Drawing on beauty

Permanent makeup brings big city glam to small town folk.
By STEPHANIE UJHELYI
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
LISBON -- With four kids between the ages of 2 and 18, Darcie Williams doesn't have much time to spend putting on her face, so the New Waterford housewife took the first step with a little backup from a local permanent makeup artist.
Williams recently had permanent eyeliner applied by Dottie Reynolds of the Half Moon Hair Saloon on Washington Street. "It was something I always wanted to do, so I don't have to reapply [eyeliner]. I heard about it in the 'big city.'"
"I trusted her enough to entrust my eyes, and I'm very happy with it. It wasn't painful but more of a tickle," she said.
Permanent makeup is applied by micropigmentation, a procedure similar to tattooing, to mimic eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, lip liner and lipstick. It is a convenient alternative for on-the-go women. Clients can select from a wide variety of shades that last five years.
Williams was just one of many women in the area getting her eyes done. Dee Rankin, a woman seeking convenience and clear vision while riding her motorcycle, works part time doing hair and nails at Half Moon and took the plunge.
"Eyeliner is the only makeup that I won't leave the house with," she explained. "I've always been interested in trying it, but it was something you just found in the big city."
It is still hard for Rankin to remember she no longer has to wipe her eyes because of runny eyeliner. And she also doesn't have to worry about "black eye boogers," as she calls them.
What happens
The eyeliner procedure takes a little over one hour, after an initial 20 minutes to numb the area using a local anesthesia. Permanent eyeliner can be anything from a soft haze to a darker, more defined line. Initially after the procedure, the makeup appears brighter or darker than desired but fades into the proper color after several days.
Some affected areas appear crusty for a few days. Angela Merrill, who has some tattoos and piercings, decided that eyeliner was just what else she needed. The Lisbon woman learned about permanent makeup while her mother was getting a perm at Half Moon.
"I love it. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I have gotten tattoos, and they hurt."
Eighty-year old Mabel Primm of Salem has had a new set of eyebrows for about six months. "My daughter lives in Cincinnati and had it done. She wanted me to come down and have it done too, but I decided to have Dottie do it." Although Primm said the procedure left her with some brief inconveniences, she likes not having to walk around with what she described as mock, uneven eyebrows.
"I am sensitive to pain, so it bothered me some. I know many others who weren't bothered by it at all," she said. "But it was worth every minute of it."
Reynolds, who has been doing hair in Lisbon for 14 years, acknowledges the procedure isn't necessarily comfortable. "I'm not a doctor, so I cannot give them any medicine. I make them as comfortable as possible. I numb, where with tattooing, they don't."
"If anyone thinks age has anything to do with it, they are wrong," Primm added. "It is always whether you want to look good or not."
Licensed artist
Reynolds, who has been a licensed permanent artist since December, herself has eyeliner and her lips done. Having done work on 50 clients since December, Reynolds trained at Face Up in Canton. She completed a 60-hour program to get her license.
She described her instructor, Ruth Bailey Danfey, as one of the most progressive people in the business. Danfey did the work on Reynolds. The lips are more painful because it is a little more invasive, she explained. "But it was worth it," she added.
Darcie Williams is pondering more permanent makeup.
"I want to get my lips done to look a little fuller. Not Angelina Jolie fuller, even though my son might like that," she said.
Permanent cosmetics may not be appropriate for those who want to change their look occasionally, who are contemplating a face-lift, who spend a lot of time in the sun or who have a chronic medical condition.
Reynolds is accepting appointments Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Rankin does hair and nails Fridays and Saturdays for walk-ins. For more information on permanent cosmetics or an appointment, contact the Half Moon Hair Saloon at (330) 424-0330.