Why are people getting freckles tattooed?

By Emily Brookes*

Spring. Flowers bloom, lambs are born, and for some of us comes another seasonal arrival: freckles.

Auckland-based Nikki Lovrich, a make-up artist for three decades, remembers a time when women would go to great lengths to conceal those little spots.

They'd apply Elizabeth Arden's Flawless Finish foundation "like grease paint".

"It was like old-fashioned make-up that they used to wear in the '50s, where you can mask out your whole skin and then recreate the contouring and the colours on top of it.

"Basically, you were covering any sort of skin colour or texture and starting again."

Times, and fashion, change. While even four or five years ago, Lovrich's school ball clients wanted "that very thick Kardashian-style make-up", now, she says, skincare was more important to most young people than make-up. The "clean girl aesthetic" - dewy, glossy, glowing skin - was particularly prized.

Devotees of this look wear little to no make up, emphasising unique features rather than covering them up.

And with celebrities like Meghan Markle and Zoë Kravitz as their poster girls, freckles, perhaps the ultimate expression of a natural face, are in. Ironically, people will now go to great lengths to achieve them - even having them tattooed on.

"I feel like freckles are something that's a natural beauty, and I always found them quite appealing," Alex Borrett says. The Hamilton-based dog groomer got freckle tattoos by cosmetic artist Nicky Gibbons from Dagger Cosmetic Tattoo in March last year, as a 31st birthday gift to herself. 

Freckles fall under the category of cosmetic tattoos and are usually applied by traditional beauticians rather than tattoo artists. (Those wanting freckle tattoos should ensure their beautician is trained and experienced, and operates in a safe, sterile environment.)

They are the third cosmetic tattoo Borrett has had inked, after lip colour and eyebrow filler, for one clear reason. "With my freckles, all I have to do is put on mascara and I don't need anything else," she says. "I don't wear any foundation anymore."

Unlike Borrett's many other tattoos, including a full sleeve down one arm, her freckles were intended to look like they'd always been there. When she first had them done, "a lot of people were like, 'Oh my god, I love your freckles, they're so cute'", she laughs. "I was like, 'They're tattooed'. They were like, 'Wait - what?'"

That, says permanent make-up specialist Dasha Mikhalionak, is "what we are trying to do when we do cosmetic or medical tattoos. Trying to make an illusion like it's natural".

Belarus-born Mikhalionak started providing freckle tattoos in 2011, and now sees around four freckle tattoo clients a month at her clinic in Christchurch. Demand has been rising steadily since about 2022, aligning with the rise of the "clean" look.

Recently she tattooed a man aged about 60 - Mikhalionak estimates about one in 20 freckle tattoo clients are men - who "just wanted to get the treatment to look more youthful".

But most clients fall, like Borrett, into the "younger women" category, getting fake freckles to enhance natural beauty.

Mikhalionak says the procedure, which requires an initial session at $250 and another at $50, six weeks later, doesn't hurt most people. In fact, Borrett says, it was the least painful tattoo she'd ever had. "I actually fell asleep during it ... Maybe a two on the pain scale."

The tattoos start out very prominent - "I remember the first few days going into town and thinking, 'why is everyone staring at me'," Borrett recalls - but they quickly calm down. Unlike her other tattoos, Borrett found they didn't peel.

Freckle tattoos are only ever semi-permanent, and the younger the skin, the more quickly they will fade, usually with no scarring.

"If a young lady has normal or dry type skin, no autoimmune disease, and she's using sunscreen, the tattoo should stay for two to three years," Mikhalionak says.

"If you have oily skin and the girl doesn't use any SPF cream and (does) a lot of activities, a lot of sport, more like six to 12 months."

Eighteen months after her first session, Borrett's freckles "look like I had them done yesterday," she said, "but I put on sunscreen every day". She is planning on having them redone when the time comes.

"I've never had any negative comments," she says. "Quite a lot of my clients are elderly and they actually really love (my freckles). They had freckles as a kid and were embarrassed, so having people get them tattooed makes them feel better about having freckles."

*Emily Brookes is a freelance lifestyle and entertainment writer

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