Healing Time

Permanent makeup will appear extremely intense and thick immediately after the procedure. The color will not even look right the first few days. Other factors are added to the permanent makeup pigment bottles to counteract the undertones of facial skin. Browns can look orangish-brown, blonde brows may look too yellow, lip colors are shocking! Some colors initially look too bright and others look too dark. But don't worry - it changes. Excess pigment sheds off over the next 2-3 days, and then the skin starts healing over. A layer of healed skin on top of the pigment masks and tones it down considerably. As swelling goes down the lines will be thinner. On about the fourth day you are close to looking normal and no one notices anything. Colors will continue to soften over the next few weeks. It will look very natural in 2-3 months. You see another difference around the 7-9 month time period. It looks even softer and lighter. Brows and lips that looked fine at 2-3 months may have faint areas or be too light after 7-9 months. Because it can take up to a year to know if you need a touchup, I have extended the touchup timeframe to one year. I want your makeup to look great. That is how I get more business.

OUTER HEALING completes in about 3-6 days for eyes, 7-10 days for lips. INNER HEALING completes in 1-2 months.
Swelling migrates as it resolves. Dispersion into a larger area aids dissipation of swelling. In addition to on-the-spot absorption of swelling by the lymphatic system, excess fluid travels down with gravity through the fatty tissue. Anyone who has had breast implant surgery may remember having edema in the lower abdominal skin a few weeks later. Or, if you have watched someone heal from a bruised eye, you noticed that by the time it is almost healed the last little bit of swelling and discoloration is an inch or two lower at the cheekbone. Swelling from eyebrows can drain to the top eyelids. Swelling in top eyelids have a little movement out and down from the sides over the outer half, but fluid over the inner half is mostly trapped there until absorbed. Swelling in the bottom eyelid drains down to the cheekbone. Swelling drains out of the bottom lip faster than in the top lip. Fluid from the bottom lip can drain down the chin and neck to speed removal. Since the top lip doesn't have anywhere to drain below it, other than a little movement out to the sides, fluid is stuck there until the lymph system can suck it all out.
How easily a person swells and bruises may be affected by age, food and meds consumed, and hormonal cycles. I have seen everything from no noticeable swelling to bruising. Brows have minimal swelling, but the wet paint look is difficult to hide unless you have long bangs or big rim sunglasses. Eyes have moderate swelling, but can be easily hidden with sunglasses. Generally speaking, younger women's eyes swell less and the swelling goes down faster after eyeliner procedures. Older women have loose skin that provides a greater water holding pocket. Additionally, circulation and cellular turnover slows with aging. Lips can swell four times their normal size, and there is no hiding them. Request a few surgical masks if you are embarrassed to walk out of the building, or for use at home in case you have to answer the door, or make a trip to the store. After three or four days when the area is healed enough that you don't have to worry about infection, you can mask the area with other makeup/ powder/ lipstick while waiting for healing to complete.

How quickly a client returns to work depends on which permanent makeup procedure she had performed, and what type of occupation she has (greets the public, or works more privately in office). Eyes and brows are a breeze. Clients have eyes and brows done on Friday or Saturday and return to work Monday. Lips are a bigger ordeal. Clients usually have lips done on Thursday or Friday and return to work on Monday or Tuesday....