Ready for your Close-up?

Created on 12th January 2009

Debra Robson-Lawrence explains how she developed her new all-natural FAME technique in response to high definition film and TV

‘Drag queen’ is how I would describe the style of permanent make-up that was prevalent when I first came into the industry thirteen years ago.

Prior to that I had a background in beauty therapy and had been working as a photographic make-up artist when I began to notice tattooed brows that looked like they’d been drawn on with a black felt-tipped pen. Everybody had them, from grey-haired old ladies to baby-faced blue-eyed blondes, and they were everywhere I looked, like
something from fright night!

Thank goodness things have improved, but it left me with a strong Impression of how not to do semi-permanent make-up.I felt that with my beauty and Artistic skills, coupled with my new-found passion I could make  remarkable difference. I set about my mission to improve
standards and the quality of Treatments.

From feeling embarrassed to describe myself as a tattooist, I am now proud that this industry its highly regarded amongst the aesthetic Medical and surgical profession. Not only for the highly developed techniques now on offer that provide an anti-ageing alternative to naturally applied makeup, but also for the renewed confidence it brings to those who may, out of necessity, benefit from the camouflage treatments such as nipple and areola re-pigmentation following mastectomy.

With a more scientific approach, manufacturing and pigment quality continues to improve with more finely tuned machines leading to less trauma to the tissue and therefore improved healing.

ur knowledge continues to grow regarding pigments and the skin’s ability to tolerate them. This improves colour selection, treatment quality and provides us with a greater understanding of the length of time pigment remains visible in the skin and what impact external factors have, such as UV exposure, alcohol consumption and in fact the body’s own metabolism.

The ‘modern’ approach is one of ‘less is more’ and my view is that anything which is too long lasting is unnatural and unsafe and I’m finding that my clients are coming to me requesting a very natural look.

In high definition

I’ve recently further developed my FAME technique to accommodate the increase in demand for flawless results from A-list celebrities and society
women on both sides of the Atlantic who have no choice but to ‘up the ante’ as a result of high definition TV highlighting all imperfections.

High definition film and TV has become a source of anxiety for A-list actresses and presenters. Today, revolutionary HD technology means that cameras are far less forgiving as every flaw becomes visible: each imperfection and blemish is magnified and even accentuated.

I recently treated the actress Renée Zellweger and realised that the increasing popularity of HD means that there is a demand for specialised semipermanent treatments which appear totally natural in HD close-up.

To meet this demand, I have developed FAME HD, and I will be the first in the industry to offer these highly specialised treatments, like Bare lush™ which is a true alternative to the collagen-boosted ‘trout pout’. With none of the tell-tale harshness that lip liner can give on HD TV, the technique an be used to balance any unevenness in lip shape which
becomes more obvious in clos-eup. l refresh the lip-line to create
natural-looking, more attractive contours, and then feather subtly blended shades which almost disappear into the lips to create a soft out-of-focus effect.

Pencilled-in eyebrows are clearly visible in HD, so I use subtle hair strokes to help shape and define weak brows, using my own Liquid perfection range of pigments. FAME HD High Brow Definition can reshape
and restyle over-tweezed r sparse brows while appearing completely natural, no matter how close you get.

FAME HD is also going down a semi-permanent storm with my UK celebrity clients, conscious of the increasingly widespread ownership of HD TVs in British homes. In fact, to their delight, my non-celeb clients are also finding that FAME HD taps into the trend for clean, real-looking, less made-up skin – skin which can look more flawed under the harsh fluorescent light of an office and in unforgiving bright daylight. In fact, all of our FAME HD semi-permanent treatments provide a smooth, soft-focus appearance, delivering flawless results which appear totally natural.