Safety of Tattoos and Permanent Make up (PMU) Colorants

The art of tattooing is a popular decorative approach for body decoration and has a corrective value for the face. The tattooing procedure is characterized by placing exogenous pigments into the dermis with a number of needles. The process of creating traditional and cosmetic tattoos is the same. Colorants are deposited in the dermis by piercing the skin with needles of specific shape and thickness, which are moistened with the colorant. Colorants (pigments or dyes) most of the time include impurities which may cause adverse reactions. It is commonly known that tattoo inks remain in the skin for lifetime. It is also a fact that the chemicals that are used in permanent makeup (PMU) colorants may stay in the body for a long time so there is a significant long-term risk for harmful ingredients being placed in the body. Tattoo and PMU colorants contain various substances and their main ingredients and decomposition components may cause health risks and unwanted side effects to skin.

The art of drawing on a skillset

Former dental nurse Anne-Marie Thompson shares a career move that took her from lead dental nurse to semi-permanent make-up artist

Einfluss von Permanent Make-up auf die Meibomdrüsen und den Tränenfilm

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Ziel dieser Studie war es, Veränderungen hinsichtlich der Meibomdrüsen, der Augenoberfläche und des Tränenfilms durch Lidrandtätowierungen zu ermitteln. Methodik Querschnittsstudie: 100 Augen mit Permanent-Make-up von 50 Patientinnen wurden 100 Augen ohne Permanent-Make-up von 50 Patientinnen gegenübergestellt. Die subjektive Symptomabfrage erfolgte mittels OSDI-Fragebogen und wurde mit den objektiven Testergebnissen – erhoben durch die klinische Untersuchung an der Spaltlampe sowie am Keratographen 5M (Oculus, Germany) – verglichen. Resultate Es zeigte sich ein statistisch signifikanter Unterschied zwischen den beiden Gruppen hinsichtlich des OSD-Index, der NIK-BUT, der Meibomdrüsen und der LIPKO-Falten. Keinen Unterschied zeigte sich in der bulbären Injektion und der Tränenmeniskushöhe. Schlussfolgerungen In der durchgeführten Studie zeigte sich, dass Permanent-Make-up an den Lidrändern zu anatomischen und funktionellen Veränderungen der Meibomdrüsen und des Tränenfilms führt. Diese Ergebnisse korrelieren auch stark mit einem subjektiven okulären Dyskomfort der Patientinnen.

Therapieansprechen auf intraläsionale Steroidinjektionen bei granulomatöser Entzündungsreaktion nach Tätowierungen

Zusammenfassung Tätowierungen inklusive Permanent-Make-up können diverse Komplikationen wie virale oder bakterielle Infektionen sowie allergische und entzündliche Reaktionen nach sich ziehen. Bei Letzteren weist die Histologie neben exogenem Pigment ein Entzündungsinfiltrat auf, das je nach Reaktionsmuster lymphozytär oder histiozytär-granulomatös dominiert sein kann. Nachfolgend wird über die erfolgreiche Therapie mittels intraläsionaler Triamcinolonacetonid-Injektionen bei granulomatöser Entzündungsreaktion nach Tätowierungen in 2 Fällen berichtet.

Delivery Strategies for Skin: Comparison of Nanoliter Jets, Needles and Topical Solutions

Drug diffusion within the skin with a needle-free micro-jet injection (NFI) device was compared with two well-established delivery methods: topical application and solid needle injection. A permanent make-up (PMU) machine, normally used for dermal pigmentation, was utilized as a solid needle injection method. For NFIs a continuous wave (CW) laser diode was used to create a bubble inside a microfluidic device containing a light absorbing solution. Each method delivered two different solutions into ex vivo porcine skin. The first solution consisted of a red dye (direct red 81) and rhodamine B in water. The second solution was direct red 81 and rhodamine B in water and glycerol. We measured the diffusion depth, width and surface area of the solutions in all the injected skin samples. The NFI has a higher vertical dispersion velocity of 3 × 105μm/s compared to topical (0.1 μm/s) and needle injection (53 μm/s). The limitations and advantages of each method are discussed, and we conclude that the micro-jet injector represents a fast and minimally invasive injection method, while the solid needle injector causes notable tissue damage. In contrast, the topical method had the slowest diffusion rate but causes no visible damage to the skin.

Diseases of the Ocular Surface Associated with Eyelid Makeup and Eyelash Extensions. Clinical Examples

The environmental factors influence, quite often, negatively affects the state of health. Many of them, such as smoking, deterioration in ecology, uncontrolled alcohol intake, are in detail studied in terms of harm to a human body. Nevertheless, new technologies which action is insufficiently studied, are actively introduced into modern life. So, the use of cosmetology procedures can be a striking example. Now the prevalence of such procedures as eyelash extension, a permanent make-up a century, botulotoxin injections in a periorbital zone, assumes a wide scale. In foreign and domestic literature there are more and more messages about development of the complications which arose owing to use of the above-stated procedures. There are two clinical examples from our practice in this article. They demonstrate the complications which arose after holding a procedure of eyelash extension — acute toxic-allergic conjunctivitis and after a permanent make-up — a chemical burn of a cornea. In these clinical cases of a complication arose due to aggressive action of a chemical basis of the glue applied at eyelash extension and cream-anesthetic which is applied on eyelids before a permanent make-up a century. Treatment of patients included antiinflammatory, antihistaminic, antibacterial therapy and also a long course of the tear replacement therapy applied as keratoproteсtive therapy and for prevention of development of a dry eye syndrome. Considering scales of prevalence of cosmetology procedures in recent years, it is necessary to inform specialists and patients on potential risk of development of the complications connected with the above-stated procedures. The clinical examples given in the article and literature data, demonstrate that in case of cosmetology procedures complications it is necessary to carry out timely rendering the qualified medical ophthalmologic care. It is connected with the fact that, quite often, the cosmetology manipulations, even positioned as harmless, in particular, a permanent make-up of eyelid and eyelash extension can lead to heavy complications, up to vision loss.

A Comparison of Drug Delivery into Skin Using Topical Solutions, Needle Injections and Jet Injections

Drug diffusion within the skin with a needle-free micro-jet injection (NFI) device was compared with two well-established delivery methods: topical application and solid needle injection. A permanent make-up (PMU) machine, normally used for dermal pigmentation, was utilized as a solid needle injection method. For NFIs a continuous wave (CW) laser diode was used to create a bubble inside a microfluidic device containing a light absorbing solution. Each method delivered two different solutions intoex-vivoporcine skin. The first solution consisted of a red dye (direct red 81) and rhodamine B in water. The second solution was direct red 81 and rhodamine B in water and glycerol. For PMU experiments, the skin samples were kept stationary and the diffusion depth, width and surface area were measured. The NFI has a higher vertical dispersion velocity of 3 × 105μm/s compared to topical (0.1 μm/s) and needle injection (53μm/s). The limitations and advantages of each method are discussed, and we conclude that the micro-jet injector represents a fast and minimally invasive injection method, while the solid needle injector causes notably tissue damage. In contrast, the topical method had the slowest diffusion rate but causes no visible damage to the skin.

Laser assisted tattoo removal – state of the art and new developments

Decorative tattoos including permanent make-up are very popular world-wide. As the trend for tattoo acquisition increases, the demand for tattoo removal will similarly rise. This article highlights the state of the art and new developments in laser assisted tattoo removal.

Identification of organic pigments in tattoo inks and permanent make-up using laser desorption ionisation mass spectrometry

Nowadays, about 12% of the European and 20% of the US population are tattooed. Rising concerns regarding consumer safety, led to legal restrictions on tattoo and permanent make-up (PMU) inks. Restrictions also include bans on certain colourants. Both ink types use organic pigments for colour-giving, plus inorganic pigments for white and black and colour tones. Pigments are only sparingly soluble in common solvents and occur as suspended particles in the ink matrix. Their detection and identification therefore pose a major challenge for laboratories involved in monitoring the legal compliance of tattoo inks and PMU. We overcame this challenge by developing a direct laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry method, which included an easy sample clean up. The method proved to be capable of detecting and identifying organic pigments in almost all of the tested ink samples. Method validation and routine deployment during market surveys showed the method to be fit for purpose. Pigment screening of 396 tattoo inks and 55 PMU taken from the Swiss market between 2009 and 2017 lead to the following conclusions: Pigment variety is much greater in tattoo inks (18) than in PMU (10); four prohibited pigments (Pigment Green 7, Pigment Red 122, Pigment Violet 19 and 23) were found in both ink types; for PMU, these four pigments made up 12% of the pigment findings, compared to 32% for tattoo inks. Therefore, legal compliance of PMU was at a higher level. A comparison of pigments found with those declared on tattoo ink labels clearly showed that banned pigments are rarely declared, but rather masked by listing non present legal pigments and label forging; therefore, highlighting the urgency of widespread market controls.