Hi there, I have a client who has some scars on his head that are quite visible due to him having a fairly short hair style I told him I would ask around to see what could be done to help cover it up. Is this something that could be treated with tattooing and what is involved? also do you ever come to Sydney or would he have to come to you?

Hi and thank you for posting on the forum. Scalp hair simulation if one of the procedures that I offer to my clients, a pigment that matches the clients hair colour is used with a very small needle to put small dots that resembles very short hair, this is particularly good for covering scars and donor sites from hair transplant surgery. This procedure should only be performed by a trained Para-medical tattooist as scar camouflage of any sort is an advanced cosmetic tattooing procedure.
I occasionally get to Sydney but in most instances clients will need to come to me at my salon in Elwood (St Kilda) in Melbourne.

Factors to Consider
When I have a client who request scalp hair simulation/scalp scar camouflage I always advise the client that there are some important factors to consider before having tattooing.

• Men who are potently prone to male pattern baldness if the tattooing is within the typical hairloss zone then eventually the tattooing may become more noticeable as hair loss progresses.
• Hair colour will change over time potentially making the tattoo more visible, however the colour of the tattoo can be adjusted to match hair colour changes during a touch up procedure.
• Men who are shaving their head with a razor are advised to switch to a clipper or electric shaver because when using a razor that they are taking off a small layer of skin each time they shave their head and the tattoo will not last as long.
• Generally to get the right density of cover will require two treatments, the treatments need to be at least 4 - 6 weeks apart to give time for pigment to settle into the skin and sufficient time for healing between treatments.
• The tattoo pigment is subjected to different conditions with different clients such as the skin PH, break down by the immune system, UV exposure, creams and lotions etc; those factors may cause colour changes, pigment migration or more rapid fading.
• In general any cosmetic tattoo may tend to fade over time so touch ups will generally be required every 3 - 5 years but this will vary depending on the individual.

These important factors need to be borne in mind before proceeding, however the finished result can look remarkably good and I find that many clients no longer feel as self conscious nor feel the need to cover their heads with hats etc.

Andrea thanks so much for the comprehensive reply, very professional and that is very reassuring when making a referral. I will pass along your details to my client tomorrow.

I have been looking at a UK cosmetic tattooing service that does some amazing scalp tattooing, links below.

Scalp Pigmentation Treatment

Scalp Tattooing Picture Gallery

I have even been thinking of travelling all the way over there to get it done!
Is that the kind of thing that you do? and how do your prices compare to what they charge in the UK?

Welcome to the forum JohnG, there is no need to travel all the way to the UK, yes the pictures in the links that you provided are quite typical of the sort of requests for scalp tattooing that I receive, generally I do not place clients photographs on my website to protect my clients privacy. The cost of a treatment will vary depending upon the size of the area to be tattooed and the complexity of the service but my charges are not as high as those quoted on the site that you provided the links to. Clients are always provided the cost of the treatment at the initial consultation without any obligation on their part.

Photographs can also be sent to me at CosmeticTattooist@gmail.com if you would like a preliminary assessment and a guideline to the price range for each treatment.

Thanks Andrea that is excellent to know we have someone here in Melbourne, I definitely am interested in discussing what I would like done I will give you a call during the week to discuss with you further. I understand why you don't put client photo's on your site but none the less it was great to see some of those pics on the UK site so that we can discuss them. I will be in touch

This might warn some other guys out there.

I had punch grafts done quite a while back and the hair loss continued to the point that no amount of fluffing and combing was fooling anyone not even myself. So I bit the bullet and went for a clipper cut, it was quite liberating once I took the plunge and got over the first week of people getting used to the new look. The thing that pissed me off the most (can I say that here?) is the scar at the back from where the donor graft was taken from, with a clipper cut its pretty damn visible.

I went back to the surgeon and he suggest a couple of options and one was medical tattooing to have the scar dotted with fake hair follicles to disguise it a bit, but he did not tell me where to go to get it done. After that I was in way too much of a hurry and I just booked into the first place that I found that was a BIG MISTAKE. I went to ####### at ####### and decided to have the scar and the rest of my scalp dotted to give me the look of a full head with a clipper cut. After two tattooing sessions it was damn obvious that the dots were way too big and the wrong colour as well, honestly I could kick myself for not doing my research before booking in somewhere.

Well now you know why I have chosen the name Hat Guy because I took to wearing caps and beanies due to the embarrassment. Lucky for me a friend of a friend had been to Andrea for her eyebrows and she suggested that I go to her and see what could be done about it. After three sessions its looking a ton better now and I very appreciative to her for fixing it up for me because I know it was a painstaking job changing the colour and reducing the size of all those dots. I take my my hat off to her LITERALLY lol.

Guys before you book in somewhere have a good look around and make sure that they know what they are doing, with hindsight it should have been obvious to me but you live and learn huh!

Welcome to the forum HG and thank you for your contribution.

I have removed the name and location of the original treatment that you received from your post to avoid the potential for conflict, however your comments are completely valid the original work you received was totally unacceptable. I think that it highlights the importance of selecting a genuinely skilled ParaMedical Tattooist for this kind of work and ensuring that they are using appropriate equipment. In my opinion a Coil machine (as is used by most body art tattooist) is inappropriate for very fine work such as scalp hair follicle simulation and even a high quality Rotary Pen machine is still an inadequate choice compared to an Amiea ParaMedical digital machine.

I now regard the Linelle Supreme as the machine of choice for all ParaMedical procedures and I would suggest that others should ensure that their technician is using one. In most instances technicians are charging similar amounts for their services so you have the right to expect that the equipment being used is the best available and at the moment that is the Linelle.

Most men can understand this point when you ask them if they would expect a skilled tradesman to be using top of the line power tools (Metabo, Dewalt, Milwaukee etc) or kmart branded equipment? If your chosen tradesman was using kmart branded tools then you might start to question what sort of work they will do and why you are being charged the same as you would be charged by a qualified tradesman with high quality tools.

To put this into context for ParaMedical Tattooing, why would you accept having work done with body art equipment or permanent makeup equipment as opposed to a higher quality purpose manufactured ParaMedical machine? Admittedly the cost to the tattooist is quite a bit more and it takes more skill to use but if the tattooist cares about the outcome for the client they will use the best equipment for the work. The same goes for choice of pigments, it is unreasonable to use cheap quality pigments or to use the wrong colour because you don't have a big enough range. In fairness though it does bare remembering that with so many variables from client to client there is always a risks with cosmetic tattooing that the outcome may not be as good what was hoped for. The irony is that often clients who have had this type of substandard work have paid more than they should have for the original work and then had to pay more to get it corrected.

Because you have had the unusual experience of receiving treatments with three different types of machines perhaps you could tell us your honest opinion of all three?

Hi Andrea, I agree with everything you have said if I could turn back the clock I would be far more selective and I understand why you hid the name of the business but if anyone asks me

As far as your question about the difference between the machines

The first time it was done with the pen and it was noisy, painful and felt like someone was using a paper stapler on my head.

The next time it was done with the coil machine and it was noisy, very painful and felt like someone was using a nail gun on my head.

The times when it was done by you with your digital machine it was much quieter and most of the time I could not feel anything just the odd sensitive spot here and there, the sensation ranged from nothing to tingling or occasional pins and needles. I also noticed that afterwards it settled down a lot faster, with the other two machines it took 5-6 days for my scalp to stop feeling sore with yours it was nowhere near as tender and only lasted one or two days before it felt normal gain. So yea no comparison.