Hello PMU Artists,

I thought there was a boom in our needle choices and I was mistaken.  There is an explosion!  

Isn't is a challenge to keep track of your needle favorites and which companies sell what sizes in the variety of configurations? I love needles and it's quite exciting to see what's coming to market for our PMU industry.

Of course, you could use most standard tattoo needle cartridges labeled for the tattoo industry or for the PMU industry in our procedures, however I must say, Im proud of the PMU industry pushing to the forefront and creating great products and a variety of needle choices for the  variety rotary machines we have available to us today.

I decided to start a log sheet of some of the "PMU" needle cartridges available.  This is by no way all of them and keep in mind, you could use most cartridges so long as the needles are the size, taper and configuration are you want for your artistry.

 There is an abundance of needle...

Can you believe all the single needle sizes available in today's PMU market?  

The single needle used during the "fine line" era of traditional tattooing for entire tattoos, has been primarily used in PMU for pointillism,  hair strokes and a shaded effect known as "the pixel technique." Although most needles could be used to do the pixel technique, this video and article is mainly about the single needle sizes used to pixel and when you may choose one size over the other. 

Using a single needle or group of needles, the pixel technique is a combination of machine speed and hand speed that creates a dot like pattern in the skin. The slower the hand speed the closer the dots and the faster the hand speed the further the dots are apart. With the pixel technique, there is skin space between pixels and this lends to a soft look similar to powder.

With so many different sizes and tapers of single needles available, which sizes are optimal for pixelating?  ...

Q/A with Jill Höyer about the online needle course, Inside Needle Knowledge.

Q: What prompted you to develop the Inside Needle Knowledge (INK) program?

A: There’s a need for needle education in our industry.  Many artists initially use one or 2 types of needles they learned on and find it intimidating to try new needles.  I like to say, “the more you know, the more you’ll grow.”  If artists really understand needles they will start combining various needles, techniques, and develop their own style.

Q: Why did you choose this format for the program?

A: I like the idea of a platform where you can watch the course 24/7 and re-watch the course and download the pdfs for reference.  I like how the course is set up with lessons that you can easily replay as needed plus you can post questions after each lesson or email me privately for answers. 

Q: How long have you been studying needles?

A: I’ve done permanent makeup for...