Would you tattoo your whole face with semi-permanent foundation?
It’s the beauty trend that costs just €150. But as experts ring alarm bells...
THERE’S no denying semi-permanent makeup treatments — where lip colour, eyeliner or perfectly shaded eyebrows are applied in the same way as a tattoo — are soaring in popularity, and with good reason.
What’s not to love about feeling ready to face the world each day without a glance at your make-up bag?
Given a treatment can last up to two years before a top-up application is needed, that’s a lot of time in front of the mirror clawed back.
Now, semi-permanent make-up is set to take over the rest of our faces, too, thanks to a revolutionary procedure: semi-permanent foundation. Touted as the ultimate skin perfector, ultra-fine needles are used to infuse customised colour pigments into the skin like a tattoo, over the entire face.
The result? A supposedly even skin tone, covered imperfections and the kind of glowing, uniform complexion you’d expect with an expertly matched and applied traditional foundation. Only this one won’t rub or wash off; it lasts up to six months before a top-up is needed.
As an added bonus, the needling application process is also said to help stimulate collagen production, similar to microneedling, which devotees claim can fade hyperpigmentation and brighten the complexion.
Most of the semi-permanent foundation treatments currently offered in the UK use a product and technique known as BB Glow.
The new semi-permanent foundation treatments take around 90 minutes, using a small microneedle machine to implant pigment into the upper dermis of the skin, and cost from €150.
With a short recovery period of around 24 hours, it’s no surprise the treatment has taken social media by storm, with hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok of the procedure.
But is it all simply too good to be true? Can you really create a flawless complexion with needles and pigment and, crucially, is the procedure even safe?
The experts we spoke to believe there are many risks involved with the application process. Given the pigment is applied across the entire face, if it’s not carried out by an experienced and qualified practitioner, you could be left with widespread infections and other problems.
PLACING needles everywhere can not only cause damage and scarring, it might cause post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, which means beneath that foundation layer, you actually might be causing a lot more damage to the skin. It could even worsen conditions like rosacea,’ says Dr Ahmed El Muntasar, a GP and award-winning aesthetician.
Aside from the medical risks, the results have the potential to be disappointing, too, because trying to create a uniform complexion or skin tone could leave a patient looking unnatural.
‘No one is consistently the same shade everywhere throughout the year. Human skin doesn’t work like that — we all have different pigments, redness and undertones,’ explains Dr El Muntasar.
‘The pigmentation in semipermanent foundation itself will also wear off over time, so you could end up with a “patchwork” effect where it’s faded in places and you need to top-up certain areas, which — without the right top-up — could leave your complexion looking uneven.’
While the pigments in semipermanent brow, eye or lip colour are designed to fade to a lighter shade without discolouring, future-proofing semi-permanent foundation could be more difficult because your face is a larger, more exposed area.
Sun exposure can cause pigment fading, as can the use of skincare products with active ingredients such as retinol and Vitamin C, or acid-based exfoliants that increase skin cell turnover.
‘Forced fading is when the different coloured molecules in the pigment fade at different rates. If the skin isn’t properly protected with SPF all year round or skincare actives are used, this might cause the pigment to lighten and even change to unwanted warm peachy or greyblue hues,’ explains Karen Betts, an award-winning permanent make-up artist and CEO Of Nouveau HD Beauty Group. ‘You’d need to ensure you weren’t using any actives [active ingredients] at all on your face and apply SPF50 daily. Even then, how any semi-permanent makeup pigment fades over time can be unpredictable.’
Karen does not offer the foundation procedure, but has been teaching other forms of semipermanent make-up for more than 35 years.
In her opinion, the colour pigment ingredients used in semi-permanent foundation to mimic various skin tones could also be problematic.
‘To create skin-coloured pigments, titanium is needed in the formulation,’ says Karen. ‘Titanium is a white pigment and makes a colour lighter or brighter. Yet because it is made up of larger molecules than other pigments, it takes immense skill to blend it into the skin smoothly and effectively. If it’s not blended well, the end result could appear chalky —think limewash paint on a darker wall.’
There is also growing concern in the aesthetics medicine industry about how well-regulated semipermanent foundation as a procedure really is.
At present, anyone with a beauticians qualification can take a one-day training course, offered by BB Glow or beauty colleges and academies, to gain a certificate saying they’re qualified to carry out the procedure.
‘I think it’s potentially really dangerous that someone can be considered responsible for this after taking a one-day course. There needs to be a lot more monitoring and more regulation for who is able to do this,’ says Dr El Muntasar.
If you’re considering semipermanent foundation, Karen says it’s crucial to do your research and have a thorough consultation with the practitioner and a dermatologist before making any decisions.
SHE recommends asking practitioners about their qualifications and experience, for examples of their ‘before’ and ‘after’ portfolio, training certificates and for information about which brand of pigment they use to ensure they are fully qualified and the treatment is right for you.
‘Only highly experienced technicians with a vast knowledge of advanced procedures should ever attempt semi-permanent foundation, in my opinion, but that’s not to say inexperienced technicians without the right qualifications aren’t offering it, and that’s worrying to me,’ she says.
BB Glow did not respond to Femail’s request for comment.
The bottom line? If it goes wrong or you’re unhappy with the finished result, removing semipermanent foundation is very difficult. ‘Yes, semi-permanent make-up fades over time, but I’d be concerned whether this would completely disappear in every case, given that can be the case with other semi-permanent makeup,’ says Karen.
It’s important to remember, too, there is relatively little law protecting you against botched aesthetic procedures.
‘A client’s rights would depend on the terms and conditions and agreement made between them, the specific salon and practitioner,’ says Karen.
And even if the procedure works well, it’s unrealistic to expect semi-permanent foundation to be a total replacement for your regular make-up, as you’d likely still need to use concealer to cover blemishes or eye bags.
All of which may just leave you thinking you’d be better off reaching for your usual bottle of foundation each morning, after all.