Sigil + Skin

🧴✨ July Empties ✨🧴

Another random collection of things I've used up...

🕊️ Dove Deodorant - It's fine. 😂 I don't really like aerosol deodorants and only bought this because I was caught short whilst travelling. Does the job, nowt wrong with it, but I'll stick to my usual options.

❌ Wouldn't repurchase unless desperate.

👽 Mugler Perfume Samples - I've been an Angel fan since the '90s and own a lot of their fragrances, but I have no idea whether these new formulations or my skin chemistry have changed because they didn't last two minutes on me.

❌ For Mugler, home of the powerhouse perfume, I was disappointed.

👻 Quasi Sheet Mask - Fun, I'll give it that. Watching it turn clear and peeling it off is weirdly satisfying. Did it actually do anything though? Ehhhh... 🤷🏼‍♀️

Didn't hate it, didn't notice much either.

🧴 Skin + Me Retinol - I actually liked this. The applicator dispenses exactly the right amount and the retinol does what it says on the tin tbh.

I just don't like subscriptions. Plus, I'm constantly waxing my chin (cheers, perimenopause 🙄), so I'm not using retinol around waxing and one tube lasts much longer than a month.

❌ Good product, wouldn't resubscribe.

🤎 Lattafa Fakhar - For under £20? Not bad at all. I used this as an everyday fragrance and it reminds me of Madonna's Truth or Dare, which reminds me of Versace Blonde.

I bloody LOVED Versace Blonde and would give pretty much anything to have a boff of it today. 😂

✅ Would buy again.

🪷 Ritual Blue Lotus Oil - Love. Love. LOVE. A staple for years and probably always will be. Smells gorgeous, feels gorgeous, loads of uses.

✅ Forever a repurchase.

🖤 Shay & Blue Oud Alif - Another fragrance win. Rich, gorgeous and one I genuinely looked forward to wearing.

✅ Next time I'll get the big bottle.

So that's July's casualties. 🫡

Does anyone remember Versace Blonde or, even better, have a dreg in a bottle I can inhale? 😂

If you could resurrect ONE discontinued perfume or beauty product from the '90s/00s, what would it be?

Pigments In Positivity CIC finally has a website. It includes treatment photos, an faq and a tonne of information about what the CIC does. Please go show it some love. 🥰

https://www.pigmentsinpositivity.org.uk/

🐾 Apparently today is International Cat Day and, in crazy cat lady form, I’m using it as an excuse to show off the lasses. 🐾

🐈‍⬛ PANDORA: AKA Dora, Dora The Explorer, Wizadora (we adore her), The Void.

An elderly diva. She was a stray kitten, so we *think* she’s at least 14. Slightly antisocial and would absolutely prefer to be an only child.

She’s got a dodgy paw that she’s always had. We’ve had her X-rayed and all sorts, but the vets can’t find anything wrong with it. She walks with a limp unless she’s running, and it doesn’t seem to bother her much.

Likes:
🐟 Felix in jelly. Will probably change her mind soon as I’ve just stocked up.
🌱 Going outside to eat grass + drink puddle water.
🤮 Coming back inside to vomit the above all over the carpet.
☀️ Sunshine naps.
🎶 Singing the song of her people at 6am for access to the back garden, usually for her morning grass + puddles.

Will accept a cuddle, but only if she isn’t facing you. May be an eye contact thing, I don’t know. 🤷🏼‍♀️

😼 LADY HAMILTON: AKA Fakey Nakey, Lady Lumps (yes, I sing the Black Eyed Peas to her), Ladytron, Lady Havoc, Chaos.

Named after a trip to Portsmouth to see HMS Victory and Nelson’s bit stuff, Emma Hamilton. She’s deffo a Sphynx, I know her bio mam + dad 😂, but a fuzzy one, hence Fakey Nakey.

She was actually born with some fur, but it seemed to grow more after she was spayed and gets even fuzzier in winter. It just adds to the chaos tbf.

Likes:
🎡 Her cat wheel. In fact, any play time.
🍗 ALL FOOD.
👨 Her dad. She’s an absolute daddy’s girl.
🛏️ Sleeping in our bed + being all over us.
📦 Cardboard boxes.
🖤 Jumping on the mantelpiece. We don’t own ornaments.
🍑 Charging STAIR TAX, payable in butt slaps. She literally charges past you to get to the top of the stairs and won’t let you past until the tax is paid.

Specialist skills include:
🥷 Sneaking into rooms she isn’t allowed in.
☣️ Litter tray visits akin to chemical warfare. 💩
🤤 Recently having dental surgery + now drooling all over us.

Please introduce me to your feline mates. Bonus points for pics, names + their personality type. Ta. 👇🐾

Another day, another certificate. 👩🏼‍🎓

After spending a week in Leeds last year training with ANTONY PMU, I've been working my way through my case studies ever since. A few weeks ago I finally completed them all and sent them off to be marked, and when I got back from Essex last week, this was waiting for me.

Honestly, I've loved training with Antony and Antony Turner. They're an absolute power couple, incredibly knowledgeable, hardworking, and genuinely want the best for their students.

One of the things I've appreciated most is that the support doesn't stop once the course finishes. Even now, if I need help or advice, I know I can send them a message and they'll always point me in the right direction.

Thank you both for everything. 🖤

Anyway, here are some of the case studies that got me here. If you're interested in any of the permanent make-up or restorative tattooing services I offer, feel free to send me a DM. ☺️

✨ Appointments available via Fresha or by DM.

**laReconstruction

Happens to us all... 🤦🏼‍♀️

A momentary slip in concentration earlier today and I double dipped into my wax pot. Absolutely mortified and shocked at myself, so the rest has gone straight in the bin and the wax pot has had a thorough clean and disinfect.

I take hygiene very seriously, probably a lot more seriously than needed... but is that even a thing? 😅 I've never had anyone complain that I'm *too* clean.

In the past I've worked in catering and in tattoo studios and obviously health and safety was drilled into me at college too. It was reiterated during my permanent make-up training and again just last week during my restorative tattooing training.

After every treatment I disinfect all surfaces, replace towels and scrub reusable items with antibacterial soap. If it fits in the ultrasonic cleaner, it goes in there. Once it's rinsed and dried, everything either goes into Barbicide or is wiped over with a Clinell | Infection Prevention wipe (seriously, Clinell should just sponsor me 😂).

I have contracts in place for the safe disposal of sharps and clinical waste, and I always wear the appropriate PPE when required.

Brushes are washed after every use and, once dry, are sanitised with ISOCLEAN.
My studio has also been inspected and licensed by Sunderland City Council.

You're all far too important to me to ever knowingly put you at risk. If there's anything I can do to eliminate or reduce a hazard, I'll do it. Every single time. 🖤

You know what? My heart feels so full. 🖤

These last few days I've been down in Essex training with Gem and Vikki from **latrainingacademy + although the subject matter is often heavy, the lasses made it fun, easy to understand + really drilled home the importance of making these treatments available. I'm so grateful to them both for sharing their knowledge, experience + passion.

Ar**la Reconstruction has been at the top of my list of treatments to learn for years, but I didn't have a bloody clue where to start. Then, when I trained in permanent make-up with (another incredible trainer who I'm so grateful to have learned from too), something just clicked. It felt like I'd finally found what I was meant to do.

Homegirl is now qualified in:

🖤 Ar**la Reconstruction
🖤 MCA (Multi-Trepannic Collagen Actuation) Scar Revision
🖤 Scar Camouflage

Turns out, that Art + Design degree from aeons ago has finally come in handy after all. 😅

Also, taking voluntary redundancy + leaving the safety/security of my office job was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I was unhappy, stagnant + felt like I'd stopped growing.

Now I get to help people rebuild confidence, feel more at home in their skin + hopefully make a real difference to someone's life.

I genuinely feel like I've found what I was put on this planet to do.

One little thing to mention...

I probably won't be sharing too much restorative tattooing on this page. As amazing as these treatments are, Meta can be a little unpredictable, especially when it comes to ar**la reconstruction.

If you'd like to follow more of this side of my work, including ar**la reconstruction, MCA scar revision, scar camouflage + everything we're building with Pigments In Positivity CIC, I'd love for you to follow .

That's where I'll be sharing as much of this journey as I can. 🖤

**laReconstruction

🧴✨ June Empties ✨🧴

A short and sweet one this month as I only finished two products.

💨 L'Oréal Elnett Extra Strong Hold Hairspray – In all honesty, hairspray is hairspray to me. 😂 Yes, the fine mist this produces is lovely, but now it's empty I'll probably just grab a 99p alternative from Home Bargains.

Confession time too: I also use hairspray as a make-up setting spray. Don't judge. 🤣 I've been doing this since the '90s when I was going to goth clubs, wearing far too much black eye make-up and shaving my eyebrows off just to draw them back on. Worked a treat!

Speaking of the '90s and hairspray, does anyone else remember Aussie Freeze? That stuff was basically liquid nitrogen in a can and was absolutely perfect for punk hairstyles. Apparently it was discontinued due to low sales, but honestly, for day-to-day use a little went a loooong way. I don't think my fringe moved for about three years. 😂

☀️ Isoclean Isoskin Halo SPF 50 Spray – I do actually like Isoclean products. I use them both at home and in the studio, and as a pasty goth/skin witch, I take sun protection seriously. The Halo SPF 50 Spray gives great coverage on the face, neck and body. It's lightweight, not sticky, absorbs quickly and, best of all, there's no endless rubbing it in. It's perfect for chucking in your bag and topping up throughout the day, especially if you're like me and hate the feel of traditional suncream.

✅ Would definitely repurchase for me.

What have you finished up this month? Any skincare, beauty or fragrance favourites I should add to my list? 👇

Pigments In Positivity CIC was created with one simple belief:

Everyone deserves to feel comfortable in their own skin.

I'm Lol, founder of Pigments In Positivity and .and.skin in Sunderland. Over the years I've seen first-hand how illness, surgery, scarring, hair loss, trauma and life-changing events can affect confidence, self-esteem and the way people see themselves.

Pigments In Positivity CIC has been created to help bridge that gap.

Our aim is to provide access to restorative and confidence-building treatments such as:

🖤 Ar**la reconstruction tattooing
🖤 Scar camouflage
🖤 Medical tattooing
🖤 Confidence and wellbeing support
🖤 And more to come...

By combining specialist training, trauma-informed practice and a person-centred approach, the CIC aims to make these services more accessible to those who need them most.

This is just the beginning, and there is still plenty of work to do behind the scenes, but I'm incredibly excited to finally start sharing the journey.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far. Your encouragement, advice and belief in this project have helped bring it to life.

Here's to restoring confidence, one person at a time.

🖤

**laReconstruction

Look what arrived. 😍

I've been waiting for this little lot to turn up from and I'm not even going to pretend I wasn't excited.

One of the reasons I wanted to train with HD Brows and complete my Colour Expert training with them is because brows aren't a one-size-fits-all treatment.

Everyone's skin, hair colour, undertones, features and preferences are different. What suits one person can look completely wrong on someone else. The same applies to permanent make-up too.

Having access to a wider colour range and more products means I can customise treatments much more and create brows that actually suit the person sitting in front of me.

Plus, I do love getting new swag. Also check out the new tee. 🤭

📍 Sunderland
🖤 Appointment only

https://linktr.ee/sigil.and.skin