My friend had gotten her lip liner done at Zena's 2 years ago (before it expanded), and it looked so good, I had to see about getting it done for myself.
I called to make an appointment with Lorine (pronounced lo-REEN, like Maurene), and she set up a consult for the next day.
When we got there (I brought my friend who'd been there before), there was plenty of parking in the lot behind the spa. Lorine gave us a tour of the newly renovated facility. It's beautiful - Egyptian themed (Lorine is Egyptian), and makes you feel like Queen Cleopatra. Although we went to see about permanent make-up, it is a full-service spa and salon.
She immediately got us some juice and took my friend and I in the back to talk about what we wanted and what she recommended.
Lorine knows her stuff. She looked at our faces, made some recommendations, then applied pencil color so that we could see what the end result would look like. It looked amazing.
We negotiated on a very fair price, since my friend is a return customer. She was able to do our permanent make-up right away. We walked out extremely happy.
Some suggestions for first-time permanent make-up clients (take it from 2 experienced chicks ;):
Take some Advil about 30 minutes before beginning the procedure.
Bring one of those ice-packs that they put in first aid kits - when you're ready to use them, you stomp on them and they get cold.
If you get your eyes done, have someone drive you or give yourself at least 30 minutes to rest after the procedure. Both times I've had my eyes done (10 years ago in DC, and at Zena's), my eyes have felt sore for an hour or so following the procedure, and vision is little bit blurry for a few minutes just because of the salv-like anti-biotic that she puts on following the treatment.
If you get your lips done, buy some Abreva, and if you are prone to cold sores, get a prescription for the herpes medication from your doctor. Hopefully you won't have any cold sores erupt, but this is a preventative measure.
EXPECT to look like a clown for a couple of days, maybe a week! Believe us, we've done it before. It looks crazy following the procedure - if you're self-conscious and have the time, take a couple days off work. Once the skin begins to heal and absorb the color, it looks just like it did when she showed you with pencils. DON'T WORRY - it doesn't stay the way it looks right after the procedure.
Expect the organic color to lasts between 2 & 5 years (it will eventually be absorbed by the body, so it isn't permanent like a tattoo in that sense) . My friend's lip liner still looked good after two years, she just wanted it a little darker. My iron-oxide color on my eyes that I'd gotten 10 years ago in DC had faded after 5 years, and there were no traces.
Pros: personalized service
Cons: none
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