Toronto cosmetic tattoo artist donates time, unique skills to people of India

Amber Gotzmeister is a cosmetic tattoo artist. She has more than a decade of experience in colour matching for reconstructive purposes and paramedical tattoos.

“Like any other tattoo, it’s still done with needles. We’re still implanting pigment into the skin. The process is just a little bit more refined,” said Gotzmeister.

“On the face we’re doing more along the lines of reconstructing eyebrows, make up, eyeliner, reconstructing lips, lip lines – bringing colour that isn’t there anymore.”

Because of Gotzmeister’s unique skill set, she was approached by The India Project. It supports the under-served population of India by providing access to life-changing facial reconstruction surgeries, health screenings and education projects. This past January, Gotzmeister travelled to India donating her time with the sole purpose of integrating children and adults with facial disfigurements back into society.

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“I specifically deal with hypopigmentation, so lack of pigment in the skin where the melanocytes — the melanin is no longer being produced in areas of your skin,” said Gotzmeister.

“Whether it’s just an autoimmune response or whether it is a scar so it depends, but often it minimizes the need for unnecessary surgery.”

People came from all over India either walking or cycling, lining up for hours for a new lease on life and a chance to simply fit in.

“People were starting to see the results of people walking out … They just started coming in droves at that point,” said Gotzmeister.

Gotzmeister performed 75 procedures in 16 days — working more than 12 hours a day — to those in need of scar camouflaging, eyebrow and full or partial lip reconstruction.

“It’s absolutely life-changing. It is rewarding in every possible way you can imagine,” said Gotzmeister.

“We’re changing lives and that feels pretty good.”