Finaghy salon that has tattoos down to a fine art to help women living with cancer

Kathy Brennan started offering cosmetic tattoos eight years ago at Brow Tribe in Finaghy and now offers clients brow, lip, eyeline and areola tattoos.

“It’s not make-up, it’s tattooing, it’s permanent so you need to make sure you do it right,” she said. “It’s not just about beauty, it’s about helping people.”

Permanent make-up, also known as micropigmentation, is a cosmetic procedure to create long-lasting eyeliner, lip liner or eyebrow definition.

The technique can also be used medically to create the appearance of a nipple for women who have had a mastectomy, give the illusion of hair for people with hair loss and camouflage scars or areas of skin affected by vitiligo.

Kathy offers cosmetic procedures to a range of clients, including those who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy or alopecia, alongside those who have received breast reconstruction surgery.

“I love beauty but I found I really have a passion for helping people,” she said.

Kathy specialises in brow treatments but more recently she has begun providing areola tattoos.

She said the tattoos can help give women who have lost their breasts following cancer treatment their confidence back.

“I think we all know that having confidence helps you in every aspect of your life.

“It can really increase your motivation and it can give you that boost that you need to push yourself on.

“I think it also has a ripple effect on you in the sense that if you are happy and confident it rubs off on the people around you,” she said.

Most of Kathy’s clients get permanent make-up procedures for cosmetic purposes, but she said she finds true fulfilment in providing services to those who get the procedures for medical purposes.

“I’m known for the beauty stuff. We specialise in brow services, but there is a bigger reason behind what I do. If you are able to help people then you should,” she said.

Since becoming qualified to perform areola tattoos, Kathy has offered free procedures to women who have had a mastectomy following a breast cancer diagnosis.

“I previously did a ‘pay with a smile scheme’ for people who suffered from alopecia, but, obviously you can’t work all the time for free. But this year I’m offering free 3D nipple tattoos for women who have undergone post breast reconstruction surgery.

“I’m hoping to do something different every year, just something to help people and then hopefully it can reach further,” Kathy added.

She said she has worked hard to hone the skills needed to offer permanent tattoos.

“But it is something you want to work very hard at to master because it needs to be perfect — as I say, it’s not make-up, it’s a tattoo,” she said.

Kathy recently ran into difficulties with promoting her areola tattoos on Instagram.

“They were having a problem with the videos because it was flagging up as nudity on their system,” she said.

After speaking to a representative from Instagram, Kathy resolved the issues.

“They have given me the guidelines and regulations for posting on the site, and I’m happy enough to follow them.

“I think it is important that we are able to show photos and videos of the procedure to help raise awareness for women who have received a mastectomy.”

Aside from offering cosmetic tattoos, Kathy also teaches others how to perform permanent make-up procedures.

“I run the clinic and the academy and we do see a lot of people who want to learn the craft so they can offer their own paramedical tattoos,” she said.

Kathy believes permanent make-up is growing in popularity across NI.

“I think this is only the beginning of it, I really think we will see a boom in it here especially because women want to get procedures that can save them time in the end.

“In the age of TikTok and Instagram, everyone wants to look picture perfect all the time, and if you can do something to make that easier then why wouldn’t you, ” she said.

Kathy said that her clients see many benefits to permanent make-up.

“It’s quite convenient for people, it saves women a lot of time, especially if they regularly go to the gym or do swimming and things.

“It can make them feel confident and comfortable without having to put a lot of effort into their make-up all the time.

“You also have women that are older who are interested in permanent make-up because they don’t have the steadiness to apply their eyeliner or eyebrows the way they want them done,” she said.