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When Can I Wear Makeup After Tattoo Eyeliner?

by Melissa Bell
6 minutes read

Eyeliner tattoos are a hot trend that’s not going to go down for the next few years ‒ that’s for sure. It looks cool, saves your time and money, but most importantly ‒ it’s a safe technique.

When your permanent make up eyeliner is freshly done, your artist will give you some detailed aftercare instructions ‒ and you can’t ignore these if you want your eyeliner to look really perfect.

The most frequently asked question that permanent makeup artists hear when they explain aftercare instructions is “so, when I will be able to wear regular makeup after the procedure?”.

In this article, we’ll provide you with an explicit explanation of permanent makeup aftercare basics, do’s and don’t’s, and other things you might want to know about this procedure.

eye-with-eyeliner-and-eyeshadow-in-close-up

So, what about regular eye makeup after the procedure?

For the first seventy-two hours or three days following the treatment, the pigmented region should not have any makeup applied. On the day of the surgery, you can expect a little bit of local swelling and redness ‒ this is a completely natural reaction from your skin to pigment insertion.

Basically, this is the main reason why eye makeup is prohibited in the first three days after the procedure. Every used makeup product increases the chance of infecting the skin that’s at the start of the healing process ‒ as a result, you can get unexpected consequences from pigment migration to inflammation. If you’re concerned about this ‒ don’t worry, your artist will go into details and explain what you can and cannot do during the healing period, and what can you expect from it.

What to expect during the healing period?

The eyes and skin around them is a generally sensitive area, therefore taking some simple antihistamine meds to reduce the swelling is your best shot. Also, it’s best if you do it before the treatment if you have any allergies of if your eyes are way too sensitive. Just make sure that the medication you take doesn’t have any properties that affect blood clotting ‒ if they do, it’s a contraindication for the procedure.

For the first twenty-four hours, use ice packs often to reduce inflammation locally. With the exception of being recommended not to put makeup straight on the procedure site for roughly a week, you can resume your regular activities right away after these crucial twenty-four to seventy-two hours after the treatment.

During the first week, you might anticipate some mild redness, scarring, and peeling. The next day after the treatment, most clients resume their usual schedules, including going back to work. It is advised to give your skin a week to heal properly before particularly special events or whenever you want to appear your best ‒ hence it’s better to restrict makeup usage or to adjust your schedule.

Also, stay away from old mascara tubes as they are most certainly contaminated by bacteria. For a healed skin, it’s not a big issue, but thin skin after the procedure is totally prone to the bacterial infection contained in old makeup tubes. 

The permanent makeup objective of concealing scars and applying corrective makeup can only be accomplished by following aftercare rules handed by your permanent makeup artist to the word. Also, it’s best to avoid using regular eye makeup for a month before your appointment since certain components can travel beneath the skin and cause your permanent eye makeup to appear patchy after the healing process is over ‒ even if you do not apply these products close to the region that’s about to be treated.

Other aftercare tips

So, no eye makeup before the treatment and for the first few days after. There are also other aftercare recommendations that have to be followed in order for your skin to heal properly and your permanent makeup to remain vivid.

  1. For a full month after the initial procedure, refrain from using scrubs and AHA and BHA acids near the treated area. Vitamin A, or retinol, is also going to be restricted for use there for a few days.
  2. Don’t pick on your skin ‒ it’s totally fine if it flakes during the first week after the treatment. This is a natural reaction, and ruining it can trigger patchy look of your permanent makeup.
  3. Avoid hot tubs and saunas for the first week after the treatment as they can make your skin more prone to the infection.

After the initial two appointments, it’s possible that you’ll need to book a touch-up appointment for your permanent makeup at some point in the following year. Approximately six weeks after your initial touch-up treatment, you can return to your regular makeup and skincare routine without taking any other precautions.

You won’t need to continue following the aftercare instructions after that, but you should avoid wearing eye makeup for another five days or so. And anyway, why apply mascara or a regular eyeliner when your eyes look great 24/7? This is the best thing about permanent makeup ‒ you can look perfectly well even if you forgot to apply a mascara, brow gel, or your favorite lipstick.

Remember that the recovery duration of the treatment will depend on your body’s regeneration abilities, your age, your immune system, and lifestyle you lead. Keep that in mind when making an appointment for your initial permanent makeup session, and make sure your schedule doesn’t have any important events during the first week after the treatment.

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