Permanent Makeup Tattoos Gone Wrong. Removal of a Double Eyebrow Tattoo

Eyebrow Tattoos Gone Wrong

As you can see from previous posts, removal of eyebrow tattoos is a pretty common request.  People go in expecting model-perfect arches and often come out with a style that is too thick, too thin, too arched, too flat, the wrong color, or maybe, over time the style of eyebrows has changed from thin to thick...etc, etc.

So what do you do if you have a permanent makeup tattoo you don't want anymore?

DON'T....

• Don't let the permanent makeup technician try to correct it by putting a flesh colored tattoo on top. These technicians learn this technique as part of their training, but listen to me, DON'T DO IT!!  Not only does it NOT correct the situation, but it can make laser tattoo removal impossible.  
• Don't let the permanent makeup technician place another tattoo over it, leaving the old one on place
• Don't get a new color placed over it

DO

• Do spend the money to do the right thing and get laser tattoo removal. Laser tattoo removal, while an expensive process, will not scar and will gradually fade the pigment so that you can either cover it up with makeup or get another permanent makeup tattoo to your liking.

Here is an example of a bad case of Permanent Makeup Eyebrow Tattoo Gone Wrong.

Figure 1.

1/31/2007. This patient came to us after getting 3 different permanent makeup eyebrow tattoos as well as a flesh colored/white color correction tattoo.  FIRST, The first one she had done was the lower (faded) brow. SECOND, she got a flesh color/white tattoo to try to cover it up.  THIRD, she got a tattoo one above the old one.  FOURTH, because the color wasn't right, had  another color tattooed right on top of the upper brow (one on top of the other). FINALLY she came to us requesting laser tattoo removal.  I quoted her 6-10 sessions for full removal.  

Figure 2.

1/31/2007. Closeup of Right Brow before treatment began

Figure 3.
2/8/2007. One month after 1st treatment. Significant fading achieved on lower brow, revealing the flesh colored tattoo. Upper brow faded but not too much because it is actually two tattoos (one on top of the other)

Figure 4.

2/8/2007. Closeup of Right Brow. Notice the brown color on the top brow starting to peek through. On the bottom, the flesh color is starting to peek through.

Figure 5.

4/25/2007.Two months after 2nd treatment session. Lower tattoo still fading gone, upper tattoo still fading to reveal brown colored tattoo.

Figure 6.
4/25/2007. Two months after 2nd treatment session. Closeup of Right Brow. The flesh color is more noticeable in the lower brow, the brown color is more apparent in the upper brow. Noticeable fading.

Figure 7.

9/25/2007. 5 months after 3rd treatment session.  Both tattoos are significantly faded. Note that the lower brow appears grey (where before it was flesh colored). This is because flesh colored tattoos have a tendency to change colors during treatment. In any case, patient was satisfied with result as she can now cover the area with makeup. She did not want to continue treatments after this, although I recommended she continue. 

Figure 8.

9/25/2007. 5 months after 3rd treatment session. Closeup of Right Brow

Total cost of laser tattoo removal treatment:  3 treatment sessions, $200 each, for a total of $600. Prior to that, patient spend $800++ on permanent makeup and tattoo removal creams (three times and attempted correction with flesh colored tattoo).

Video!

Below is a video of me performing laser tattoo removal of the eyebrow on someone who had more 2 permanent makeup eyebrows on top of each other. You will see that different colors appear on parts of the tattoo because of the different colors mixed into one.

For more videos, please visit my youtube channel, Happymmm, by clicking on the link below.  http://www.youtube.com/user/happymmm

Laser Tattoo Removal of an Amateur Tattoo on the Breast - Before and After photos

Amateur Tattoos

Amateur tattoos are of the home-made variety.  You may have gotten one done when you were younger.  A friend did it for you.  A lot of prisoners get these while in prison. Generally speaking, these types of tattoos are easier to remove than professionally done tattoos you would get in a parlor because there is usually less ink and they are usually more shallow.  The average number of treatment sessions needed to remove an average amateur tattoo is 4-6.

I have one case here with exceptionally good results. She didn't have much ink, it was amateur, and it was 15+ years old.  I estimated it would take 4 treatments and it did.  Here are the before and after pictures from her laser tattoo removal sessions.

Figure 1.

9/24/2007.  Before Treatment.  Amateur Breast Tattoo, 15+ years old, Latina patient (darker skin type 4)

Figure 2.  

9/24/2007.  Immediately after treatment. You see whitening of the tattoo ink, indicating adequate energy absorption by of the laser, and a little bit of redness and slight swelling

Figure 3.

1/21/2008, After 4 sessions, tattoo ink is gone.  You see a bit of "whiter" skin where the tattoo used to be. This is because the patient has a darker skin tone (she is Latina) and to remove the residual ink, sometimes the patient's natural pigment is also removed as part of the process. The patient was extremely happy with the result and one year later, the skin color is blended and natural looking. 

Figure 3.
5/17/2009. More than 1 year later...skin has blended in and looks normal to the naked eye, with no previous evidence of tattoo. Patient very very happy.

Video!

While I don't have a video of the above patient, I have similar video of a laser tattoo removal of an amateur tattoo on the breast. Enjoy!

To view more laser tattoo removal videos, please visit my youtube channel, Happymmm at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/happymmm

Thanks for watching!

Laser Tattoo Removal of Permanent Makeup Eyebrow - Before and After Photos

"Why don't you post before and after photos?"

People are always asking to see before and after pictures on my Youtube channel, happymmm. I post the video of the treatment, people want to see what it looks like afterwards and they complain that I don't post.   But getting good before/after photos is hard to do. That's why most of the websites you go to post what's called "stock photos,"  photos purchased from someone else for commercial use, or photos provided by the laser company. You can tell a photo is a stock photo because of the quality of the photo.  It's usually small and/or grainy, and oftentimes the ones I see have a yellowish tinge. Many of them use plain light in one photo and flash in the after photo, drowning out the actual result.

I want good before and afters, and I do it right. I use the same lighting, no flash, and a macro lens. Still it's not easy to get good befores and afters, mainly because the process is so long (about 1 -2 years ) and because of patient compliance.  It's not sufficient for me to post the "after photo" because I know you guys don't want the immediate after photo - you want the photo of that shows the result at the end of the entire treatment package. So the REAL photo you want to see the one that usually comes from a SERIES of SEVERAL treatment sessions. Why is this hard to get?  Getting a good after photo depends a lot on patient compliance. He/she has to be compliant and has to finish the series of treatments. The reality is that people don't often commit to full removal. Most of my patients do it until it fades a enough so they can go cover it up with another tattoo.  The fact that the entire series can take a 6 months to 2 years to fully complete means that people fall by the wayside due to that thing called life that often gets in the way.  If people want to finish the treatment, they need to keep coming every month until it's gone.  But oftentimes several months will go by before someone comes back to retreat. This has nothing to do with the efficacy of the procedure, and everything to do with the fact that people have other priorities in life.  I had a girl come to me every month for 3 months up until her wedding. After her wedding, it was another year before she returned. That is the reality my friends: people have other priorities so they just come whevever they want or whenever they get the chance.  I suppose I could post some in-progress photos (and I have) but then people don't get the "in progress" bit and gripe that it's not working.  It's a catch 22.

So I hope this little diatribe clears up the reasons why I don't always post the before and after pics - it's because I'm still doing treatment!!!

Nonetheless, as a reward for reading my little rant, I will post  you a couple good sets of before and after photos of Laser Tattoo Removal of the Eyebrow. This is laser tattoo removal of what's considered "cosmetic permanent makeup."

Figure 1.

Case 1.  Here is a 10+ year old permanent makeup eyebrow tattoo.

The tattoo ink is a plain black tattoo that has already started to fade on its own.

This picture was taken before treatment on 4/21/07

Figure 2.

Case 1. Below is the "immediate" after photo. This picture was taken immediately after the procedure was performed. The skin is red and angry, and the tattoo ink is white in some areas and blotchy.  If you don't understand the procedure you may think that the skin is "burned" when in fact this is not true. The "whitening" is some temporary heat bubbles that are given off when the laser light is absorbed by the ink - it goes away within minutes.

Figure 3. 

Case 1. After photo, 1 month after first procedure.  The ink has faded more than 50% but she will need another 2-3 treatments for complete removal. The skin is intact, there is no burning or scarring.

Figure 4.

Case 2.  Before photo. this is also a 10+ year old permanent makeup eyebrow tattoo.

Figure 5.

Case 2.  This is taken immediately after i completed the procedure. Again you see the whitening, blotchiness, which is temporary.

Figure 6.

Case 2.  After photo, 1 month after first treatment. 80% of the ink is gone.

Figure 7.

Case 2.  Before Treatment

Figure 8.

Case 2.  Immediately After Treatment - whitening of ink and red irritation

 

Figure 9.

Case 2.  One Month After Treatment

Figure 10.

Case 1.  Before Treatment

 

Figure 11.

Case 1.  Immediately After Treatment

Figure 12.

Case 1.  After Photo, 1 Month Post-Treatment

 

Discussion

The sets of pictures shown above show significant fading after 1 treatment. These results are not typical. Sometimes, you won't see any fading after the first treatment at all.  The reason these tattoos responded so well have to do with 1) the age of the tattoo (these are very old 10++ years);  2)  the type of ink (there are more than 300 types of inks - permanent makeup ink tends to bind less tightly to the skin)  3)  The depth of ink placement & amount of ink.  If you look at Figure 12, you'll see that some areas faded completely while some areas did not.  This has to do with the the tattoo artist placing the more ink deeper in some areas. Usually this happens at corners and edges of the tattoo - tattoo artists tend to go over the out edges a bit more. 

Video!

I hope these pictures help you understand the laser tattoo removal process better.

If not, then here is a video of me performing laser tattoo removal of the eyebrow to better illustrate. Note, we applied topical numbing cream for 30+ minutes, and I used
ice immediately before shooting the laser to minimize pain.  Entire procedure is
over in less than 1 minute.  Enjoy.

For more laser tattoo removal videos, please visit my Youtube channel, Happymmm (click on link below)

http://www.youtube.com/user/happymmm

Do the tattoo removal creams work?

Probably not, but they're cheaper than laser tattoo removal, so why not try it, right? Um, WRONG.  
More often than not I get patients who have tried stuff (not knowing what's in it but buying it because of the advertisement) and damaging their skin.  Possible problems with these tattoo removal creams: they could irritate the area, scar the area, damage the area, or make it impossible to remove via laser.


So yeah, I'm pessimistic. These creams are topical, so you apply them and they are supposed to make the ink fade. But how does it do this?  Tattoo ink sits in the upper dermis, (the layer skin below the outer skin layer, the epidermis) -  which means that the cream has to penetrate deep to get to its target. I am sorry, but I would be surprised if any cream could penetrate that deeply.
The popular and heavily advertised cream is Wrecking Balm (about $150-$200), a combination of hydroquinone (a skin bleaching agent) and an exfoliator.  Hydroquinone suppresses expression of melanin, making your skin lighter, but it does nothing for the ink.
The exfoliator is probably some sort of acid (glycolic, salicylic, etc).  One of my patients tried this and ended up with red, flaky, irritated skin, so she ended up coming in for laser tattoo removal anyway.


So bottom line - to cream to not cream?  Save your money and don't spend it on unproven substances that can harm rather than help.
Anyone with experience is welcome to post, but everything I've read on this subject tells me that the creams don't do what they are hyped to do...