See Dermal Fillers in this chapter.
Cosmetic tattooing ($750 to $i,500)
Cosmetic tattooing, or micropigmentation, can be used to create permanent eyeliner, eyebrow color, or lip color. It can also be used for permanent blush or eyeshadow, though this is uncommon. Other uses include re-creating the coloration of the areola around the nipple following breast reconstruction; restoring the color of dark or light skin where natural pigmentation has been lost through such factors as vitiligo (a whitening of the skin from an autoimmune response), cancer, burns, or other scarring; and eliminating some types of birthmarks or previous tattoos.
While cosmetic tattooing can be useful there are significant risks both aesthetically and medically. Because makeup fashions change and the face ages, tattooed eyebrows or lip lines may look nice and even when you’re in your thirties or forties, but as you near 50 and your face starts to droop the tattoo will go with it. Additionally, your style preferences can change. A brown or bright red lip color imprinted on your mouth may look good today, but in five or ten years it can look strange and out of date. Many cosmetic surgeons and dermatologists I’ve interviewed have commented that removing tattooed-on lip liner, eyebrows, and blush has become a lucrative business due to the large number of botched applications.