Featuring Debi Turner Diorio

I would like to share my experience regarding a client who came to me in her mid 30's and had Alopecia. She was devastated by her appearance from the disease and could no longer look at herself in the mirror, without eyebrows or eyelashes. She had nothing to frame her face, It was even hard to keep her wig in place. Bald was not what she had hoped for as a young adult. Eyebrows for female client with Alopecia

I told her that I could create hair strokes to make her look as natural as possible and she was excited. There were no hints of an eyebrow, shadows, or anything for me to follow, only a beautiful face with such sadness reflected in it. I asked her to bring me a recent picture of herself so I could get an idea where to tattoo the eyebrows. I asked her to draw them on since she had been doing it for years and I wanted her to be comfortable with the shape. I always let the client draw on their eyebrows, they are going to be wearing them for the rest of their life and I want them to be happy. I will do some adjusting before I start the process but, I do not try to alter a clients brow as they will not be happy in the long run. If you don't like the eyebrows your client has drawn on don't tattoo them.  I used DOTC Blue to numb the area and then a #1 needle to tattoo the hair strokes.

For each hair stroke, I move my needle very slow through the skin, you only get one chance to do each hair. If you go over each hair stroke more than once you'll end up with "picket fence" hair strokes, which are thick hairs and you might as well have tattooed a solid brow. Hair storkes can be tricky when you first start they look messy, but the more hair strokes the better and it will look very natural, so natural you'll be surprised. Always start from the front of the brow and only tattoo the strokes in the direction the hair grows. Two or three colors give your brows a more natural look. My client was extremely happy with her new eyebrows, she cried, we cried. I couldn't charge her for the procedure, life is too short to not help people in need. The personal gratification I received as a result of her satisfaction and happiness was my compensation and far outweighed monetary value. You never know when you may need help from someone. This is a life altering disease and my client's self esteem was at stake.  These are the clients that make me realize why I got into this profession.  What a great career God has chosen for me.

This story is about a woman who came to me for Areola Restoration.  She had elected to have a bilateral mastectomy, which was very scary to me, until we started talking during her procesure. Her family had a history of breast cancer and she, at the age of 45, was tired of worrying if she would contract this horrible disease someday. She did not want to wake up and be told that she was dying of breast cancer. I thought what a brave lady she must be, though I have never walked in her steps and pray daily I do not have to. So, she came to my office, went into my examination room, hopped up on the table and pulled up her shirt. It was obvious that she had been accustomed to doing this; by the way she did it with such ease and without hesitation. I asked her what size and color areola she wanted.....you could see the excitement in her eyes. For the first time in such a long time, she would actually have her areola back and be able to choose exactly what she wanted and how her breasts should look. I thought to myself, something good is going to come out of this for her. She wanted pink/brown pigment color.

I started by mixing various colors for her. First I started with an eyebrow color, added a lip color and then a camoflage color until I had made a match that my client agreed upon. I then took the lid from a color pigment jar, which she chose as the perfect size for her areola. I took a lip pencil, as seen in the picture, and drew the areola while she was lying down (prone position).  I sat her up, measured to make sure that her breasts matched in size and position, (the breast shifts and changes shape from the prone to the upright position). Also, subsequent to implants being inserted and filled, they are not always the perfect size. Especially since tissue used to create the breast has been removed from the same location that the cancer had been removed from.  She agreed with the color and size, so I used my Nouveau Contour Digital machine, pen matching, and a five shader and began implanting pigment in a circular motion. I started from the nipple outward a few times to make the nipple darker than the rest of the areola. I then performed long strokes, still going in circles, until I was at the edge of the areola. I let my tube run out of pigment as I feathered it out toward the outer edges of the areola making it as natural as possible. I then went back to the nipple and went over it again with the same pigment creating a darker color.
Finishing with the procedure, I applied triple antibiotic ointment and put an occlusive of saran wrap over the nipple to keep it moist and also to avoid the chance of staining her clothes. I instructed her to keep the ointment on during the day and to go braless at night. Her husband called me a few days later to thank me for giving his wife her dignity back. He also said as he laughed, "she hasn't put her shirt on in five days !". She wants him to be sure to see how beautiful she is once again.

After hanging up the phone I knew there was hope for my client. I wish all women who've lost their self-esteem after having to go through such a devastating operation, could know that we, as a community of permanent makeup artists, could make such a difference. In our society of "looks are everything", it is so rewarding to see such happiness and self-confidence returned to her. God Bless her!

Debi Diorio is owner and President of Perfect Profiles Inc., located in beautiful downtown Celebration, Florida.
She is a Board Certified Instructor and 8 year member of the American Academy of Micropigmentation an Approved Trainer and 8 year member of the Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals.