SCAR TISSUE OR BIRTHMARKS & HYBRID TINT/DYE

I get asked this quite often on groups and wanted to share my knowledge:

Skin Scar Tissue & Birthmarks 

The most common birth marks are common vascular (blood vessel) birthmarks are macular stains, hemangiomas, and port-wine stains

Understanding the effect on skin will help you understand why skin grabs won’t take, in addition, if this has been operated/cut/damaged, the skin is then damaged and repaired and we call this scar tissue.

Scar tissue is thick, fibrous tissues that take the place of healthy ones that have been damaged. Healthy tissues may be destroyed from a cut, significant injury, or surgery.

When it comes to scar tissue on your skin, you may notice it has a thicker texture compared to the rest of your body and that’s it. This generally fades over time and can be barely noticeable.

But when it comes to offering treatments such as hybrid or henna. It’s a whole other ballgame

As the skin is thicker, it does not absorb the pigment like the rest of the skin and this in turn means your skin grab can be exceptionally difficult to achieve. If at all possible

It would be helpful for you to know this information for your treatment;

1. Acknowledging this with your client will put them at ease, they knows it’s there and so do you, so making this part of the consultation means they have faith in you as her chosen artist, and professional

2. Offering alternatives: now you have discussed this - you can choose offer advice, explaining why it won’t take skin grab is a good start, we can manage expectations - offer guidance on pencils, gels or referring for PMU is going to help them to achieve the desired results and you know how to get the best results possible 

Lastly, skin is skin, it varies from person to person, so while this is a generally normal response on scar tissue or birth marks, there are instances (less common) where the skin grab takes super fast on these types of areas.
So just explain the pitfalls and manage those expectations

In all instances, being upfront and knowledgeable about the clients skin and upping your knowledge to deal with this, will put your client at ease and will ensure you manage expectations for you both  

Debs 

Photo credit Dr Scott Newman (DM for removal)