Is There an Age Limit to Semi-Permanent Makeup?
Our Columnist, Nez Hasan is a renowned semi-permanent makeup artist who has nearly 10 years' experience in the beauty industry. She has a passion for enhancing natural beauty and offers a range of treatments to an international client base.
When we search for ‘semi-permanent makeup’ results on Instagram, we notice that the majority of the featured clients are under the age of 30, with glass-like skin. Noticing this, I made it a priority to regularly share my semi-permanent makeup work on mature skin to highlight the significant transformation results that can be achieved.
Beauty has no age – we all want to look and feel our best. For mature women, some can choose to invest in SPMU as an alternative to surgery or aesthetic like fillers for anti-ageing treatments. As we age, we tend to lose hair on our brows and lashes, along with the volume and colour in our lips.
For these reasons, semi-permanent makeup is a perfect choice for mature women to introduce into their beauty regimes. Over the years, many of my clients have chosen to invest in SPMU treatments for both their brows and lips in one go after seeing the transformative results in my before-and-after images once the treatments have healed.
When done correctly, SPMU treatments will take years off your face by giving your brows a natural lift, like a slight Botox feel. Your eyes will have more definition and lash depth, and your lips will have that young, fresh, and youthful rose tint.
So the question is, is there an age limit to getting semi-permanent makeup? My answer is – no. The client I have treated is 86 years old and I can promise you she looked amazing with her new light-feathered brows and youthful lip blush.
How can we achieve good SPMU results on mature skin, and are there certain things we should address with our mature clients?
When I have a client over the age of 50, I always explain that the skin around their brows is much thinner to the rest of their skin, and that these changes occur especially as we age. Thinner skin will be more prone to bleeding when scratching the skin with a blade during a Microblading treatment, eyes may swell up more than usual when completing a lash liner treatment, and lips can bruise more then expected with a lip blush treatment. The main thing to remember is – this is all very normal.
Since the skin is more sensitive, each treatment must be performed with slow and gentle movements and tailored to the individual client. If one technique for the treatment is not working well with the skin, then a different technique should be used – such as switching tools or waiting for sensitivity to go down before carrying on.
Microblading is not suitable for very mature skin. I have found that most of my clients with mature skin tend to bleed more than usual during the treatment as the area becomes difficult to stretch, which is important when creating new brows. This can result in challenges when creating hair strokes and could mimic wrinkles when the brows are healed.
Additionally, Microblading can alter the tone of the healed brows, changing from a deep ash to a deep block of grey. This is due to the skin bleeding more, which causes the pigment to spread under the dermis, turning into a deeper tone and less visible strokes when the brows heal. The best thing to do is, if a client insists on Microblading, is to try a few strokes as gently and lightly as possible. If you see that this is not suitable, it is advisable to stop the blade technique and carry out Powder Brows instead. Powder Brows is a technique used with a 1 point needle, the tail of the brow is shaded darker and faded into a light beginning such as a soft ombre make-up effect. You can add a few strokes at the front of the brows, where the skin is a little thicker, for a more fluffy brow look.
For these reasons, I would always recommend the Power Brows treatment for mature skin. The healed results you get with Powder Brows are my favourite; a soft natural result with better colour retention, plus less downtime and brows heal easier with better results than Microblading. By understanding how to apply different SPMU approaches and methods on mature skin regardless of age will allow you to give clients the desired outcome and much more comfortable experience.
There are a few steps you must take before started the procedure with a client.
Pre-care and aftercare; ensuring you have any major medical history that could affect them and the treatment i.e. if a client is taking blood thinning medication, they must give a 2-weeks break before their appointment as this will affect the results.
Most people with mature skin are prone to pigmentation; therefore they need to avoid the sun before and after their treatment.
Discussing the tone of the pigment they would like to achieve when brows are healed; for example if they have silver hair, I would suggest a golden tone pigment for Powder Brows. I would go for the lightest shade as the skin absorbs the pigment more then younger skin and heals darker. If the client has dark brows and hair, I would use a slight lighter tone and, if needed, during the top-up go over the brows with a darker shade.
In conclusion, SPMU is a fantastic way to enhance your natural beauty, and there is no age limit when it comes to wanting to feel good as we age. It all comes down to how you approach SPMU treatments and provide your client the best options based on their individual skin needs.
