This post is directly related to and complements the article “Why do eyebrows turn yellow after laser removal of permanent eyebrow makeup?”
Why do eyebrows made with organic or hybrid inks turn a cool shade and gray over time?
Here, you need to understand what the inks are made of and the specific properties of the pigments that make up such organic PMU inks.
Here is an example of brown eyebrow PMU ink from a well-known producer.
Usually, to get different shades of brown color for eyebrow permanent makeup, producers mix three primary colors, black, red, and yellow, in various proportions.
And here is where the most exciting part comes in. As a black color, we usually use Carbon Black inorganic pigment as the most convenient and has the maximum black color. Yellow and red usually use various organic pigments. Specifically, in our example:
Yellow organic pigment
Pigment Yellow 14 CI#21095
Red organic pigments
Pigment Red 254 CI#56110
Pigment Red 269 CI#12466.
What happens to the organic pigments of eyebrow PMU over time?
Please note that the yellow organic pigment PY14 is the most abundant in the ink, and this is not a coincidence. Yellow organic pigment, like most organic pigments, is much less resistant to UV light and gradually degrades, which means that the number of yellow particles becomes smaller. But Carbon Black, as a pigment, is as UV resistant as possible, and virtually nothing happens to it over time.
Then, the graying of eyebrows occurs when they gradually lose the yellow and red components from a warm brown color and turn to a gray color. Schematically, it can be depicted as below. That is why producers, knowing about such fate of pigments and their behavior, initially introduce a large amount of organic yellow pigments into the composition to prolong their life and delay the moment when eyebrows will go to gray cold shade.
This is associated with the recommendations of many manufacturers of such hybrid inks not to remove eyebrow PMU with laser in the first year after application to avoid a bright yellow “poisonous” residue. Why this happens, wrote in the article, “Why after laser removal of permanent eyebrow makeup they become yellow.”
Conclusion
Now the puzzle is put together, and you understand why there are such changes with hybrid ink for permanent makeup! And it becomes clear why PMU artists must learn about pigmentology as well!
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