If you’re carrying out permanent makeup treatments, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to healed results!

It’s not as simple as picking a pink pigment for lip blush - as we discussed in our blog about colour theory, the pigment is only shown through a thin layer of the skin, and is influenced by its undertones.

In our blog about when PMU goes wrong, we’re frank about when things can go wrong, how to avoid unwanted tones, and how to fix treatments that haven’t gone exactly as predicted!

Correcting and modifying pigments should be part of any PMU artist’s kit - even if you’re not at the stage of correcting other peoples’ work just yet, they can help you get the right colour so no one has to correct it later!



How to use modifiers and correctors

These special pigments usually aren’t used alone, but combined with another pigment to neutralise strong undertones in the skin and create the healed results your clients are after.

Sometimes a client will come back to you after their treatment has healed,  and will need a correcting treatment to deal with unexpected and unwanted tones - in this case, and for covering faded results, they can be used neat.

To find the right modifier or corrector, you’ll need to understand the tones and undertones of both your pigment and your client’s skin. You can then use a colour wheel to identify the complementary colour of the shade you want to neutralise!

So for instance, cooler skin tones may be more prone to healing grey/blue, and may benefit from a few drops of an orange or yellow modifier to prevent ashiness, while warmer skin tones may benefit from an olive corrector.



What is the difference between correctors and toners?

It’s all about the opacity! While toners tend to be more transparent and used to modify pigments before a treatment begins, correctors are more opaque, making them suitable for cover-ups.

This is because correctors will often include Titanium Dioxide, a bright white pigment that increases opacity and coverage as well as maintaining the stability of the pigments used over time.

Modifiers for neutralising blue/grey/purple

According to colour theory, the tones that neutralise or cancel out blue, grey and purple tones tend to be yellow and orange pigments with strong warm undertones. Here are a few of our favourites!



Perma Blend LUXE

Our biggest selection of PMU pigments also includes some of our favourite modifiers and correctors!

When you’re trying to fix colder undertones, you’ll primarily be reaching for the orange and yellow modifiers and correctors. Golden Hour is a warm, golden brown which can be used alone or combined with other pigments as a warming modifier; True Copper is a dedicated warming modifier with medium opacity, which means it doesn’t lighten the parent colour, and Pretty Penny Toner is designed to be mixed with the desired pigment to prevent cool tones when healing.

Both Orange Peel and Navel Orange from the LUXE collection are both primarily used as lip neutralisers, although Navel Orange can also be used for cool-toned brows. Orange Peel has a much lower opacity as it doesn’t include any Titanium Dioxide, and both can be used to lighten and warm lip pigments.

Papaya Corrector is a tropical-hued corrector designed for brows that have faded to blue and purple tones, while Ready Mod is a dedicated warm brown modifier designed for mixing with the Ready, Set, Go pigment set.

Biotek

Safari from Biotek’s More Than Ever range is a correcting pigment specifically designed for the correction of lip treatments, especially darker areas where pigment may have been implanted too deeply.

Suitable for both permanent makeup and microblading, this full coverage pigment is highly stable, holding the corrected colour for longer.

Artyst Corrective Pigments

This range of PMU pigments are specifically designed for camouflage and cover-up work, designed by expert chemists and artists.

Yellow 01 is a mustard-toned pigment which is ideal for the correction of purple-toned eyebrows, while Orange 01 is a brownish orange colour, making it perfect for grey, ash-toned eyebrows.



Quantum PMU Pigments

We love Quantum for their organic, all-natural formulations that also happen to be vegan-friendly and cruelty-free!

Swift is a very bright neon orange-red, perfect for both camouflage and correction of purple, blue or green tones, while Butterscotch is a warm golden yellow to target purple undertones specifically that should only be used neat.

Gray Away does exactly what you’d expect from the name - the orange pigment with warm undertones targets grey tones, and can be used neat or mixed.

Modifiers for neutralising pink/red/orange

To correct pink, orange and red undertones, artists should use a cool toned pigment, usually in the green spectrum.

Perma Blend LUXE

The Ginger Corrector comes from the Rescue Mini Set, and is a yellowish green specifically designed to fix brows that have faded to have unwanted red or orange undertones. It has a high opacity for excellent coverage on previous PMU treatments.

Green Juice Toner skews a little more to the olive side of green, and has much lower opacity, making it ideal for mixing with other pigments to thin the opacity and cool down their undertones.




Artyst

The Corrective Pigment series from Artyst also includes two pigments designed for camouflage and cover-up procedures. These include Olive 01, which is a muted dark green that works wonders on red-toned eyebrows, and Khaki 01 which is muted but a lighter green, making it suitable for both red and pink eyebrows.

Quantum

Quantum Color Correctors are ideal for both camouflage and colour correctors, and should only be used in a mix with other pigments!

Green is a dark, mossy green pigment has yellow undertones, which combats red and orange tones in healed PMU.

Modifier sets

The Ever After modifier range brings together eight of the most popular modifying and correcting shades, including yellow and red for warmth as well as darker, cool shades for toning down excessive warmth!

What about modifiers and correctors for lips?

Usually when we talk about modifying and correcting, it’s in the context of brow treatments, but lip treatments also occasionally need a little fixing up!

Li Pigments Forever Modifiers & Additives

Blue Gone from the Forever Colour series by Li Pigments has an organic base, designed for incredible saturation and bright, warm results. This particular pigment is an extremely warm orange that should only be used to correct blue tones or warm other pigments. It’s so intense that it should be added carefully, one drop at a time!



Artyst Corrective Pigments

Orange 02 from the incredible Artyst range is a bright orange designed for lip colour correction. You can blend Orange 02 into other pigments as a toner, or use it pure to neutralise dark tones

What is dark lip neutralisation?

It’s pretty common for clients to have blue or purple undertones in the lip, but in some cases - especially in people with higher levels of melanin - these tones may be too intense and not cover up well with a lip blush treatment.

Dark lip neutralisation is essentially a step before lip blushing that involves using pigments to neutralise those dark tones before applying the lip blush. It’s a multi-step procedure, often needing 4 treatment sessions with time to heal between each, but it’s essential for creating a neutral base upon which you can create some beautiful PMU!

Step One

The first step of neutralising dark tones usually involves using a very warm, bright orange neat on the lips - in extreme cases, this may need to be carried out twice.

Step Two

Next, a bright red pigment with cool undertones may be implanted into the lip, if necessary after judging the healed results of the first step.

Step Three

Now that the client has a neutral, healed base, the artist can carry out the lip blush treatment as usual. With the neutralisation done and healed, their chosen shade should heal evenly and without unexpected changes or undertones!

Evenflo Lip Corrector Set

Our top pick for dark lip neutralisation is this trio of correcting and modifying pigments is this Lip Corrector Set from Perma Blend and Evenflo! Use the bright orange Neutralizer pigment as the first step, then move onto the bright red Colorizer if necessary, followed up by Illume, an opaque golden yellow.

Can I remove PMU?

Of course, as a last resort and if you don’t think that modifiers and correctors can save a treatment, you can simply remove the PMU pigments.

Whether your client’s style has changed, the results didn’t work perfectly or the wrong pigments were used, sometimes there’s no correcting what’s there. In that case, your client can choose from a number of PMU removal options!

Our favourite way to remove PMU is with Li-FT Pigment Lightening Solution, an incredibly safe and effective saline removal method with only natural ingredients. Salt saline tattoo removal happens through osmosis, which you can read more about on our blog! You will need to complete a course before being able to offer this treatment.

Chemical or acid removal works similarly, but uses a solution with a chemical component that breaks down the pigment within the skin, allowing your body to clean up the pigment particles.

Laser removal is also possible, but it is more painful, more likely to cause scarring, and is only effective on some skin types and pigment colours.



So, there you have it! Our guide to modifying and correcting pigments and why they are so important in permanent makeup. Plus, some of our top picks for targeting different unwanted tones in brows and for modifying and neutralising the lips.

With these high-quality colours in your kit and with a good understanding of how to use them, your clients are far less likely to experience unwanted tones or disastrous results. Investing in these pigments and using them correctly means you can create beautiful results on every client!