Jocelyn June, specializing in cosmetic and restorative tattooing, works at her studio in the Victory Theater on State Street, tattooing a lip blush, a tattoo pigment, that will last for 2-5 years.(photo by Karen Rifkin)
Jocelyn June moved from Oakland in 2019 to be closer to family members who live in Ukiah and Boonville and has been open for business on the second floor of the Victory Theater for two years specializing in cosmetic and restorative tattooing.
The aesthetics of the building and its affordability attracted her to the site.
“This is a place where I can build my business.”
Previously a hair stylist, during Covid she took the time to reinvent herself, to remain in the same industry, but geared in a direction towards helping people in a more significant way, not just the beauty side of it.
Ruby McKay receives a lip blush tattoo from Jocelyn June. It enhances the natural color of lips, intended to fade over the years, and gives her lips a natural pop. It does not replace lipstick.(photo by Karen Rifkin)
Ruby McKay receives a lip blush tattoo from Jocelyn June. It enhances the natural color of lips, intended to fade over the years, and gives her lips a natural pop. It does not replace lipstick.(photo by Karen Rifkin)“I’ve always had a dream of being a healer. In this kind of work, I can help people and also enjoy myself while doing it.”
She trained in Oakland at a studio that a long-time friend owns and operates.
“I came down to have my brows done and she asked me why I wasn’t doing this.”
She trained with her for 3 years and practiced on friends and family…those who would allow her touch them with a needle.
“This is a healing art; these are healing tattoos. I work with people who are usually at the end of a journey whether it be a surgery or a time in their life when they are looking in the mirror and want to change something about their appearance. I have the ability the diminish the appearance of scars or stretch marks.
“I’m a 5th generation artist; and all of this is a dream come true for me.”
She started with cosmetic tattooing—eyebrows, eyeliner, lips, freckles, beauty marks. In microblading eyebrows, she uses a tattoo instrument with tiny multiple blades and she mimics the hair stroke of each individual hair. The initial appointment is 2 ½ hours but once the foundation is there, clients come in every one to two years for a quick touch up.
“We spend a lot of time mapping, talking about the shape; because it’s on your face, it’s really important that we’re on the same page.”
She uses tools to measure—based on mathematical equations—the lips, the corners of the eyes, where the pupils are, where the tear ducts are in relation to the sides of the nose. She draws out the lines and she and the client decide on the shape, based on their natural features instead of a “signature, I like these, put them on me, brows.”
“I like everybody to look as natural as possible, the best version of themselves, not somebody else’s features on their face.”
Other brow services include waxing, brow lamination and lash lifting, basically like a perm. Instead of using the crimper every day, the lashes will stay lifted for a few months.
“It’s a nice enhancement; if you don’t want to wear the big lashes, but just want a little lift, it’s great.”
She tints lashes and clients come in every 2-3 months to get them redone.
She does cosmetic tattoo removal with a saline removal system that she tattoos into the skin where the undesirable pigment is located. Through the process of osmosis, the solution will eventually push the pigment out of the skin. It can take from 2-10 sessions.
“Then we can start over fresh; put another tattoo down or not. I’ve heard it’s less painful than laser and it’s less expensive as well.”
Inkless restorative services include inkless scar revision for surgical scars, burns, acne, self-harm scars and any type of hypertrophic scarring, raised texture, dark in color, that lightens and softens pigment.
She does inkless stretch mark revision, a non-invasive needling technique that stimulates collagen and elastin production and improves aged stretch marks to improve in tone, texture and color using a serum that reduces the texture and appearance.
“I go over the scar with a serum and tattoo that in. After about 8-10 weeks, the scar usually flattens out and elasticity and collagen are restored. The color will often return or the darker color will get lighter.”
She does a quick needling session—pigmentation therapy—for dark spots, sun spots, sun damage and melasma that stimulates cell regeneration and allows for a high absorption of corrective serum.
This technique improves the tone, color, texture and appearance and stimulates the collagen and elastin by creating thousands of micro injuries, waking it up to produce what it needs to heal properly.
She has developed a protocol for an after-care serum to use at home after the procedure.
“I’m very excited about that.”
She sells carefully curated medical grade skin care products that aid in restoring the skin’s health and appearance including skin tools, pigmentation kits, lip balm and oil, skin clarifier, tropical mango barrier recovery mask, restorative facial oil, epidermal repair serum and retinal serum.
She offers a wide range of services with cosmetic and corrective tattooing.
For scar camouflage, that includes scars, skin grafts and hypopigmentation, she looks at all her pigments to find a match to that person’s skin color and inserts pigment into the scar with a tattoo needle, in effect, a tattoo being inserted into the scar, so it eventually blends. This can take from 1-3 treatments for completion.
“It depends on the texture of the scar, the person’s natural skin tone. Darker pigments can take longer to work in. I work slowly; it’s like a layering process because it’s easier to add more to than take out.”
She works with cancer patients, those who are recovering from mastectomies with a non-invasive technique that is much less painful than laser.
“I get a lot of clients who have been damaged by laser, made it worse.”
After a mastectomy, with a nipple mound reconstructed by a surgeon, she can create 3-D areola restoration by shading, creating folds and putting in all the fine details to make it look dimensional.
She works with clients after breast augmentation and top surgery.
She does corrective tattooing for harelip scars, missing toenail and fingernails, webbed toes, radiation markers, vitiligo, birthmarks, lupus, freckles and 3-D belly buttons.
“Sometime after a tummy tuck, the belly button is flattened and I can create shadows and lines to make it look more realistic.”
Although the technology is better and scars have gotten smaller, surgery still leaves people with scars. There is still a pigmentation loss.
“People want to look perfect. I feel I can be an extension of what that person’s vision is and I can work within what they want to accomplish. Paramedical tattooing can help bridge the gap between medical treatment and cosmetic aesthetics restoring a natural appearance and assisting in completion of the healing journey.”