar to Vaseline and makes my eyes feel caked in oil.
I was so delusional I thought I’d be able to go out thrifting after the appointment.
Ha ha! I was barely able to drive home and crawl into bed.
It has been three days and my eyes are finally showing signs of improvement.
The redness is still there, but the swelling is ever-so-slowly starting to go down (before I could barely open my eyes!) and the pain has receded. They are still very uncomfortable and easily tired. Computer work has been limited.
Let me say this right now…I am not signing up to get my lower lash line done any time soon.
In fact, the follow-up appointment is feeling me with dread. I’m crossing my fingers I can avoid it. Hopefully it all heals as it should and I won’t need another one.
I will let you know in another ten days if I like the final results. For the first time in my life I actually have a visible “lash line” so there is that. The line you see right now is darker and more raised than it will be.
Whatever you do, don’t look up permanent eyeliner makeup disasters online. If I had read some of those things beforehand I don’t think I would have ever done this. Eeek!
Have you ever had or considered permanent eye makeup? If you did, what was your experience like?
Linking up with Visible Monday, I Will Wear What I Like, Shoe and Tell, Turning Heads Tuesdays, My Whims Wednesday, What I Wore, Fun Fashion Fridays, Hat Attack
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