Treatments · Permanent makeup

Areola permanent makeup

Rebuilding the colour of the areola, including after breast surgery — always on healed skin and with your medical team’s go-ahead.

How it worksSemi-permanent pigment applied to the breast to give back colour and, through light and shade, the appearance of relief.

400 €from

3 htypical duration

4.9★51 reviews

Rhythm: Talking appointment, session and successive reviews.
Back to normal: A sensitive area with a fine crust while it heals; nothing visible under clothes.
Price: Agreed at the free assessment. Why there is no fixed price list →

What it is

This is paramedical permanent makeup: the colour of the areola is rebuilt and, where needed, the sense of relief of the nipple is created with light and shade. It is used after breast surgery — reconstruction, reduction, uplift — and also to correct colour asymmetry or depigmented areas.

It is not ordinary cosmetic work. It is done on skin that has been through theatre, with scars that behave differently from normal skin: they take pigment unevenly and sometimes need more than one pass. We explain that before we start so there are no surprises.

And it is done slowly. The first appointment is mostly talking, looking and deciding: where it goes, what size, what colour, and whether this is the right moment for you.

Who it is for

Areola reconstruction after breast surgery, with the area healed and your medical team’s discharge
Depigmented areolas or loss of colour
Colour or size asymmetry between the two areolas
Scars in the area that break the outline

Better to wait, or to check first, if…

An area that is not fully healed, or without medical discharge: there is no rush worth taking here
Ongoing cancer treatment: we wait, and we proceed with your team’s go-ahead
Recent radiotherapy to the area without medical authorisation: irradiated skin heals differently and your radiotherapist sets the margin
Reconstruction still in progress, an expander in place or surgery pending: we wait until the end of the process
Breast implants: not a no, but it requires your surgeon’s go-ahead, because any infection in that area is a serious matter
Lymphoedema or a history of axillary node clearance on that side, without your medical team’s assessment
Infection, inflammation, discharge or any recent change in the skin of the breast: that gets seen by a doctor first
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Known allergy to pigments, topical anaesthetics, latex or nickel
A tendency to keloids, anticoagulant treatment or clotting disorders, without prior assessment
Uncontrolled diabetes and autoimmune disease in an active phase

This treatment is always coordinated with your medical team and is not part of your cancer treatment: it is the final cosmetic step, when they say yes. If your surgeon or your oncologist says not yet, the answer here is also not yet.

The session, step by step

01
Talking first
We talk about your case, the surgery you have been through and what you are hoping for. No rush and no camera.
02
Design and symmetry
Size and position are marked with you sitting up, because that is how you will see yourself.
03
Topical anaesthetic
Applied and left to work before we begin.
04
Colour and shading
Pigment is built up in layers, with light and shade to suggest relief.
05
Review
We check symmetry and decide whether another pass is needed once it has healed.

What it feels like

Sensation in the area is often altered after surgery, so it varies a lot from person to person. With topical anaesthetic it is usually described as mild discomfort.

Before and after

Before you come

Come with the area healed and with your medical team’s go-ahead
Bring information about the surgery if you have it
No creams or products on the area that day

After the session

Keep the area clean and dry as instructed
Do not pick at the crusts
No pool, sea or sauna while it heals
Tell us about anything unusual: skin with previous surgery is followed up

When you see it

Colour settles considerably as it heals, and it is normal to need more than one pass. It is assessed session by session, on skin that has already healed.