Putting it in writing: the type of tattoo I do "do"

I hope you noticed that I put "do do" in the title of this blog. I am a *child* and I love it.

It has become increasingly apparent that I desperately need to redefine the type of tattoo technique I perform because...things got all confusing again. "Things" as in folx in my industry throwing around a million different terms; not because they are being shady babies...but because little things change about the tools within the techniques that we use...which make sense, but to consumers it could be like...wtf mate. 

I perform a cosmetic tattoo technique called Machine Hair Stroke Tattooing. This is where I take a single needle cartridge and I hook it up to my fancy dancy tattoo machine. I then move my hand realllllll slow and the needle going in and out of the skin creates a line comprised of little dots. These dots when connected form what we see as a "hair stroke."  

I once called this same technique Nano Hair Stroke Tattooing, but the poor term "Nano" fell victim to the confusion I mentioned above and for that reason...this blog post 'twas born. You see the term Nano is speaking to a type of needle; a very tapered and incredibly sharp needle. Also, these babies have a teeny diameter...we're talking .18mm, .2mm, and .25mm (the most common). Like, really *smol*. 

Now, when we're referring to the technique of Microblading, this is what we're talking about: Microblading is a manual technique in which a tool has a blade at the end and this blade is made up of a line of needles. When this technique is performed, the blade gently scratches and cuts the skin, creating a hair stroke shape, and this little scratch/cut is filled with pigment. 

So, here is why I stopped using the term "Nano". Sometime within the last few years Microblades were being manufactured with Nano needles to make Microblading hair strokes even crisper, thinner, etc. So, with a little sparkle of some marketing, Nanoblading was born. So with what we've learned thus far... Nanoblading = Microblading with Nano needles in the blade. Does this make sense?

So, I perform Machine Hair Stroke Tattooing with Nano needle cartridges. There are Microblading artists who use Nano Needles in their blades which is why they call it Nanoblading. 

If you're more of a visual learner like *me*, I made a cute little reel awhile back that shows videos of the different techniques in action. Check it out here. 

My hope is that this blog post clears up any confusion between the multitude of brow techniques out there nowadays. Please let me know if there are certain questions you would like me to answer in future posts!

Big love,

Emily