The method of getting a gender-affirming facial hair tattoo is finally just like that of every other beauty tattoo: It requires a major quantity of communication and collaboration between the consumer and artist, beginning with an in-depth session in regards to the desired look, what’s doable given how a lot (if any) pure facial hair or different beauty tattoos a consumer already has, aftercare, and all the opposite practical elements of cosmetic tattooing. However there’s a further emotional component to consulting a few gender-affirming facial hair tattoo as a result of gender identities are distinctive from individual to individual, and solely the consumer can decide how their gender can be greatest mirrored by their tattoo.
As soon as that preliminary session is full, Reeve applies a topical lidocaine cream to the consumer’s tattoo location for numbing, maps out a border for the tattoo with additional enter from the consumer, after which begins tattooing as soon as they and the consumer are in settlement in regards to the tattoo’s form, dimension, and symmetry.
The strategies and instruments Reeve makes use of are finally the place facial hair tattooing differs from different types of beauty tattooing. Whereas microblading, for example, is completed with a specialised bladed device that enables a technician to attract on hair-like strokes by reducing into the pores and skin, Reeve makes use of a rotary tattoo machine with a needle cartridge that punctures the pores and skin, which they are saying is lighter and quieter than coil machines which might be typically used for physique tattooing. This system creates small dots that appear to be single hairs which might be simply beginning to develop previous the floor of the pores and skin, creating the phantasm of “5 o’clock shadow somewhat than full hair strokes such as you would see in an eyebrow.”
This contributes not solely to the realism of Reeve’s facial hair tattoos but in addition to how properly they age. In response to them, the hair-like strains which might be lower into the pores and skin with microblading can develop over time, which means the pigment can bleed outward and create one strong form somewhat than particular person strains (as somebody who has their very own poorly-aged microblading, I can personally attest to this). That’s why beard microblading may work for somebody who’s attempting to fill in sparse patches between in any other case full facial hair however not somebody who has sparse or no pure facial hair in any respect; it may wind up trying like a Lego block of beard somewhat than real looking hair.
Though this process is named a “tattoo,” it doesn’t use conventional tattoo ink, which is everlasting and, as Reeve factors out, can change in tone over time and might react with pores and skin’s undertones. As a substitute, they use pigments which might be particular to beauty tattooing, which aren’t completely everlasting. “A facial hair tattoo will fade sooner than a standard physique tattoo and would require touch-up appointments extra often,” Reeve explains. “That timeline really varies from individual to individual.” To account for this, Reeve often recommends that new shoppers guide two tattooing classes which might be a minimum of eight weeks aside; the second session supplies the chance to construct density the place it’s wanted post-healing and make every other desired changes.
