The foundation.
Each impression is the size of a hair follicle, placed at the angle and spacing your own hair would grow, until the whole area is covered. Everything after is built on this, so placement, angle and density are decided here.
The Method
How hyper-realism is built.
Never in one sitting. Three sessions and a perfection session, every time, in a color chosen from your skin before the first impression goes in.
Macro, 34 seconds. Single-needle stipple, recorded in-studio.
The work itself
One needle. One impression at a time.
This is what every session is made of: no speed-ups, no cuts. Each impression is the size of a hair follicle, placed at the angle your hair would grow, in a color chosen from your skin before the first one went in. Around thirty thousand of these, built across three sessions and a perfection session, become a hairline.
As far as the camera can follow.
Treatment, macro. The needle vanishes at the surface; the model carries on below it.
One layer holds ink. Session one goes there.
The papillary dermis, just under the surface. Any shallower and the ink sheds out with the skin. Any deeper and it spreads and turns blue-grey. In this one thin layer it stays put, so that is where every impression goes.
Layered again. Never larger.
Sessions two and three build over the same spot. The structure deepens; the size never changes.
It stays where it is placed. Permanently.
Held in that layer, it heals sharp and looks like hair in any light.
Structure, laid over healed work.
This is where layering starts. Impressions are laid over the healed foundation to build up a structure that matches a hair follicle. Not more dots, and not bigger dots. Structure. The impression gains depth while its size and shape stay exactly where session one set them.
Texture, locked in.
Layering continues until the whole area is one even finish: the grain of natural growth, not a pattern of marks. Then, after 30 to 60 days of healing, the perfection session looks at every detail to make sure everything is perfect.
The color is decided before the first impression and stays the same through every session: mixed for your skin tone and the result you want, using Modern Color Theory, created by Stevey G.
Placed once Layered
Move across the specimen: the light follows you
Drag your finger across the specimen: the light follows
Same size. Same color. No structure.
Both impressions are the same size and the same color. Only one of them has been layered.
Session two: the structure goes in.
Layering over the healed work builds a shaft inside the impression, angled the way hair grows.
Now move the light.
The flat one stays flat. The layered one highlights and shadows, because it has relief to catch the light with. That is the whole difference between a tattoo and a follicle.
A flat mark can be the right size, the right color, the right place, and still look like a tattoo. Structure is what looks like hair. Layering, his process, is how structure is built.
Placed with the Apollo, the machine he co-designed, in pigment developed hand in hand with Perma Blend’s chemists.
The method
What people ask about the process.
Why does SMP take three sessions and a perfection session?
Because realism is built, not placed. Session one lays the foundation. Sessions two and three layer impressions over that healed work to build up a structure that matches a hair follicle. Skin has to heal and settle between sessions, two to three weeks apart: each one is placed onto healed work, which is exactly what makes layering possible. After 30 to 60 days of healing, a perfection session looks at every detail to make sure everything is perfect.
What is layering?
Laying impressions over the existing work to build up a structure that matches the hair follicle. It happens on sessions two and three. The impression never changes size or shape: only its structure deepens. That structure is why the healed result holds light the way a hair follicle and shaft do inside a shaved scalp, instead of sitting flat like a tattoo.
When is the color decided?
Before any work begins. The color is chosen from your skin tone and the result being targeted, then carried through all three sessions. It is not adjusted session to session: it is a decision made at the start, using Modern Color Theory, created by Stevey G.
Is every session the same?
No. Session one is the foundation. Session two builds the structure in detail. Session three locks in the overall texture and realism. They are three different jobs, and the result depends on all three being done in order on healed skin.
What does it cost?
Treatments start at $2,500, and all sessions are included in that figure. Most land between $2,500 and $5,000. That reflects the size of the job, not a per-session charge. Scar and correction work is scoped separately.
Why does SMP take three sessions and a perfection session?
Because realism is built, not placed. Session one lays the foundation. Sessions two and three layer impressions over that healed work to build up a structure that matches a hair follicle. Skin has to heal and settle between sessions, two to three weeks apart: each one is placed onto healed work, which is exactly what makes layering possible. After 30 to 60 days of healing, a perfection session looks at every detail to make sure everything is perfect.
What is layering?
Laying impressions over the existing work to build up a structure that matches the hair follicle. It happens on sessions two and three. The impression never changes size or shape: only its structure deepens. That structure is why the healed result holds light the way a hair follicle and shaft do inside a shaved scalp, instead of sitting flat like a tattoo.
When is the color decided?
Before any work begins. The color is chosen from your skin tone and the result being targeted, then carried through all three sessions. It is not adjusted session to session: it is a decision made at the start, using Modern Color Theory, created by Stevey G.
Is every session the same?
No. Session one is the foundation. Session two builds the structure in detail. Session three locks in the overall texture and realism. They are three different jobs, and the result depends on all three being done in order on healed skin.
What does it cost?
Treatments start at $2,500, and all sessions are included in that figure. Most land between $2,500 and $5,000. That reflects the size of the job, not a per-session charge. Scar and correction work is scoped separately.
Free consultation and quote, Miami and New York
Get a quote. Begin with a consultation.
Free, private and no obligation, online or in-studio. Tell us about your scalp and you’ll get a quote in writing, with a plan and an honest answer on how it will heal.
- What it costs
- From $2,500, three sessions and a perfection session included. Most land between $2,500 and $5,000, quoted in writing.
- Who does the work
- Stevey G, in Miami and New York.
- What happens next
- Stevey reviews every request and replies with your price and a plan the same day. Then you book your free consultation.
- Your photographs
- Seen by the studio only, never published without asking you first. Privacy & photo policy