We all know that permanent makeup is permanent, but what about touchups? Have you ever wondered if your pigment will fade over time and need a touchup? Does it eventually wear away completely or need to be redone from scratch?

   

Permanent makeup can wear away after time, but it varies depending on the kind of job you have or your lifestyle. Cosmetic tattooing is a slower process than, say, having a tattoo done with a needle and indelible ink.

   

The pigments used for cosmetic tattoos are different from those in permanent makeup as well as those from the black-market "permanent" eyebrow kits. This doesn't mean you can have an active lifestyle and a cosmetic tattoo. Your artist can tell you what your limits are in their opinion, but no tattoo is truly ever "permanent," not even the kind with a needle.

   

So what is a touchup, exactly? Touchups work to darken faded pigment and thicken the color in places where it has thinned with time. Your artist can go over areas that have become less saturated or simply need building up by putting more ink into them during the process of the touchup.

   

This process is usually done with the same machine used to apply the pigment, but it requires more time on your part as well as lying still during the procedure. Any touchup is often scheduled at your six-week follow-up appointment after getting permanent makeup so that if something were to go wrong, the problem can be addressed quickly.