Post Falls, Idaho · by appointment
3D areola restoration after a mastectomy
Often called nipple tattooing. If your surgeon mentioned it as the last step, this is it, and it is often the step nobody prepares you for. Color, light and shadow are tattooed into the skin to rebuild the look of an areola. It is flat to the touch. The goal is that it reads naturally in a mirror, and disappears entirely under a shirt.
My prices are on my booking page. Sending a request is not a booking. I confirm each one myself. Opens in a new tab.
Yes, you can see the work
Healed sets from my areola work are on my Instagram, so you can look through them whenever you like.
Better still, get in touch and I will go through the details with you and show you examples of what we would be working toward for your skin and your shape. Ask me anything, including how much of this work I have done. It is the question everyone has and almost nobody says out loud, it is a fair one, and I will answer it straight.
There is no deadline. If your surgery was ten years ago, you are not too late.
That is your surgeon's call, not mine. Skin needs to have settled and scars need to have matured, and how long that takes varies a great deal from person to person. Your surgeon is the one who can tell you. Talk to your surgeon about timing before you book: they know things about your skin that nobody else can see.
Whenever your surgeon says you are ready, I am here. There is no window that closes.
If your surgery was recent, or if you are immunocompromised, I will ask for clearance from your surgeon before we book. Otherwise I will simply ask what they have told you about timing.
What the appointment is like
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You talk first
Before anything is booked, you and I talk about what you are hoping for and what is realistic. You can do that entirely in writing if that is easier. Everyone heals differently, so I may ask to see a photo of your scars, to make sure we can realistically tattoo over them.
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I mix your color for you
I blend it to your skin tone. If one side is still there, I match to it as closely as I can. If neither is, you and I choose together from what looks right against your skin. If you have a photo of what your chest used to look like I am happy to try to color match to the photo.
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Placement is drawn on and agreed before a needle is used
Position matters, and it is decided while you are looking in a mirror, standing up. I aim to get it as close to perfect as possible.
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The tattooing itself
The needle works shallowly: pigment sits just under the surface, in the dermis, about 2 millimeters under the skin. Sensation after a mastectomy is often reduced or absent, so many clients feel very little. Everyone is different, and you can ask me to stop at any point, for any reason. I do offer topical numbing upon request.
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You go home covered
The area is dressed with a clear film before you leave. The film typically stays for about 24 hours. You can refer to my areola aftercare instructions to know what to expect. I am reachable afterward if anything worries you.
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A second look
Skin can take pigment unevenly, and areas that heal light are normal and expected. Light areas can be corrected at a touch-up appointment six to ten weeks later.
What it will and will not be
It is an illusion made of color and shadow on flat skin. To the touch it is flat, because it is a tattoo. Seen in a mirror, in normal light, the shading is what makes it read as three-dimensional.
It is not an exact replica, and I will not tell you it is. What I work toward is simpler than perfect: that you stop noticing the absence.
Color changes, and that is normal
Tattoo pigment softens over time in everyone, and areola work is no exception. Expect it to lighten, and expect to want it refreshed eventually. If yours was done years ago and has gone gray, pink or patchy, that is what areola color correction is for.
The risks, said plainly
Every tattoo carries some risk. The main ones are infection and allergic reaction to pigment. The FDA also documents pigment fading and migration, and notes that some tattoo ink can occasionally interfere with an MRI. Nobody can promise you none of that will happen.
What I do about it: New sterile single-use needles, opened in front of you. Single-use pigment cups, with nothing poured back into a bottle. Surfaces single-use, barrier-filmed or disinfected between clients, and sharps into a proper sharps container. One client in the studio at a time, in a private room. Ask me to walk you through any of it, and ask the same of anyone else you are considering. My written aftercare also names the symptoms that mean you should call your own doctor rather than message me.
If you have never been tattooed and are worried about reacting, ask me for an ink spot test first. I will place a couple of dots and let them heal so you can watch what your skin does before committing to anything larger. A clear test spot means your skin tolerated the ink now. It cannot promise you will never react, because tattoo reactions can appear even years later.
What about paying for it?
Some plans reimburse areola tattooing after a mastectomy and some do not. Here is what federal law actually says, what it does not say, and the questions worth asking your own plan.
Start with a question, not a booking.
You are allowed to ask what is possible and then go away and think about it. I would rather you did that than booked before you were ready.
My prices are on my booking page. Sending a request is not a booking. I confirm each one myself. Opens in a new tab.