PIGMENTS INVERSION

There are many myths among clients and craftsmen about the quality and composition of pigment. How to fix permanent makeup using the removal method and choose the right removal technology?

Analyzing different firms of pigments in my practice, I came across the theory that there are pigments that can be removed using a laser: a laser is better than a remover. Other pigment companies can only be removed with a remover and nothing else. Use a laser to remove permanent makeup? Or is it a remover?

Let’s do an analysis

There are a lot of pigments on the market, there are a lot of manufacturers, the price range is different: author’s pigments, mixes of masters, pigments leaders. The question is who should be preferred and how to work with a certain pigment. Is it possible to remove permanent makeup without a trace and why does the color of the pigment change after laser removal? What do we call pigment inversion?

To get answers to these questions, I had to conduct an experiment with pigments of various companies, which the permanent makeup master Irina Osipenok introduced into my skin. Over these pigments in the future (after 2 months) we performed an experiment on laser removal together with Natalia Linkevich (Kryuk).

For the experiment, pigments of a chaotic order were used:

Pigments PREMIER: Dark Beautiful Brown (C), Dark Russet C092, Dark Sexy Silver C087, Toaster Umber.

SIVAK pigments: MOKKO, Hazelnut, Pink pastel.

Sof Tap: Chocolate Truffle, German Chocolate, Hazelnut, Earth, Espresso, Café Vienna, Milk Chocolate, Café Ole.

QOLORA: Brownish Oliva 409, Siberia 407, Desert Rose 105.

PermaBlend: Tress Pink, Drackest Brown, Roxy Brown, Taup, Brunette, Double Black.

Magic: Salmon # 125, M-303, Full Lips 2, Super Black # 500, M-302.

Bora Bora: Mix 6, Papaya.

DOREME: Poppy Poppy, Hwesen No. 3.

PHOTO OF THE WORK PROCESS

Pigments that are injected into the skin (photo of pigments immediately after work)

Step by step introduced all the pigments. Next, we will analyze the manifestation of the color of the tested pigments in the skin, in order to further possess information about how the pigment manifests itself and how the same pigment can be removed using a laser without using a remover. 

Is it  possible?

When craftsmen remove modern pigments with a laser, they often observe a pigment color change, the so-called pigment inversion (an unusual color change that contradicts the standard pigment response to a laser). What happened? What should the master do next if he removed the unaesthetic permanent makeup of the eyebrows and the eyebrows were transformed immediately after exposure to the laser in yellow, pink or red? How to be a customer with inadequate color after removal?

(Example photo of pigment inversion in the skin) –

Photo in the process of removing permanent makeup with a laser. Observe pigment inversion

Photo after laser removal (after healing, the eyebrows will have a bright orange hue) 

The secret to complicated is simple.

With the help of innovative tools (removers) and laser equipment, you can remove almost everything, a matter of time, client’s financial capabilities, master’s patience.

Many masters and customers believe that there is pigment baking in the skin, if you use a high laser power to remove it. In fact, to simplify the explanation, there is a traumatic effect of the laser, which leads to damage to the dermis, burns and scarring. The result is a change in the structure of the skin. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the skin was severely damaged during the provision of permanent makeup.

It can also affect the process of pigment removal, since the skin has changes in its structure: collagen fibers are more densely located, vascular plexuses are disturbed. Even if the master performs the procedure correctly, cleansing the skin of pigment will be longer, the recovery process slows down. The client needs to understand this and not blame the master that he is technically not working correctly.

The REASON for delayed removal is not only in the composition of the pigment, but also in the skin condition of the client.

If there are no physiological causes of the skin condition, then it is worth paying attention to the removal technique and the quality of the laser equipment. With each session, the pigment in the skin remains less and more power is required to remove residual dye in the skin.

In the first few laser removal procedures (such as eyebrows), the pulse power and energy density are sufficient to remove the pigment qualitatively.

Experience from practice:

In my practice, there was a case when I removed the eyebrows of a client for a long time. Before rendering my services, the client went through three laser removal procedures at the medical center – there was no result, then I have three laser procedures and three procedures with  removers (from different companies). As a result, the eyebrows have become soft. I will tell you frankly that the pigment in the skin has partially remained; I am conducting additional procedures for the client that contribute to faster skin restoration. The removal process continues.

EXPERIMENT

We analyze the photo before removal and immediately after removal by a laser.

As a result of laser removal, color inversion is observed in many pigments. Permanent makeup removal we carried out nozzles for cold and warm colors. As you can see, after removal, the color of the pigment acquires a brighter shade; after healing, it fades.

Lip pigments have not acquired black (blue-black) shades. This suggests that the pigments are very stable in the skin, most likely they do not have iron oxides in their composition. Organic (so-called synthetic) pigment.

Why does the pigment change color when the laser is removed?

How does pigment removal occur?

Information to the master

The behavior of the pigment during laser removal is as follows: under the influence of the laser beam (when the eyebrows are removed), cold shades turn into warm, and warm to cold.

Why does the pigment change color? During laser removal, a huge amount of energy is released, there is a mechanical splitting (crushing) of the pigment, as well as a chemical reaction. Color changes are associated with the chemical composition of the pigment. Since the master, who performs the removal procedure, does not have information on what kind of pigment permanent makeup was made, it is possible to observe in the process the ongoing reaction of the pigment to laser exposure.

When red, pink, and brown tones (especially on the lips) are removed, we observe a manifestation of gray, blue. This suggests that iron oxides were present in the pigment, and under the influence of the laser, a change in the valence of iron occurred (color inversion). And in the next procedure, the nozzle for removal is changed.

Unfortunately, customers do not always understand when they are informed that their lips may turn black. They rely on dark red, burgundy, but not black. The best option would be to have photographs at hand to present a visual picture.

The laser beam (532 nozzles) penetrates to a shallower depth and is absorbed by the epidermis than the beam of the 1064 nozzle, since the main pigment in our skin is melanin. It is important to remember that two types of melanin affect the skin color: eumelanin (has a color from brown to blue-black, observed in the hair, areola) and pheomelanin (red-yellow pigment, also found in the hair, this is the main pigment of red people, it affects the color of freckles on the client’s skin). Keratin is a yellow pigment. The more keratin is contained in the tissue, the greater the degree of keratinization.

Melanin has a significant effect on the restoration of the skin after laser removal and the result of permanent makeup after healing, as it is located in the epidermis, and the permanent makeup pigment in the dermis, in the upper layers of the dermis.

Melanin performs the function of protecting our body from ultraviolet radiation and other aggressive carcinogenic factors. Melanin also prevents the malignant formation of cells under the influence of ultraviolet rays and ionizing radiation and reduces the accumulation of radionuclides in the body.

THE RESULT OF REMOVING Permanent Makeup DEPENDS on: the age of the client, the thickness of the epidermis, the content of the pigment in white, black, yellow (pigment composition), the concentration of the pigment, the removal technique (laser and remover )

Client age Blood supply worsens with age, blood vessels become colder. The removal procedure is recommended to be carried out after a longer time.

 With age, the transparency of the epidermis decreases (the process of cell restoration in the basal layer slows down), the thickness of the stratum corneum increases.

The concentration of pigment (thick, liquid, dense styling, the depth of the pigment in the skin).

PIGMENT COMPOSITION IS IMPORTANT TO THE RESULT OF REMOVING PERMANENT MAKEUP

Next, I will provide general information about the composition of the pigment and its significance in the permanent makeup removal procedures. More detailed information can be found in the instructional manual INKJECT (INK-TECHNIQUE), as well as to use it professionally. For training centers and schools of permanent makeup, I offer additional literature on which you can conduct training in coloristics and pigmentology, the removal of permanent makeup.

The chemical composition of the pigments is divided into inorganic and organic.

By origin: natural (mineral) and synthetic (artificial).By origin: natural (mineral) and synthetic (artificial)By origin: natural (mineral) and synthetic (artificial).

To remove the mineral pigment (the color of the pigment is important), both a laser and a remover are used, to remove synthetic (artificial pigment) it is better to use a remover.

Examples of inorganic (insoluble) pigment used in PM: iron oxides, titanium dioxide, ultramarine, violet manganese.

Iron oxides have iron in their composition (I recommend using laser equipment to remove iron oxides).

The presence of titanium dioxide in the composition affects the removal process (it is better to use a remover, which is better and how – the information is below in the article).

Most inorganic pigments are: oxides, hydroxides, metal salts having crystalline compounds.

ORGANIC PIGMENTS – intensely colored, insoluble. Brighter, richer in color, but less resistant to sunlight. Pigments that do not contain inorganic fillers have maximum tinting power. Pigments become insoluble only after the soluble dye is combined with the inorganic pigment.

In this case, you need to use both a laser and a remover for removal.

It should also be noted that organic pigments are less stable in time than mineral pigments, bright in comparison with mineral ones. But today, organic matter contains inorganic elements, including titanium dioxide, which gives color stability and the pigment does not migrate (use both a laser and a remover).

PIGMENTS are divided into: CREAM AND LIQUID

Using cream dyes, you can achieve a higher result in the work. They have a higher hiding power, but the removal process is more complicated.

Pigment Testing Conclusion

IMPORTANT: in the process of removal after a color change – inversion – the pigment becomes more resistant to removal, and it will take about 1 – sometimes 1.5 years to remove it. WHAT we got as a result of removing the pigments that we tested on my skin. When the mineral composition is removed with a laser, organic matter remains, the pigment changes color and chemical composition. Further removal procedures are only possible with a remover. After changing the composition – we carried out additional laser procedures and changed the nozzles – we did not see the result, only a slight color change.

This is how pigments look like, 9 months after the first pigment injection procedure – this was last fall – 2018. 3 laser removal procedures were performed. What I want to note is that the more time is the gap between the procedures in the laser removal of hybrid pigments – there is a result. Nevertheless, a remover should be used, since the laser cannot cope with some manufacturers.

PHOTO HANDS _ how pigments look in the skin now 

The labial pigments remained in place and only slightly brightened (all pigments are indicated in the article above – especially Bora-Bora, Qolora, Magic). After laser treatment, they became brighter, a month later they became a little brighter. You can use them in permanent makeup, you need to work professionally, as easily as possible to create perfect lips, without going beyond the contour of natural lips. Sivak is removed by the laser quite well, but it can also be cleaned with a remover. SofTap should be used with caution, as I indicated above – high hiding power (cream base), but the removal process is more complicated.

QOLORA eyebrow – cream base, is also more difficult to remove. PermaBland – bright color inversion after removal – further removal procedures are possible only with the use of a remover. PREMIER pigments gone well.

Further pigment removal is only possible through the use of removers.

How does the removal process remove with removers and types of removers

Classification of removers: acid, alkaline, salt.

Acidic acids are divided into three main groups: single-acid, two-acid, multi-acid. Acid: single-phase, two-phase, three-phase. Alkaline removers single-phase.

Some alkaline removers are called manufacturers and masters of oxide, since the main active ingredient of the remover is calcium oxide (CaO – quicklime).

It is unambiguous to say that only removers should be used to effectively remove permanent makeup, this is not professional. In the process of removal, it is important to resort to the use of laser equipment. Sometimes the laser copes more effectively with the removal process, sometimes a remover. It all depends on the composition of the pigment and what result we need after removal.

I do not recommend guaranteeing a client remove clean skin from a single procedure. As a rule, in many cases more than one procedure is always required.

Removal procedures require a lot of effort, time, patience on the part of the client and the mater. The removal process is always more expensive.

If you have any questions related to the removal procedures – send questions to millecenta@icloud.com

I hope the material will be useful both for permanent makeup masters and for customers. The information in this article is not posted for the purpose of anti-advertising pigment manufacturers.

Each pigment manufacturer has its own advantages and disadvantages, the main thing is how the master owns information in colorization and working techniques.

Sincerely, Millecenta (Alesia Khakhlova), Minsk

Alesia  Khakhlova 

Millecenta (Alesia Khakhlova)

– artist, master teacher of permanent makeup and art tattooing;

– Founder of the School-Studio of Permanent Makeup and Art Tattoo MILLECENTA;

– The author of the unique methodology “5-step system of teaching permanent makeup”;

– author of the INKJECT TECHNIQUE training system: INK-TECHNIQUE + INJECT TECHNIQUE. – INK-TECHNIQUE – work with color in permanent makeup;

– INJECT-TECHNIQUE – applying the knowledge of coloristics + techniques in practice: Speed ​​+ Simplicity = Result.

– Creator and developer of the color wheel system A. Khokhlova (color in permanent makeup);

– Author of articles in international methodological journals PERMANENT (Russia), Permanent (Kiev).