As a public service, we have put together this list of ten criteria that you should be sure are met by the company you choose for your SMP procedure. Rest assured that GLI meets all of them.
1) Small Portfolio of SMP Clients.
This is very easy to spot. If your SMP provider cannot show you photographs of several different clients each of several different ethnicities, from several different angles, then there is only one explanation: Your provider has little or no experience. Check through your Scalp Micropigmentation provider’s portfolio carefully, keeping in mind that they are likely showing the full spectrum of their best work. Always be “on the lookout” for stolen images. Inexperienced providers will often represent images copied from other sites as their work.
Choose only an SMP provider with proven experience, well-documented in photographs and videos.
2) Short Time in Business.
More than any other aspect, experience in Scalp Micropigmentation is absolutely critical. In an industry that is:
1) Just catching mainstream social awareness and acceptance 2) Just catching medical acceptance and adoption 2) Intended to produce permanent results
It is extremely important to choose a provider who has completed and has serviced to satisfaction a large number of clients. Procedures and practitioners require time to be honed and perfected. SMP Providers who have just opened for business are not in a strong position to make claims with regard to the longevity of their results. Simply put, they do not yet know what they do not yet know.
3) SMP Not offered as a Stand-Alone Procedure.
Scalp Micro Pigmentation is a stand-alone procedure and should produce stand-alone results when performed properly. Though an FUE can add dimensional texture, Scalp Micro Pigmentation should never need to be coupled with a surgery to look natural and undetectable. Beware of the “combo deal”. The model of “disappearing SMP” and the SMP/FUE combo supports the decades-old Hair Transplant model, which ensures residual income for the provider by always requiring “another procedure”.
4) Office Not Meeting BioHazard Requirements.
Scalp Micropigmentation is performed by puncturing the skin of the scalp with a needle tens of thousands of times. This poses an extremely high biohazard risk to the provider and to the client unless Universal Precautions are practiced not only in the procedure room, but throughout the facility.
In addition to practicing meticulous care, a Scalp Micro Pigmentation provider must provide proper equipment sterilization, sharps disposal, and non-porous flooring. Microscopic bio-spray is created during the course of a Scalp Micro Pigmentation procedure. If, for example, your SMP provider shows you to a carpeted room, be aware that it is absolutely not a sterile environment, and that it shows negligence on the part of the provider. Take this as a warning, and leave, rather than risk infection.
5) “Traveling” SMP Providers
Many newer SMP providers, in an attempt to present the illusion of having multiple locations, will actually rent a temporary office for a week or two. While this may lessen the travel required for the client, the fact is that Scalp Micropigmentation is a very specialized procedure which requires specialized equipment, much of which is not portable. A temporary office is unlikely to meet the strict sterility requirements of a safe Scalp Micro Pigmentation procedure. It is also highly possible that your provider, if they practice in numerous locations, are not properly licensed to do so and are not properly monitored in their biohazard compliance.
In addition to the obvious safety hazards associated with receiving SMP in a location that is not a sterile clinic, it is important to note that it is illegalin most jurisdictions to provide pigmentation services without a license.
Please stop to consider where a traveling provider might be if you have any concerns. Will they return to your city to provide you with complementary enhancements? Choosing convenience over guaranteed results rarely represents a savings, and can cost you far more in the long run–both physically and monetarily.
6) No Q-Switched Laser On-Site.
Scalp Micropigmentation should be flexible and alterable. However, in order to do so, a Q-Switched laser for pigment diffusion or adaptation can be required. Just as every artist should have an eraser, every SMP clinic must have this very important tool available in order to have to ability to meet every client need.
7) Willingness to Work Through Long Hair, or to do “Patches”.
In order to preserve as many options for men as possible, it is important to perform Scalp Micropigmentation with the scalp shaven down. If this work is done through long hair, the result, without exception, will be uneven, and the scalp will never look good shaven down. And, performing SMP on only a few thinning areas of the scalp will result in a man who will be unable to shave his head, or to look natural as his recession continues. To be performed properly with uniformity and detail, and to preserve options for the future, Scalp Micropigmentation should be performed over the entire top of the shaven-down scalp, even if the client plans to re-grow their hair following their procedure.
8) Only One Technician On-Site.
Scalp Micropigmentation is time-consuming. It takes intense concentration and meticulous attention to detail. SMP cannot be rushed or automated and produce satisfactory results. Every scalp is unique and presents many different variables. By using a team approach, with more than one fully-trained technician, this provides every opportunity for the SMP providers to consult one with another in matters such as pigment color selection and hairline placement. This approach ensures the best possible results, eliminates technician fatigue, and ensures quality control. A team of experts, by definition, has far more expertise than a single expert. This is a huge advantage to any SMP client.
9) Lack of Surgical Lighting and Magnification in Procedure Areas.
If your Scalp Micro Pigmentation provider does not have these two very critical elements, then your scalp can not be properly seen, nor can their work. Excellent pigmentation work cannot be performed by a technician who cannot see what they are doing. Mistakes will be made, and color selection will not be optimal. Surgical loupes (eyewear with intensely magnifying lenses) must be worn, particularly when blending into areas of healthy hair density. Without the advantage of magnification, the technician cannot achieve the same degree of precision in placement. Considering the permanence of Scalp Micropigmentation and how critical it is to get the best possible result, the importance of surgical lighting and surgical loupes cannot be overstated.
10) No Live Example for you to meet and assess.
If you are not given option to see a scalp that has been pigmented by your provider, proceed with extreme caution. Photos are, of course, helpful, but there is absolutely no substitute for experiencing, first hand, a fully-healed scalp. It is important to be able to see and to touch the work of your Scalp Micropigmentation provider in order to know with any degree of certainty whether you are making a good choice.
Choosing to have Scalp Micro Pigmentation can be one of the best, most life-changing, and most rewarding decisions of your life. Do not allow factors such as lower cost, convenient location, and unsubstantiated claims of “being the best” sway you when choosing your Scalp Micropigmentation provider. Lack of adherence to the above warnings can create devastating results that are very difficult and very costly to correct.
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