Needle Cartridges. Types and Results.

How to choose a proper type for a particular technique. What is the difference between the cartridges?

Have you ever noticed that the experience during the permanent makeup session, whether it is shading brows or lips, may feel different?

Sometimes you feel you can go on with one dip and shade the whole section, covering it in beautiful pixels. However, sometimes it is all blurry, all you can see is a blob of pigment, and it is hard to guess the penetration areas. This may also happen during the nano eyebrows procedure. You may feel the needle (cartridge) as an extension of your hand, which is so precise and detailed. Other times, all you can see while trying to create a crisp stroke is a blob of pigment.
All the experience mentioned above is tightly connected to just one thing – the needle cartridge.

The needle cartridge covers a few things:

The type of the tube
The position of the needle
The hardness of the needle

In this post, I will cover the tube types and lengths of the needle.

There are two main types of tubes: wide and narrow.

WIDE TUBES

Wide tubes are often shorter and come with a wider nozzle as well. When you dip the needle into a pigment, it helps to suck the liquid faster. It also holds more pigment in the tip compared to the narrow type. More pigment in the tube means longer movement without dipping again. It is important to mention that as the nozzle and tube are wider, more pigment comes out of the cartridge. The wider nozzle allows more space for the needle to be flexible inside and “dance” in a pendulum motion. All the factors above influence great results while working on all types of shading movements/techniques. The Aloor Vertuo universal membrane needle cartridges come with a wide tube.

A couple of tips while using a wide tube cartridge. Due to more pigment coming out of the cartridge, you may want to adjust the needle length. A shorter needle in the wide cartridge will often result in blobs of pigment and no clear pixels. Making the needle a little longer will help to create detailed pixels or pixelated strokes. Wider tubes often work better with inorganic pigments (mineral pigments) as those are thicker in consistency. The thicker the pigment, the slower it will come out of the cartridge. Knowing these specifics will help you work more precisely and use this cartridge type for more permanent makeup techniques, including nano hair strokes and detailed work.

NARROW TUBES

Narrow tubes are often longer. The nozzle is smaller as well. These cartridge types will suck the pigment longer and hold less. As there is less space around the needle, the needle itself feels tight, resulting a more precise work. The narrow tube needle cartridge is perfect for detailed work – hair strokes eyebrows in the first place. It is also great for outlining the brow shape, eyeliner wing, or lips for lipstick technique. Artists often feel that the pointillism technique is also cleaner using a narrow cartridge. In addition to precision, an artist will experience less pigment from the cartridge, making the work clean, with visible pixels or detailed lines. The Nano PRO universal needles are the narrow type.

A couple of tips while working with the narrow cartridges. Due to less pigment coming out from the narrow tip, you may need to make the needle a little shorter. Longer needle in the narrow cartridge often goes along with no pigment coming out and may cause more skin trauma due to the artist's pressure adjustments.

Narrow cartridges work easier with thinner (organic/synthetic) or diluted. The liquid pigment will come out of the narrow cartridge faster. The thinner the pigment in the narrow tube, the better it will feel while creating pixels for shading. While using thin pigments for strokes, make the needle a little longer for precision. If you prefer to work with inorganic pigments, adjust the needle length and make it shorter.

Keep in mind - the amplitude for the length of the needles depends on the stroke/cam of the machine you are using.

Universal needle cartridges are the ones that fit the most permanent makeup/tattoo pens like Amby, Aloor Vertuo, Bellar, Mast, Flux, Xion, Artyst Power Babe.