Looking Put Together All the Time…Should Permanent Makeup Be On Your Want List?

By Brigid Morrissey

Burnt out from her mortgage career, Denise Dixon sought a job that she could enjoy. She spent time as a hairdresser and dabbled in aesthetics, but her true calling was in permanent makeup cosmetics.

If you ask DeDi, the name she now goes by as owner of DeDi’s Beauty Secrets, her favorite aspect of permanent makeup is the time it saves. “I can jump out of my bed on a Sunday morning and pick up something at the grocery store without worrying about running into someone I know. I think it sets us free. Whether you’re getting out of the swimming pool or sweating in the yard, you’re put together.”

Denise gives her clients a thorough understanding of what to expect with the procedures she does
which includes using them on herself. Photos by Melissa Donald 

“Most people nix the idea because it’s permanent and it’s on your face,” says DeDi. “I’ve never had a nervous client that I couldn’t talk through the procedure.” She says that those who come in wary end up leaving with confidence. Whether clients want to re-shape their eyebrows or add some color and fullness to their lips, DeDi has all the credentials to make it happen, from special training and experience to going through the procedures herself. “I don’t recommend anything that I haven’t test driven myself. I want to be able to tell my clients from personal understanding and apply my real life experiences to answer their questions.”

One of DeDi’s passions is in helping cancer patients. “When diagnosed there are so many things to think about and do and so many dread losing their hair,” she says. “We see many clients just before or right after the treatments start for permanent liner and brows. When they are too sick to put on their makeup they can know that they still look put together.”

Also, DeDi is honing her skills for nipple replacement, working to offer a unique way to help rebuild what some breast cancer survivors have lost. Many survivors have to live with permanent alterations to their body, and the scars remaining on the surface serve as a reminder of the scars that lie beneath. Micropigmentation, similar to tattooing, uses inks that are much lighter in metallic content and are printed on the derma layer of the skin, which is more shallow than a normal tattoo. The technique used to craft a new nipple creates a three-dimensional illusion that comes pretty close to the real thing.

Denise has a collection of plush animals she keeps in her salon for clients to ease their stress. She refers to them
as "stress animals."

One of DeDi’s blatant traits is her ability to care for each individual who walks through her door. She wants her clients to overcome their physical insecurities as well as their mental roadblocks. Her accomplishments may appear in a physical form, but DeDi’s greatest works are the ones we cannot see.

Have you thought about wearing permanent makeup? If you wear it tell us what you like about it?