How many working women could use an extra 20 minutes a day? That question, asked of a room full of working mothers, would yield a room full of raised hands.

In this post-liberation era, it has become normal for working women to be overworked. An extra 20 minutes would turn everyday into a holiday. Janette Leaf-Davis promises a 20 minute time saving on makeup application for women who spend at least that much time now.

How? She applies permanent eye liner, lip liner, and eyebrows. Permanent makeup is “dermal pigmentation” - sterile dyes, the same pigments used in normal makeup, applied one millimeter beneath the skin. The process has been used by Hollywood stars for decades.

Janette Leaf-Davis, owner of Naturally You in Edina, learned the stars secret from a master makeup artist in Los Angeles.

She says, “When you know that your makeup is in place, your level of self-confidence is higher. It makes you feel good to know that you look good.” Permanent makeup doesn't smear; that's a useful feature for women who perspire or swim or participate in other sports. It's also appealing to women who are susceptible to allergic tearing reactions.

Permanent lip liner can give a women fuller lips and permanent eyeliner enhances natural lashes, making them look much thicker. “I have not had one client who did not think it was the best money they had ever spent” says Leaf-Davis. Lisa Holvaldn, 25, a saleswoman for a business consulting firm, told Leaf-Davis, after she applied permanent eye liner: “To me, it's a time saver besides the fact that liner can be smeary-looking and not very professional”.

Permanent makeup, then, can be the next best thing to women's liberation for workaholic women with little time for recreation, relaxation or personal interests. A woman can take a rejuvenating bubble bath in the 20 minutes saved from makeup time.

-Minneapolis Times, Style

June 1991