Permanent makeup is a popular aesthetic treatment option that allows patients to enjoy the cosmetic benefits of makeup without its regular use.

Simply put, permanent makeup is a cosmetic procedure that is akin to tattooing — applying permanent pigmentation to the skin's dermis layer. Permanent makeup takes the same principles behind tattooing and applies it to the creation of designs that mimic common makeup techniques. The effect of permanent makeup can be as minimal or as noticeable as a patient desires. Some people limit application to only subtle shading of the eyebrows while others may choose to have their lips, eyes, lips and rest of face enhanced.

Like ordinary tattoos, permanent makeup is much more noticeable when first applied but colouring softens in the following days as the epidermal skin layer (the outermost layer) sheds old cells and replaces them with new, undyed ones. Because of the skin's natural, regenerative properties, permanent makeup is most effective for several years after its application and begins to lose its colouring over time. Sun exposure can also speed up the fading process. Patients that undergo a permanent makeup treatment often return for touch-ups in order to keep colouring at its most noticeable.

Permanent makeup, also known as micropigmentation or cosmetic tattooing, has been used for more than a century. Early treatments were offered in some beauty salons during the 1930s where the process was commonly used on women. The ink and pigments used in permanent makeup treatments are regulated by the FDA (and similar regulatory agencies in Canada and elsewhere) and, because of this, clinics that offer the procedure must be properly approved by the proper health authorities.

Permanent makeup allows patients to enjoy the benefits of normal makeup but without the continuous application of cosmetic products. It can help to highlight facial features and otherwise provide the same type of positive effects as regular, removable makeup.

The procedure is commonly used to create permanent effects like eye-lining and skin tone alteration for lips, eyelids and the rest of the face. Permanent makeup is also used for producing artificial eyebrows (often for elderly patients and those that have lost their natural eyebrows through illness or genetics) and for covering scars or white spots caused by vitiligo. It is also used to enhance or restore the breast's areola.

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