Organic and Inorganic Pigments and Their Relationship to Permanent Makeup

As a permanent makeup artist, you want to use the best pigments for your clients. However, this can be difficult to do if you don't know the difference between organic and inorganic pigments and how they relate to permanent makeup.

As an artist, the last thing you want is to be clueless about your product! So if you're ready to learn all about makeup pigments, read on.

To understand inorganic and organic pigments, you first need to learn the basics. Depending on the type of technique you plan to perform on your client, the permanent makeup pigment should be dipped in using a microblogging tool, or if using a rotary machine, the machine will absorb the pigment. This tool is similar to a tattoo gun. However, it is much less aggressive and produces a lighter hit.

These tools combine with inorganic or organic pigments to create seamless blends. Finally, permanent makeup pigments are used for brow shaping, eyeliner, lip gloss, and hairline reconstruction. Some are used to create areolas and camouflage scarring.

Many of your clients may ask you the difference between a real tattoo and permanent makeup. This is because a lot of people still think that permanent makeup is the same as tattooing and they are right, anytime we open up the skin and deposit pigment it is a form of tattooing, the only difference is where the pigment is placed on the skin making traditional tattoos different from PMU.

Therefore, they fear the painful and permanent aspects. However, this is not the case.

Permanent makeup pigments are in liquid form, just like tattoo ink. However, makeup pigments can stay on the skin for several months. About 4 to 6 months after initial placement, the body will begin to break down the pigment.

However, the body cannot break down tattoo ink in the same way. This is because the skin is constantly regenerating new cells every 28 days to push out the gently implanted pigment.

In contrast, cosmetic paint can only perform this cycle for a set amount of time before no paint passes through.

Microblading is a subsection of the Permanent Makeup Community. Microblading works by adding pigment to the eyebrows or hairline through the blades.

Permanent makeup refers to techniques such as microblading, hairline restoration, permanent eyeliner, and more. If you're a new permanent makeup artist, chances are you'll be trained in microblading first!

Overall, these two terms are used interchangeably, as they both refer to permanent makeup application. These technologies also require inorganic or organic products to work properly.

Makeup can be traced back to ancient Egypt. The ancients would have used natural pigments on their skin to create a darkening effect on their eyes. At the time, this was done to protect their eyes from skin damage.

This ancient trend will evolve with the development of human beings. Nowadays makeup enhances the beauty of a person. Just like fashion, makeup has trends that come and go.

In the mid-to-late 90s, the makeup began to revolutionize the way we think about beauty standards. Celebrities have lined lips and bold brows.

And because of these trends, the color cosmetics industry took off. Both women and men want a clean and beautiful look without having to put on makeup every morning.

Thankfully, now, permanent makeup can significantly reduce your makeup time. The history of permanent makeup dates back to 1902 when Sutherland MacDonald tattooed women's eyebrows with permanent pigments.

However, MacDonald spent years testing and perfecting the pigments before using them on human skin. And with the help of other makeup artists, permanent makeup is now a routine process.

Now that you know the backstory of makeup pigments, we can start to understand the difference between organic and inorganic makeup. This is essential information because many of your clients will be wondering the same question!

Organic permanent makeup is harder to come by. Despite this, some companies still produce purely organic pigments. Organic pigments were once called aniline or coal tar.

Pigments come from plants and animals. Green pigments come from plants, while blue pigments come from berries. However, this is not the best choice for animals, and plant particles often cause allergic reactions.

But now, organic pigments are mostly composed of hydrogen bonds and carbon bonds, subdivided into dyes and lakes. Dyes are different forms of chemicals that produce color.

Organic pigments are also sometimes made from hydroxides of aluminum oxide. This substance is insoluble and helps to maintain the color of the skin and make them brighter. Organic pigments are best used on lips due to their brightness. It also has a longer-lasting average stability.

Lakes and dyes can be made into hypoallergenic products. Therefore, this organic makeup is suitable for most people. These pigments are also best used on the lips because of their more vibrant color.

Inorganic pigments are derived from iron and oxygen. These pigments do not contain any carbon. More specifically, these pigments are made by adding the element iron oxide to other substances.

They are called "inorganic" pigments because they are made from synthetic metals such as manganese, titanium oxide, and ultramarine blue.

However, iron is solid and non-lethal. Inorganic pigments have larger particles inside and higher coverage. Inorganic pigments are also resistant to sunlight and are opaque.

Inorganic pigments were once made from natural sources such as rocks, plants, and animals. But like organic pigments, they can only be produced in laboratories right now.

Inorganic pigments are beautiful earth tones that are very color stable. And the grain is also bigger, which means more channels are needed to get the desired saturation. In the PMU world, it would be good to let our work fade out over time so we can keep the industry alive by adding more polish when needed.

After learning about inorganic and organic pigments, you may be wondering which is better. If so, you must know that both of these pigments are great for permanent makeup applications.

However, depending on certain factors, one may be better than the other. For starters, if most of your customers are first-time visitors, buying inorganic pigments may be a better option. This is because inorganic pigments fade faster, giving clients the option to not keep up with brow maintenance.

So, by using hypoallergenic pigments, they are less likely to have an allergic reaction. However, if most of your work requires a lot of paint and coverage, you may be better able to maintain the overall effect with organic pigments. Overall, both pigments have their pros and cons. Permanent makeup is a great experience that enhances a client's natural beauty.

The above has introduced organic and inorganic pigments and their relationship with permanent makeup. If you want to buy permanent makeup pigments, please contact us.

Charming Tattoo is a professional custom microblading tool and pigment manufacturer. Our R&D engineers have 20 years of experience in developing permanent makeup inks and micro-scratch pigments. We have professional production equipment and a 100,000-class dust-free workshop that meets ISO9001 standards. We provide a professional product, packaging, post-design, and professional pigment knowledge support.