tinted Simplicity

cosmetic tattooing gives back some of what's been lost

any slip of normalcy to those about to undergo or undergoing cancer treatment, even as that normalcy was slowly being stripped away.

Treatment alone can result in a range of reactions including exhaustion, infertility, loss of hair, and in the case of those being treated for breast cancer, the removal of a woman’s breasts. This very personal loss is one that is difficult to endure for most having to undergo the treatment.

After her mother, Sharon, was diagnosed with breast cancer and was told that a full mastectomy was recommended, Kimber Trenda took a longtime dream and made it reality, wanting to offer

She took what experience she had gained from working as a medical lab technician in the army and nursing school, plus the knowledge she had working in a salon, and started down a new path that would change her life and, what she’s hopeful will be the lives of many others.

Trenda currently owns and operates Simplicity Salon and Spa, where she provides all hair services, facials, chemical peels, lash curling, makeup and permanent makeup.

With the help of her husband Scott and her family, she found the perfect location, gutted it and created a setting that is relaxing and welcoming, offering a room in the back that provides privacy for her clients looking for permanent makeup.

Permanent makeup, also referred to as cosmetic tattooing, is a process in which pigments are applied into the first two layers of the skin to create a permanent brow, lip color, liner, and even the recreation or improvement of areolas.

“I’ve always wanted to do tattooing,” says Trenda. “Life changes though, and I ended up putting it on the back burner. Then, when things happened with my mom we started looking for some place to get her areolas done. Now there’s more out there, but back then there really wasn’t.”

Trenda was introduced to permanent makeup in 2013 after she and her mother had permanent eyeliner done. What was once on the back burner was pulled to the forefront when her mother was diagnosed, and with a renewed drive Trenda decided that she would be the one to give back to her mother some of what she had lost.

Though her mother's condition drove her to pursue permanent makeup, areola tattooing is not where Trenda wants it to stop.

“If someone finds out that they have cancer and they know they’re going to be going through chemotherapy and radiation, they’re going to lose their hair,” Trenda says. “A lot of the times it doesn’t start immediately. One of the things that someone can do would be to come in and get their eyebrows permanently tattooed on. When they lose their eyebrow hair from the chemotherapy, they will still have a brow tattooed on.”

The treatment is also open to more than cancer patients.

“There’s a whole other aspect to the permanent tattooing,” Trenda explains. “There are people who just want their areolas done darker, there are transgender individuals, there are alopecia patients who have lost their brow hair. And there’s just making the shape better in general. I’m open to anything.”

Trenda will be working with plastic surgeon Dr. Ahmed Abdullah to consult through the process of breast reconstruction and permanent tattooing. The partnership will be essential to working with the clients through the entire process.

Permanent makeup is now offered at Simplicity Salon and Spa with 10 percent of areola tattooing being donated to local breast cancer awareness in Fargo. For more information on Trenda and her business, you can find Simplicity Salon and Spa on Facebook, visit simplicitysalonandspa.org, or call 701-739-9930.