A Brief History of Scalp Micropigmentation

Scalp micropigmentation is a minimally invasive non-surgical procedure aimed at cosmetically enhancing the look and feel of receding hairlines and balding. This method typically involves using microneedles moving at a high speed to inject ink into the dermis of the patient, such that the resulting look is that of a fuller scalp of hair. In cases of patients with full or partial balding, the procedure can give the look of a scalp with hair follicles present all over. Scalp micropigmentation is beneficial for individuals suffering from hair loss ailments such as alopecia, pattern balding, to enhance the look of a previous hair restoration treatment or those with scars that they wish to hide.

The beginnings of this process trace its roots to the ancient art of tattooing itself. Humans have been known to tattoo themselves as back as 6000 years or so. The first-ever recording of people having tattoos traces all the way back to around 3100 BCE – with an example known as Ötzi the Iceman. He was an ancient man found in the Alps in September 1991, and his story captivated the world. Ötzi was noted to have more than 61 tattoos across his whole body, with most of the said engravings set apart along his legs. We know very little with regards to the reason or the meaning behind these tattoos, assuming any. In any case, we do realize that they utilized extremely simple needling methods infusing ash-based ink under his skin. What came about was a tattoo that, while rough, enlivened his body for centuries to come.

The Evolution of tattooing techniques over the millennia

Across all Europe, tattoos had acquired various levels of acceptance and disdain over the centuries. For the Celts, for instance, body art such as tattoos was a method of portraying symbology and multifaceted creativity that they celebrated in their culture. In other societies, however, tattoo art had assumed similar notoriety of being practiced by the most disgraced among the population -  hooligans, savages, and criminals alike.

The advent of modern techniques

By the 1920s, affluent women were pursuing a new, inventive use for forever inked skin – cosmetics that went on for quite a long time at a time. A man by the name of Sutherland MacDonald is credited with trying the first extremely long-lasting cosmetic methods on his clientele who were willing to take on experimental treatments.

The modern scalp micropigmentation technique

Although nobody knows who exactly invented this technique, it is believed that this method was devised as a way to hide scars from male and female pattern baldness such as alopecia in the early 1990s. The increased social and personal stigma from thinning hairlines and balding has resulted in an explosion in the popularity of the scalp micropigmentation technique among individuals unwilling or unsuitable for other treatments such as hair transplants.

Modern scalp micropigmentation started around 2010 in the USA and UK, and that’s when the first commercial SMP service was offered to clients.

Elite Institute of Micropigmentation and Scalp Masters Atlanta was the first company to bring scalp micropigmentation to the state of Georgia. Mila Rosen, the owner of the company, was the first person to receive the award of “the best female SMP artist of the year”. Elite is the first-ever clinic to create the first successful density treatment in the world, along with other inventions & techniques that separate our company from the rest.