Permanent makeup artist helps breast cancer survivors regain confidence

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - A makeup artist in Evansville is helping breast cancer survivors through her tattoo skills.

Doctors say one of the most common options to fighting breast cancer is the removal of breast tissue through a lumpectomy or mastectomy, when someone loses all or part of their breasts due to breast cancer.

That’s where permanent makeup artist Addison Edge comes in, as she says, to help survivors gain back some of the confidence they may be lacking after the lumpectomy or mastectomy.

“They tell me you know, “looking at myself in the mirror,” says Edge. “It’s this glaring reminder of this horrible time that they went through and these things that they experienced it’s giving that back as well.”

Addison Edge is an Evansville permanent makeup artist who offers “paramedical” tattooing, where she tattoos a realistic looking nipple or areola.

“A person who I had never tattooed before came in and just randomly asked me, I have a weird question do you tattoo nipples?”

Edge first learned about the practice on her journey to becoming a permanent makeup artist and says she wanted to wait until she felt comfortable performing services such as microblading, before diving into the world of “paramedical tattooing.”

While she believes there is not a definition for “normal”, Edge is glad when her clients are happy for a sense of normalcy in their lives after her work is done.

“They’re not just seeing surgical scars or whatever when they look in the mirror it kind of like it tricks your brain and you don’t immediately just see that,” Edge says. “A lot of people say it’s the final step like sad-happy. You know what I mean, a very mixed emotion type thing.”

When clients come to her, Edge wants to make sure that they know this is a team effort between her and them and to not be afraid to speak up.

“Like I’ve got a set of photos that I keep to show them they could look like this this or this, which do you like better?”

Edge also wants them to not be afraid to speak up.

“I try to make sure everyone knows I have planned out this time for you. Don’t ever think that you can’t say that you don’t like something. I really try to make sure everybody feels comfortable in my space.”

To find out more about Edge’s services, and view her portfolio, you can visit her at addisonedge.com.

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