September 21, 2005 By Erika Bayer-Polak
View Staff WriterCosmetic professional aids, enhances appearance
Permanent makeup is used for both cosmetic and medical-related purposes at Professional Permanent Cosmetics (sm), 6879-B W. Charleston Blvd.
Common procedures involve permanent eyeliner, eyebrows, lip liner, full lip color, tattoo removal, hair simulation and repigmentation, a process when pigment is applied to areas of the skin that have lost the natural color.
Owner Mary Arnold said she also performs many procedures that correct problems created by prior botched permanent makeup jobs.
“About half of my practice is fixing other people’s mistakes,” said Arnold, who was a registered nurse for 30 years. “I can fix anything. You not only have to have the artistic ability but you also have to understand color theory. That happens through years of practice and experience.”
Arnold has been applying permanent cosmetics, also called cosmetic tattooing and micro pigmentation, since 1992.
In the early 1980s, she knew of an opthamologist who was performing eyeliner procedures.
“I wanted (the procedure) done, but I also thought it would be fun to do,” she said.
“She was under the impression that practitioners had to have some sort of medical licenses to apply the makeup. She was wrong.
“Clark County has some of the strictest guidelines,” she said. “But they are nowhere near strict enough.”
Arnold has been working with state officials over the past few years to try to make the guidelines more stringent. The current requirements include all necessary vaccinations, a health card, a six-month apprenticeship and a passing score on a test of the regulations.
This may sounds safe and fair, but Arnold says otherwise.
“Part of what the problem is, is that someone finds an apprentice and trains for one hour a month,” Arnold said. “And you can’t do anything about it.”
Amber Schutz, a customer and resident of the southwest part of the valley, said she had been hesitant about receiving such work for several years. But when she kept hearing Arnold’s name being mentioned, she felt a bit more at ease about trusting someone with such a permanent process.
“I was referred to Mary by everyone in town,” Schutz said. “She and her team did such a great job that I’ve already referred friends to her for similar services.”
The process of applying permanent makeup is in essence the same procedure as getting a tattoo. The chosen pigment is inserted into the dermal layer of the skin on the specified area.
Arnold noted the lips have a tendency to bleed easily, but there’s no need to worry. She has her clients schedule an appointment with a nearby physician 30 minutes before they have work done.
The physician readies the patient by numbing the lips and surrounding areas well as administering a drug that slows the bleeding.
Arnold performs procedures on those who simply want fuller lips or eyebrows or those who have lost the nipple and areola—the area surrounding the nipple—during reconstructive breast surgery because of breast cancer.
Arnold said she also likes using her business to lend support in the community. One way she does that is through the Smooches for Pooches program, which benefits animals, but also helps the two-legged participants feel better about themselves in the process.
Smooches for Pooches is underway through November 15 at Professional Permanent Cosmetics (sm). For every lip liner or full lip coloring treatment, $25 of each procedure will be donated to Betty Honn’s Animal Adoption, a nonprofit, no-kill animal sanctuary in Henderson. The sanctuary is always in need of food, said Arnold.
“I like to be able to give back,” she said, adding she had a soft spot for animals. “And besides that, a lot of money goes to these huge charities. It’s nice to do things locally.”
More details on Betty Honn’s Animal Adoption can be found at www.animaladoptionsltd.org.
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