How to Color Correct Eyebrows

From day 1 of your career as a PMU artist, one of the most important skills you’ll need to acquire is understanding eyebrow color correction.  

You know the drill: a client calls you in a panicked tone. They’ve had their eyebrows tattooed elsewhere and now their eyebrows have faded to blue, grey, or red. They beg the question “can you fix them??”. The answer to this question is the difference between being fully-booked and, well… not fully-booked. As the PMU industry quickly grows, so does the likelihood of your potential clients needing color-correction experts to tend to their eyebrow correction needs. 

It’s time to become that eyebrow color correction expert.

Thankfully, we’ve partnered with Tiffany Chen, the master artist from Beauté Academy who is known for her incredible ombré brows and tried-and-true eyebrow color correction approach with proven healed results. 

With clientele from around the world seeking her expert artwork, along with thousands of students requesting training for this technique, Tiffany, Mini and Laura, AKA Beauté Academy, created one of the most in-depth online Ombré Brows courses the PMU world has ever seen - Ombré Brows Online. 

Tiffany, Laura and Mini from Beauté Academy

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Here, Tiffany from Beauté Academy explains her step-by-step process of color-correcting eyebrows using the ombré shading technique.

Tiffany working on her client

Why Eyebrows can Shift Color Over Time

• As we learned in our basic color theory, brown is a mix of red, blue/black and yellow. Depending on the quality and the formulation of your pigment brand, the lightfastness rating of the colors may not have been equally balanced which can leave behind those undesired dominant residual color ie red, grey, blue

• Clients with a warm skin undertone will pull the warm tone of a pigment more than a person with a cool undertone. If you use a warm pigment on a person with a warm undertone, the color will heal very warm compared to someone with a cool undertone.

Make sure you know the undertone of both your pigment and your client. Remember, warm skin undertone will heal warmer and cool skin undertone will heal cooler.

Understanding Complementary Colors

• You can color-correct old tattoos that have turned blue, purple or red by understanding complementary colors.

• For example, in order to correct blue eyebrows, you first have to identify the complementary color of blue.

• As you can see from the color wheel, orange can offset blue. On the contrary, if you are trying to correct red brows, you need green to offset the red.

 

How to Correct Color

Color Corrector

Perma Blend offers correctors that can correct old tattoos that are blue, purple or red/orange.

Pumpkin Corrector

Corrects blue/purple.

Olive Corrector

Corrects orange/red.

Color Correction Steps

In order to color correct previously tattooed brows, you need to ask yourself the following questions. 

What color is the old tattoo?

Identify if the old tattoo is blue/grey OR red/orange?

What is the complementary color of the old tattoo?

If the old tattoo is blue/grey, orange is the complementary color. You’ll need to use the Pumpkin Corrector to offset the old tattoo.

If the old tattoo is red/orange, green is the complementary color. You’ll need to use the Olive Corrector to offset the red.

What is the target color?
The target color is the final end color you desire.

If the old tattoo is cool and ashy, your target colou/pigment should contain a warm undertone.

If the old tattoo is red and warm, your target color/pigment should contain a cool undertone.

Brows that have faded by 70% or more

 

Outline	Target Color
1st Pass (1 layer to open skin)	Corrector Color (Pumpkin or Olive)
2nd Pass (up to 3 layers)	Corrector Color (Pumpkin or Olive)
3rd Pass (up to 3 layers)	Target Color

 

• Once brow mapping is done, outline the brow shape with the target pigment color choice (the one you would normally use).

• Shade 3-4 layers using the desired corrector (Pumpkin or Olive).

• As you shade more passes with the corrector, you will notice the old tattoo color is gradually being neutralized and turning browner.

• Once the old tattoo has been neutralized to the desired level, finish the rest of the shading with the target pigment choice. Don't forget to apply duration numbing in between each pass.

• You may need to repeat this process on the client's touch-up session if the old tattoo color is still visible. 

• If the old tattoo has been fully neutralized, you DO NOT need to use corrector pigment on the touch-up session.

Brows that have faded by 50%-70%

Outline	No need to brow map or outline
1st Pass (1 layer to open skin)	Corrector Color (Pumpkin or Olive)
2nd Pass (up to 3 layers)	Corrector Color (Pumpkin or Olive)
3rd Pass (up to 3 layers)	Corrector Color (Pumpkin or Olive)

• If the old tattoo is very dark and saturated, you may need to shade 5-6 layers using only the corrector pigment to offset the old color.

• If this is the case, the initial appointment should be set for doing color correction only.

• Do not outline the shape in this case. Only use the desired corrector to neutralize the old tattoo.

• Clients may need 2-3 touch-up sessions to completely correct and neutralize the old tattoo. 

• Once the old tattoo has been neutralized to the desired level, you can add the target color. 

Remember, our job is to cover the old tattoo using a corrector pigment. It DOES NOT remove the old tattoo. You can cover old tattoos as long as they have faded by 50% or more. Do not try to cover up old tattoos that are very dark and saturated.

Case Studies

Case Study #1

Skin Tone	Fitzpatrick Skin Tone 3
Skin Type	Normal/Dry
Initial Session	6 layers of Fudge (8 drops) + Blackish Brown (2 drops)
Touch-Up session	5 layers of Fudge

Case Study #2

 

Skin Tone	Fitzpatrick Skin Tone 3
Skin Type	Normal/Dry
Initial Session	5 layers of Pumpkin
Touch-Up session	5 layers of Fudge

 

Case Study #3

 

 

Skin Tone	Fitzpatrick Skin Tone 4
Skin Type	Normal/Dry
Initial Session	5 layers of Pumpkin
Touch-Up session	6 layers of Fudge (8 Drops) + Blackish Brown (1 drop)
Note	Extra touch-up is necessary if the client wants a thicker brow shape Use 4 layers of Fudge (8 drops) + Blackish Brown (1 drop)

 

Color Correction with 7 Curved Magnum

The 0.25MM 7-CURVED MAGNUM needle is one Mini’s favorite needles for color correction. It allows Mini to deposit the pigment more gently and faster without snagging the skin. It can be use both vertically or horizontally depending on the work position and stretching position.

Want to see this color correction technique in action? Check out their newly-launched Ombré Brows Online course where you can see a live color correction eyebrow demonstration.

FIND OUT MORE

 

 

Learn More

Like what you read and want to learn more from Beauté Academy? Once you master the art of eyebrow color correction and the ombré shading technique, word of mouth will spread amongst your clients and your business will boom.

Ombré brows and color correction can be intimidating for artists of any experience level. That’s why we’ve launched Ombré Brows Online by Beauté Academy on The Collective by Tina Davies! 

This course covers everything from client care, color theory and color correction to outline and shading techniques and even demonstrations on live models AND skin pads.

 

The course even contains downloadable cheat sheets, client forms, practice pages and more: 

• Skin Structure
• Color Theory
• Color Correction
• Face Analysis & Symmetry
• Brow Mapping
• Outline Techniques
• Shading Techniques
• How to Draw Brows
• Machine Technique
• Technique Components
• Speed
• Procedure Preparation
• Live Demo in Sequence

Want a sneak preview of the course content?

 

Don’t miss out.

TAKE THE COURSE.

 

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