John,
I am looking for some new products and was just wondering where you stand on the paraben issue? There is a lot of press about whether or not they should be used and the health risks involved, yet finding product without them is not particularly easy. I would love to hear your opinion and hope you will have time to answer.
Thank you,
Caroline
Hi Caroline
I've actually just written a whole blog post on this so I urge you to read this and get all my thoughts on parabens here.
Thanks for your great question.
Best, John
John,
OMG you need to help me! I went to my usual facialist and brow person and she was out of the salon for the day. I was a bit surprised that nobody called to see if I wanted to have someone else do it or if I wanted to reschedule. But since I was there I went ahead. The facial was perfectly fine, but when she went to do my brows I politely declined. It has taken years to find someone I trust and I was not desperate anyway. This woman pushed and pushed and told me how sought after she was in her home country as the premier brow designer. She made me so uncomfortable and would not take no for an answer. Before I knew it, she started removing the excess hair with lightening speed and I began to feel like she really DID know what she was doing. And then I felt an excruciating pain. It only lasted a few moments and then the door opened and in walked my usual therapist. She looked a little surprised but said, “Oh…you decided to have THAT done! Well aren’t you lucky to get her to do it?” Then the agony started again and I finally clocked what was happening – she was tattooing my brows! I couldn’t move for fear of messing it up, but the tears started flowing. She told me, “Don’t worry,nearly done. Just a little more discomfort.” But it was not the discomfort I was crying about. When she was finished, she ooh-ed and aah-ed about how fabulous she was and how happy I was going to be and handed me a mirror. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. She had removed the outer half of my natural eyebrow. And then tattooed onto my pale face black eyebrows that were a completely different shape to my natural shape. Instead of a gentle arch that frames my eyes, she tattooed brows that raised about a half an inch above and came out and up toward my temples. To make matters even worse (if that is possible), one was a totally different shape and is visibly higher than the other. I cannot begin to tell you how upset I am. I now have naturally light blond hair, pale skin, and (honestly – no exaggeration) black eyebrows that are wonky and nowhere near the natural shape they were. I look like a really cheap prostitute. If things couldn’t get worse, as my hair grows back in, it is half and inch lower than the ridiculous tattoo. And I don’t dare to pluck it in case it stops growing. I went to see Vaishally Patel, who I know you highly recommend for women that WANT tattooing done, and she was kind and lovely. She did what she could, but has said I am going to have to live with this for several years until it (hopefully) fades (depending on what this woman used for ink/dye), and then see what can be done. Please be my saviour and tell me there are some other options. And yes, I AM following it up legally, but that is little consolation when I can barely leave the house. Concealer not only doesn’t cover it, but it doesn’t stick to the shininess of the tattoo. I can’t look into a mirror without crying. All I can do is beg for your help.
Anything you can suggest will elevate you to a make-up God.
E.L.
E.
I wish I could tell you this is the worst thing I have ever heard before, but I would be lying. I know two other women that would make your story seem a mere annoyance. However, I cannot even begin to imagine what you went through and are going through yourself. It is things like this that scare women who could really benefit from semi-permanent make-up from even considering it. I am so sorry you have had to go through this and will do everything in my power to help you to put it right. That it was done without consent is disgusting and she will not have a leg to stand on as far as the legality of what she has done. Take them to the cleaners. It is not going to fix the problem but hopefully, it will stop her from doing it to anyone else. Enough of all of that. Let’s start sorting out the problem at hand. The first thing you must do is find out what she used. Was it ink or vegetable colouring? Good brow tattooists use vegetable colouring so you get a fade in two-five years. But the black will only lighten to a green tone. I am sorry, but I am going to be completely honest and not lead you up the garden path. Your best bet is to go to a laser tattoo removal specialist. This is the only way you can be relatively assured that the tattoo will be removed. It hurts. I am told more than the original tattoo. And it is going to scab over for several weeks while the healing process takes place. Once that falls away, you should find it easier to cover. Eventually it will just be a bad memory. If you can have it done soon – do. That way you can leave the natural hair as a guide to use a brow pencil. Now I am going to tell you a scary prospect. That hair may or may not grow back. If it doesn’t, you may need to consider having a new tattoo done correctly to correct the shape. But that is a maybe. There is a semi-permanent micro-pigmentation place in London that can tattoo in a flesh colour to cover the existing tattoo. That is used after plastic surgery and reconstruction, and one of the women I mentioned had this done to correct her nightmare. I will find out details and you can ring me for them when I finish all of this. To correct vegetable colouring, some places will tattoo in lemon juice, which is a natural bleach to speed fading. I would start applying lemon juice to the brows topically anyway several times a day to try to start lightening the colour. And finally, I want to see you. As you probably know, I have a ridiculously long waiting list of five-seven years at my Studio in Fenwick of Bond Street, but am going to make an exception for you. Please ring my assistant on 020 7409 9823 and leave me a message saying it is the woman who wrote to me on handbag.com about the brow tattoo. I will ring you myself when I am next in and book you a consultation. And it is on me – I would like to waive the £100 booking fee. When I see you, I can access the damage, give you details for the aforementioned, and I will teach you how to professionally camouflage the tattoo until it either fades or you can get it removed, how to fill in and correct the shape with brow fillers, and hopefully help restore your self-confidence. It will not be a pity party. I will call it like I see it, but I KNOW I can show you how to make it so the only one that knows it is there is you. I promise. I would also recommend you get photos taken of it at its absolute worst. No make-up. Close-up, gruesome photos that make it look as bad as it can possibly look. You are going to need them when you get to court – IF you get to court. I would doubt they will want it to get that far. Rest assured, I have had bigger challenges – I can sort this out with you.
I look forward to meeting you E.
Until then,
John
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