Laurie DowningDeAnna’s interest in micro-pigmentation started in 1999 with her own distressing experience with permanent makeup. Having had permanent makeup on her eyebrows that faded to pink within a year she started researching pigments and techniques to correct this issue. It lead to a fascination with all forms, techniques and uses of pigmentation of the skin.
Her interest and research lead her to train in various methods of skin pigmentation in India, Malaysia and China to experience and learn various tattooing techniques including manual pointulism for artistic tattoos.
After correcting her own eyebrows, a close friend asked her if she could try and camouflage his hair transplant scar. In 2003 scalp micropigmentation was not a mainstream treatment, there were a few companies starting to market SMP but information was very limited. DeAnna started researching and experimenting with different techniques and quickly realized the pigments and needles that she had experience with were not going to do the job. She will be the first to admit her beginning attempts would not be considered successful by today’s standards. Once she found techniques and equipment that produced the visual results she was looking for within a year the color of the pigments began to fade and change. It seemed like an uphill battle and it was a very upsetting and stressful learning process.
The realization that the color couldn’t be corrected on the scalp the way it can be in permanent makeup was a sobering discovery. It took 2 years of testing and waiting to see how pigment behaved over time and another 2 years to perfect techniques, needles and various pigments to achieve the best possible results. It was a journey, to say the least but the destination was more than worth it. DeAnna has now been consistently providing 100% natural looking and long lasting SMP results for nearly 10 years.
Probably due to the personal nature of what started her personal path in SMP, DeAnna has a particular interest in hair transplant scars. Scars in general can be very unpredictable, no two scars will behave the same when treated. It is the challenge of the diversity of the individual cases that particularly interests her. Although SMP for general hair loss continues to be the predominate focus at Vancouver Paramedical Clinic, hair transplant scars are of special interest for DeAnna.
10 years later, DeAnna shares her experience and knowledge with new technicians hoping to build a career in scalp micropigmentation. VPC offers training sessions to 6 students, 3 times per year.
The industry is growing at such a rapid pace. Without proper training in techniques and pigments, if we do not help bypass the long learning curve to become an effective SMP technician the clients are ultimately the ones that suffer. The industry in general is undermined with every unskilled technician performing this procedure, and for this reason DeAnna is hugely passionate about learning and ongoing enhancement of SMP techniques to ensure the solution remains a viable, high quality solution.
