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Making Up is Easy To Do

Imagine waking up with no make up on and being able to look in the mirror without scaring yourself!

And wouldn't it be great to go swimming or have a gym workout without worrying about eyeliner running down your cheeks or your lippy coming off.

Well you can - and Susan Morton is the woman who can help.

Susan has enjoyed an exciting career as a nurse - working in Saudi Arabia, Texas as well as the North East of England, for the last 17 years.

And after deciding on a change of career in April of this year, she launched her own business, Natural Contours, as a micropigmentation specialist, or permanent make up expert as it's more commonly known.

Treatments include lips and eyelids lined, eyebrows filled in and beauty spots.

This modern application of the age-old art of tattooing is said to provide a safe and natural-looking alternative to a daily make-up routine.

Tattooed Ladies - SUNDERLAND ECHO , 12-10-2001

Carole Clark discretely shows me what a neat job it all is.

Sadly, she's not the only woman to lose a breast.

But she is probably the only one in Sunderland to have so impressive a reconstruction, enhanced with the city's latest technique for mastectomy patients - cosmetic tattooing.

The former Sunderland nurse, who now works for Proirity Healthcare Wearside, would have settled for waht she was left with after a marathon eight-hour two-in-one op - removal of her breast and reconstruction.

But then a friend and former nurse, Susan Morton thursby, who has trained at Harley Street in the post-mastectomy procedure, offered Carole, 53. the chance to improve on what the surgeons had done.

After having muscle taken from her tummy in the op nearly three years ago a nipple was later added using skin from her groin, because it is darker.

But the beauty of it all is that after three 20-minute treatments, Carole has got a better looking boob than she thaught possible, since Susan darkened the nipple and created a more natural look with areola restoration.

She even created freckles along the scar line where Carole was cut from hip to hip.

Carole of Ashbrooke, Sunderland says : "Since i had it done i do feel better about it."

Having just opened her first clinic, Natural Contours, in Druro terrace, Sunderland, Susan believes she is the only person in the area offering subtle micropigmentation to mastectomy patients, which can also soften the tauntness of the scar tissue, giving an overall softening to the shape.

She is in no doubt that it boosts a woman's confidence knowing her breast loooks better.

Now looking as good as she feels, Carole is quietly inspiring other woman facing the same nightmare she went through, visiting them and showing them and showing them what can be done.

Carole says the since the operation, and losing brother last year at just 44 from lung cancer - he left a wife and six children - she lives every day to the full.

She adds: "It's altered my percedption of life. I live life for today."

Post-Mastectomy Tattooing - costs £75 a session and sometimes takes up to three treatments. Susan Morton Thursby can be contacted on 0191 514 5500. Any woman who would like to link up with Carole should contact me at the echo on 0191 501 7297.

Hints and Wrinkles

Beautician Sandra Bell may only be 35 but she is already worried about the ageing process.

She said: "I think if you try and nip it in the bud before you get too old and too wrinkled it is much better than waiting until you are really old and then trying to reverse the ravages of time."

Sandra added: "Although I am quite young I have always been very concious of them. I even grew my hair with a fringe specially to cover up my lines and if the wind ever blew I used to keep my head down so no one would see my forehead."

Sandra, who is manageress of Cloud 9 beauty salon in Sunderland, said: "I heard about this new treatment and it really appealed to me."

"I liked the fact that it sounded quite natural and thought that it would improve the lines on my face."

Sandra said: "I know Susan and was quite happy for her to do the work on my face."

Sandra said: "I have one very deep line and two other not so deep ones."

"I have decided to have all three of them done."

"Before we started Susan put the anaesthetic cream on. I would be lying if I didn't say it didn't hurt at all, it was a bit like having your eyebrows shaped, a little bit painful but not too bad."

She added: "Like most women I expect beauty treatments to hurt a little bit and it certainly wasn't too painful. The whole procedure took about half an hour."

Sandra said: "Afterwards the area that had been treated was a bit red and itchy but it soon settled down."

She added: "I am absolutely thrilled with the results, I just can't beleive how good it looks. I feel like a different person. All my friends have said how good it looks, now I am happy to show my forehead off to anyone, it makes me feel years younger."

Sandra said she would recommend the treatment to anyone and is now thinking of having the lines round her mouth done in the next couple of months.

The treatment on her forehead cost £200.

She said: "To some people it may seem like a lot of money but it is my money and that is what I choose to spend it on. I am very happy with the results."

The process of permanent cosmetic make-up invloves having pigments inserted into the dermal layer of the skin, permanently.

Eyebrow treatments are popular for those aiming for a fuller look and it'll mean you'll never have to use an eyebrow pencil again.

And lipliner treatments can help treat uneven lips, and fullnes to your mouth and help minimise the appearance of wrinkles.

Susan has had eyeliner and lipliner treatments herself and is looking and is looking forward to helping others enjoy similar benefits.

She added: "I chose the name Natural Contours for my business because I work on people's beauty and the natural contours of their face."

"I love oil painting, trying to match colours from works by artists such as van Gogh, and coupled with the clinical aspects of my nursing background I found I had a good grounding for micropigmentation."

"There is definately a market for permanent make up in the north east as women in the region are very fashion conscious - very big on all aspects of grooming. The treatments are popular with young and old alike. Many mature women, for example, whose eyebrows don't tend to grow anymore, will have a treatment and lining lips is also popular."

Susan added: "I get asked if the treatments are totally safe, and the answer is yes, when you go to someone who has been well trained and I always use disposable equipment for ultimate safety."

Susan said she has cut prices to make the treatments more available to people.

Treatments for filling in sparse brows and lip lining cost £150, which Susan said some people willhappily pay for a hair re-style which could only last a month or so.

The mum of three trained in Harley Street at the prestigeous Dawn Cragg school to qualify with a diploma in micropigmentation.

And now she operates from Cleadon Beauty Clinic in Front Street, Cleadon Village, Sinclairs in Sunderland and the Springs Health and Beauty Clubs, including the one in Crossgate, South Shields.

The first step for a client of Susan's is to arrange a consultation to discuss shape and colours to be used.

A patch test is undertaken to check any allergies, and a cream, spray or gel local anaestetic is used prior to the treatment.

Treatments take at least one hour and a follow up appointment is always made for about four weeks later.

One of Susan's clients who is very happy with her treatments is 21 year old Kellie Paterson. The Cleadon Village beauty therapist has had her lips lined and is delighted with the result.

She said: "I've wanted to have my lips done for ages. I didn't have enough colour in my lips, they had no definition and seemed to just blend into the rest of my face. I chose a very natural shade, a combination of pink and chestnut colours. I've just come back from holiday and it was lovely not having to wear lipstick. The treatment wasn't painful at all, I was aware of it being done but it just felt like a pin prick. With lips you need between two to four treatments. I had two and after the first one I wasn't apprehensive at all."

Ive got my 40's back again - SUNDERLAND ECHO , 12-10-2001

Doesn't she look amazing? Ellen Yare reckons she looks 10 years younger, trnsformed with nifty needles that have taken years off her in a natural facelift. At 50, the whitburn shop assistant was down in the dumps and depressed. And she looked it.

She'd been feeling that way since losing her partner 7 years ago.

Elen felt her life was over, and it showed in her face. She said "I felt i was past it and could only think "Why bother?'. For the first time in my life i feel as if i'm getting something back for myself. I feel as if i'm 40, not 50. I have got my 40's back again."

Semi permanent make up definecd her make-up defined her eyebrows and lips - a revolutionary method of applying natural pigments into the skin.

Susan Morton Thursby who specialises in the art , worked more magic on Ellen with restylane injections - a clear gel which smoothes away wrinkles and folds. The treatment cost 1,300 over three month and Ellen reckons it's worth every penny, and far preferable to going under the knife.

Susan says it is long lasting but not permenet and Ellen will need to top up injections of Restylane as maintenance, so now Ellen is saving her cash to keep looking good.The make-up will last from 18-months to six years.

Susan, 39, a mother-of-three of Park Place East, Sunderland, was sold on both techniques she first saw in the states.

She said : "I thought how ingenious. I could do that and wouldn't it be a great job."

A former nurse who always had an interest in scar tissue, she took a pride in stitching gaping wounds and making a neat job working in casualty.

Now she says she can combine her nursing skills and her love of painting by making a work of art on peoples faces.