The pain level that the client experiences during the procedure is really minimal.
I usually tell clients it’s more of an annoying type of pain.
It kind of feels similar to popping blackheads or getting an intense facial.
My name is Cindy Teng, and I'm getting faux freckles permanent makeup tattoo done today.
I've always been super into fashion and makeup, and I definitely moved to L.A. for it.
So I always wanted to try out the newest trends to see
what's popping out there.
When I first heard about faux freckles, I was kind of unsure because
most people decide to draw them so that they can remove it and change their look like every other day.
I feel like freckles enhance natural beauty, and even though mine will be fake,
I will still want to achieve that "embrace yourself" type of energy.
My name is Nora Grace, and I'm a cosmetic tattoo artist at Fiction Cosmetic Tattooing
in Echo Park, Los Angeles.
I got started in cosmetic tattooing after working in the film industry for a couple years.
I used to do special effects makeup and then kind of transitioned into the world of tattooing,
just because I wanted more of a client connection and wanted to be able to help people out.
I do have my own faux freckles on my face, and I did them myself.
Because of my background in special effects makeup and just kind of working with skin
tones and all of that, I had a feeling it was one of those things I'd be able to kind
of perfect, and it ended up working out really great.
And now I've kind of been able to
perfect my technique for myself and on clients.
It's been giving me really, really great healed results.
I think Instagram has a lot of fake freckle filters because a lot of girls have natural freckles.
So all of the people see, oh, it could be something that's cute.
They see the beauty in it.
I do think that I've been doing more faux freckle procedures since the Instagram filters came out.
It's really easy to try them on with a filter, and they kind of get hooked on them.
Cosmetic tattooing is generally a little more surface level,
so it's not quite as permanent in your body.
We use specialty pigments that are created to kind of fade over time so that we can update
your look and make sure that it ages well with you, as opposed to body tattooing,
which is permanent.
I feel like I'm not too scared of needles,
but at the same, I feel like that's the biggest
part about this procedure that I'm super worried about.
I put some numbing cream on the client while I set up my tools.
Each client has their own individual skin tone with unique undertones and all of that.
So I have a couple pigment colors that are generally my go-to's for freckles, but I always
swatch them on the client's skin first just to make sure that it's a good match for their
undertones and for their existing skin.
After Cindy has numbed for a while, I wipe off the numbing cream and then I start to
draw the freckles on Cindy.
After Cindy is happy with the freckle placement, we begin tattooing.
I take one of my smaller needles, I dip it in my first color of pigment, and I start
gently tattooing each one of the freckles on Cindy's cheeks.
I start on her cheeks and slowly move in towards the center of her face.
After a first pass, I will then wipe the pigment from Cindy's face
and then apply a secondary numbing agent.
This secondary numbing agent just helps to ensure that Cindy is really comfortable
through the whole procedure.
After I do a first pass over all their freckles and make sure they're all laid in place
and get the secondary numbing agent on them, I then wipe the agent off and start tattooing
a second pass.
In the second pass of tattooing, I’m making sure that everything is exactly how I want it to be,
and I just kind of bounce around to add those little irregularities in
before I have Cindy take her final look.
Okay here it is, take a look.
Oh my god, they’re so cute!
They’re like 3D right now.
So cool.
I'm super happy with the result.
I feel super cute afterwards.
I told my boss and my friends I’m getting faux freckles done, and when they saw me after
the treatment they were like, “Oh my god, let me see, let me see.”
And I just feel like…ah!
The freckles came out so cute on Cindy and she was so happy and just glowing,
which made them look even cuter.
It's always great when a client is really, really thrilled when you show them the mirror.
And she was, so it made them look extra adorable.
My aftercare process, I just use a super, super mild, gentle cleanser over the face,
and I would pat dry it really, really fast as soon as I'm done washing,
as well as moisturizer.
The aftercare process for freckles is really easy.
I always tell clients, the most important thing is to just treat it like a tattoo,
so you want to keep it clean and you want to keep it dry.
You’ve just got to trust your skin to kind of heal itself, and usually within a couple of days,
your freckles will have kind of peeled and reveal this really soft, natural look underneath.
After I got my treatment, there was a lot of scabbing going on around the second day
or the third day.
And after I wash my face and gently pat it dry,
some of them just kind of disappeared throughout the days.
You can definitely see there's a light and dark dimension in it.
I usually tell clients that faux freckles can last anywhere from one to three years,
but this really depends on the client's skin care, the client sun exposure, and just the
client's skin itself and how it retains pigment.
I definitely feel better about myself after getting faux freckles done
because everyone, the first thing they notice, they notice my freckles.
And they're like, "Oh my god, that’s so cute!
I didn't know you had freckles."
And I'm like...
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